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This course surveys the history of Western painting from the start of the 14th century to the late 20th century and our own moment. Lectures introduce important artists (Giotto, Rembrandt, Velazquez, Goya, Manet, Matisse, Pollock, and others), and major themes associated with the art of particular periods and cultures. The course emphasizes training students to look closely at - and to write about - works of art. WIM Course.

An introduction to major monuments, themes, styles, and media of East and South Asian visual arts, in their social, literary, religious, and political contexts. Through close study of primary monuments of architectural, pictorial, and sculptural arts and related texts, this course will explore ritual and mortuary arts; Buddhist arts across Asia; narrative and landscape images; and courtly, urban, monastic, and studio environments for art from Bronze Age to modern eras.

From antiquity to the 20th century, mostly Western with some non-Western topics. Buildings and general principles relevant to the study of architecture.

The course is taught jointly by distinguished faculty in the Department of Art & Art History, each of whom presents lectures on a favored object of study, ranging from ancient Greek pottery to modern art and avant-garde cinema, including for example the 12th century Phoenix Hall complex at Uji, Japan; and the groundbreaking Raft of the Medusa by 19th century French painter Theodore Gericault. Professors of documentary filmmaking focus their presentations on issues central to their own creative work. Students thus encounter a wide range of expertise and are invited to explore major issues that structure the interpretation of great works of art and visual culture from diverse periods and different geographical origins. Participants gain exposure to a variety of interpretive strategies and historical perspectives through focused lectures and class discussions, as well as opportunities for up-close examination of original objects in campus collections. Writing assignments will develop skills in description and visual analysis, culminating in a final paper devoted to a single work of the student's choice. May be repeated for credit.

"All photographs are accurate. None is the truth." Richard Avedon (1923-2004) The invention of photography inspired the belief that there could be a truthful and objective way to visually record the world. From portraits to travel photographs to documentary, photography has influenced how modern history is understood and remembered. Yet, a photograph is a manipulated image, shaped by the perspective of the photographer and further framed by its printing, presentation, and interpretation. The complex ethical and political issues associated with photography significantly impact how events and moments are recorded by history. Consider, for example, the US government's 18-year ban (ended in 2009) on photographing the flag-draped coffins of America's war dead as their bodies are returned to the United States. What matters most: protecting the privacy of military families or protecting American citizens from the death toll of war? Over the past decade, the number of photographers has increased exponentially, further blurring the boundary between what is truth and what is fiction. Even the concept of "gatekeepers" is obsolete: anyone with a smartphone is armed with a camera and can create their own stories, their own records, and their own truths. Further, the Internet grants nearly universal freedom to document and disseminate images that record, incriminate, illuminate, persuade, enrage, and glorify. In this course, we will examine the ethical parameters of photography and the many ways in which photography contributes to presenting powerful truths, creating compelling fictions, and recontextualizing history. Our discussions will be informed by course readings and opportunities to view photographs in museums and private collections throughout the Bay Area. Field trips will be arranged to meet with artists, collectors, photo editors, and advertising executives. In addition, a special session covering photographic techniques will familiarize students with the diversity of the medium.

Open to all Stanford students. Public speaking, inquiry methods, group dynamics, theme development, and art-related vocabulary. Introduction to museum administration; art registration, preparation and installation; rights and reproduction of images; exhibition planning; and art storage, conservation, and security. Students research, prepare, and present discussions on art works of their choice.

Given the importance of art to all aspects of their lives the Greeks had reason to respect their artists. Yet potters, painters and even sculptors possessed little social standing. Why did the Greeks value the work of craftsmen but not the men themselves? Why did Herodotus dismiss those who worked with their hands as "mechanics?" What prompted Homer to claim that, "there is no greater glory for a man¿ than what he achieves with his own hands," provided that he was throwing a discus and not a vase on a wheel? Painted pottery was essential to the religious and secular lives of the Greeks. Libations to the gods and to the dead required vases from which to pour them. Economic prosperity depended on the export of wine and oil in durable clay containers. At home, vases depicting gods and heroes reinforced Greek values and helped parents to educate their children. Ceramic sets with scenes of Dionysian excess were reserved for elite symposia from which craftsmen were excluded. Sculptors were less lowly but even those who carved the Parthenon's pediments and frieze were still "mechanics," with soft bodies and soft minds (Xenophon), "indifferent to higher things" (Plutarch). The seminar addresses these issues. Students will read and discuss texts, write response papers and present slide lectures on aspects of the artist's profession.

The development of Greek art and culture from protogeometric beginnings to the Persian Wars, 1000-480 B.C.E. The genesis of a native Greek style; the orientalizing phase during which contact with the Near East and Egypt transformed Greek art; and the synthesis of East and West in the 6th century B.C.E.

The course explores the art and architecture of the Athenian Empire in the age of Pericles, and then considers the effects of civil war and plague on Greek art and society in the later 5th and early 4th centuries.