ART HISTORY COURSES (ARTH)
Coordinator: Dr. Samuel H. Howell Jr.
220 History of Western Art: Ancient through Medieval (3) Historical
survey of art focusing on Prehistory; the Ancient Near East and Egypt; the Aegean,
Greece, and Rome; Early Christian and Byzantine art; and Early Medieval, Romanesque,
and Gothic art. Works of art from each period of civilization are analyzed for
individual qualities and compared with previous examples to demonstrate influences
and the development of styles. Emphasis is upon art and architecture as cultural
expression and upon the relationship of art and society.
221 History of Western Art: Renaissance through Modern (3) Historical
survey of art focusing on the Early Renaissance, the High Renaissance, Mannerism,
the Baroque, Rococo; the 19th Century, including Romanticism, Neoclassicism,
Realism, Impressionism, and Post-Impressionism; movements since 1900, including
Fauvism, Cubism, Expressionism, Abstractionism, Surrealism, Modern architecture,
and the New York School. Works of art from each period or movement are analyzed
for individual qualities and compared to previous examples to demonstrate influences
and the development of styles. Emphasis is upon art and architecture as cultural
expression and upon the relationship between art and social and technological
changes.
340 Art of the United States (3) (Prerequisite: Art History 221 or permission
of the department) Introduction to the art and architecture and continental
U.S. from the time of the first European voyages of discovery up to the Armory
Show of 1913. Course explores the role of the visual arts in establishing the
new nation's self identity, in interpreting the native landscape and everyday
life against European models and traditions, and in tracing the rise of the
professional American art establishment which by the early 20th century finally
considered itself the equal of its European counterparts.
350 Native Arts of the Americas (3) (Prerequisite: Art History 220 or
221 or permission of the department) Introduction to the artistic and cultural
traditions of native peoples in both North America and South America. Attention
is placed on the collecting and studying of relevant artifacts and the evolution
of competing methods for interpreting them.
360 Islamic and African Art (3) (Prerequisite: Art History 220 or 221
or permission of the department) Introduction to the traditional art forms of
Western and Central Asia, North Africa, and Spain while under Islamic rule.
The arts of Africa, especially Sub-Saharan, will also be covered by tribe and
region.
370 East Asian Art (3) (Prerequisite: Art History 220 or 221 or permission
of the department) Introduction to the artistic and cultural traditions of Asia
(focusing on India, China, Japan) from the bronze age to developments in the
20th century. Course emphasis is on the development of traditional art forms
as they evolved within courtly and/or religious (especially Buddhist, Hindu,
Shinto) frameworks.
380 Nineteenth Century Art (3) (Prerequisite: Art History 220 or 221
or permission of the department) Introduction to the paintings and sculptures
of European art from just before the French Revolution (Jacques-Louis David,
Antonio Canova, and Neoclassicism) to the radical aesthetic changes ushered
in by the Symbolists (such as Gauguin, Munch, and Rodin) at the very end of
the 19th century.
390 Twentieth Century Art (3) (Prerequisite: Art History 221 or permission
of the department) Beginning in the 1890's, this course is a broad overview
of the major visual art forms of the current century from the Symbolists to
the peaking of Modernism in the 1970's. Painting and sculpture is covered as
well as architecture and design, with limited coverage of photography and the
cinema.
400 Contemporary Art Since 1980 (3) (Prerequisite: Art History 221 and
390 or permission of the department) This course covers the full global range
of recent visual culture since about 1980-from traditional art media (painting,
sculpture, illustration, and photography) through innovations involving craft
forms (ceramics, glass, weaving, etc.) to electronic and computer-generated
images which are revolutionizing graphic design.
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