The first national leader to practice fascism, Benito Mussolini does not need any introduction. Not as well known is his mistress of many years, Margherita Sarfatti. This talk will focus on this remarkable woman, born to a wealthy family in Venice and taught by some of the best tutors the country could offer. With her formidable education, she began to write art criticism, eventually becoming the spokesperson for a new movement in Italian art in the Twenties. First an asset, her association with Mussolini turned later, in the years before WWII, into a liability. It was her innate smartness (and luck) that allowed her to avoid the tragic fate of so many of her faith, escape Italy, and continue her career in Argentina before returning home after the war.

This fascinating presentation will be led by Erich Keel. Erich served as The Kreeger Museum’s Head of Education for fourteen years.  Before joining the Museum in 1999, Keel was involved in the arts in Washington, DC, and New York: he volunteered and freelanced at Corcoran Gallery of Art and worked for the Museum of Modern Art. Keel was born and raised in Zürich, Switzerland, where he began his university studies in English, Philosophy, and Art History. He earned a Ph.D. with a dissertation on the French philosopher Maurice Merleau-Ponty from Emory University, Atlanta, GA. Keel is the author of “David Lloyd Kreeger: A Collector’s Journey,” in The Kreeger Museum (2009) and co-author of “Linking Art and Geography Education: A Museum Model for Elementary and Middle Schools” in Journal for Cultural Research in Art Education, Volume 31 (2014).  Since leaving The Kreeger Museum in 2013, Keel has been lecturing, curating, and leading art tours in Europe. He taught six courses for OLLI at AU on 19^th and 20^th-century art; gave talks at the Swiss and Austrian Embassies; and presented a lecture on the art of Max Beckmann, John Heartfield, and Felix Nussbaum to Smithsonian Associates. On separate art history tours, Keel led groups on visits to Germany (2013) Andalusia (2014), France (2015), the UK (2016), and Eastern Europe (2018). Since 2010, Keel has been on the curatorial team of the Arts Club of Washington, most recently preparing a show for the National Association of Women Artists (February 2019) and hanging and judging the 2019- and 2020-Members’ Summer Exhibitions.