You have seen Twilight Visions: Surrealism, Photography, and Paris and delved into the minds of the Surrealists. Now learn more about the tumultuous yet edifying times they lived in by attending the Frist Center's three part Off the Wall lecture series being held in conjunction with the exhibition. Dr. Michael Bess, Chancellor's Professor of History at Vanderbilt University, will trace the shattered hopes of Europeans during the years following World War I -- hopes for a lasting peace, hopes for prosperity, and hopes for a bright future for themselves and their children. These years saw the rise of fascism, the collapse of international capitalism during the Great Depression, the growing popularity of communist movements and ideas, and the gradual dismantling of the international diplomatic system that had been built around the League of Nations in the aftermath of the Great War.

The lecture will take an interdisciplinary approach, looking at economic, military, diplomatic, political, and cultural events to show why the descent into World War II acquired an unstoppable momentum as the 1930s went by.

Location: Frist Center (Directions)