11728 |
ARTH 102 Perspectives
in World Art II |
Julia
Rosenbaum |
M . W . . |
3:10 -4:30 pm |
OLIN 102 |
AART/DIFF |
This
course, the second half of the general art survey, explores the making of
visual arts worldwide. Beginning in the fourteenth century and ending in the
twentieth, the class will survey painting, sculpture, and architecture, as well
as works in newer media (such as photography, video, and performance). The
class will encompass works from Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas,
arranged chronologically in order to provide a more integrated historical
context for their production. In addition to the course textbook, readings will
be chosen to broaden critical perspectives. This course is designed for those
students with no background in art history as well as for those who may be
contemplating a major in art history or studio.
Open to all students: first and second year students are especially
encouraged to enroll. Class size: 22
11730 |
ARTH 113 History of
Photography |
Laurie
Dahlberg |
. T . Th . |
8:30 -9:50 am |
OLIN 102 |
AART |
Cross-listed: Science, Technology & Society The discovery of
photography was announced in 1839, almost simultaneously by several inventors.
Born of experiments in art and science, the medium combines vision and
technology. It possesses a uniquely intimate relation to the real and for this
reason has many applications outside the realm of fine art; nevertheless, from
its inception photography has been a vehicle for artistic aspirations. This
survey of the history of photography from its earliest manifestations to the
2000s considers the medium's applications - as art, science, historical record,
and document. This course is open to all students and is the prerequisite for
most other courses in the history of photography. Class size: 22
11428 |
ARTH 122 Survey of
African Art |
Susan
Aberth |
. T . Th . |
3:10 -4:30 pm |
OLIN 102 |
AART/DIFF |
Cross-listed: Africana
Studies, LAIS This introductory
course surveys the vast array of art forms created on the African continent
from the prehistoric era to the present, as well as arts of the diaspora in Brazil, the Americas, and Haiti. In addition to
sculpture, masks, architecture and metalwork, we will examine beadwork,
textiles, jewelry, house painting, pottery, and other decorative arts. Some of
the topics to be explored will be implements of divination, royal regalia, the
role of performance, music and dance, funerary practices, and the incorporation
of western motifs and materials. Because art and visual culture most deeply
reveal the aesthetic, spiritual and social values of a people, this course
fulfills the Rethinking Difference requirement. We will examine the ways
in which objects, performances, regalia and other forms designed for visual
consumption work together in African societies to create a cohesive sense of
identity and belonging to community members. All students welcome. Class size: 25
11731 |
ARTH 140 Survey of
Islamic Art |
Katherine
Boivin |
. T . Th . |
10:10 - 11:30 am |
FISHER ANNEX |
AART/DIFF |
Cross-listed: Africana Studies, Medieval Studies, Middle Eastern
Studies This course offers an introduction to
the widespread visual production defined as "Islamic Art". In
addition to architecture and architectural ornamentation, the course will also
look at pottery, metalwork, textile and carpet weaving, glass, jewelry,
calligraphy, book illumination, and painting. Beginning with the death of
Muhammad in 632 C.E. and continuing through the present, the course will cover
works from Iran, Syria, Egypt, North Africa, Turkey, Spain, India and other
areas. In particular, the course will explore cultural identity can be
articulated through visual means. Students will also present on
contemporary works of "Islamic Art" from around the world. Class size: 25
11429 |
ARTH 160 Survey of
Latin American Art |
Susan
Aberth |
. T . Th . |
11:50 -1:10 pm |
OLIN 102 |
AART/DIFF |
Cross-listed:
LAIS (core course) Related interest: Africana Studies, Theology A broad overview of
art and cultural production in Latin America, including South and Central
America, Mexico, and the Caribbean. The survey will commence with an
examination of major pre-Columbian civilizations and a field trip to the
Metropolitan Museum. This is followed by an examination of the contact
between Europe and the Americas during the colonial period, the Independence
movements and art of the 19th century, and finally the search for national
identity in the modern era. All students welcome.
Class size: 25
11734 |
ARTH 209 Art &
Nation Building |
Julia
Rosenbaum |
. T . Th . |
1:30 -2:50 pm |
OLIN 102 |
AART |
Cross-listed: American Studies, Human Rights Between 1650 and 1876, a new nation
came to dominate the world scene. This course explores the contribution of the
visual arts to the conceptualization of an American national identity, from the
founding of the colonies through the Federal and Antebellum periods to the
Civil War and Reconstruction. We will look at a range of visual and textual
materials to examine the development of American culture and the efforts to
portray the political experiment of democracy. Topics range from depictions of
authority and difference, to the importance ofportraiture
and landscape painting to national culture and politics, to the emergence of
American art institutions, to issues of aesthetics, to transatlantic
connections and traditions. The course serves as an introduction to the
painting, sculpture, photography, and material culture of America. Class
size: 22
11434 |
ARTH 210 Roman Art
and Architecture |
Diana
DePardo-Minsky |
. T . Th . |
4:40 -6:00 pm |
OLIN 102 |
AART |
Cross-listed:
Classical Studies, Environmental and Urban Studies This class follows the development of Roman
art and architecture from the founding of the city by Romulus in 753 BCE to the
transferal of the capital to the east by Constantine
in 330 CE. Lectures explore how Romans incorporated and synthesized the
styles and achievements of conquered peoples (including the Etruscans, Greeks,
and Egyptians) to produce a complex visual vocabulary which articulated the
nature of their Empire and established a common artistic language throughout
the Mediterranean world – a vocabulary
which continues to influence. The ability of art and
architecture to communicate political policy and, eventually, Christian
doctrine number among the themes of the class. This course is open
to all students. Requirements include two papers, a mid-term, a final,
and quizzes. Completion of this class qualifies students for
consideration for Roma insitu, taught in Rome during January and completed at
Bard in the Spring semester.
Class size: 22
11740 |
ARTH 214 Architecture
and Media |
Irene
Sunwoo |
. T . Th . |
3:10 -4:30 pm |
RKC 101 |
AART |
Cross-listed:
Experimental Humanities This course traces
architecture’s multifaceted engagement with media–including but not limited to
books, magazines, television, and film. We will consider building typologies,
such as libraries, television studios, and “media cities,” as well as
theoretical projects that have appropriated publishing, cinematic, cybernetic,
and broadcasting techniques to further architectural experimentation. We will
approach media as technologies of spatial organization, and will consider how
architecture itself operates as a form of media. Case studies span from the
19th to the 21st centuries; protagonists will include Henri Labrouste,
Le Corbusier, Rem Koolhaas,
Jacques Tati, Gordon Matta-Clark,
Julius Shulman and Thomas Demand. Drawing from
architectural, critical, and media theory, we will examine texts by Walter
Benjamin, Sigfried Kracauer,
Marshall McLuhan, Friedrich Kittler, Robin Evans, and Reyner
Banham, among others. Students are required to submit
written analyses of texts and projects, including a final research paper.
Permission of instructor required. Class
size: 22
11736 |
ARTH /
PHOT 215 Photography
in America |
Laurie
Dahlberg |
. T . Th . |
11:50 -1:10 pm |
FISHER ANNEX |
AART |
Cross-listed: American Studies Photography was one of the first
areas of artistic production in which the United States achieved international
recognition. This course examines American photographs in the context of the
history, art and literature of the 19th and 20th centuries. Topics include the
daguerreotype’s resonance with transcendental philosophy; the indelible
photographic images of the Civil War; Progressive Era “muckraking” and
Depression Era propaganda photography; the medium's place in Stieglitz’s
literary/artistic circle; and postwar photographers who re-imagined documentary
photography as subjective expression. Class
size: 22
11729 |
ARTH 216 Leonardo’s
Last Supper and Italian Renaissance Iconography |
Diana
DePardo-Minsky |
M . W . . |
3:10 -4:30 pm |
OLIN 203 |
AART |
Cross-listed:
Italian Studies; This class situates Leonardo's Last Supper
within the Renaissance tradition of representing Christ and the
post-Renaissance trajectory of interpreting meaning. The focal texts for
the course are Leo Steinberg's Leonardo's Incessant Last Supper (2000)
and his controversial Sexuality of Christ (1983) in addition to readings
from Vasari, Leonardo, Goethe, Freud, Panofsky, Clark, Kemp, and Pedretti. Requirements include critical essays and
class presentations. Some knowledge of Renaissance art, literature, or
culture will prove helpful. Permission of the instructor required. Class size: 20
11735 |
ARTH 218 Survey of
20th Century Sculpture |
Tom Wolf |
. . W Th . |
10:10 - 11:30 am |
OLIN 102 |
AART |
This
class is a history of 20th century art, focused on the medium of
sculpture. We will begin with the works
of August Rodin, the most famous artist in the world in 1900. We will move on to consider the evolution of
modernism, concentrating on major figures like Picasso and Brancusi, as well as
the German Expressionists, the Russian Constructivists, and the Italian
Futurists. After examining Dadaist and
Surrealist sculpture we will look at sculpture after World War II, including
the work of David Smith, Minimalism, Pop Art, and subsequent developments. Class
size: 22
11732 |
ARTH 226 Architecture
since 1945 |
Irene
Sunwoo |
. T . Th . |
10:10 - 11:30 am |
AVERY 338 |
AART |
Cross-listed: Environmental & Urban Studies; Science, Technology & Society A survey of the major
transformations in architectural and urban design practice and theory since the
end of World War II, with a focus on the challenges aimed at the modernist
discourses of the early twentieth century. These challenges begin with Team
10's retort to historical vanguardism and move on to
encompass-among others- regionalism, neorationalism,
corporate modernism, postmodernism, poststructuralist critique, and various
permutations of these models. We will discuss major figures such as Le
Corbusier, Louis Kahn, Charles & Ray Eames, Eero
Saarinen, Yona Friedman, Robert Venturi
and Denise Scott Brown, Aldo Rossi, Peter Eisenman,
and Rem Koolhaas. Attention
is also paid to alternative and experimental practices that deal with pop art,
cybernetic, semiological, and new media discourses. The
course concludes with the impact on built form of globalization and advanced
information technologies. Class size: 22
11733 |
ARTH 244 Contemporary
African Art |
Teju Cole |
M . W . . |
1:30 – 2:50 pm |
OLIN 102 |
AART/DIFF |
Cross-listed: Africana Studies, Human Rights This course looks at the
visual arts of Africa and its recent diaspora from
the post-colonial period to the present. We will focus on painting,
photography, installation, video, and conceptual art, and challenge received
ideas about the artistic practice of African artists. Some of the key figures
studied, through lectures and discussions, will be El Anatsui,
Wangechi Mutu, Julie Mehretu, Yinka Shonibare, Nnenna Okore, William Kentridge, and Jelili Atiku. For
assessment: two short papers, a midterm, and a final. Class size: 22
11737 |
ARTH 286 Spanish Art & Architecture: El Greco
to Goya |
Susan
Merriam |
. . W . F |
11:50 -1:10 pm |
OLIN 102 |
AART |
Cross-listed: LAIS This course surveys
the complex visual culture of early modern Spain with particular attention
given to major figures including El Greco, Velázquez, Murillo, Zurbaran, and
Goya. Spain exercised enormous political and military influence during this
period, and undertook a number of expansionist enterprises. At the same time,
the nation witnessed the emergence of the Spanish “Golden Age” in art and
literature. We will examine the formation of a distinct Spanish style within
the context of European art, and consider how Spanish artistic identity was a
kind of hybrid, complicated both by Spain’s importation of foreign artists
(Titian, Rubens), and by its relationship to the art and architecture of the
colonies. Palace art, architecture and interior decoration--visual
manifestations of Spanish power--will be one important focus. We will also look
at some of the most intense devotional art ever produced, including elaborate
church furnishings, altarpieces, reliquaries, and hyper-real sculpture.
Particular emphasis will be paid to the art of Spanish visionary experience.
Other topics to be addressed include: Spanish artistic theory and the training
of artists, the art market and collecting, artistic critiques of monarchical
power. Class size: 22
11739 |
ARTH 287 Experiments
in Art & Technology |
Alex
Kitnick |
M . W . . |
1:30 -2:50 pm |
HEG 204 |
AART |
Cross-listed:
Experimental Humanities
This course will explore
various connections between art and technology from the 1960s up to the present
day. Students will examine a wide range of writings, artworks, performances,
and videos by figures including Marshall McLuhan, John McHale, Robert
Rauschenberg, and Carolee Schneemann.
The idea of the course is to show that both artists and theorists are involved
in a common project of responding to new technologies. Questions of
distribution, audience, and globalization will be of key concern. In the last
weeks, we will consider how these ideas have evolved in the age of the
Internet. Open to all students. Students will work on various writing
assignments and class presentations.
Class size: 22
12039 |
ARTH 290 Art of China |
Patricia
Karetzky |
. . W . . |
1:30 -3:50 pm |
RKC 103 |
AART |
Cross-listed: Asian Studies This survey begins with a survey of
Neolithic culture, the earliest expression of the Chinese aesthetic. Next, the early civilization of the Bronze
Age is viewed, both the visual culture and the origins of writing and literature.
When the First Emperor unified China, he inaugurated the imperial dynastic
system; his tomb is a tour de force with over 8,000 life-sized figurines of
soldiers and their mounts. In subsequent eras
religious art blossomed. Buddhist art achieved expression in colossal
sculptures carved from living rock, paintings of paradise, devotional icons
crafted from a variety of media and Zen painting and calligraphy. Confucian and
Daoist philosophy, literature, and popular culture
are examined through the paintings of the later dynasties, with an emphasis on
landscape painting. The course ends with a consideration of 20th century art. Class size: 22
11436 |
ARTH 332 Villa
Culture: Origins and Adaptations |
Diana
DePardo-Minsky |
. . . . F |
1:30 -3:50 pm |
FISHER ANNEX |
AART |
Cross-listed:
Environmental & Urban Studies, Italian Studies The villa or
country house, as opposed to a working farm, embodies a city dweller’s idyllic
interpretation of country life. Conceived to express an idea rather than
fulfill a function, the villa allows its patrons and designers to create
innovative means to express the relationship between man and nature. This
seminar studies the evolution of villa architecture, pastoral literature, and
landscape design from their development in ancient Rome, through their revival
in the Italian Renaissance, to their flourishing during the European Baroque.
Students then apply the principles developed in Europe to Hudson Valley
estates. Requirements include critical essays, presentations, one research
paper, and field trips. Permission of the instructor required. Class size: 12
11937 |
ARTH 335 The Awful
Beauty: Romantic Arts in Britain and France |
Laurie
Dahlberg |
. . W . . |
10:10 - 12:30 pm |
FISHER ANNEX |
AART |
Cross-listed: French
Studies
The intellectual movement called Romanticism was both
a manifestation of Enlightenment philosophy and a counter-Enlightenment
response to the ascendant values of reason and empirical thought. Like their
literary counterparts, British painters in the 1790s were pioneering a new set
of subjects and techniques that offered doubt, mystery, and high emotion as
alternatives to the smug certainties of modern empiricism. Across the channel,
conditions were very different for French painters, who were in the grip of an intellectual
and political allegiance to neoclassicism, which in many ways could be
described as the antithesis of the new Romantic movement.
Although the apocalyptic landscapes, stormy seascapes, moody portraits, and
outright fantasies of British Romantics are strikingly different from the
austere homogeneity of early French neoclassicism, the second generation of
neoclassicists presented their neoclassical subjects through the impassioned,
sometimes irrational lens of the new Romanticism. Our bookends in time will be
the British visionary William Blake and the French academic Eugène
Delacroix. Topics will include Burke's
theory of the sublime, the cult of Ossian, medievalism, nationalism and war,
the self in nature, themes of horror and fantasy, slavery, and the rise of
"originality." Seminar-level reading, writing, and
discussion, culminating in a research paper and class presentation. Pre-requisite: at least one course in 19th
century European Art or Literature. Class
size: 15
11430 |
ARTH 349 Women
Artists of the Surrealist
Movement |
Susan
Aberth |
. . W . . |
1:30 -3:50 pm |
FISHER ANNEX |
AART |
The
Surrealist Movement, launched in the 1920s by the poet André Breton in Paris,
ascribed to woman a pivotal and revolutionary role in the life and work of
man. The movement offered women unique roles as both muse and creator and
attracted a large number of active female participants. Until recent
feminist scholarship, the lives and work of these women were overshadowed by
those of the male Surrealists. This course will first examine the use of,
indeed the centrality of, female sexuality in Surrealist imagery, and then
juxtapose it to the writings and art work of such female Surrealists as Dorothea
Tanning, Remedios Varo, Lee Miller, Meret Oppenheim, Leonor Fini, Nusch Eluard, Dora Maar, Jacqueline Lamba, Valentine
Hugo, Mimi Parent, Unica Zürn,
Ithel Colquhoun, Eileen Agar, Frida
Kahlo, Leonora Carrington, Kay Sage, Toyen, Claude Cahun, and others. Issues explored will be female
subjectivity, cultural identity, occultism, mythology, dream imagery, artistic
collaboration, the role of poetry, and the various methodologies employed to
interpret Surrealism in general. Class size: 15
12040 |
ARTH 364 Seminar in
the History of Art in Woodstock |
Tom Wolf |
. . . Th . |
1:30 -3:50 pm |
FISHER ANNEX |
|
Cross-listed: American Studies While mostly known for the 1969 concert,
Woodstock, New York, was founded as an art colony in 1902, and has been a town
associated with artists ever since. The
history of American art in the twentieth century can be traced in microcosm
there, beginning with the Arts and Crafts movement and continuing with
pioneering modernists in the second decade of the century, Social Realists in
the 1930s, and members of the Abstract Expressionist group in the 1950s. We will study these developments in class and
will take several trips to Woodstock to visit historic sites and arts organizations. It will be hands on, as students will present
seminar reports based on research involving actual works of art and archives
available in Woodstock. Class size: 15
11727 |
ARTH 385 Art
Criticism and Methodology |
Katherine
Boivin |
M . . . . |
10:10 - 12:30 pm |
FISHER ANNEX |
AART |
This
seminar, designed primarily for art history majors, helps students develop the
ability to think critically about a range of different approaches to the field
of art history. Students read and discuss a variety of texts in order to become
familiar with the discipline’s development. Methodologies such as
connoisseurship, cultural history, Marxism, feminism, and post-modernism are
analyzed. Class size: 15