ART216-01: Art History Survey II: From the st. Renaissance to the 21 Century

Transcription

1 ART216-01: Art History Survey II: From e st Renaissance to e 21 Century Instructor: Prof. Roann Barris Fall 2006, T Th 11-12:15, 107 Cook web site: Office: 224 Powell (inside e slide library) HRS: MW 10-12, TTh 1-3; Phone: rbarris@radford.edu Description: Part two of e art history survey spans a period of extraordinary developments and changes in art. These changes include e nature and role of e artist, reasons for making art, e public s responses to art, e materials and media used, and e subject matter of e art work - in short, noing is constant and everying changes. One of e most amazing changes, which may be hard to believe today, is at artists during e Renaissance did not make art for emselves - art was a business long before it became a form of personal expression. Guiding questions for is survey erefore include e changing nature of patronage (who wants e art and who pays e artist) and its effect on art; e role of gender in terms of who makes e art work, what it looks like, and who uses it; and e grow of national issues and eir reflection in art. Finally, as your textbook title indicates, is class focuses on e western tradition of art (Europe and Nor America). Goals and Objectives: to understand e history of art as e history and visualization of ideas about people and e world ey live in to recognize e interaction between regional styles, period styles, and e personal expressive style of e artist to recognize and trace changing approaches to e representation of e human st figure in sculpture and painting from e Renaissance to e early 21 century to recognize e roles of gender, economic systems, and politics in bo e creation and reception of art to understand e difference between a personal response, a descriptive response, and a critical response based on eory, history, and visual analysis when speaking and writing about art Textbooks Fred S. Kleiner. Gardner s Art rough e Ages: The Western Perspective. V. II. (Thomson- Wadswor, 2006). Sylvan Barnet. A Short Guide to Writing about Art. 8 ed. (Pearson-Longman, 2005). Using e survey textbook: Reading e relevant chapter before class will help you understand e lecture and direct your attention to important concepts for note-taking. After e material has been covered, you should review e chapter again. Use Barnet to help you wi your essay writing and test-taking strategies. Topic Outline and Readings I. Introduction to Art History Survey II an overview of major changes and emes in art from e Ren. to e present an introduction to analytic tools and concepts Reading: Gardner: look at e section called Basics and make note of some of e tools it provides; read e Introduction Barnet: ch. 1-1-

2 II. The Italian World of Order: e Renaissance in e 15 century key ideas: humanism; e role of antiquity; competition versus imitation Space, perspective and illusion in Renaissance art and architecture e nature of art in e 15 century key artists and architects: Donatello, Ghiberti, Masaccio, Mantegna, Botticelli, Fra Angelico, Piero della Francesca, Brunelleschi, Alberti, Fra Filippo Lippi, Domenico Ghirlandaio Reading: Gardner, ch. 16 Barnet, ch. 2 III. Notions of Perfection: The Italian Renaissance in e 16 century ideas and artists: changes from e early Renaissance to e high or classical Renaissance; e idea of a perfect church: Bramante s Tempietto; e artist as scientist: Leonardo; Raphael s luminous vision; Michelangelo s biblical drama reading: Gardner, chapter 17, IV. More an one Renaissance? ideas and artists: e Venetian Renaissance: Bellini, Titian, and Giorgione: painting as poetry and e role of color; women in e Renaissance as artist, patron, and subject matter: Anguissola, Fontana, Isabella d Este chapter 17, V. Transitions to e 17 century: e beginning of a change ideas and artists: Mannerism, e Counter-Reformation, and new patronage Pontormo, Parmigianino, Bronzino, Tintoretto, Veronese, Giulio Romano, Giovanni da Bologna, Palladio ch. 17, VI. The 16 Century in Norern Europe ideas: e norern context for e Renaissance and e meaning of realism, e Reformation and e battle wi religion: why it took a different form in e nor; e impact on art: e norern portrait and e norern landscape; e role of e market artists: Bosch, Grunewald, Durer, Holbein, Bruegel, and El Greco (an artist from Spain) ch. 15, ; chapter 18 (all) VII. The Baroque era: The Power of Theater, Politics and Religion ideas and artists: The sacred becomes personal: Caravaggio and A. Gentileschi; Bernini: e total work of art; Baroque architecture in Italy: Borromini ch. 19: VIII. The power of light: Baroque painting in N. Eur. and Spain ideas and artists: Versailles and e Baroque landscape in France; Rembrandt, Velazquez and Vermeer: e power of allegory; Rubens and e aristocracy complete ch. 19,

3 IX. The eater of love and e eater of morality: from e Rococo to e neoclassical ideas and artists: New patrons and new subjects: e entertainment value of art: Rococo paintings and architecture; Watteau, Vigée-Lebrun; Morality intrudes: e moral genre paintings of Hogar and Greuze ch. 20, X. Reframing Frankenstein: revolutions and eir afterma ideas and artists: Intellectual revolutions and e first Industrial revolution ; The Neoclassical rejection of superficiality in art and architecture; David s neoclassical representation of revolution; neoclassical architecture ch. 20, XI. The art of revolution and horror: e Romantic movement ideas and artists: politics and e age of goic horror: Goya, Gericault, Delacroix; e romantic sublime and e picturesque: Constable, Turner, Friedrich ch. 20: XII. New media and new venues for art ideas and artists: Oer revolutions: international expositions and e invention of photography; Daguerre, Talbot, Cameron, O Sullivan ch. 20: XIII. Political realism and oer realisms ideas and artists: e proletariat and e bourgeoisie; modern life, science, and an interest in e common person; Courbet, Millet, Bonheur, Eakins, e pre-raphaelite broerhood ch. 21: XIII. The impressionist impulse ideas and artists: e end of e salon; e rise of naturalism; e new middle class and e pursuit of leisure; Manet, Monet, Renoir, Degas, Cassatt, Morisot ch. 21: XIV. Dreaming in front of nature at e end of e 19 century ideas and artists: Responses to impressionism: neo-impressionism and protoexpressionism: Seurat, Cezanne, and Van Gogh; Symbolism and synesesia: Gauguin, Rodin, Redon; fin-de-siècle decadence and art nouveau: Horta, Beardsley, Klimt, Gaudi; American art-nouveau? Sullivan complete ch. 21: XV. Early 20 century avant-gardes ideas and artists: new artistic revolutions; pure abstraction; World War I and e radicalization of art: cubism, futurism, and constructivism; Picasso, Matisse, Boccioni, Kandinsky; de Stijl and Mondrian ch. 22: ;

4 XVI. Redefining art after e first World War ideas and artists: The call to order and disorder: Dada, Surrealism and Socialist Realism; Duchamp, Arp, Hoch, Grosz, Dix, Kollwitz, de Chirico, Dali, Ernst ch. 22: XVII: Art after WW II ideas and artists: Existentialism and e artist; e end of modernism and e beginning of e postmodern; new media, new, new subjects, new art ch. 22: ; ch. 23: as much as possible! Requirements Attendance and Participation: Attendance is required and necessary since lectures will supplement but not duplicate reading material. You are responsible for signing e attendance sheet - if you don t, you will be marked absent. I will usually prepare written handouts for class and I will try to maintain a web site study guide. Bo are intended to help you wi your note-taking. Participation is also expected but not surprisingly, it s difficult in a large class. To facilitate your participation, buy a pack of 3x5 index cards and bring one wi you to each class. Use e card for several ings: 1) if I ask a question, and you don t get to answer it, write down an answer. 2) if you have a question, but don t get to ask it, write it down. Put your name on e card and hand it in after each class. It will tell me you were ere and it will be a mark of silent participation. 3) I may use e cards for spontaneous quizzes. I will ask a brief question, direct you to write down your answer wiout saying it aloud. I will keep track of how many you get correct. When you get 5 correct, I will give you a bonus of 10 points. If your absences do not exceed two times, and you make a true effort to participate in class, you will receive 50 points for attendance and participation. Each absence over two will be a loss of 10 points from your grade total. Note at participation does not mean being right; it means taking an interest and contributing. Grading and Assignments: Alough I do not give optional assignments, when possible I will give you choices about how to fulfill em. Because your grade will be based on a variety of assessment measures, you don t need to be good at everying in order to excel. In oer words, a single bad grade is not cause for despair. Hourlies and e final exam will involve identification of key art works by artist, name of work, and in some cases, dates will also required. You will occasionally be asked questions about e significance of someing and about historical developments. In some cases you will also need to identify e style of someing you haven t seen before. Alough I may ask short-answer questions, ese will not be scantron tests. The hourlies will generally take a little less an an hour, so ere will also be class on ese days. There will be no make-ups for missed tests. The final exam lasts for two hours and will include essay questions. (100 points each hourly test; final = 150) -4-

5 Memorization - which you have to do in order to recognize art works by name isn t easy. We all know at. But in is class, it serves two purposes: even ough it s hard, identification of art works will be e most objective or black-and-white test questions you have. There s no ambiguity about being right or wrong. Since at isn t always e case when we analyze art, identification quizzes will be a reassuring assessment of your growing ability to know what you re looking at. The second reason for doing is is at you can t talk about art unless you remember e art works. It s a necessary skill, like learning how to read music before you can play an instrument. You will be allowed to bring one 3x5 index card wi you for every test, including e final exam. All notes on e card should be handwritten. You must put your name on e card and hand it in wi your exam. I expect all tests to be done in pen. You will need a blue book for e final exam (you can buy is in e bookstore for approximately 50 cents). Essay ( Mini-Term Paper Instead of a term paper, I am assigning e equivalent of a 4-page essay. It must be researched, use footnotes and have a bibliography, and involve your own personal observations or insights. Four pages is not very long, so you need to ink of it as a researchable question which you plan to answer. You cannot do a study of an artist in four pages; nor can you do an entire movement in art. The following list contains examples of topic questions which can be used for a 4-page paper: 1. How do artists self-portraits change from e Renaissance to e 20 century? [You can t include every example of a self-portrait during is time. To answer a question like is, you would need to identify a few types of self-portraits, wi key examples of each type. You might have one from e 15 century, anoer from e 17, a late 19 century example, and one from e 20. If you choose your examples well, you can refer to oer artists as being similar to one of your key examples and supporting your belief at ere are four (or some oer number) types.] 2. How does e nature of space in e painting change from e early Renaissance rough impressionism? [This question is about e use of perspective to create e illusion of dep or real space in e painting and its eventual rejection by e Impressionists.] 3. [a recurring subject in art]: The story of David is a popular subject in art. How does it appear in art during e period from e Renaissance rough e 20 centuries, what does it mean at different points in time, and why does it change? [David isn t e only recurring eme. The beheading of someone, like Holofernes, is anoer popular eme. Moer and child images are also popular, alough e original idea is religious (Mary is e moer) but later it is not. If you like is idea, you might choose two very different representations of e eme to focus on and refer to oer examples which demonstrate less dramatic differences but help you build your argument. 4. How does e market for art influence e work of art? [Artists in e Renaissance were commissioned by wealy aristocrats so ey did not really work for an art market. In norern Europe, a market did begin to take shape during e Renaissance. Eventually, e market system becomes more important an e private patron; today, we might say, e private patron and e market are really e same ing. Or are ey?] 5. In fairly recent days, an increasing number of books have been written about art. The Da Vinci Code is not e only one - before Brown s book came along, ere was a book about a -5-

6 painting by Vermeer: The Girl wi e Pearl Earring. Some of ese books have been made into movies. What can you actually learn about e history of art from ese works of fiction? Oer an entertainment, what art-related value do ey have? Are ey misleading, wi respect to real history? [If you choose is topic, you should include more an book or movie. The question isn t asking for a review; it s asking you to compare e fictional or cinematic version of art history wi e real one.] 6. During e Renaissance, most (alough not all) art has religious subject matter. That is certainly not e case as we get closer to e 20 century. This suggests several questions: How does subject matter change during e time period we are studying? Why does religious subject matter become less popular? What takes its place? OPTIONS: 1) If you don t like ese questions but have one of your own, meet wi me outside of class and tell me what your idea is. You re not restricted to is list but you do need to clear your topic wi me first, if it isn t on is list. Note at all of e questions I ve included involve some form of comparison or discussion which includes more an one period of history and more an one artist. 2) Four pages is too short? You blew one of your tests? By agreement, you can write an 8- page paper and have it count as bo e mini-term paper and a replacement for one of your tests. But you must clear is wi me first. Guidelines for how to format your paper will be handed out in class. Wheer you choose to do e 4-page version or e 8-page, it will be due on Nov. 16. (4-page essay = 150 points; 8-page essay = 150 points + one hourly test) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If you ve taken art history before, e following suggestions may not be anying new. If is is your first art history class or you re still fairly new to art history, e following ideas are intended as helpful suggestions. HOW TO GET AN A (OR CLOSE TO IT) 1. Increase your participation: why? It keeps you awake so you take better notes. It makes e time go faster. It gives you a chance to practice: answering questions and getting feedback when it doesn t count will help you on a test, when it does count. 2. Increase your participation: how? This may sound like strange advice, but try sitting in different seats. Alough it helps me get to know you when you stay in e same seat, you may feel bolder in some parts of e room. Sitting up front may make e room seem smaller, and erefore less reatening. For oer people, being in e back is less reatening. Try different seats until you find your best place. Reward yourself: make a deal wi yourself. For every 5 times you ask or answer a question, you ll buy yourself a creamy latte (or whatever you like). Ask questions: it s less intimidating an answering em. -6-

7 3. Take good notes Why? No matter how much I put on e web site, it can t take e place of your own notes. For one, your notes reflect your understanding. For anoer, writing someing down helps you remember it. What should you write down? Enough of e artist s name (abbreviate!) and e art work s name to know what it is you re writing about. You don t need e entire name, since at will be on your handout or on e web site, and you can write faster if you use shortcuts. Key features of e art work: what do I indicate is unusual or novel? What does is art work mean to oer people? How did people react to it when it was made? How do people react to it today? What comparisons do I make to it? If you don t get all of is from e lecture, go back to your notes later and supplement em. 4. Image Identification: Study techniques I always recommend making study flash-cards by cutting out e image and pasting it on one side of an index card and writing e important information on e oer. But making e cards doesn t guarantee remembering e image! Step one: prioritize. Are all e images equally important? Probably not. So you need to decide which ones are e most likely candidates for an exam: Which ones did I spend a long time talking about? Which ones have I come back to more an once and used in comparisons? Which are covered in bo e textbook and in class? Step two: group em. Were several paintings used to illustrate a common principle or eme? Put em togeer. Did we study e work of a single artist in detail? Learn his or her work as a unit. Did we cover ree different periods? Group e works by period. It doesn t matter what categories you make; what matters is at e category should help you make sense of e images. Step ree: get to know e images. This involves several ings. Just looking at it is a passive activity and probably won t do e job. Look at it and describe it to yourself. What exactly is it a picture of? What colors did e artist use? What shapes dominate e picture? How would you describe it to someone who has never seen it? But in addition to visual familiarity, get to know e image as a character in history. What is e meaning of e picture? Why was it made? When was it made? What happened because it was made? Step four: test yourself. Run rough your flash cards more an once and make yourself write down e answers. (Secret trick: try drawing umbnail sketches of e image. Even if you can t draw well, it records e image in your mind. And no one else will ever see your pictures!) 5. Terminology and key ideas This should be pretty straightforward. Make a list of any terms and concepts which are new (not just to you but to e period as well), difficult, unfamiliar, used more an once. Find eir definitions and find examples of art works which illustrate e meaning of e term. Wi respect to concepts and ideas, begin grouping art works in terms of e ideas ey relate to. This will be especially useful for essay questions. Essays do not always tell you which works to write about. They may ask you to write about a eme or idea and leave it to you to choose e works which make e best examples. Thinking about ese groups beforehand will help you under e pressure of an exam. Related to is, you may want to make up your own essay questions and try to answer em when you re studying. -7-

8 RESOURCES: Using e Class Web Site My home page is: On at page, you can find a link for e ART216 home page. If you re working from your own computer, you can create a bookmark. The course home page will contain links to study guides. These are outlines and summaries of key ideas covered in class, wi some of e images. They are not verbatim transcripts of lectures, so do not expect to read em instead of coming to class. The best way to use e study guides is as a back-up for your own note-taking it will help you fill in what you missed but it does not have everying we cover in class. Students who do e best work in my classes generally read e text book before class, take detailed notes on lectures, and en compare eir notes and e text wi e material on e web site. They also try to stay on top of ings is material can make sense or it can seem strange and foreign to you. The trick is to engage wi it ask e art questions and let it speak to you. Good students also ask questions in class and are willing to take a chance and answer em. I update e web site frequently so check often, and make sure you hit e refresh button if you ve created a bookmark. Images download slowly, so use a computer wi a good network connection or work on campus. Using ARTstor Artstor is an image library to which Radford University subscribes. Most of e images I show you in class come from e Artstor collection, but not all of em do. This is why you need to check e images on my web site as well as e images in Artstor. Because of licensing requirements, I will not put e Artstor image lists on my web page. You can access em quite easily and eier save em to your computer or print em out for yourself. 1. Access Artstor rough e library data base system or by typing in: The first time you use Artstor, you must eier be on campus or go to e artstor site by using e Radford library link. Once you have a log-in and password, you can work from home for 4 mons wiout working on a campus computer. 2. Make sure you allow pop-ups for is site. Oerwise, it will not work. 3. Whenever you use Artstor, after e home page comes up: Click on e launch button on e right side of e Artstor home page: Search and Browse for Images. You can t register until you do is. 4a. The first time you use it, you must register. Hit e register button (on e right side of e page you re now on) and complete e form. Your Artstor user name must be e same as your Radford address. You can change your password, but why make ings complicated. 4b. Now at you re registered, e next time you use it, instead of hitting e register button, you log in (e button is below e register button). You must always log in when you use it. 5. Register for e course. You only need to do is once. Go to e Tools menu on e top of e page, and choose: access shared folder. It will come up wi your name entered for you and ask you for a password or access code. Use e following for is class: ART216Fall06-8-

9 This will give you access to e image groups I place in e folder called: Art History Survey II (Fall 2006) which will now show up when you hit e button for select a folder. After you choose is folder, you can choose an image group. As I create slide study groups, I will add em to is folder and ey will show up as additional options under select image group. You can also use Artstor to browse for images which I haven t put in e study folders; you need to log in but you do not need to choose a course folder when you do at. You can save e folders I make into your own work folder and en you can add comments to e images. You can print out e images, wi or wiout e comments, and you can save em on your own computer. Let me know if you need help wi any of is. Artstor includes a lot of information at you do not need to know and occasionally it includes incorrect information. This means at you need to sort out e information included and learn what is necessary. For instance, I will never ask you where an artwork is currently located. Alough it is useful to know e dates of an artist s life, I will not test you on at. In contrast, you should know e date when e art work was made. In e case of discrepancies between information I give you in class and information in Artstor, use e material I ve given you in class. Due Dates and Personal Grading Chart: Expectation Due Date Points (ideal) Points (actual) attendance (50) index card quizzes (Unknown) first test Sept. 5 (100) nd 2 test Sept. 26 (100) rd 3 test Oct. 17 (100) SECAC CONFERENCE Oct. 26: no class 4 test Nov. 9 (100) mini-term paper due Nov. 16 (150) final exam Tues., Dec. 12, 11 a.m. (150) TOTAL (750) A = 665 B = 590 C = 515 D = 450 F = below

10 Classroom Contract 1. Arrive on time. Arrive promptly and be prepared to begin class when it is time for class to start. The dominant rule of conduct should always be consideration for your peers and for your instructor. That means staying awake, not having private conversations, turning off your cell phone and oer electronic equipment, and not leaving e class after we ve started. 2. Disagreements and Personal Responsibility We should expect to disagree on issues about art. Some questions are factual, in which case ere s only one correct answer, but art questions are often interpretive. Some interpretations or explanations may be better an oers. Disagreement is not a value judgement and I may disagree wi you. Likewise, you may disagree wi me. This is not a problem if e question is about interpretation or preferences; it is a problem when e question is about social or historical context or someone else s interpretation - in oer words, ings which can be supported by research. This is where personal responsibility enters: it is your responsibility as a student in is class to back up your interpretations wi evidence based on reading and research. Perhaps more important: don t confuse personal preferences wi analysis and learning. 3. Academic Honesty Students are expected to abide by e Radford University Honor Code in is and all your classes. This includes e avoidance of plagiarism on all writing assignments. 4. Assistance for Students wi Disabilities: If you have a learning disability recognized by e Disabled Student Services Office of Radford University, you should advise me of e nature of your disability during e first week of e semester. Oer problems: a lot of ings happen to us and we can t always cope wi em as well as we d like. You may not want to confide your personal life problems in me, but if someing is impacting your performance, you should find a way to let me know - before e last week of e semester! At e same time, recognize at you have choices to make and a university education does make demands. Sometimes e right choice is knowing when you can t do someing. 5. Academic Freedom: from e Radford University Handbook: Faculty and students have e right to express eir views wiout fear of censorship or penalty. Such freedom must apply bo to teaching and research and includes not only e rights of a teacher in teaching but e rights of a student in learning. To me is means at least two ings: not only is it highly possible at we won t believe e same ings, but we can feel free to say it wiout penalty. It also means at as an educator, my decisions about how to present material to you and what material to present may be different from ose made by your oer teachers. 6. Read e syllabus. A copy of e syllabus will be posted on line. If you lose your copy, check e online syllabus so you can stay on track. I have read e classroom contract and syllabus and agree to follow e procedures and expectations listed. I understand at not doing so will negatively affect my grade. Signature and date: -10-