Results for ARTHIST

This lecture course surveys the history of architecture and urbanism, from the first societies to the present, in Europe, West and East Asia, the Americas, and Africa. The course progresses by case studies of exemplary monuments and cities, and examines the built environment as both cultural artifact and architectural event. It considers the social and political circumstances of architectural invention as well as plumbing the depth of artistic context by which particular formal choices resonate with an established representational culture.

Ideas matter. Concepts such as equality, progress, and tradition have inspired social movements, shaped political systems, and dramatically influenced the lives of individuals. Others, like freedom of the press, fact versus fiction, and citizenship play an important role in contemporary debates in the United States. All of these ideas are contested, and they have a real power to change lives, for better and for worse. In this one-unit class we will examine these dangerous ideas. Each week, a faculty member from a different department in the humanities and arts will explore a concept that has shaped human experience across time and space. Some weeks will have short reading assignments, but you are not required to purchase any materials.

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. n nWhy 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?n nPainted 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, depictions of gods and heroes on vases reinforced Greek values and helped parents to educate their children. Ceramic sets with scenes of Dionysian excess were reserved for elite symposia from which those who potted and painted them were excluded.n nSculptors were less lowly but even those who carved the Parthenon were still regarded as "mechanics," with soft bodies and soft minds (Xenophon) "indifferent to higher things" (Plutarch).n nThe seminar addresses these issues. Students will read and discuss texts, write response papers and present slide lectures and gallery talks on aspects of the artist's profession.

The course explores the experience and imagination of medieval journeys through an interdisciplinary, cross-cultural, and skills-based approaches. As a foundations class, this survey of medieval culture engages in particular the art and architecture of the period. The Middle Ages is presented as a network of global economies, fueled by a desire for natural resources, access to luxury goods and holy sites. We will study a large geographical area encompassing the British Isles, Europe, the Mediterranean, Central Asia, India, and East Africa and trace the connectivity of these lands in economic, political, religious, and artistic terms from the fourth to the fourteenth century C.E. The students will have two lectures and one discussion session per week. Depending on the size of the class, it is possible that a graduate student TA will run the discussion session. Our goal is to give a skills-oriented approach to the Middle Ages and to engage students in creative projects that will satisfy 1. Ways-Creative Expression requirement as well as one of the following two: Ways-Analytical Interpretive or Ways-Engaging Difference.

Survey of European painting bracketed by the French Revolution and the end of the Napoleonic conquest. Against this background of social upheavel, the visual arts were profoundly affected by shifts in patronage, public, and ideas about the social utility of image making. Lectures and readings align ruptures in the tradition of representation with the unfolding historical situation, and trace the first manifestations of a "romantic" alternative to the classicism that was the cultural legacy of pre-Revolutionary Europe.

Iconic episodes in the history of modern European and American design, including production, consumption, circulation and display -- from iron architecture of the department store and the universal exhibition to the branding practices of Andy Warhol and Yves Saint Laurent.

The American West is characterized by frontier mythology, vast distances, marked aridity, and unique political and economic characteristics. This course integrates several disciplinary perspectives into a comprehensive examination of Western North America: its history, physical geography, climate, literature, art, film, institutions, politics, demography, economy, and continuing policy challenges. Students examine themes fundamental to understanding the region: time, space, water, peoples, and boom and bust cycles.

This course explores African American art and culture through the lens of the Cantor Arts Center's rich holdings of work by Jacob Lawrence (1917-2000). Our approach will combine close looking with attention to Lawrence's cultural, political, and social contexts. Using Lawrence as starting point, we also will consider the work of African American artists such as Charles Alston, Norman Lewis, Aaron Douglas, Betye Saar, and Kara Walker in relation to historical events including the Harlem Renaissance, the Great Depression, World War II, and the Civil Rights Movement. Key themes include the interactions of art, music, and film; the history of radical black thought; as well as issues of curatorial display and conservation.

By the seventh century three large political entities formed in the Mediterranean the Umayyads, the Carolingians, and the Byzantines each competed for legitimacy; all three emerged from the ashes of Late Antique culture, yet each tried to carve out an identity out of this common foundation. In this parting of the ways, the three empires took among others the issue of what constitutes an image and what role it plays in devotion. Eik'n, imago, ura became the basis on which to built differences and accuse the other political players of idolatry. This course explores medieval image theory, especially the phenomena of iconoclasm, iconophobia, and aniconism. The discussions focus on monuments in the Mediterranean as well as objects in the Cantor collection and facsimiles of manuscripts at the Bowes Art Library.

Students in this course will conduct the necessary art historical and collections research to select a work of art on paper for acquisition by the Cantor Arts Center. Readings and discussions will consider the history of collecting, as well as cultural, ethical, logistical, and economic questions involved in collection building. Prerequisite: one Art History course.

This seminar deals with the materials that artists have chosen in art and construction from antiquity to the early modern era. The particular focus is upon pre-modern perceptions of the inherent properties of materials, from amber and ivory to marble and granite, as well as the diverse ways in which societies have associated particular substances with social and cultural values. Particular emphasis is laid upon the architectural use of materials.

This course examines the relationship between art and the market, from the château-builders of the French Renaissance to avant-garde painters in the nineteenth-century Salon des Refusés. Using examples drawn from France, this course explores the relationship between artists and patrons, the changing status of artists in society, patterns of shifting taste, and the effects of museums on making and collecting art. Students will read a mixture of historical texts about art and artists, fictional works depicting the process of artistic creation, and theoretical analyses of the politics embedded in artworks. They will engage in sustained analysis of individual artworks, as well as the market structures in which such artworks were produced and bought. The course will be taught in English, with the option of readings in French for departmental majors.

Students will open the "black box" of museums to consider the past and present roles of institutional collections, culminating in a student-curated exhibition. Today, museums assert their relevance as dynamic spaces for debate and learning. Colonialism and restitution, the politics of representation, human/object relationships, and changing frameworks of authority make museum work widely significant and consistently challenging. Through thinking-in-practice, this course reflexively explores "museum cultures": representations of self and other within museums and institutional cultures of the museum world itself.n3 credits (no final project) or 5 credits (final project). May be repeat for credit

The Japanese tea ceremony, the ultimate premodern multimedia phenomenon, integrates architecture, garden design, ceramics, painting, calligraphy, and other treasured objects into a choreographed ritual wherein host, objects, and guests perform designated roles on a tiny stage sometimes only six feet square.. In addition to its much-touted aesthetic and philosophical aspects, the practice of tea includes inevitable political and rhetorical dimensions. This course traces the evolution of tea practice from its inception within the milieu of courtier diversions, Zen monasteries, and warrior villas, through its various permutations into the 20th century, where it was manipulated by the emerging industrialist class for different-but ultimately similar-ends.

Professional experience in a field related to the Visual Arts for six to ten weeks. Internships may include work for galleries, museums, art centers, and art publications. Students arrange the internship, provide a confirmation letter from the hosting institution, and must receive consent from the faculty coordinator to enroll in units. To supplement the internship students maintain a journal and write a research paper related to the experience and their area of academic interest. Evaluations from the student and the supervisor are submitted at the end of the internship. Restricted to declared majors and minors. May be repeated for credit.

May be repeated for credit.

Prerequisite: student must have taken a course with the instructor and/or completed relevant introductory course(s). Instructor consent and completion of the Independent Study Form are required prior to enrollment. All necessary forms and payment are required by the end of Week 2 of each quarter. Please contact the Undergraduate Coordinator in McMurtry 108 for more information. May be repeated for credit.

The course explores the experience and imagination of medieval journeys through an interdisciplinary, cross-cultural, and skills-based approaches. As a foundations class, this survey of medieval culture engages in particular the art and architecture of the period. The Middle Ages is presented as a network of global economies, fueled by a desire for natural resources, access to luxury goods and holy sites. We will study a large geographical area encompassing the British Isles, Europe, the Mediterranean, Central Asia, India, and East Africa and trace the connectivity of these lands in economic, political, religious, and artistic terms from the fourth to the fourteenth century C.E. The students will have two lectures and one discussion session per week. Depending on the size of the class, it is possible that a graduate student TA will run the discussion session. Our goal is to give a skills-oriented approach to the Middle Ages and to engage students in creative projects that will satisfy 1. Ways-Creative Expression requirement as well as one of the following two: Ways-Analytical Interpretive or Ways-Engaging Difference.

Survey of European painting bracketed by the French Revolution and the end of the Napoleonic conquest. Against this background of social upheavel, the visual arts were profoundly affected by shifts in patronage, public, and ideas about the social utility of image making. Lectures and readings align ruptures in the tradition of representation with the unfolding historical situation, and trace the first manifestations of a "romantic" alternative to the classicism that was the cultural legacy of pre-Revolutionary Europe.

Iconic episodes in the history of modern European and American design, including production, consumption, circulation and display -- from iron architecture of the department store and the universal exhibition to the branding practices of Andy Warhol and Yves Saint Laurent.

This course is designed for graduate students in Art History and Film Studies preparing to work as teaching assistants in the Department of Art and Art History. The seminar will focus on a range of theoretical and practical concerns pertaining to the successful conceptualization, organization, and execution of class lectures and discussion sections. Students will be exposed to a variety of perspectives and strategies related to quality teaching at the college level.

By the seventh century three large political entities formed in the Mediterranean the Umayyads, the Carolingians, and the Byzantines each competed for legitimacy; all three emerged from the ashes of Late Antique culture, yet each tried to carve out an identity out of this common foundation. In this parting of the ways, the three empires took among others the issue of what constitutes an image and what role it plays in devotion. Eik'n, imago, ura became the basis on which to built differences and accuse the other political players of idolatry. This course explores medieval image theory, especially the phenomena of iconoclasm, iconophobia, and aniconism. The discussions focus on monuments in the Mediterranean as well as objects in the Cantor collection and facsimiles of manuscripts at the Bowes Art Library.

This seminar probes the meaning of softness in the theory and practice of early modern Southern European art. As this seminar will investigate, softness is intrinsically tied to the creative process, to the challenges of visualization and art making. What does it mean for a sculptor to depict fingers digging into marble flesh? How did the painter rise to the challenge of depicting subtle forms - clouds, atmosphere, the beating pulse, hair and animal fur? Why were some of the first histories of art relayed as the progression from hard to soft forms? Through the investigation of the concepts and artworks of artists such as Leonardo, Giorgione, Raphael, Correggio, and Bernini, this seminar will explore softness as an aesthetic category. Materiality, enlivenment, perfection and imperfection in art theory, old-age style, and the ekphrastic tradition will be topics of particular interest. Participants are invited to pursue research papers in their fields of specialty.

This seminar deals with the materials that artists have chosen in art and construction from antiquity to the early modern era. The particular focus is upon pre-modern perceptions of the inherent properties of materials, from amber and ivory to marble and granite, as well as the diverse ways in which societies have associated particular substances with social and cultural values. Particular emphasis is laid upon the architectural use of materials.

This seminar will consider the subject of self-taught artists, who form a shadow history of American art. We will examine their work and reception by fine artists and institutions in the United States, looking specifically at how they aligned with, departed from, or helped define received art historical narratives. Special attention will be paid to issues of collecting and display, the shifting terms used to designate "self-taught," and theoretical and ethical concerns raised by the study of self-taught artists. Key themes will include theories of the archive, race, spirituality and enchantment, and disability. How might study of self-taught artists transform our understanding of canonical art historical movements? How does self-taught art challenge what it means to write about, research, and encounter objects in the world?

For Art History Ph.D. candidates. Prerequisite: consent of instructor.

(Staff)

(Staff)

For graduate students only. Approved independent research projects with individual faculty members.

May be repeated for credit. (Staff)

CPT course required for international students completing degree. Prerequisite: Art History Ph.D. candidate.