The exhibit and lecture series begin March 2.

Capa was the preeminent war photographer during the world’s most violent century. True to his motto, “If your pictures aren’t good enough, you aren’t close enough,’’ his photographs portray the brutal reality of combat with an intimacy and immediacy that had never before been seen. He documented five wars on three continents: The Spanish Civil War from 1936-39; Chinese Gen. Chiang Kai-shek’s resistance to the Japanese invasion in 1938; the European theater of World War II from 1941-45; the first Arab-Israeli War in 1948; and the French Indochina War in 1954. At the age of 41, Capa was killed in French Indochina when he stepped on a landmine while documenting a French convoy’s mission to evacuate two indefensible forts in the Red River Delta.

“Robert Capa: World War II Photographs’’ includes some of Capa’s iconic images of war, as well as some of his lesser known but equally powerful images. The exhibit examines how Capa’s photographs depict soldiers and citizens as they struggle to maintain their individual identities amid a world at war. Highlights include the invasion of Italy, the D-Day landing on Omaha Beach, the liberation of Paris and Capa’s jump behind enemy lines with American paratroopers.

As curator of the exhibit, Brian Carso, J.D., Ph.D., assistant professor of history at Misericordia University, arranged for the International Center for Photography in New York to loan 33 Capa prints to the gallery. Capa’s harrowing and beautiful photography is being complimented by World War II artifacts on loan from the Luzerne County Historical Society, including authentic World War II uniforms.

“Before Capa, war photography focused on preparations for battle or static images of the battlefield after the fighting was done,’’ Dr. Carso said. “Robert Capa took his camera into the heart of the battle, changing the way the world saw combat, and emphasizing the importance of individual action against the backdrop of mass warfare. Because of his talent, Capa’s pictures show not only what people did during World War II, but also what they thought and felt.’’

The exhibit begins Tuesday, March 2 with an opening reception in the Pauly Friedman Art Gallery from 5-7 p.m., followed by the lecture, “Shooting War: Robert Capa’s Life and Work,’’ by Dr. Carso in Lemmond Theater in Walsh Hall at 7 p.m. Both events are open free to the public.

During his lecture, Dr. Carso will examine Capa’s life from his birth in Budapest in 1913 to his death in French Indochina in 1954. The famous photojournalist lived vibrantly in a world beset by political conflict and violent warfare, which he documented in its rawest and most detailed forms. The lecture will examine how the circumstances of Capa’s life influenced his work and how his photographs captured an essential truth about war and society in the 20th century.

The lecture series continues Monday, March 15 with the presentation, “The Mediated War: WWII and the Ascent of Photojournalism,’’ by Beth E. Wilson, M.A., State University of New York at New Paltz, in Huntzinger Room 218 of Sandy and Marlene Insalaco Hall at 7 p.m.

An art historian, critic and curator, Wilson will address in her lecture how World War II marked a major transitional period in the fundamental function of photography in the public sphere and in the way photographers approached their craft. She will examine the work of photographers Margaret Bourke-White, W. Eugene Smith, Lee Miller and Capa whose pictures appeared in many publications. Wilson will also discuss how the medium inspired new ways of framing the turbulent realities of war and how the role of the documentary photographer evolved into that of the professional photojournalist.

Charles H. Duncan, M.A., of the Smithsonian Institution’s Archives of American Art, is presenting, “The Artist at War in the 20th Century,’’ on Monday, March 22 at 7 p.m. in Huntzinger Room 218 of Sandy and Marlene Insalaco Hall. As a collections specialist, Duncan directs the acquisition of research collections in the New York City region, and has published and created numerous exhibitions about the archives holdings.

In his talk, Duncan will introduce major themes within war art from the ancient to the present — looking specifically at art created by soldiers who participated firsthand in 20th century conflicts. He will examine both sides of this art: the professional artist who documented the conflict for purposes of strategy and deception, and field soldiers who expressed themselves through art in an attempt to comprehend the magnitude of their experiences. Both approaches hold strong currency for shaping an understanding of the experience of war and will be presented alongside letters culled from the collections of the Archives of American Art and similar repositories.

On Monday, March 29, Allan Austin, Ph.D., associate professor of history at Misericordia University, is going to deliver the lecture, “Superman vs. Japan: Fighting World War II in Popular Culture,’’ at 7 p.m. in Huntzinger Room 218 of Sandy and Marlene Insalaco Hall. Dr. Austin has published “From Concentration Camp to Campus: Japanese American Students and World War II,’’ and “Asian American History and Culture: An Encyclopedia,’’ and written essays on Japanese American history during and after World War II as well as film history. His next monograph, “The ‘Friendly Principle of Brotherhood’: The American Friends Service Committee, Quakers and Race in the United States, 1917-1950,’’ is under contract with the University of Illinois Press.

Dr. Austin’s lecture will address how Americans fought World War II on many fronts. As they went to battle against Japan, they were joined by Superman — at least in the cartoons and funny pages of the home front — as the superhero fought for what his creators saw as truth, justice and the American way. Examining Superman’s exploits during the war provides an insightful window into the worldview of Americans, exposing the archetypal images, the dehumanized portraits and the hatred engendered by the war in the Pacific. As a result, Superman, like much of American popular culture, reveals key American beliefs about themselves, the Japanese and the ultimate meaning of the Second World War.

The Capa exhibit and lecture series highlights the natural synergy between the artistic and academic communities at Misericordia. The schedule is the byproduct of the Friedman Art Gallery Advisory Committee, which is comprised of MU faculty and staff, and members of the artistic community, which connected the exhibit to the academic curriculum and local community.

Brian J. Benedetti, M.A., M.S., is the director of the Pauly Friedman Art Gallery and Dona Posatko is the assistant to the director. Exhibits at the gallery are open free to the public during business hours. The gallery is open Monday-Thursday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Fridays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday and Sundays from 1-5 p.m. For more information about the gallery, please log on to www.misericordia.edu/art or call (570) 674-6250.

Caption:

A Robert Capa photograph captures an American paratrooper ready to board the plane for the jump across the Rhine, Arras, France, March 23, 1945. Used by permission of the International Center of Photography, © Estate of Cornell Capa, International Center of Photography, Magnum.