1 - 10 of 29 results for: ARTHIST

An exploration of the visual arts of East and South Asia from ancient to modern times, in their social, religious, literary and political contexts. Analysis of major monuments of painting, sculpture and architecture will be organized around themes that include ritual and funerary arts, Buddhist art and architecture across Asia, landscape and narrative painting, culture and authority in court arts, and urban arts in the early modern world.

Opportunity for students to pursue an internship at the Stanford University Archaeology Collections (SUAC) and receive training and experience in museum curation. Curatorial interns conduct focused object research in preparation for upcoming exhibitions to go on view at the Stanford Archaeology Center.

The class begins with the art, architecture and political ideals of Periclean Athens, from the emergence of the city as the political and cultural center of Greece in 450 to its defeat in the Peloponnesian War in 404. It then considers how the Athenians (shell-shocked from war and three outbreaks of plague) and the rest of 4th century Greece rebuild their lives and the monuments that define them. Earlier 5th century traditions endure, with subtle changes, in the work of sculptors such as Kephisodotos. Less subtle are the outlook and output of his son Praxiteles. In collaboration with Phryne, his muse and mistress, Praxiteles challenged the canons and constraints of the past with the first female nude in the history of Greek sculpture. His gender-bending gods and men were equally audacious, their shiny surfaces reflecting Plato's discussion of Eros and androgyny. Scopas was also a man of his time, but pursued different interests. Drawn to the interior lives of men and woman, his tormented Trojan War heroes and victims are still scarred by memories of the Peloponnesian War, and a world away from the serene faces of the Parthenon. His Maenad, who has left this world for another, belongs to the same years as Euripides' Bacchae and, at the same time, anticipates the torsion and turbulence of Bernini and the Italian Baroque. The history and visual culture of these years remind us that we are not alone, that the Greeks grappled as we do with the inevitability and consequences of war, disease and inner daemons.

This course surveys the art and architecture of societies where Muslims were dominant or where they formed significant minorities from the emergence of Islam until the present. It examines the form and function of architecture and works of art as well as the social, historical and cultural contexts, patterns of use, and evolving meanings attributed to art by the users. The course follows a chronological order, where selected visual materials are treated along chosen themes. Themes include the creation of a distinctive visual culture in the emerging Islamic polity; the development of urban institutions; key architectural types such as the mosque, madrasa, caravanserai, dervish lodge and mausoleum; art objects and the arts of the illustrated book; self-representation; cultural interconnections along trade and pilgrimage routes; westernization and modernization in art and architecture.

An exploration of new forms of landscape art in China's contemporary era, 1980s-present. Studies of new media platforms for landscape related imagery, imagined landscapes, and expanded concepts of landscape in an era of heightened ecological consciousness.

This seminar examines the art history of censorship in the United States. Paying special attention to the suppression of queer, Black, and Latinx visual and performance art, including efforts to vandalize works and defund institutions, students will explore a variety of writing such as news articles, manifestos, letters, protest signs, scholarly texts, and court proceedings. The course approaches censorship as an act to restrict freedom of expression and, however unwittingly, as a mode of provocation and publicity.

This course examines the relationship between art and the market, from Renaissance artisans to struggling Impressionist painters to the globalized commercial world of contemporary art and NFTs. 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 examine 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.

This seminar examines exhibitions of art made by Latinas/es/os/xs in the United States, including Chicanos, Nuyoricans, and other Black, Brown, and Indigenous artists. While exploring exhibitions, students will consider curators' and artists' relationships to identity, race, ethnicity, gender, and sexuality. Students will also study how practitioners have responded to and challenged discrimination, institutional exclusion, and national debates through their work. The course will include guest curator talks and will result in final projects that comprise either research papers that critically look at exhibitions or proposals for exhibitions of Latinx art.

Museums have a history. This course questions how museums have shaped and been shaped by society, from their origins in early modern cabinets of curiosity to their contemporary transformation into virtual galleries and online exhibitions. Incorporating visits to Stanford¿s diverse collections, this seminar considers the histories of museums as public institutions and explores key concepts guiding the acquisition and display of art.