Join us for a walk about the Smithsonian and then a 30-minute curated discussion on the painting “Queen.” Afterwards we’ll decide on lunch or more art.

“What do the objects in this painting symbolize? *Queen* echoes a genre of Renaissance still-life paintings known as "vanitas" that serve as reminders of the inevitability of change and death. In such a work, a pocket watch represents the unrelenting march of time, and a dewy flower is symbolic of youthful beauty that will one day wither.

Audrey Flack has said that she made this painting "for all women, particularly women gamblers"--a reference to her mother, whose portrait appears, alongside the artist's, in the open locket just below the queen of hearts playing card. To the left, Flack depicts another queen--a chess piece, the most powerful in the game and therefore an emblem of female power and importance.”

At 12:00 we’ll go to the SAAM’s G Street Lobby to meet the doctoral fellow who will lead the discussion. It lasts from 12:15-12:45

[Queen at SAAM](https://americanart.si.edu/artwork/queen-119318)

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Queen! Art Bites Gallery Talk-Smithsonian Art Museum

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Queen! Art Bites Gallery Talk-Smithsonian Art Museum

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