Courses
Art History Courses
101 An Introduction to the History of Art
This course is a critical survey of western art beginning with the Ancient Near East (approximately 4000 B.C.) through the Gothic period in Europe (early 1300s). Emphasis will be placed on the analysis of style, subject-matter, and function within an historical context,and especially on the student's ability to "see" critically. Developing appropriate vocabularies with which to discuss and analyze works of art and imagery will also be stressed, along with learning to evaluate scholarly interpretations of them.
102 An Introduction to the History of Art
This course surveys art of the European renaissance through the contemporary period. Artw ill be examined within the historical context in which it was produced, with attendtion to contemporary social, political, religious, and intellectural movements. Students will examine the meaning and function of art within the different historical periods. In addition, students will learn to analyze and identify different artistic styles.
201 History and Art of the Film or the Photograph
A study of the history of the film or the photograph as an art form involving mechanical reproduction. Issues of criticism and theory are also addressed.
202 Art History and Ancient Art
This course will examine major monuments in the history of ancient Greek and Roman art and architecture from the variety of interpretive perspectives with which they have been addressed in the scholarly literature. Students will study and analyze art-historical "readings" of these monuments and compare the strengths and weaknesses of the authors' arguments in terms of methodological approach and use of both textual and archaeological evidence. In addition, the authors' cultural assumptions, interpretive premises, and ideological goals (if any) will also be addressed in attempting to understand how these works of art have acquired meaning over time and what constitutes that meaning.Offered every other year.
203 Medieval Art
European art and architecture of the Middle Ages, from the decline of Rome to the first decades of the 15th century. Particular emphasis is placed on Romanesque and Gothic cathedral architecture. Prerequisite: 101 or permission of the instructor. Offered alternate years.
204 American Art
This course takes a chronological approach to the history of art in the United States from the late eighteenth century through the early twentieth century. At the start of the semester, we consider questions of how the newly-formed nation and its citizens were represented in art. During the heyday of Western expansion, we examine how the American landscape was variously depicted through photography and painting with the ideology of Manifest Destiny and a growing tourist industry in mind. We also discuss the challenges artists faced in the later nineteenth century in creating commemorative public statuary for the nation following a highly divisive Civil War. By the end of the nineteenth century, during America's "Gilded Age," dramatic shifts in race, class and gender relations account for an unprecedented level of activity in the arts. Finally, we examine the issues at stake in a thoroughly diverse and modern version of America, where homosexuality, race relations and debates about gender take center stage, alongside questions of the nation's place in an increasingly global environment. Students can expect to leave the course with a more complex understanding of what America is and how it has been represented across history, by various artists and in a range of media, while also developing crucial skills in critical reading, writing, and visual analysis.
Prerequisite: 101 or 102, American studies majors, or permission of the instructor.
205 Topics in Art History
An intermediate-level study of selected topics in the history of art and architecture. Prerequisite: Prerequisites listed as appropriate to each course.
206 Museum Studies
Introduces students to the history, role, nature, and administration of museums. It examines the emergence and development of museums and the political, social, and ethical issues that they face. Case studies include: government funding of the arts, the lure and trap of the blockbuster, T-Rex "Sue", the Nazi Entartete Kunst exhibition, the Enola Gay exhibition, war memorials, the Holocaust Museum, public sculpture, conservation, museum architecture, auction houses, and the repatriation of cultural property. This course is open to all students and is especially relevant to those studying the fine arts, anthropology, archaeology, history, American studies, and public policy. This course fulfills the Division I.C. distribution requirement.Offered every two years.
207 Criticism and Theory in the Arts
An introduction to critical strategies in and theoretical approaches to the visual arts from Plato through Postmodernism. Particular emphasis is placed on close analysis and discussion of texts. The course addresses issues of historiography, critical theory, and contemporary art criticism. Prerequisite: 101 or 102 or permission of the instructor.
208 Japanese Art
This course is an introduction to Japanese art and aesthetics throughout the history of this culture. The study of this art occurs in the context of the civilization as a whole, as it has both changed and resisted change over time due to both internal and external forces. Students are expected to look carefully at their own preferences and prejudices with the intention of seeing them from an additional perspective. Offered alternate years.
210 Chinese Art
This course is an introduction to the history and aesthetic of Chinese art. The art is studied as a primary part of the larger culture. Other elements of the culture are introduced as they are relevant to seeing the civilization as a whole. The subject matter is those arts most typical of the major dynasties, but painting is the primary overall focus. Offered alternate years.
300 Italian Renaissance Art 1250-1450
A survey of painting, sculpture, and architecture in Italy from approximately 1250 to 1450. The works of Giotto, Pisano, Donatello, Ghiberti, Brunelleschi, and Massacio, among others, will be addressed. Issues of style, patronage, and function will be considered within the political and cultural contexts of the 13th through 15th centuries. Critical and theoretical writings of the period will also be discussed. Prerequisite: 101 and 102 or permission of the instructor.
301 Italian Renaissance Art 1450-1563
A survey of painting, sculpture, and architecture in Italy from 1450 through 1580. The works of Botticelli, Leonardo, Raphael, Michelangelo, Bramente, and Titian, among others, will be addressed. Issues of style, patronage, and function will be considered within the political and cultural contexts of the 15th and the 16th centuries. Critical and theoretical writings of the period will also be discussed. Prerequisite: 101 and 102 or permission of the instructor.
302 Roman Painting
This course will address the antecedents of Roman wall painting in ancient Greek sources, as well as issues related to classification, genre, style, function, and artistic practice. The traditional "four styles" of Roman painting first outlined by Vitruvius and more recent proposals for reconstructing these traditional stylistic categories will be addressed, as well as questions surrounding the many purposes and effects of painting in Roman culture and society. The relationship of pictorial imagery to specific literary structures and styles during the Imperial period will also be considered along with more theoretical artistic principles such as optics, illusionism, and visual imagination in the Roman world. A variety of ancient literary sources as well as scholarly studies an critiques will form the textual basis for the course, while digital reconstructions and "virtual" movement through ancient pictorial spaces will augment the visual sources we use. Prerequisite: Archaeology Core or 101 and 102 or 202.
303 Roman Portraiture
Of all visual and literary genres, portraiture is undoubtedly the most specific and elusive in western culture. Its history is as old as the ancient Greek myths about the origins of painting itself, and as recent as the current pseudo-journalistic television program entitled "Intimate Portraits." This course will examine the tradition and evolution of ancient roman portraiture as the most prolific and enduring source of the genre from its Etruscan and Hellenistic foundations through the dissolution of the Empire in the mid-fourth century AD. Republican and Imperial iconographies, funerary genres, and contextual considerations such as the public, private, and political realms will be considered. The notion of constructing a visual identity and historical legacy through portraiture as part of Roman culture, and more specific conceptual qualities such as "realism" and "idealism," "youth" and "age" will be discussed together with more technical issues such as dating, identifying physiognomic types, sculpting techniques. At least one trip to a regional museum or gallery will be required. Prerequisite: Archaeology core, or 101 and 102 or 202.
304 Southern Baroque Art
Painting, sculpture, and architecture of the 17th-century in Italy, France, and Spain will be considered. Artists included in this course are: Caravaggio, the Carracci, Reni, Artemesia Gentileschi, Bernini, Borromini, Velsquez, and Poussin. Issues of theory and criticism will also be addressed. Prerequisite: 101 and 102 or permission of the instructor. Offered alternate years.
306 Northern Baroque Art
A study of 17th-century Northern European Art with particular emphasis on Flemish and Dutch painting. Artists included in this course are Rubens, Van Dyck, Rembrandt, Hals, and Vermeer. Issues of theory and criticism will also be addressed. Prerequisite: 101 and 102 or permission of the instructor. Offered alternate years.
313 Modern Art
This course surveys key artistic movements and styles in a period of roughly one hundred years, beginning with Realism in 1840s France and ending with Abstract Expressionism in 1950s America. Much of the course focuses on painting, though discussions of architecture, design, sculpture, and photography also plays an important role. We begin with the question of what modernism is: When did it begin? What makes a work of art "modern"? How is modernism different from what preceeded it? Students learn to recognize, understand, and discuss the defining features of modernism in its major manifestations, while also developing an understanding of themes such as the role of African art in modernism, the changing dynamics between the fine arts and popular culture, the role of technology as an influence on art, and the place of particular critics, galleries, and museums in shaping the discourses of modernism. Individual research projects give students the change to explore a specific artist, style or theme in depth, while a field trip to the National Gallery of Art and the Hirshhorn Museum in Washingon, DC, provide an opportunity to see significant works of modern art firsthand. Assigned readings incorporate both secondary sources as well as artist's manifestos and aesthetic philosophies as primary source texts. Prerequisite: 101 and 102 or permission of the instructor.
314 Contemporary Art
A survey of major artists and movements from post-World War II to the present, beginning with Pop art through Postmodernism and global art today. The course will also incorporate key critical and theoretical writings from the period for discussion. Prerequisite: 101 and 102 or permission of the instructor.
315 Topics in Contemporary Art
This course will address recent developments in art from 1945 to the present; focus on particular artists, works, and movements will vary. Critical and theoretical issues of the period will be discussed. Prerequisite: 102 or permission of the instructor.
391 Studies in Art History
Studies in selected topics of the history of art and architecture. The content of each course will be altered periodically. Prerequisite: 101 and 102 or permission of the instructor.
404 Seminar: Topics in the History of Art
Advanced investigation of a particular artist, work, movement, or problem in the history of art. Prerequisite: permission of the instructor.
407 Art Historical Methods
Study of the research tools and methodologies of art historical analysis, a study of the use of primary and secondary sources, and documents in art history. In addition, the major schools of art historical writing and theory since the Renaissance will be considered. The course has as its final project a public exhibition in The Trout Gallery curated by the seminar students. Prerequisite: Art & Art History Senior Majors only.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |