Lamar State College Port Arthur
Syllabus-Art Appreciation 1301
Department of Liberal Arts
A. Osborne
Required Textbook
Living with Art. 9 e, Mark Getlein, McGraw Hill, New York, NY
Course Description
This course is a study of art and its development through the ages. The over-all purpose of this course is to provide
the student with a basic understanding, of the visual arts. The first half of the course deals with the nature of art,
the evaluation of art, the processes and materials of art. The second half of the semester is spent studying the
world of art in its chronological order.
Course Objectives
To understand and value the importance of art in life; acquire a basic knowledge and understanding of works of
art; respond critically to works of art; and understand the creative process.
Lectures
PART ONE: INTRODUCTION
Part One (Chapters 1–3) provides a general introduction to the study and appreciation of art.
Chapter 1 Living with Art
1. Art Before History: Discovering the Earliest Forms of Visual Art
2. The Patron: An Artist’s Dream or Nightmare
3. Why Do People Talk About Art? Art Criticism from Classical Times to the Present
4. The Expressive Art and Writings of Van Gogh
5. Maya Lin: Art for the Public and Art with a Purpose
6. Why Art Doesn’t Send the Same Message to Everyone
Chapter 2 What Is Art?
1. How symbolism expands the meaning of an art work
2. The life and work of Andy Warhol
3. The inter-relationship of art, artists, fame, and value
4. The relationship between words and images in various cultures
5. Art and its audiences
6. Art as a cultural artifact; art as personal expression
7. Outsider Art: Artworks and their artists
Chapter 3 Themes of Art
1. Art about Nature: how artists have transformed our understanding of nature
2. Art of the sacred realm: visions of and spaces for spiritual experience
3. Preserving individual and cultural identity with visual stories and histories
4. Frozen moments: the dynamics of daily life
5. The Here and Now: Who are we and what are we doing here?
PART TWO: THE VOCABULARY OF ART
Part Two (Chapters 4–5) is a thorough analysis of the elements and principles of design in art, with detailed
explanations and many illustrations.
Chapter 4 Visual Elements
1. Compositional journeys – how artists’ compositions lead the viewer’s eye
2. Defining space in on a flat plane – linear and atmospheric perspective
3. The power of colors and their emotional and mental effects
4. Japanese prints and their impact on European art.
Chapter 5 Principles of Design
1. Using scale and proportion to communicate ideas
2. Analyzing composition and compositional elements
3. Guiding the eye through emphasis
PART THREE: TWO-DIMENSIONAL MEDIA
Part Three (Chapters 6–10) covers the two-dimensional media, and devotes a chapter to each
of the major categories: drawing, painting, prints, the camera and computer arts, and graphic design.
Chapter 6 Drawing
1. Drawings by Leonardo da Vinci
2. Conceptual art and the role of the viewer/participant
3. Contemporary wall drawings
4. The characteristics and appearances of various drawing materials
5. Drawing throughout history
6. The intimacy of the drawn line
7. Drawing personal responses
8. Drawing in preparation for works in other media
Chapter 7 Painting
1. Artists who prefer a single medium; artists who experiment with various media
2. How formal aspects of painting relate to and reinforce content
3. Qualities, characteristics, and limitations of various painting media
4. Artists’ preferences for certain media to fulfill purposes of certain works
5. Painting: pre-history to post-modern
6. Painting application techniques and style
7. History and fresco painting
8. Collage and its challenge to traditional painting
Chapter 8 Prints
1. Recognizing and evaluating machine-printed versus “limited” artists’ prints
2. Connections among printmaking, music, literature, politics, and advertising
3. Historical backgrounds of printmaking techniques
4. Characteristics, materials, and techniques of the four major printing methods
5. Rembrandt and the concept of “limited” editions
6. The formal and technical influences of Asian wood cuts on 19th- and 20th-century artists
7. The diversity of media, techniques, and purposes of prints
8. How printmaking has been changed by computers and digital technology
Chapter 9 Camera and Computer Arts
1. The history of photography
2. Photography and the painter: friends or foes
3. How photojournalism influences history
4. Movies: The history of an industry
5. Expanding concepts of art: video and digital imaging
6. The emotional impact of photography and film
7. The auteur and the amateur in film and video
Chapter 10 Graphic Design
1. The history of graphic design and the use of symbols
2. Graphic design as a tool for social and political change
3. Designing for media in the 21st Century
4. Web page as billboard
5. From handbill to blog: the evolution of advertising
6. Logos throughout history
7. The use of graphic design in art
PART FOUR: THREE-DIMENSIONAL MEDIA
Part Four (Chapters 11–13) covers the three-dimensional media with a chapter each for sculpture and installation,
crafts, and architecture, including environmental design.
Chapter 11 Sculpture and Installation
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Sculpture and the spiritual and physical worlds
Sculpture and the human body: figurative and metaphorical
The influence of African sculpture on European modernism
The artistic translation of a work from medium to medium
The permanent or impermanent qualities of a work of art
The viewer’s or patron’s interpretive role in accepting or rejecting works of art
Christo and Jeanne-Claude: purpose, process, performance, and promotion
Chapter 12 Arts of Ritual and Daily Life
1. Crafts: the useful arts
2. Major methods of forming and finishing clay works
3. Glass works from Roman to contemporary times
4. The history of metal crafts
5. New craft materials and techniques of the 21st century
6. Non-western craft traditions and materials
7. The re-evaluation and appreciation of traditional Native American crafts in the 20th century and today
8. Crafts as fine art
Chapter 13 Architecture
1. The history and technological development of structural systems in architecture
2. The development and use of non-traditional materials for building
3. Interrelationships between cultural lifestyles and traditions, and architectural design
4. The Rural Studio: student architects meet the community and its needs
5. The Crystal Palace: architecture meets industry
6. The elements of art and principles of design as applied to architecture
7. Designing and building for function and purpose
8. Green architecture: conserving Earth’s resources through design
PART FIVE: ARTS IN TIME
Part Five (Chapters 14–23) gives a brief chronological history of art from earliest times to the present. The part
begins with “Ancient Mediterranean Worlds,” which introduces the oldest art on four continents; continues with
chapters tracing Western art history; the arts of Islam and of Africa; arts of East Asia; and arts of the Pacific and the
Americas. This part includes a chapter on the modern world, and art history since 1945.
Chapter 14 Ancient Mediterranean Worlds
1. Changing interpretations of the significance of cave art
2. The stability and continuity of Egyptian civilization and art
3. The developing styles of Greek representations of the human body
4. Multiculturalism in the Roman world
5. Neolithic technological advances and the development of civilization
6. Beliefs about the afterlife and their influences on art and architecture
7. The Amarna period in Egyptian art, religion, and history
Chapter 15 Christianity and the Formation of Europe
1. The causes and effects of the decline of the Roman presence in Western Europe
2. Structural systems and styles of architecture in the Middle Ages
3. Byzantine influence on art, architecture, and crafts
4. Differences between Western European and Byzantine art and religious expression
5. Finding evidence of the influence of animal-style art throughout northern Europe
6. The Holy Roman Empire and emerging European kingdoms
7. Contrasting the Romanesque and Gothic styles
Chapter 16 The Renaissance
1. The historical background of the Renaissance
2. The emergence of new techniques and media in the Renaissance
3. The Protestant Reformation and the Northern Renaissance
4. Renaissance humanism and changing attitudes toward the individual
5. The Classical foundations of the Renaissance
6. The rising status of the arts and artists
7. The Medici, the Church, and other important patrons of Renaissance artists
8. The traditional subjects of Renaissance painting
9. The elements of art and principles of design in Renaissance art
Chapter 17 17th and 18th Centuries
1. Monarchies and colonies in the 17th and 18th centuries
2. Renaissance order and Baroque dynamism
3. Art that reflects absolute power
4. Bernini’s environments: Baroque theatricality and the Cornaro Chapel
5. Versions of the Baroque in various European countries
6. The new patrons of art of the Baroque era
7. The power of artists to create images of political and personal power
Chapter 18 Arts of Islam and of Africa
1. Islamic architecture: mosques and palaces
2. Decorative arts in Islamic cultures
3. Purposes of the arts in African cultures
4. The multiplicity of arts and cultures in Africa
5. The masquerade’s function in African life and arts
Chapter 19 Arts of East Asia: India, China, and Japan
1. The cultures of East Asia
2. Indus Valley civilizations and arts
3. The design of Angkor Wat
4. The influence of Buddhism on the arts
5. Shamanism in the Shang dynasty
6. Confucianism and its influences on art and scholarship
7. Contemporary trends in Chinese and Japanese arts
8. Scholars and the arts in Chinese culture
9. The Tale of Genji and its author and influence on art
10. The importance of the Silk Road in cultural diffusion
11. Styles of Japanese painting: Reflections of ideas and issues
Chapter 20 Arts of the Pacific and the Americas
1. Age of Discovery: assessing and affecting native arts during European conquest and colonization
2. Prehistoric art of the Pacific and the Americas
3. The purposes and functions of art in Polynesian cultures
4. Changing perceptions: archaeology and anthropology as tools for understanding art
5. Symbolism and dreaming in the arts of the Americas and the Pacific
6. Cultural accomplishments and arts of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica
7. Architecture and sculpture in Mesoamerica
8. Ceramic arts of the Americas
9. The materials of North American native art: before and after European contact
10. Ritual objects: masks, dolls, and other representations of human and supernatural beings
Chapter 21 The Modern World: 1800-1945
1. Paul Gauguin: his search for his own truth in subject and style
2. Picasso and Braque: the fragmentation of the image
3. Cézanne and the foundations of Cubism
4. The “isms” and expanding definitions of 19th- and 20th-century art
5. Photography and painting: ways in which technology changed artists
6. Subjects and technique in academic art of the 19th century
7. The Impressionists: breaking away from the academy and the studio
8. The effects of wars and politics on 20th-century art movements
Chapter 22 From Modern to Postmodern
1. Postmodern art and the incorporation of the non-visual: words, music, and theater in contemporary art
2. The last half of the 20th century and the art of the United States
3. The New York School and improvisation
4. Society, politics, and the American art scene in the Sixties and Seventies
5. Conceptual art: images in the service of ideas
6. Art, human bodies, and the human spirit
Chapter 23 Opening Up to the World
1. Contemporary art across borders
2. The effect of globalization on the art world
3. The media and methods of contemporary artists
Lamar State College Port Arthur Grading Scale
90- 100
80-90
70-79
60-69
Below 59
A
B
C
D
F
Grading
60% of final grade will be a combination of Tests, Quizzes and Final
40% of final grade will be a combination of Hands-on-Work; attendance and class participation
Exams/Quizzes
2 exams, 1 final exam, and possible pop quizzes. Exam material will be selected from the text and classroom
lectures.
Exam dates will be announced in class in advance. The final exam will be administered according to the Lamar
schedule. Pop quiz dates will not be announced in advance.
Projects
2 Power Point Presentations (described below)
3 Works of Art (described below)
All projects must be submitted timely. Late submission will result in a 5-point grade deduction for each day the
project is late.
Power Point Presentations (2)
Students are expected to make 2, 5 to 10 minute presentations
Each presentation should contain at least 15 slides with pictures and information.
1. A presentation about an artist chosen from the instructor’s list
2. A presentation about an artist of the student’s choice
Works of Art (3)
Students are required to reproduce 3 works of art found in the class textbook. The works may be drawn using
pencil or colored pencil; painted using watercolor or acrylic paint; or a collage using cut paper.
Each work should measure 8.5 x 11 inches and students’ names must be on the back of each work.
Due dates will be announced in class.
Examination Policy
Absence from any examination must be approved in advance by the instructor and is the responsibility of the
student. No make-up exams will be allowed without prior arrangements being made with the instructor. If you
are going to miss class on the day of an exam, the instructor must be notified. No make-up exams will be given if
the instructor is not notified at least 30 minutes prior to the class period, unless there are extenuating
circumstances, to be determined by the instructor. You may contact the instructor by telephone, email, or
personally.
Procedure for Review of Exam Grades
If students have issues about their grades, they must contact the instructor no later than seven
(7) Days after receiving the grade.
Incomplete Grade Policy
The grade “I” may be given for grave reasons and at the discretion of the instructor. The course must then be
repeated, if credit is desired. An “I’ also automatically becomes an “F’ if the student registers for the course before
removing the deficiencies and receiving a grade change. The instructor may record the grade of “F” for students
who are absent from the final examination and/or are not passing the course.
Academic Honesty
Lamar State College Port Arthur and the instructor will not tolerate cheating or plagiarism. Plagiarism is defined as
“taking and using as one’s own writings ideas of another.” Students caught cheating or plagiarizing, or aiding other
students in doing so will be given an “F” for the assignment. The incident will be reported to the Department of
Liberal Arts Chair. A second violation will result in an “F” final grade for the class.
Attendance policy
Students are allowed two absences (excused or unexcused) total. A third absence will result in a dropping of a
letter grade from the final course grade. 5 or more absences require a meeting with the instructor and may result
in students failing this course.
Classroom Etiquette
Mature behavior is expected and required. The instructor reserves the right to remove students from class and
allotting them the final grade of “F” for being a disruptive force in the classroom. Thoughtful discourse is the
theme of this class. You are highly encouraged to participate in the classroom discussions; points are awarded for
class discussions/activities.
Please respect others in the class by turning off cell phones and other disruptive devices.
Sleeping will be considered an absence.
Students who walk out of class without justification will be considered absent for that class.
Children in Class
The Lamar State College Port Arthur Student Handbook specifies that no children under the age of 15 are allowed
in the classrooms or hallways. Only students enrolled in the course are allowed in the classroom.
Facility Policies
No food, drinks, or tobacco products are allowed in the classroom.
Only students enrolled in the course are allowed in the classroom.
Cell phones and /or pagers are allowed ONLY on vibrate mode. Leaving the classroom to answer a page or phone
call may constitute an absence or a tardy.
Special Considerations
The American Disabilities Act (ADA) is a federal anti-discrimination stature that provides comprehensive civil rights
for persons with disabilities. Among other things, this legislation requires that all students with disabilities be
guaranteed a learning environment that provides for reasonable accommodation, please contact the Special
Populations Coordinator, Room 231, in the Madison Monroe Building. The phone number is (409) 984-6251.