Open to All Undergraduates; Not Open to Graduate Students.
History of Art 101, 102, 103 and 108, while covering different areas, are all considered equivalent introductions to the History of Art. These three introductory survey courses consider not only art objects as aesthetic experiences but also the interaction which exists between the artist and society. The lecture and discussion sections explore various historical, social, religious, and intellectual phenomena which are reflected in the style and content of works of art. Attention is also given to the creative act and to the problems of vision and perception which both the artist and his public must face. The three courses are numbered sequentially but they do not form a sequence.
Although it would be logical to move from History of Art 101 to History of Art 102, either History of Art 101 or 102 along with History of Art 103 and 108 serve as a satisfactory introduction to the history of art.
Course requirements and texts vary with individual instructors, but an effort is always made to introduce students to works of art in the collections of the university as well as in the museums of Detroit and Toledo. Most of the upper division courses in history of art require one of the three introductory courses as a prerequisite. The introductory courses are directed toward students interested in the general history of culture and are especially valuable cognates for students in the fields of history, philosophy, literature, and musicology as well as the creative arts. Photographic material is available for study in the Image Study Gallery, G026 Angell/Haven Connector. Examinations usually include short essays and slides which are to be identified, compared, and discussed.
101. Near Eastern and European Art from the Stone Age to the End of the Middle Ages. (4). (HU).
This course offers an introduction to major monuments and periods
of art from antiquity through the Middle Ages. Its purpose is
not only to acquaint students with key works of Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Byzantine, Islamic, Romanesque and Gothic art and architecture, but also to help them develop a vocabulary for the description
and analysis of works of art, and to provide them with a basic
understanding of the methods and aims of art historical study.
Lectures will be supplemented by weekly discussion sections on
readings drawn from a general art historical survey and a course
pack. Written work will consist of two short papers on objects
in the Kelsey Museum and the Museum of Art; there will be a midterm
and a final examination. This course, with H.A. 102, is meant
to provide a foundation in the history of western art and will
be useful to students taking higher-level courses in the department.
Cost:2 WL:4 (Thomas)
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102. Western Art from the End of the Middle Ages to the Present. No credit granted to those who have completed 104 and 105, or 150. Two credits granted to those who have completed one of 104 or 105. (4). (HU).
This course is a survey of topics in European and American
Art from the late 14th century to the present, as well as an introduction
to the techniques of art history. It will examine institutions
such as patronage and the art market, the changing roles of artists
in society, and the changing functions of art. Weekly discussion
sections will be devoted to building skills in visual analysis
and critical reading of art-historical literature. Requirements:
informed participation in section meetings, regular reading assignments, two short papers, midterm, and a final examination. There are
no prerequisites for this course. Cost:3
WL:4 (Zurier)
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108/CAAS 108. Introduction to African Art. (4). (HU).
This course offers a general introduction to the arts of African
cultures south of the Sahara desert. It reviews the history of
African art from about 10,000 B.C. through the twentieth century.
The survey is based on a carefully selected corpus comprising
prehistoric rock paintings and engravings; old and recent sculptures
in terracotta, metal, wood, and ivory; and textile and bodily
arts. While it adopts an historical approach, it will also explore
some prevailing themes in African art, such as African approaches
to representation and the social function and meaning of art.
Last, it will highlight a number of significant cultural transformations that resulted from contact between African peoples and western
societies. Scheduled lectures will be supplemented with written
and reading assignments, videofilms, and tours of African art
exhibitions in museums and private collections in the Detroit
area. Cost:2
WL:4 (Quarcoopome)
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112/Art 112. History of Photography. (4). (HU).
This course will explore the history of photography in the
19th and 20th centuries through a comparative study of photographs, photographers, and theories about the nature of photography. The
goal is to create an understanding of the themes and issues, concepts
and contexts associated with photographic image-making – from
American and international perspectives. One intent is that at the end of the study the student should be aware of some of the
diverse concerns in present day photography and be able to identify their origins and influences. The class should interest students
from a wide range of disciplines. Class structure combines three
hours of lecture sessions a week for general structured presentation
of material, with one hour of discussion section that meets weekly
for deeper study of the main theories about the nature of photography
and its role in shaping our understanding of the world. Assignments
will include readings from course texts and completion of some
computer-based tasks using special programs developed for use
with this program. Grades will be based on participation in discussion
sections, a term paper/project, and three slide-essay exams. Cost:2 WL:4 (Kirkpatrick)
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113/Art 113. Introduction to the Visual Arts. This course is for non-art majors only. (3). (Excl).
Visual arts are a part of the human experience in all cultures
and all time periods. The ability to appreciate, to understand, and to assess the quality of visual art can enrich a person's
life and broaden one's thinking. This course will introduce students
having no formal art or art historical background to the major
forms of visual expression through human history from the Stone
Age to the present. We will examine works of art in various media
such as painting, drawing, printmaking, photography, sculpture, architecture, graphics, and industrial design. Students will learn
how artists use the language of form to communicate information, to express emotion, and to explore the world of nature and the
world of the mind. Students will learn the basic techniques of the various media. Students will learn how the art of a time and place defines and expands the boundaries of that culture. Assigned
readings and visits to museums and galleries will help students
become critical consumers of the visual culture as they learn
to see, appreciate, and assess art forms. Requirements include
periodic quizzes, a final exam, and a term paper. Students will
also make some ungraded drawings and paintings as analytical tools.
(Kapetan)
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194(210). First Year Seminar. (3). (HU).
Section 001 – Artemisia Gentileschi: Woman Painter in 17th-Century Italy and the Art of Art History. Easily one of the most memorable creative personalities of the Baroque, and arguably the most powerfully expressive and influential woman painter ever, Artemisia Gentileschi (1593-1652) has become the central figure in the long overdue recovery of the history of art produced by women. With Artemisia's pictorially aggressive and emotionally compelling pictures providing the focus, this limited-enrollment course proposes to stand as a case study of how historians of art operate in attempting to understand works of art within the complex sociocultural and personal contexts in which they were produced. Formal analysis, iconography, patronage, feminism, and psychoanalysis will be among the many areas of inquiry. Original works of art, the eye of the investigator, primary source material, library holdings, and scientific data will be among the tools, and through a combination of assigned reading, discussion, research, and oral and written reports students will sharpen their visual sensitivity, their ability to think critically and to recognize quality in art, their awareness of diversity, their communication skills, and in all their appreciation of the demands and rewards of intellectual inquiry. Cost:2 WL:4 (Bissell)
Section 002 – The Crusades.
This seminar has as its focus the Crusades to the Holy Land which
took place in the 11th and 12th centuries and Muslim and Byzantine
responses to them. We will concentrate on interrelationships between the several cultures of the European and Mediterranean worlds
in the Middle Ages, examining art and architecture which seems
to express these interrelationships and/or seems to be illuminated
by an understanding of them: pictorial publicity for the Crusades
in art of the Latin West; the military and religious architecture
of the Crusaders in the Near East; expressions of jihad
and Holy War in the art of both Christians and Muslims; Christian
and Islamic representations of the "infidel". (Gillerman)
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211/WS 211. Gender and Popular Culture. (4). (HU).
"Popular culture" is a complex social system, and this course concentrates on its visual manifestations in various
media. We focus on women as signs or emblems, as producers, and as consumers of "popular culture," with attention also
to the representation of masculinity and of race/ethnicity. Mainstream and marginal, appropriated and subverting, reflective and formative, the "popularity" of certain
cultures often places them outside an academic framework, but this course seeks to alter that exclusion. After a brief thematic
introduction, we focus on contemporary American culture, examining
such examples as advertising; Ken and Barbie dolls; parental roles
in film and television; romance in fiction or films like Pretty
Woman and Waiting to Exhale; the "buddy"
system in action movies and Thelma and Louise; and women
in music, including Madonna. Student participation will include
several short papers, a research paper, a final exam, and regular
discussion in classes. Cost:2
WL:4 (Simons)
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221/Class. Arch. 221. Introduction to Greek Archaeology. (4). (HU).
See Classical Archaeology
221. (Talalay)
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251/MARC 251. Italian Renaissance
Art, II. (4). (HU).
Section 001 – Leonardo, Raphael, Michelangelo. The course
will take a new look at the three most celebrated artists of the
Italian Renaissance. It will focus on the relation between their
achievements in architecture, sculpture, and painting, and the
crisis-ridden historical conditions in which the works were produced
– it will be shown how artists exploited contemporary circumstances
and drew upon ideas of genius and divine inspiration to ensure their own reputations of universal mastery and originality. Through these figures, Renaissance and modern myths of artistic independence
and individuality can be subjected to a critical scrutiny. Lectures
will deal with the interpretation of the works themselves, and with the artists' careers, their interactions and rivalries, and their relation to patrons and other artists. Sections will introduce
some of the best of the latest scholarship on the High Renaissance, together with writings by the artists and their contemporaries.
Some of these texts, which produce each artist as a "universal
genius," continue to affect the perception of these artists
right down to the present day. Two papers, midterm, final exam.
Cost:2 WL:4 (Campbell)
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260. European Painting and Sculpture of the Seventeenth Century. (3). (HU).
After an opening review of 16th-Century artistic and ideological
developments, the course considers the revolutionary achievements
of Annibale Carracci and Caravaggio, who together are shown to
have established the premises of the three major trends in 17th-Century
art: Baroque Classicism; the "Ecstatic" Baroque; and Baroque Realism. Each of these sub-categories and their innovative
variations will then be discussed in turn, with examples of religious
and historical imagery, mythology, genre, still-life, portraiture, and landscape drawn from the painting and sculpture of Italy, France, Spain, Flanders, and Holland. Attention will be given
to the special sociocultural circumstances under which the works
were produced, while simultaneously the uniqueness of major masters
– among them Poussin, Rubens, Bernini, Velázquez, Vermeer, and Rembrandt – will be revealed. But the course will end with
an attempt to demonstrate that, for all this diversity, there
is an underlying philosophical unity to the art of this extraordinary
period. Students will be evaluated by way of midterm and final
examinations and a short museum paper. Cost:2
WL:4 (Bissell)
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271. European Painting of the Nineteenth Century. (4). (HU).
This course examines a series of remarkable episodes in modern
European painting, from the establishment of a quasi-official
form of Classicism to the antagonistic emergence of Romanticism, Realism, and Impressionism. The Nineteenth Century is the period
during which modern art developed its characteristic strategies
and behavioral patterns: an apparent insistence on innovation, originality, and individuality; a contentious involvement with
tradition; a critical relationship with both institutional and commercial culture; and a somewhat strained allegiance with radical
politics and alternative subcultures. It is also the period that
witnessed a thorough-going reassessment of visual representation, and a parallel concern with the possibilities and limitations
of the medium of painting. The course is designed to encourage
close readings of images (by David, Gericault, Manet, Degas, Cezanne, et al.) within the parameters of both historical context
and recent critical debate. Cost:3
WL:4 (Lay)
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341. The Gothic Age. (3).
(HU).
Section 001 – The Great Cathedrals. The subject of this
course is the architecture, sculpture and stained-glass painting
of the Gothic Cathedral. Emphasis will be placed on the French
cathedrals of Chartres, Reims, Amiens and Beauvais, but English
and Italian examples will also be treated. We will try to integrate
a variety of points of view, considering such issues as urban
site, function, audience, patronage, finance, structure, design, and symbolism. Two papers, midterm, final exam. (Gillerman)
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391. Survey of Japanese Painting. (3). (Excl).
This course will survey the long and richly varied history
of Japan's pictorial arts. We will examine topics such as the
role of painting in the rituals of Esoteric Buddhism, the complex
interaction between image and text in hand scrolls of the Heian
period, the relationship between Zen and Sesshu's ink landscapes, and the political implications of the bold decorative painting
of the Kano school. The course will conclude with discussion of
some of the ways in which contemporary Japanese artists have reinterpreted
painting traditions introduced during the term. Two short essays, a midterm, and a final exam will be required. WL:4 (Reynolds)
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394. Special Topics. (3).
(Excl). May be elected for credit more than once.
Section 001 – Classical Mythology and the Italian Renaissance.
A seminar which will explore the conflicted and sometimes controversial
re-appearance of the pagan gods of classical antiquity in Italian
painting, sculpture, literature, and festivals during the fifteenth
and sixteenth century, and the beginnings of the so-called humanist
tradition in European art. Although frequently identified as symptoms
of a broader "classical revival" in the Renaissance, closer examination reveals a diversity of motives on the part
of the various groups invested in the production of mythological
imagery. The works of artists such as Botticelli, Titian and Michelangelo, and of poets such as Dante, Poliziano and Ariosto variously provide
a self-image for social elites, enable a visualizing of the concerns
of humanist scholars, and allow poets and artists to investigate the respective spheres of operation of word and image. Common
to all of these groups is the idea that a connection to the past through the imaging of poets such as Ovid (whose ongoing influence
will be a linking theme of the course) allows a symbolic negotiation
of more contemporary concerns with power, aristocratic self-definition, the regulation of gender and sexuality, and above all the problematic
status of literature and art. Literary texts will be read in English
translation. One short paper, one research paper. Cost:1
WL:4 (Campbell)
Section 002 – Avant-garde and Underground Art in Russia, 1910s to 1990s. The Russian Revolution of October 1917, and its seventy-four year aftermath, was one of the most important historical events of the 20th century. Only since the end of the Cold War, however, have we been able to gain a fuller picture of the extraordinary artistic developments that have taken place in Russia during this century. The first half of the course will examine Russian avant-garde art both before and after the revolution (Cubo-futurism, Suprematism, the Jewish Renaissance, Unovis, Constructivism, Productivism, Socialist Realism) so as to debate the controversial question of the relationship between avant-garde art and radical politics. The second half of the term will address Underground and dissident art of the 1960s and 1970s (including the "Bulldozer exhibition" of 1974), art under Gorbachev's policy of perestroika (including Sotheby's 1988 auction in Moscow), and the work of contemporary Russian artists since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Finally, some consideration will be given to Russian artists of the diaspora, that is, those currently living and working in New York and Paris. Our focus will be painting, sculpture, photography, graphic design and installation art but other media such as film, opera, and performance art will also play their part. The class will be part-lecture, part-seminar. Course requirements: weekly readings, two papers, and a short class presentation. Cost:2 WL:4 (Gough)
Section 003 – Picasso to Cunningham: Collaboration in Art, Dance, and Film in the 20th Century. For Fall Term, 1997, this section is offered jointly with RC Humanities 333.002. (Genné)
Section 004 – Japanese Portrait Traditions. The main
purpose of this course is to serve as an introduction to Japanese
portraits, painted, printed, and sculpted. We will encounter portraits
of Chinese and Indian Buddhist monks of the eighth through the
twelfth century, Zen portrait paintings and sculptures of the thirteenth through the eighteenth century, secular portraiture
and its development and since the late twelfth century, printed
portraits of early modern times, and portraits reflecting the
impact of European pictorial techniques on Japanese portraitists.
Students will be introduced to related materials, including essays
on portraiture, textual references to portraits, inscriptions
on portraits, objects embedded in sculptures, censorship laws
governing woodblock prints and related subversive practices. Students
will be expected to participate in the analysis of this diverse
body of material in order to attempt to gain an understanding
and appreciation of how any given portrait functioned and was
"read" in its day. Requirements include regular attendance, weekly assignments (short papers, brief quizzes, or discussion
questions to prepare), and a longer, issue-oriented paper. Cost:
3 WL:4 (Sharf)
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396. Honors Thesis. Hist. of Art 393. Open to students admitted to Honors in History of Art. (2). (Excl). (INDEPENDENT). May be elected for a total of 4 credits.
Individual Honors research.
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399. Independent Study. Permission of instructor. (1-3). (Excl). (INDEPENDENT). May be elected for credit more than once.
Supervision of each student's work is assigned to an appropriate
member of the staff.
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Open to Juniors, Seniors, and Graduate Students. Sophomores by special permission.
420/Amer. Cult. 432. National Identity in American Art. Any prior coursework in history of art, American culture, or American history. (3). (Excl).
This lecture/discussion course will reconsider the old question
of "What's American About American Art?" by asking "when
and why have people cared what's American about American
art?" We will focus on a series of artistic moments – from
Colonial portraiture to the reception of Abstract Expressionism
during the Cold War – which artists, critics, historians, or their public have claimed were uniquely American or expressed
a unified national culture. By studying related issues in political, social, and cultural history (which often reveal a nation that
was anything but unified), we will examine how Americans have
sought to define a national identity through art. Students who
have done prior work in any aspect of art history, American history, American literature or American culture – and who are
willing to do some background reading to fill in the gaps in their
knowledge – are encouraged to participate. The class will include
at least one field trip to view original works of art and architecture.
Cost:3 WL:4 (Zurier)
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422/Class. Arch. 422. Etruscan Art and Archaeology. Hist. of Art 221 or 222. (3). (HU).
The Etruscans are among the earliest identifiable peoples of the region of modern Tuscany and surrounding Italian provinces
(Latium, Umbria, Emilia-Romagna), and their civilization has left
numerous traces still evident today. Apart from the rich archaeological
sites and museums that house works of Etruscan art, certain persistent
architectural features and construction techniques common in the
region have roots in the Etruscan past. This course will follow the developments of Etruscan civilization from the 7th to the
1st century B.C. and consider their influence on later periods
and peoples in Italy. Works of art, archaeological artifacts, and architectural remains form the basis for discussing Etruscan
artistic developments, socioeconomic and political conditions, religious and burial practices, gender issues, and historical
events. Within each period of Etruscan history comparisons among the various Etruscan territories will highlight the individual
characteristics of each locale and illustrate the influences of
one upon another. Slide-illustrated lectures and class discussions
will be complemented by field trips to the Kelsey Museum and, if possible, the Toledo Museum of Art and the Detroit Institute
of Arts. There will be a midterm and a final examination consisting
of slide attributions and essay questions. Short writing assignments
will focus on Etruscan objects in the Kelsey Museum. Students
enrolled for graduate credit must also write a substantial research
paper on a topic chosen in consultation with the instructor. Class
readings may include selections from Brendel, Etruscan Art;
Pallottino, The Etruscans; Bonfante, Etruscan Life
and Afterlife; Scullard, The Etruscan Cities and Rome;
and a variety of monographs and journal articles. Cost:2
WL:4 (Gazda)
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424/Class. Arch. 424. Archaeology of the Roman Provinces. Hist. of Art 221 or 222. (3). (HU).
See Classical Archaeology
424. (Alcock)
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435/Class. Arch. 435. The Art and Archaeology of Asia Minor. (3). (HU).
See Classical Archaeology
435. (Pedley)
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463. Varieties of Dutch
and Flemish Painting. Hist. of Art 102 and 260. (3).
(Excl).
Section 001 – Pictorial Art and Visual Culture in the Dutch Republic.
This course deals with the pictorial art and visual culture of the Netherlands during the seventeenth century. We will be looking
primarily at painting, but also at drawings and prints, to examine the diversity and types of images produced, and to situate them
within their historical and cultural circumstances. The course
will give special emphasis to the illusionistic and descriptive
artistry for which Dutch and Flemish artists were justly famous.
It will explore the character and meanings of this art's celebrated
naturalism, and will consider the social, political, and ideological
functions of pictures, the status of art and artists, and the
conditions of artistic production and consumption in the Dutch
Republic. Cost:3
WL:4 (Brusati)
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468. Sculptural Practices of the 20th Century. (3). (Excl).
This course will trace the radical shift in sculptural sensibility
which has taken place in the art of the 20th century: from a conception
of sculpture as "object" to one of sculpture as "place."
The shift that we will be investigating was once well described
by the minimalist Carl Andre in terms of the successive transformation
of sculptors' interest in the Statue of Liberty: "In the
days of form sculptors were interested in the Statue
of Liberty because of the modeling of Bartholdi and the modeling
of the copper sheet that was [its] form....Then people came to
be interested in structure.. . .in Eiffel's cast iron
interior structure...[in] taking the copper sheets off...and looking
at the cast iron or steel that constituted the structure on which the copper plates were hung. Now sculptors aren't even interested
in Eiffel's structure any more. They're interested in Bedloe's
Island and what to do with that. So I think of Bedloe's Island as a place. " We will begin with an examination
of the European avant-gardes in the early decades of the 20th
century and then turn our attention to developments in post-war
American art. Specific topics will include: Picasso's constructed
sculpture; Duchamp's ready-mades; Boccioni; Brancusi; Russian
constructivism (Tatlin, Rodchenko et al.); Broodthaers;
Minimalism (Morris, Judd, Andre); process art (Hesse, Benglis);
body art (Schneemann, Pane, Nitsch et al.); axiomatic
structures (Lewitt); site constructions and land art (Smithson, Heizer, Oppenheim, Long et al.); and contemporary installations
and environments. Classes will be part-lecture, part-discussion.
Course requirements: weekly readings, two papers, and a short
class presentation. Cost:2
WL:4 (Gough)
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