Department of Art History and Art

Department of Art History and Art 2008 Spring Courses

Spring 2008 - Art History Courses

ARTH 102 M W F 10:30-11:20

ACTS OF GENIUS: THE ARTS OF HUMANKIND – ADAMS

THE RENAISSANCE TO THE PRESENT

Works of art such as The Mona Lisa, Michelangelo’s David, A Noble Scholar Under a Willow, The Joy of Life, and a dismembered shark—artists such as Rembrandt, Van Gogh, Ma Lin, Mary Cassatt and Andy Warhol. The class will survey world art, from the Renaissance to the present, in a broad cultural and historical context, including the art of India and Asia. Requirements: short weekly questionnaires, a midterm and a final exam. Required Text: Marilyn Stokstad, Art History.

ARTH 203 T TH 10:00-11:15

THE ARTS OF ASIA CUNNINGHAM

THE EAST ASIAN CONTINENT AND JAPAN :

HISTORIC WAVES OF CULTURAL TRANSMISSION

Japan and Korea are two of the most dynamic economic and cultural centers of the contemporary world. In both places extraordinary innovation, especially in technology and design, coexists with attachment to tradition and the preservation of the cultural heritage.
Through Samurai movies etc., Japanese traditional culture is well known in the west, and Japanese painting and ceramics have inspired western artists and molded western art since the nineteenth century. Korean art is less familiar. This course will offer an introduction
to the art of both Japan and Korea . An important theme will be the relationship between the island nation of Japan and the Korean peninsula, not least in the transmission of Buddhism. We will of course study the impact of China on Japanese culture. This is well recognized in the West, but in fact Korea 's contributions to the Japanese cultural heritage have been more important. Pots, paintings, and the architecture and decoration of Buddhist shrines are but some of the surviving cultural emblems shared by Korea and Japan , and they will provide the focus of this class. Requirements: 4 class quizzes; weekly reading assignments, with discussion and reporting assignments; midterm and final exams

ARTH 284 M W 9:00-10:15

HISTORY OF PHOTOGRAPHY DEAN

This course is designed to introduce students to the history of photography as well as the social contexts in which the medium evolved. Students will learn about the photography from its antecedents in the Camera Obscura, to the early technical processes and uses and aesthetic debates, to more contemporary issues. You will have the opportunity to compare early images with more contemporary work through field trips. The course will be divided into 4 sections: (1) Antecedents and early processes (2) Aesthetic Debates, Scientific and Documentary Uses; Photography for the Masses (3) Photography as Art; the Rise of Photojournalism (4) Globalization and New Possibilities for Photography

Requirements: Three short papers (3-5 pages) and one longer paper (10-12 pages)

Required Texts: Jean-claude Lemagny and Andre Rouilee, eds., 1987 A History of Photography, New York: Cambridge Press

T. J. Demos ed. 2006 Vitamin Ph: new Perspectives in Photography, New York: Phaidon Press.

ARTH 293 W 5:45-8:15

A WORLD ART HISTORY CARRIER

Traditionally art historians have focused on the history of European art. But recently there

has been great interest in art of other cultures. Is a history of world art possible? And if so, what form might it take? This course explores that question. We read Richard Wollheim’s aesthetic focused on European art. And then we discuss James Elkins, Stories of Art, which attempts to imagine a history of world art. We then pursue our investigation by reading recent accounts of Islamic art (Oleg Grabar on Islamic Art, Indian art (Partha Mitter, Indian Art), and Chinese art (Craig Clunas, Art in China ).

This class requires a good deal of reading. It does not presuppose any prior knowledge of art

history or aesthetics.

Three papers, two short ones and one long one will be required. There is no final exam.

ARTH 340/440 M 2:00-5:00

ISSUES IN NON-WESTERN ART PEFFER

AFRICA AND CINEMA

What are the images of Africa as portrayed in films? How has cinema been a critical site of the struggle for representation, both aesthetic and political, for Africans? This seminar will examine film, video, and installation art about Africa and from Africa, from classic Hollywood stereotypes of primitives and witchdoctors to contemporary postcolonial critiques of civil society and the injustices of Western hegemony. Each week we will view films and discuss theoretical literatures on topics such as "Third Cinema", the role of cinema as oral history, the status of the "document" and ethnographic film, and the writings of directors and artists about Africa and film. We will be equally attentive to the particulars of film form, film history, and the politics of moving pictures. We will consider Africa and film generally, and will also consider the special cases of Djibril Mambety and Ousmane Sembene in Senegal , the activist cinema of Jean Rouch, and the problems of race and art in South African film. We will also look at film production in North Africa, and it's presentation of a dialogue with, or alternative to, European modernist film.

ARTH 367/467 T TH 10:00-11:15

17^th & 18^th CENTURY FRENCH ART SCALLEN

Louis XIV, the "Sun King," and his palace at Versailles; the paintings of Watteau and Poussin; Rococo decorative arts, women patrons and painters. These are some of the topics we will consider as we survey the arts of painting and printmaking, sculpture, decorative arts and architecture in France from 1600 to 1789.  Lectures and discussions will focus on the social and political uses of art, stylistic developments, and patronage.  Requirements for 367: midterm and final examinations, short critiques of articles, one research paper and one class presentation.   467: same basic requirements as 367; graduate students will also write additional critiques, lead a class discussion, and write a longer research paper. Texts:  Anthony Blunt and Richard Beresford, Art and Architecture in France, 1500-1700 (Yale University Press Pelican History of Art) 5th rev ed., 1999, paperback: ISBN: 0300077483 and Michael Levey, Painting and Sculpture in France: 1700-1789 (Yale University Press Pelican History of Art), 1995, paperback: ISBN: 0300064942.

ARTH 350/450 T TH 1:15-2:30

ISSUES IN MEDIEVAL ART BURROUGHS

GOTHIC EUROPE

This course surveys western European art and architecture of the Gothic period, from the mid 12th century to the late 14th century. Focusing mainly on France , England , Germany , and Spain the course will explore the development of architecture, sculpture and stained glass in the major building projects of the period – mostly cathedrals. We will study the interlocking interest in daring construction and in striking aesthetic effects, often with some overriding symbolic purpose related to the message of the Church but sometimes also connected to more specific agendas and concerns. Apart from a diminishing area of Muslim control in Spain and Jewish and “pagan” communities here and there, we will be dealing with a culture that was almost entirely “Christian,” though also torn by internal struggles against various “heretical” communities and movements. The dream of conquest in the “ Holy Land” was maintained, largely through a serious of expensive failures; meanwhile the sophisticated and sensual Arab culture exerted a powerful attraction on westerners, even if they usually denied it.

Prerequisites: No formal prerequisites. ARTH 101 is recommended as are introductory courses in History, Sociology, Medieval Literature, etc. Some knowledge of French or any other major European language would be useful

Textbooks: Coldstream, Nicola. Medieval Architecture. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002

Wilson, Christopher. The Gothic Cathedral: The Architecture of the Great Church, 1130-1530. New York, NY: Thames and Hudson, 1990

Requirements:

Undergraduates: weekly readings will be set. A separate notebook for the course will be used for class notes as well as readings. There will be a mid term and a cumulative final. The term paper will consist of an imagined visitor’s report on a particular place at a particular time; you will need to choose a persona and figure out what he or she might see and what s/he might make of it.

Graduate students: there will be a research paper (a block of time toward the end of the semester will be set aside for a mini-seminar) and regular presentations of specific topics and/or sites alternating with lectures. Depending on enrollment, I will hold a few workshop sessions just for graduate students as work on the papers gets under way.

ARTH 392/492 M W 12:30-1:45

ISSUES IN 20^TH/21^ST CENTURY ART ADAMS

AMERICAN ART OF THE 1930s

This class will focus on American art of the 1930s with particular attention to two projects the professor is working on, one a biography of Grant Wood, the other a study of Thomas Hart Benton’s relationship with his most famous student, Jackson Pollock. Course requirements: a research paper and seminar report and occasional short writing assignments.

ARTH 395 AS ARRANGED

INTERNSHIP HELMREICH

This course is designated for students seeking professional experience in art history. It focuses on the museum experience (registration, exhibition, interpretation, and administration) although students may also elect to conduct internships in museum-related environments such as art conservation. Students are encouraged to have gained significant experience in art history coursework before embarking on an internship. Students must identify an internship and supervisor as well as a campus internship supervisor the semester before enrolling in the internship.

ARTH 396 W 2:00-5:00

CAPSTONE – MAJORS SEMINAR LANDAU

This course qualifies as an Approved SAGES Capstone. The topic for this semester centers on how to organize an exhibition.  The theme will be " Cleveland in Art of the 1930s."  We will work directly with a collection of original WPA prints created here during the '30s and now owned by Kelvin Smith Library's Special Collections division.  We will examine, as well, other original materials including Margaret Bourke-White photographs shot in this city during the depression.  This hands-on class will meet at Kelvin Smith with trips to other venues including the Western Reserve Historical Society, as well as to locations around town where WPA-era art is still extant.  We will study techniques for researching original objects and the principles of curating a thematically-designed show.  As a group, students will prepare a virtual catalogue explicating the works chosen for "exhibition."   Readings will include texts concerning the interconnection of depression-era social issues, politics and art.  This course will help hone professional-level research skills. Peer and faculty oversight of written and oral presentations will take place.

All junior and senior Art History majors and minors who have not taken the Undergraduate Majors seminar must enroll in this course in Spring 2008. Permit required for sophomores or for non-Art History majors who wish to use this as their SAGES capstone.

ARTH 398 AS ARRANGED

INDEPENDENT STUDY IN ART HISTORY STAFF

Individual research and reports on special topics. Consent of Professor.

ARTH 399 AS ARRANGED

HONORS THESIS STAFF

Consent of Department Chair. List name of supervising Professor.

ARTH 489 AS ARRANGED

MA QUALIFYING PAPER STAFF

Graduating Art History (ARH) Master=s students only.

ARTH 490 W 3:00-6:00

MUSEUM STUDIES HELMREICH

This course examines the idea of the art museum in both its historical and contemporary manifestations. The art museum is a rich topic; we will focus on three themes:

1)     The History of the Art Museum, its Institutional Framework and Display Practices. Through selected readings, we will consider how notions of art museums, including practices of collecting and display, changed over time and in different historical contexts; and how modes of display influence our interpretations of works of art.

2)     The Components of a Museum. We will examine, through discussions with museum professionals in the area as well as selected readings, the anatomy of the museum as both an institution and a career track. With regard to the latter, we will develop an understanding of the different professions that contribute to the function of a museum and gain practical knowledge that can be applied and developed through internships and future employment.

3)   Museological Practice. Through interviews and discussions with museum professionals in the area as well as selected readings, we will consider some of the key issues and ethical debates facing the museum professions today.

The main course project, in addition to a series of short essays, will be to develop an exhibition.

ARTH 491 A & B AS ARRANGED

VISUAL ARTS AND MUSEUMS: INTERNSHIP HELMREICH

Consent of supervising Professor. Prerequisite: ARTH 490

ARTH 494 AS ARRANGED

DIRECTED READINGS IN ART HISTORY

Consent of the Instructor is required for all Directed Readings:

SEC. A NON-WESTERN ART Staff

SEC. B ANCIENT ART Staff

SEC. C MEDIEVAL Burroughs

SEC. C MEDIEVAL Olszewski

SEC. D RENAISSANCE/BAROQUE ART Olszewski

SEC. D RENAISSANCE/BAROQUE ART Scallen

SEC. E AMERICAN ART Adams

SEC. F MODERN ART Carrier

Helmreich

Landau

ARTH 551 M 2:00-5:00

SEMINAR IN RENAISSANCE ART OLSZEWSKI

ART TREATISES AND ART THEORY IN

EARLY MODERN ITALY

This seminar will examine writings on art in Italy from the end of the late Gothic period to the early Baroque, with emphasis on the practical application of art theory to painting, sculpture, and architecture. The scope of the seminar will include technical treatises, workshop manuals, dialogues on art, artists’ biographies, architectural treatises, theoretical writings, cultural texts and autobiographies, ancient literary models, and the place of draftsmanship to span theory and practice.

Textbook:

Blunt, A., Artistic Theory in Italy 1450-1600, Oxford University Press, 1968 (orig. 1940).

Preliminary Reading:

Lee, R., “Ut pictura poesis:” The Humanistic Theory of Painting, New York: Norton, 1967.

Italian Art 1500-1600, ed. by R. Klein and H. Zerner, Englewood, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1966.

ARTH 552 T 4:30-7:30

SEMINAR IN BAROQUE ART BURROUGHS

EUROPEAN CLASSICISM: THE LURE OF THE

IDEAL AND OF ITS SUBVERSION

This seminar will explore the history of European Classicism in the light of key texts, artistic achievements, and occasionally theoretical agendas or debates. The major emphasis will be on the Italian Renaissance and the French and English late Baroque and Enlightenment. Emphasis will be on mastering and mapping an important body of scholarly literature, understanding distinct currents of classical or at least classicizing art and/or architecture, and reviewing the history of western post-medieval art from the standpoint of aesthetic and at times ideological debates and differences, and their repercussions.

ARTH 576 T 1:15-4:15

SEMINAR IN MODERN ART LANDAU

ARTISTIC PARTNERSHIPS IN THE 20^TH CENTURY

This seminar will investigate the dynamics of artistic partnering and collaboration in the 20th century, ranging from the well-known example of Picasso and Braque to later artistic friendships in art including Jasper Johns/Robert Rauschenberg, Philip Guston/Reuben Kadish and Jackson Pollock/Herbert Matter. Husband and wife relationships and the problematic "significant other dynamic" at work in such power couples as Alfred Stieglitz/Georgia O'Keeffe, Diego Rivera/Frida Kahlo, Eva Hesse/Tom Doyle and Jackson Pollock/Lee Krasner will also be explored. Each student will examine in depth one of these, or another such partnering enterprise (Sonia and Robert Delaunay, Gilbert and George, etc.) in order to discern its implications for modernist and/or postmodern artistic achievement .

Readings will include chapters from Joachim Pissarro, Cezanne/Pissarro, Johns Rauschenberg: Comparative Studies on Intersubjectivity in Modern Art; Anne M. Wagner, Three Artists (Three Women): Modernism and the Art of Hesse, Krasner and O'Keeffe; and Whitney Chadwick & Isabelle de Courtivron, Significant Others: Creativity and Intimate Partnership, as well as catalogue essays and articles from a variety of sources. Bibliographic critique will be emphasized as well as comparative research techniques and original conclusions

ARTH 601 AS ARRANGED

RESEARCH IN ART HISTORY STAFF

List name of supervising Professor.

ARTH 610 AS ARRANGED

CLEVELAND MUSEUM OF ART INTERNSHIP ADAMS

Open to doctoral candidates in the Museum Studies Program only.

ARTH 701 AS ARRANGED

DISSERTATION PH.D.

List name of supervising Professor.

ARTH 703 AS ARRANGED

DISSERTATION FELLOWSHIP

Advancement to PhD candidacy required. Permission of department chair and research adviser required. List name of supervising Professor