Undergraduate Art History Course Descriptions
Fall 2013
Art H 216
Prof . Dey :
Roman Art
Art H 225
Prof. Richter :
Renaissance
Art H 245
Prof. Cole :
Art H 246
American Painting, 1760-1900
Prof. Avery:
Major masters and movements from the Colonial period through the end of the nineteenth
century are illuminated, including John Singleton Copley, Benjamin West, Thomas Cole and the
Hudson River School, Winslow Homer, Thomas Eakins, John Singer Sargent, and Mary Cassatt.
Art H 249
Prof. Stutterheim :
20th Century Art I
Art H 251
Prof. Mowder
Contemporary Art
Art H 263
:
Chinese & Japanese : Art & Visual Culture of 20th Century
China
Prof. Seiffert :
This course offers a survey of art and visual culture in China over the past century. While focusing
on major artistic media such as painting, prints, and sculpture, the course will consider popular
imagery, photography, film, fashion, architecture and urban space, with the aim of better
understanding the evolving political and social circumstances in which images in China have been
produced and viewed. Beginning in the late nineteenth century, the course will examine art and
visual images from the Republican era of the 1910s through the 1940s, the revolutionary period
under Mao Zedong from the 1950s through mid-1970s, and the "reform and opening up" period from
the late 1970s to the present.
Art H 270
Prof. Fine :
Art of African & Oceana : African Art
“African Art and Tradition” – A thematic examination of how the concept of tradition has been used
to interpret African art and how artists from Africa have dynamically engaged with ideas about
tradition in their work. The course would focus on the late nineteenth century through the present.
Art H 300 (sect.001)
Prof. : de Beaumont:
Research Methods: Rembrandt Drawings
The drawings of Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-1669) epitomize the depth of thought and economy of
means on which his art is founded. Seldom produced simply as preparatory studies for paintings or
prints, these richly varied works reveal the infinite subtleties of an intuitive, experimental, and everevolving creative process.
In this research methods seminar, students will proceed from assigned readings and group
discussions grounding them in the vast scholarly literature on Rembrandt’s art in general and his
drawings in particular—with special emphasis on the multiple art historical methodologies
involved—to individual student projects allowing for in-depth exploration of one particular theme or
problem.
Course requirements will include active participation in class discussions, occasional briefer written
assignments based on assigned readings, a twenty-minute oral presentation to the class, and a fifteento twenty-page term paper based on library research. One or more optional visits will be scheduled
outside of class time to look at Rembrandt drawings in museums and private collections.
Art H 300 (sect.002)
Research Methods: Latin American Art in New York
Collections
Prof. Montgomery:
In this course we will draw on New York collections to examine twentieth-century Latin American
art. Beginning with the 1920s and ‘30s, we will look at various approaches to representing national
themes in Mexico, Argentina, and Brazil. We will then examine the rise of abstract tendencies in
Uruguay, Brazil, and Venezuela during the 1940s and ‘50s, ending the chronological scope of our
inquiry in the 1960s and ‘70s with discussions of artists’ experiments with Conceptualism and
Performance art. Artists’ diverse approaches to making prints, paintings, and sculpture will be
analyzed in the broadest manner, with special attention paid to artists’ interest in politics, mysticism,
the body, and design and architecture.
In addition to familiarizing ourselves with the histories of art in twentieth-century Latin America, our
task will be to acquire the skills necessary for researching and writing a research paper on a single
work of art. For this purpose, each student will be assigned a work from the Colección Patricia
Phelps de Cisneros or the Museum of Modern Art. Works will be drawings, photographs, sculpture,
and paintings by key historical figures, including Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo, José Clemente Orozco,
Xul Solar, Jesús Raphael Sot, Gego, and Hélio Oiticica. Requirements for the course include biweekly research and writing assignments, an in-class oral presentation, and a ten to fifteen-page
research paper. Readings and class discussions will introduce you to methods for interpreting works
of art, including the social history of art, formal analysis, and semiotics, and assignments will focus
on strategies for clear and compelling writing. Three classes will be held outside the classroom. One
at Crozier Fine Arts, where works from the Colección Patricia Phelps de Cisneros will be displayed
for the class. The second will be held at the Museum of Modern Art, and the third at the Watson
Library of the Metropolitan Museum of Art where the reference librarian will conduct a workshop on
researching printed and electronic media.
Art H311.02
Prof. Gannaway:
Special Topics : Pre Columbian
Art H341.02
Special Topics : Art & Architecture in Baroque Art
Prof. Prokop:
In the early seventeenth century, more so than in any other time since the fall of the Roman Empire,
Rome was the focal point of Western European art and culture. In the wake of the tumultuous
sixteenth century, during which the Catholic Church struggled with the Protestant Reformation and
suffered the disastrous Sack of Rome, the campaign for the Renovatio Romae (“Restoration of
Rome”) that had been launched in the fifteenth century achieved its culmination: the papacy poured
vast sums of money into the rebuilding, modernization and embellishment of the city. The goal of the
monumental building campaigns, impressive sculptural groups and lavish paintings cycles sponsored
by the popes was to prove—visually—that early modern Rome was the worthy successor of the
ancient capital as well as the seat of the one legitimate faith. Throughout the century, artists and
architects flocked to the city to win the prestigious commissions, both public and private, that would
secure not only fabulous wealth but also lasting renown. The result is an abundance of dramatic,
dynamic and innovative masterpieces that still define the urban fabric of the Eternal City.
Requirements for this course include assigned readings, one final examination and three essays. The
written assignments include: a visual analysis of a painting or sculpture on view at The Metropolitan
Museum of Art, New York (3 pages maximum); one “reading response,” an exercise that requires
students to select an article from a set list and evaluate the author’s methodology (maximum 4
pages); and a final research paper (maximum 8 pages) that analyzes a significant monument of
seventeenth-century Rome. Classes will be conducted mainly as a lecture although we will have four
“writing workshops” during class time in which students will present working drafts of their
assignments to a small group. These workshops will allow students to offer and receive valuable
feedback as they complete the final version of their papers. Finally, one optional class trip to The
Metropolitan Museum of Art will be scheduled.
Art H351.03
Prof. Viswanathan:
Photography in the Age of Empire 1840-1940
Art H 381.02
Special Topics : Gender, Sexuality,& Art 20th
Century Queer & Feminist Histories
Prof. Conlan:
This class will examine how gender and sexuality have been explored and represented in American
and European art throughout the 20th century. We will track the development of feminist art practices
and investigate lesser-known histories of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender art-making. By
reading foundational texts of feminist and queer art history and theory we will critically consider
which methods are most useful for examining art through the lens of gender and sexuality.
Throughout the semester, we will think about where the cultural history and political interests of
feminism and LGBT communities intersect and diverge. Some of our classes will take place in
archives and exhibitions around the city and requirements include a substantial research project.
Art H 450.02
Prof. Zanardi:
Advance Studies: Art & Controversy
Art H 450.04
Prof. Agee:
Modern American Art 1908-1968
The years 1908-1968 define one of the most dynamic periods of American art and history. The art
historical narrative has often considered 1945 as a pivotal, if not starting, point for American
modernism, but as this class will show, there were earlier, deeper and broader influences on modern
art in America than many discussions of American art suggest. Through consideration of several
themes evident in painting and sculpture of the period—including color, cubism, drive to clarity, the
cosmos and spirituality, abstract v. figurative, art and life, and classicism—we will develop a fuller
and truer definition of American modernism.
This seminar is for advanced undergraduates, and is limited to 12 students. Auditors are welcome.
Students will select specialized topics for independent research, focusing on an individual artist and
his/her role with regard to larger themes of the period. Students will develop their research over the
course of the semester, culminating in a final research paper. Weekly class discussion will focus on
the themes and artists of the modern period, and students will periodically provide updates to the
class on their research. The class will take several field trips to study objects firsthand.