Sebastian Smee, the Pulitzer Prize-winning writer and art critic for The Boston Globe, will discuss some of modern art's most fraught artistic relationships and the links between them at a lecture 6-8 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 1, at the Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts.

The talk is titled "Breakthroughs and Betrayals: An Intimate Take on Key Breakthroughs in Modern Art." It is part of the 2016 Fall Lecture Series and will take place on the campus at 84 Lyme St., Old Lyme.

Smee is the author of "The Art of Rivalry: Four Friendships, Betrayals, and Breakthroughs in Modern Art." The book examines key moments in the intimate yet competitive relationships between Manet and Degas, Matisse and Picasso, Pollock and de Kooning, and Freud and Bacon. The relationships of these important figures in the modern art world created pivotal moments and sparks of great inspirational shifts.

Tickets are $15 for the lecture and reception. Copies of "The Art of Rivalry: Four Friendships, Betrayals, and Breakthroughs in Modern Art" will be available for purchase, and Smee will sign copies. There is limited seating, so reservations are required; contact Kristen Brady at (860) 434-3571, ext. 121.