ART HISTORY MINOR

A minor in art history requires 18 semester hours, including Art History 220, 221, 350 or 360 or 370, 390, 400, and three semester hours selected from Art History 340 and 380.

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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