Dr. Elizabeth Ferrell, one of two scholars selected to participate in the Newberry Library’s American Art and Visual Culture seminar on Dec. 2, presented “Between Action and Object: DeFeo’s Myths about The Rose,” a chapter which will appear in her upcoming publication, The Ring Around The Rose: Jay DeFeo and Her Circle.

Exploring the artistic exchanges created about and around DeFeo’s painting, Dr. Ferrell examined why characteristics of The Rose—including production, medium, and subject—prompt audiences to interpret it as a mythological symbol.

Dr. Ferrell’s presentation was part of a series of American art seminars that the Newberry Library sponsors annually. Art historians from the Chicago area review articles, book chapters, and other works in progress to determine which scholars will present on visual culture to the community.