ART 12 Introduction to Western Art: Renaissance to the Present Summer 2018 (July 13-August 9) Instructor: Marta Becherini

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ART 12 Introduction to Western Art: Renaissance to the Present Summer 2018 (July 13-August 9) Instructor: Marta Becherini Course hours This course meets every day from Monday to Friday for two hours

1 ART 12 Introduction to Western Art: Renaissance to the Present Summer 2018 (July 13-August 9) Instructor: Marta Becherini Course hours This course meets every day from Monday to Friday for two hours each day, for a total of 20 classes (4 credit hours). Course description ART 12 surveys the major artistic traditions from the Renaissance through the present in Western Europe and the United States. We will focus mainly on painting and sculpture, with occasional forays into architecture and other media. The course is structured chronologically and addresses various artistic movements through selected artists and artworks. We will be looking at these artworks paying close attention to their formal qualities, as well as to their significance within their broader cultural and historical contexts. We will discuss how factors such as patronage, religion, personality, and gender, may influence artistic representation, and how the viewer s experience of a work of art contributes to the definition of its meaning. The course is designed to enable students to look thoughtfully and sensitively at works of art and to acquire some sense of their role and position within the time and place in which they were produced. Course requirements * Attendance and participation: This course is based largely on discussion. As such, your attendance and participation in class are essential, and you are expected to get involved in discussions about the topic at hand. To best do so, you should complete all of the assigned readings before each class. In order to better engage in class discussion, you are also asked to refrain from using laptops and other electronic devices while in class. * Readings: As a basic reference source I recommend Fred Kleiner s textbook Gardner s Art Through the Ages: The Western Perspective (Vol. 2), Fourteenth edition, International Edition. You can use this book to get background information and an overview of the topics covered in this course. However, for the purpose of class discussion, I will often assign readings outside this textbook, which you will find on reserve. The assigned readings are listed under each section of 1

2 the class schedule below. NOTE: The current list is tentative and subject to modification until the beginning of the course, but gives you a good idea of the workload. * Presentations: Throughout the course, each student will be asked to introduce one of the assigned readings to the rest of the class in a 5-10 minutes presentation. We will have one or two presentations during each class, depending on the number of students. The presentation should summarize the reading, provide some comment on it, and raise issues for discussion. * Final exam: The final exam will test how well you understand and analyze the topics presented in class and discussed in the readings. The exam will consist of three parts: 1) identification and comparative analysis; 2) artwork attribution; 3) essay question. The exam s content is detailed below, but additional information will be provided in class. In Part 1 of the exam you will be shown 2 slides juxtaposing two different artworks discussed in class. You will be asked to identify both works, by providing the following information: name of the artist, title of the work, date, period/culture (i.e. Italian Renaissance), and medium/technique (i.e. high relief, tempera on panel, oil on canvas, etc.). Then, you will be asked to discuss the differences and similarities that are raised by their comparison. In Part 2 you will be shown 3 artworks that were not discussed in class but were produced by one of the artists we studied. You are expected to identify the artist who produced each work, providing specific reasons that justify your attribution. Moreover, you should discuss the works formal aspects and subject matter based on what you know about the artist s life and career. In Part 3 you will be provided 2 essay questions, among which you will need to choose one. There will be no images accompanying the questions. This part of the exam checks your ability to think about the material that we have covered in class in terms of broad themes and to formulate connections between works that were created in different historical contexts. In order to prepare for this part of the exam, try to think about common themes shared by the works that we have dealt with in class. Grading * Class participation and readings 25% * Presentation 25% * Final exam 50% 2

3 Code of academic integrity According to the Code of Academic Integrity in the Beijing Jiaotong University, activities that have the effect or intention of interfering with education, pursuit of knowledge, or fair evaluation of a student s performance are prohibited. It is your responsibility to ensure your behavior does not violate this code. Inappropriate activity during exams (e.g. consulting notes, looking at or copying from other student s exam) may result in a failing grade and will be reported to the Office of Student Conduct. If you have questions about what constitutes academic dishonesty, please consult the guidelines about the Code of Academic Integrity provided by the Beijing Jiaotong University. COURSE CALENDAR (* indicates required readings to be completed by the date under which they are listed) July 13 Course Overview and Introduction to the Renaissance * Fred S. Kleiner, What is Art History? (Gardner s Art Through the Ages, pp. 1-13) July 16 The Early Renaissance in 15 th -century Italy and the Flanders * Leon Battista Alberti, excerpt from On Painting * Giorgio Vasari, from Lives of the Painters, Sculptors and Architects, Preface to Part III July 17 The High Renaissance in 16 th -century Italy * David Rosand, Raphael s School of Athens and the Artist of the Modern Manner July 18 High Renaissance to Mannerism (Italy, 16 th c.) * Giorgio Vasari, Life of Michelangelo Buonarroti * Michelangelo, selected poems July 19 The High Renaissance in Northern Europe (16 th c.) * Karel van Mander, Pieter Bruegel of Bruegel 3

4 July 20 The Baroque in Italy and Spain (17 th c.) * Ovid, excerpt from the Metamorphoses, Daphne and Apollo * Saint Teresa of Avila, excerpt from The Life of Saint Teresa of Avila by Herself July 23 The Northern Baroque: Flanders and the Dutch Republic (17 th c.) * Constantijn Huygens, excerpt from The Autobiography of Constantijn Huygens July 24 Art in the Age of Enlightenment: Rococo and Neoclassicism (18 th c.) * Gardner s Art Through the Ages, pp ( The Grand Tour and Veduta Painting ; The Excavations of Herculaneum and Pompeii ; David on Greek Style and Public Art ) July 25 Romanticism across Europe (late 18 th -early 19 th c.) * Goya, Address to the Royal Academy of San Fernando Regarding the Method of Teaching the Visual Arts * Susan Sontag, excerpt from Regarding the Pain of Others July 26 Realism and the Painting of Modern Life in 19 th -century France * Gustave Courbet, Letter to Young Artists * Charles Baudelaire, excerpt from The Painter of Modern Life July 27 Impressionism (France, second half of the 19 th c.) * Jules LaForgue, Impressionism * Théodore Duret, excerpt from The Impressionist Painters July 30 Post-Impressionism and Symbolism (late 19 th -early 20 th c.) * Gardner s Art Through the Ages, p. 701 ( Pointillism and 19 th -Century Color Theory ) * Paul Cézanne, Letters to Emile Bernard * Paul Gauguin, selected writings (Chipp, Theories of Modern Art, pp. 65, 79) July 31 Early 20 th -century avant-gardes: Fauvism and German Expressionism 4

5 * Henri Matisse, Notes of a Painter * Wassily Kandinsky, The Effect of Color Aug 1 The Crisis of Representation: Cubism and Italian Futurism ( ) * Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler, excerpt from The Way of Cubism * Pablo Picasso, Statement to Marius de Zayas Aug 2 Art between WWI and WWII: Dada, De Stijl, and Surrealism * Marcel Duchamp, Painting at the Service of the Mind * Marcel Duchamp, The Richard Mutt Case * Maz Ernst, What is Surrealism? Aug 3 Abstract Expressionism and the New York School (1940s-60s) * Harold Rosenberg, The American Action Painters Aug 6 British and American Pop Art (1950s-70s) * Andy Warhol, Interview with Gene Swenson Aug 7 Fluxus, Minimalism, and Conceptual Art (1950s onwards) * George Maciunas, Manifesto on Art / Fluxus Art Amusement * Sol Lewitt, Paragraphs on Conceptual Art * Marina Abramović, What is Performance Art? (video interview) Aug 8 Postmodernism and Contemporary Art Trends (1970s-present) * Simon Hattenstone, Something to Spray (article in The Guardian) Aug 9 FINAL EXAM 5

ART 13 Introduction to Modern Art History Summer 2019 (July 12-August 8) Instructor: Marta Becherini

ART 13 Introduction to Modern Art History Summer 2019 (July 12-August 8) Instructor: Marta Becherini Course hours This course meets every day from Monday to Friday for two hours each day, for a total of