Syllabus Intro Western Art Final 2013 RV edits

Introduction to the History of Western Art II
(aka The Canon)
AH1020GE100
Location: Room B-­‐32 [Bosquet Building] Schedule: Mon & Thurs 9:00 to 10:20 Museum Visits: selected Thursdays, 10:35-­‐11:55 Instructor: Hervé Vanel — hervejeanvanel@gmail.com Office Hours — On Mondays 10:30-­‐12:00 or by appointment in B 51 [Bosquet] — Do not hesitate to come and see me. COURSE CONTENT: This broad chronological survey of Western Art History, from the Renaissance to contemporary times, aims to introduce the student to key artworks, artists, movements and concepts of this wide time period. Analyzing art works critically, the course will focus on the changing conventions of Western art from the Quattrocento to the late 20th century. Classroom lectures will be supplemented by museum visits. Through the observation and the critical discussion of conventional landmarks that have shaped our current vision of the History of Western Art, the course aims at offering a foundation for future learning and critical understanding of Art History. Textbook: If anything, students must understand that knowledge is not contained in any fixed body of literature, and that developing an informed, independent critical understanding requires confronting different and at times diverging sources. Nonetheless, Gardner’s Art Through the Ages (13th Edition) provides a well-­‐organized (chronologically and thematically) and informative survey. Chapters of the book echo the class lectures but the content of the lectures will not necessarily follow the textbook to the letter. The Gardner’s textbook can be found in the Reserves Collection at the AUP Library [9, rue de Monttessuy]. Also, this book is available for purchase at the AUP bookroom. Additional Readings and Resources (Blackboard): Key additional readings will be assigned from a variety of sources and posted on the “AH1020GE100 Blackboard,” updated at least once a week. Here you will also find the lectures (PowerPoint) delivered throughout the semester [containing images and references]. The site will also offer additional documents (images and readings). See: https://blackboard.aup.edu/ ATTENDANCE: Attendance is required for each class period. Scheduled museum visits are considered class periods, and are therefore required. Museum visits (on selected Thursdays, from 9 – 11:55am) are a crucial part of the course. Failure to attend counts as an absence. Please take note of the Absence Policy: GRADING: Mid-­‐Term Exam: Monday Oct. 28 – 25 % of final grade Final Paper Topic due: Monday Oct. 21 – 10 % of final grade (Response paper) Final Paper due: Monday Nov. 25 – 30 % of final grade Final Exam: during exam week, date TBA – 30 % of final grade Participation: 5 % [Presence, Involvement…] FIVE MUSEUM VISITS on selected Thursdays: Sept. 26, Oct. 10, Nov. 14, Nov. 28, Dec. 12, from 9 -­‐ 11:55am. Exact meeting times and locations will be announced in class. • You should purchase a Carte Louvre Jeunes (15 euros), offers unlimited free access to that museum, plus the possibility to skip enormous lines. • The “Etudiant en histoire de l’art” card issued by the Registrar’s Office permits free access to most other French national museums. SCHEDULE of Lectures and Museum Visits The Syllabus may be slightly modified over the course of the semester Again, always check Blackboard for Additional Readings WEEK 1: Monday Sept. 9 — Thursday Sept. 12 Intro to the Survey: A Perspective and Its Limits Experience in the Quattrocento (14th century) • Textbook Ch. 21: Humanism and the Allure of Antiquity: 15th c. Italian Art (Ghiberti, Brunelleschi, Uccello, Piero della Francesca) WEEK 2: Monday Sept. 16 — Thursday Sept. 19 Renaissance in Florence (15th century) The Time of Rome and Venice (15th and early 16th century) • Textbook Chap. 22: Beauty Science and the Spirit in Italian Art: The High Renaissance and Mannerism (Michelangelo, Leonardo, Titian, Pontormo) WEEK 3: Monday Sept. 23: [NO CLASS] Thursday Sept. 26: MEET AT MUSÉE DU LOUVRE, VISIT 1 WEEK 4: Monday Sept 30 — Thursday Oct. 3 Northern European Renaissance — Expansions (15th -­‐ 16th century) Late Renaissance and Mannerism (16th century) • Textbook Chap. 23: The Age of Reformation: 16th Century Art in Northern Europe and Spain (Grünewald Dürer, Bruegel, Holbein; El Greco) WEEK 5: Monday Oct. 7: Baroque and Rococo (17th century) Thursday Oct. 10: MEET AT MUSÉE DU LOUVRE, VISIT 2 • Textbook Chap. 24: Of Popes, Peasants, Monarch and Merchants: Baroque and Rococo Art (Bernini; Caravaggio Velázquez; Rubens; Rembrandt) WEEK 6: Monday Oct. 14 — Thursday Oct. 17 Painting in the Netherlands (17th century) Enlightenment and Neoclassicism (18th century) • Textbook Chap. 28 The Enlightenment and Its Legacy: Neoclassicism through the mid-­‐19th century. (Greuze, Gainsborough, David, Fuseli, Goya) WEEK 7: Monday Oct. 21— Thursday Oct. 24 ** Final Paper Topic due: Monday Oct. 21 Romanticism (late 18th early 19th) Realism (19th century) WEEK 8: Monday Oct 28: ** MID-­‐TERM EXAM, during class. Thursday Oct. 31 [NO CLASS -­‐ RECESS] WEEK 9: Monday Nov. 4 — Thursday Nov. 7 Impressionism (late 19th) Symbolism (late 19th) • Textbook Chap. 29: The Rise of Modernism: The Later 19th Century (Manet, Monet, van Gogh, Cézanne) WEEK 10 : Monday Nov. 11: Cubism and Fauvism (early 20th) Thursday Nov. 14: MEET AT MUSÉE D’ORSAY, VISIT 1 WEEK 11: Monday Nov. 18 — Thursday Nov. 21 Passage to Abstraction (early 20th century) Dada, Surrealism, Return to Order (In Between the Wars) • Textbook Chap. 33: The Triumph of Modernist Art: The Early 20th century (Picasso, Kandinsky, Duchamp, Dalí) WEEK 12: Monday Nov. 25: Photography and Art (mid-­‐19th early 20th century) ** Final Paper due in class: Monday Nov. 25 ** Thursday Nov. 28: MEET AT MUSÉE D’ORSAY, VISIT 2 WEEK 13: Monday Dec 2 — Thursday Dec 5 Abstract-­‐Expressionism and Pop Art (mid-­‐20th century) Postmodernism (late 20th) • Textbook Chap. 34: The Emergence of Postmodernism: The Later 20th century (Bacon, Pollock, Warhol, Sherman) WEEK 14: Monday Dec. 9: Conclusion: Western Art History — Continuity or Dead End? Thursday Dec. 12: MEET AT THE POMPIDOU CENTER ** Final Exam: during exam week, date TBA **