What happens when a world-renowned art historian asks a room full of graduate students a deceptively simple question: “What do you see?” For Em Spencer and Katie Vogel, two M.A. students in the Department of Art and Music Histories at Syracuse University’s College of Arts and Sciences, the answer was transformative.

In a close-looking session at the Syracuse University Art Museum, Alexander Nemerov, the Carl and Marilynn Thoma Provostial Professor at Stanford University, led a masterclass centered on Helen Frankenthaler’s Untitled, 1979. The session was part of Nemerov’s visit to campus for the keynote of the museum’s current exhibition, “What If I Try This?”: Helen Frankenthaler in the 20th-Century Print Ecosystem, curated by Melissa Yuen.

Rather than lecture, Nemerov invited students to observe and reflect. Spencer, who studies modern and contemporary American art, described the experience as a breakthrough moment: “It felt like he was trying to break us out of our grad school imposter syndrome.”

Vogel, whose focus is Renaissance and medieval art, admitted she initially felt out of her depth looking at modern art. But the openness of the session changed that. “It was really wonderful to work through these ideas with other people in the room and by the end, any sort of sense of like ‘oh, the thing that’s going to come out of my mouth isn’t going to be the most intelligent thing’ had very much dissipated and Nemerov definitely cultivated that environment,” she said.

The painting itself—gifted to Syracuse by alumnus and famed critic Clement Greenberg ’31—became a catalyst for deeper reflection. Students explored not just the visual elements, but the emotional and historical layers embedded in Frankenthaler’s work and her relationship with Greenberg, who helped launch her career.

For Vogel, who brought a background in creative writing and performance studies to Syracuse, the session validated her interdisciplinary approach to art history. "To see that reflected back was very affirming," she said of Nemerov's own creative methods.

The full story in Syracuse University Today explores how this hour-long session reshaped students’ perspectives on art, scholarship and their own academic paths. Untitled, 1979 remains on view through December 9, 2025, as part of the museum’s Frankenthaler exhibition.

Read the full article by Taylor D. Westerlund.