CIEE Toulouse, France

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1 CIEE Toulouse, France Course name: Masterworks of French Art Course number: AHIS 3001 TOFR Programs offering course: Toulouse Business and Culture Language of instruction: English U.S. Semester Credits: 3 Contact Hours: 45 Term: Spring 2019 Course Description This course focuses on the masterworks of French art and architecture from the Middle Ages through the 20th century. The course takes into consideration the links between art, history and culture, and works are thus studied within their artistic, historical and social context. Topics covered go all the way from the Romanesque and Gothic churches and monasteries, to the medieval castles and fortifications and to the the ground-breaking pictorial innovations of the French artistic milieu in the 19 th and 20 th centuries. A particular attention is paid to Southern France, more specifically the Toulouse region. The course will take full advantage of on-site classes and day-long tours, both in Toulouse and its region. Learning Objectives By the conclusion of this course, students will be able to demonstrate overall knowledge of Art history in France from the Middle Ages though contemporary works. They will be able to distinguish between architectural forms and painting styles and characteristics throughout these periods and quote specific examples to illustrate the differences. Course Prerequisites None Methods of Instruction Instruction will be supported by a mix of authentic and secondary materials, including films and powerpoint presentations. The main classroom activity is discussion, initiated by short lectures and informed by the assigned materials. Readings are assigned to help students gain familiarity with key ideas and terms, which they will then be expected to integrate into their oral and written work (including a midterm and a final exam). Active engagement in class will be enhanced through student-led presentations, and the connection and relevance of the course to Toulouse will be illustrated with several field trips to Toulouse historical sites and museums.

2 Assessment and Final Grade 1. 1 midterm (40%) 2. 1 final exam (20%) 3. 1 class presentation (20%) 4. Class participation (20%) Course Requirements Midterm exam: content questions Students will do a take home exam that will be due week 10. Students will select one essay question among three related to materials covered weeks 1-7. Students will need to demonstrate their accurate knowledge of architecture, art and historical context from the Middle-Ages. The essay will be 4 to 5 pages double spaced. Final exam: take-home essay Through this essay you will explore one broad idea, using concrete examples spread across the time periods and artistic movements we ve examined. In your essay you must refer to at least one work from before1900 and at least one work from after Give specific examples, and cite specific elements you observe in the painting(s) to support your claims. You will be assessed based on the solidity of your argument and your use of concrete examples, the accuracy of the historical issues you present, and the logic and persuasiveness of your argument. Papers should be 2-3 pages in length, 1.5-spaced, no larger than 12-point font, 1 margins. Class Presentation: Artist work Each student will prepare a 20-minute oral presentation on a French artist, someone we have discussed in class or someone we have not covered. Students are free to choose any French artist they would like to research and discuss. Through the use of visual images, students are expected to discuss: the artist s key works contemporary artistic and political atmosphere, placing the artist in context the artist s peers and influences legacy perceptions of the artist during and after their lifetime They will select 1-2 works to dissect and analyze in greater depth, and use their own

3 sketchbook and the skills they have learned about analysis through drawing to examine aspects of their work such as positive/negative space, value, composition, movement, shape, etcetera. In-progress reports will be included as part of the project evaluation. We typically spend the final class meeting on these oral/visual presentations. Attendance Regular class attendance is required throughout the program. Students must notify Center Director and instructor beforehand if they will miss class for any reason. Students are responsible for any materials covered in class in their absence. Students who miss class for medical reasons must inform the instructor and the Center Director and provide appropriate documentation. An absence in a CIEE course will only be considered excused if: a doctor s note is provided a CIEE staff member verifies that the student was too ill to attend class evidence is provided of a family emergency Attendance policies also apply to any required co-curricular class excursion or event. Students who miss class for personal travel will be marked as absent and unexcused. No make-up or re-sit opportunity will be provided. Persistent absenteeism (students exceeding 10% of total course hours missed, or violations of the attendance policies in more than one class) will lead to a written warning from the Center Director, notification to the student s home school, and/or dismissal from the program in addition to reduction in class grade(s). Students with unexcused absences exceeding 20% of the total course hours will fail the course. Late papers will be marked down 5% after the first day and 1% every day afterwards Being late is disruptive to the entire class and will negatively affect a student s participation grade. Being 10 minutes late just once is still disruptive, but can happen to all. Being late more than once, however, will have consequences for the student s participation grade. Students arriving more than ten minutes late to the class will be considered absent for the session. Weekly Schedule Most of the classes until mid-term will be divided into two weekly sessions, the first being a lecture/discussion in class, the second a field trip to visit a museum/monument to illustrate the topics discussed in class. This is hands-on learning to take full advantage of your being in Toulouse, France.

4 Part I: French Architecture through the Middle-Ages and Renaissance periods Week 1: Class: periods of history. Roman conquest and heritage. Field-study: Saint-Raymond Museum. Week 2: Class: early Middle Ages, feudal society and Gregorian Reform. Romanesque architecture. Field-study: Saint-Sernin Basilica. Assignment: View Antiquity power point, part I Week 3: Middle Ages: the Age of Cathedrals Class: Saint-Louis, the Black Death, the Hundred Years War. Gothic architecture. Field-study: Saint-Etienne Cathedral. Assignment: View Antiquity power point, part II Week 4: Class: Art and Religion: iconography, symbols and symbolism. Field-study: The Augustins Museum (Romanesque and Gothic sculpture). Assignment: View Antiquity Romanesque Gothic power point, part I Week 5: Middle Ages: Church and Society, the Fight Against Heresies Class: one class on the Cathars and the Albigensian Crusade. Field-study: the City of Carcassonne. Assignment: View Antiquity Romanesque Gothic power point, part II Week 6: Middle Ages: Architecture and Politics Class: the Mendicant Orders (Dominicans, Franciscans), the Inquisition. Southern Gothic. Field-study: the Jacobins Convent. Assignment: View Antiquity Romanesque Gothic power point, part III Week 7: the End of the Middle Ages Class: the birth of the Renaissance period. Field-study: the Pastel Trade (Renaissance palaces in Toulouse). Assignment: View Renaissance onward power point Week 8: MIDTERM Part II: 17 th through 21 st centuries Painting and the French aesthetic Week 9: Introduction Painting in Europe and in France: a brief background From the beginning. A short examination of the origins of paintings as we know them and the power of the image. 5lascaux, Chauvet) and a quick sampling of a few French

5 works from before the 1800 s. (Jean Fouquet, Nicolas Poussin, Georges de la Tour, Louise Moillon, Elizabeth de Vigée Lebrun) Choose an artist from the Baroque period and spend some time exploring 1-3 of his/her paintings. Try your hand at 2-3 thumbnail sketches (thumbnail = no larger than 3x3 or so). Your main objective is to warm up your eye-hand coordination, explore what it is to sketch while observing a work of art, and experiment with your materials. You can think about examining things like composition and focal point, shapes, movement, and the role of light. What did you discover about this piece? Bring your sketchbook and initial sketches to class on Friday. Week 10: 1. The 18 th century The Age of Enlightment, New Ideas in Painting: Watteau, Fragonard, Chardin Old ideas vs new ideas. Ingres, david; Géricault, Delacroix. Neo classicists, Romantics and Realists 2. Visit to the Augustins Museum Choose an artist for your focus, from Baroque to Rococo Create at least 3 thumbnail sketches, examining their work. Take notes as you work. Think about: focal point background & foreground / depth of space movement: where does your eye travel, and what devices does the artist use to encourage that? the role of light Upload your images and notes to our shared padlet page. Week 11: 1. Impressionism Breaking the rules painters of feeling and light: Manet, Renoir, Monet, Sisley and others 2. Visit to the Salle des Illustres Use your drawing tool of choice to create an 8-step value scale. Choose TWO artists from our lecture today for your focus, from NeoClassicism to Romanticism. Create at least 3 thumbnail sketches exploring their work. FOCUS: Value. Break down your thumbnail into simple shapes and "assign" each shape a value, from 0 to 8. Where is the light source? What effect does the light have on the overall feel? What is the overall mood of the piece? What specifically can you cite in the painting to support this?

6 Week 12: 1. Post Impressionism a word of new viwion: Toulouse Lautrec, Seurat, Cézanne, Gaugin 2. Bemberg Foundation FIRST, review the images and clips we discussed in class. SECOND, complete the thumbnails we started in class, looking at The Gleaners by Millet alongside Courbet s The Stonebreakers. THIRD, spend at least 1 hours at the Salle des Illustres, at the Capitole. Look around the entire galleries, then choose 2 paintings to spend time with. Perhaps you re interested in the light, the composition, a particular figure or group of figures, or the subject. Create at least 3 thumbnail sketches. #1: the work in its entirety breaking it down into simple shapes and overall composition and movement. #2: more detailed, either of a specific figure or area of the painting you re interested in. #3: your choice Think about: focal point: Where does your eye travel? What formal elements in the painting support this? Where is the light source and where do you see evidence of it in the painting? What role does light play? What might be the message the artist is trying to convey? What about the overall mood of the piece? What specifically can you cite to support this? Upload a picture of the original plus two of your sketches to our padlet page. Week 13: 1. Fauves and Abstraction The beginning of new forms in art 2. Surrealism and Dada: A changing world: Marcel Duchamp, André Breton, Man ray, Art and Intellect 1) REVIEW THIS WEEK S IMAGES (check the website under THE ART: PRESENTATIONS ) 2) CHOOSE 2 paintings from 2 different artists to explore 3) 4 thumbnail drawings (2 of each), exploring positive/negative space. Think about: asymmetry / negative space / use of cropping / organization of shapes Also consider: What is the focal point? What s the overall mood and what contributes to this? Be diligent about adhering to the same format as your paintings! Week 14: 1. Painting and Photography Inspiration and competition 2. After World War II: A new beginning

7 Martial Raysse, Niki de St Phalle, Yves Klein, Dubuffet an entry (or more!) a day 5 total 2-3 thumbnails per entry 1) positive/negative space 2) organizations of shapes in the composition 3) value patterns & distribution 1) an Impressionist 2) a Post-Impressionist 3) your choice someone whose work you observed in the museum Week 15 : Contemporary Art is universal and specific : Soulages, Sophie Calle, Daniel Buren, Ernst Pignon, Final class: Research paper and presentation in class Visit one of these websites we discussed, featuring the sketchbooks of Paul Cézanne, and explore some of the portraits and other drawings Cézanne developed in his sketchbooks. Pick at least 3 drawings to copy in your sketchbook. Notice especially the direction of the line and try to mimic his pencil marks as closely as possible. Readings Gombrich E.H. The story of Art, 16th edition, New York : Phaidon Press Inc, Print. Southern, Richard W. Western Society and the Church in the Middle Ages, London : Penguin, Print. O'Shea, Stephen. The Perfect Heresy: The Life and Death of the Cathars, London : Profile Books, Print. Allard, Sebastien; Loyrette, Henri; Des Cars, Laurence. Nineteenth-century French Art : from Romanticism to Impressionism, Post-Impressionism and Art Nouveau. Paris: Flammarion, Bishop, Michael. Contemporary French Art I. Eleven studies. Amsterdam-New York: Rodopi, Buchold, Benjamin H; Joselit, David. Art Since 1900: Modernism, Antimodernism, Postmodernism. London: Thames and Hudson, 2011

8 Clark, Timothy J. The Painting of Modern Life: Paris in the Art of Manet and His Followers. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1999 (rev. ed.). Colquhoun, Alan. Modern Architecture. Oxford: Oxford University Press, Green, Christopher. Art in France: New Haven-London: Yale University Press (Pelican History of Art). Lansing, Carol; English, Edward E. A Companion to the Medieval World. London: Blackwell Publishing, Lemerle, Frederique; Pauwels, Yves. Baroque Architecture Paris: Flammarion, Minne-Seve, Vivienne; Kegall, Herve. Romanesque and Gothic France. Art and Architecture. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 2000 Porterfield, Todd; Siegfried, Susan L. Staging Empire: Napoleon, Ingres and David. Philadelphia: The Pennsylvania State University, Scott, Robert A. The Gothic Enterprise. A Guide to Understanding the Medieval Cathedral. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, Southern, Richard W. Western Society and the Church in the Middle Ages. Penguin Books. Zerner, Henri. Renaissance Art in France. Paris: Flammarion, Berger, John, Ways of Seeing, BBC Series in Print and Penguin Press, 1972 Clark, Kenneth, Civilisation A Personal View, BBC Series, 1969 Mitchell, Carolyn B; Great French Paintings from the Barnes Foundation Impressionist, Post-Impressionist and Early Modern, Knopf, 1995 Stuckey, Charles, French Painting Hugh Lauter Levin Associates, New York, 1997 Stuckey, Charles Interview on StudioCrasher YouTube, October 2012 Sturgis, Alexander, Understanding Paintings: Themes in Art Explored and Explained, Wason Guptill, New York, 2000

CIEE Toulouse, France

CIEE Toulouse, France Course name: Masterworks of French Art Course number: AHIS 3001 TOFR Programs offering course: Toulouse Business and Culture, Language and Culture Language of instruction: English