History of Art 101, 102, and 103, 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 as well as History of Art 103 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 these 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 Fine Arts Study Room in the Modern Languages Building. Examinations usually include short essays and slides which are to be identified, compared, and discussed.
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 if only 104
or 105 has been completed. (4). (HU).
This course provides an introduction to key works of Western European
and American art from the 15th through the 20th centuries. Emphasis
will be placed on developing skills in looking at, understanding
and discussing works of art. The primary focus will be on painting, sculpture and architecture, bur craft objects, such as textiles
and ceramics, will also be considered. The three weekly lectures
will be organized chronologically and thematically to deal with
such issues as the nature of visual representation in specific
cultures, and the artist and his/her relation to society. Students
will have the opportunity to explore these issues in greater depth
and to further develop analytic skills in weekly discussion sections.
Readings will be drawn from Gardener's Art Through the Ages
, Chadwick's Women, Art and Society, and selected short
readings. There will be a midterm exam, a final exam and a short
paper. No prerequisites. Cost:3 WL:4 (Wickre)
108/CAAS 108. Introduction
to African Art. (3). (Excl).
This is a general introduction to the arts of sub-Saharan Africa.
It surveys some recent (19th and 20th century) art forms of the
continent and concludes with a critical look at African art in
Euro-American society. The approach is both historical and ethnographic, reviewing significant developments in art production while exploring
some dominant themes in African art. A selective use of visual
material – slides, films, art objects – help to illustrate the
relationship between art production and environment. It also shows
how art functions in the cycle of life in diverse African cultures
ranging from decentralized to large complex polities. Texts: Art
as Technology by A.Rubin (ed. by Zena Pearlstone) and African
Art in the Cycle of Life by R.Sieber and R.Walker. The principle
of continuous assessment will apply and will combine records of
attendance at lectures and sessions, slide tests, and two short
written assignments. (Quarcoopome)
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, 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. Cost:3
WL:3 (Kapetan)
212/Architecture 212. Understanding Architecture. Not
open to students enrolled in Architecture. (3). (Excl).
A three-credit course, 'Understanding Architecture,' will become the principal introductory survey course in architecture. Taught
by a master teacher, it will examine the architect's role in society
and the role of architecture and urban design in shaping the built
environment. An examination of many aspects of the man-made environment, using historical and contemporary examples, incorporating the
user, viewer, and designer points of view. Upon completion of the course the student is expected to be able to (1) identify
and distinguish buildings constructed in different times, places, and societies; (2) discuss how architecture is and has been viewed
and interpreted by various individuals and cultures; (3) analyze
urban forms and spaces in relation to the buildings which make them up and the people who use them; and (4) develop and describe
a personal attitude toward and understanding of the man-made environment.
The format includes lectures by the College of Architecture and Urban Planning faculty and periodic discussion periods. Several
field exercises requiring the student to experience, analyze, interpret, and report on aspects of the built environment will
be required. The course will be enhanced by adding recitation
sections, which will be run by five graduate teaching assistants.
They will meet with students once a week, leaving two hours per
week for lectures. Recitation sections will focus on improving the students ability to venture into and sustain architectural
discourse. The College of Architecture and Urban Planning's best
graduate students will be recruited for these positions and will
become mentors for pre-professional students. [Cost:1] [WL:4]
(Hubbell/Marzolf)
222/Class. Arch. 222. Introduction to Roman Archaeology.
(4). (HU).
See Classical Archaeology
222. (Hutchinson)
260. European Painting and Sculpture of the Seventeenth
Century. Hist. of Art 102 or permission of instructor.
(3). (HU).
This course looks at key trends and figures in the history of the pictorial arts and sculpture in Europe during the 17th century.
Lectures will focus on the works of selected major artists including
Carracci, Caravaggio, Bernini, Rubens, Poussin, Velazquez, Rembrandt, and Vermeer. Topics to be considered include: developments in
sculptural and pictorial realism, experiments with artistic illusion, uses of artistic tradition, the emergence of new types of painting
such as landscape and still life, artist's career patterns, types
of patronage and the marketing of art. Required work will include the study of lecture notes and works of art, as well as modest
weekly reading assignments of fifty pages or less. Two short papers, a midterm and a final examination will serve as the basis for
grading. Cost:3 (Brusati)
272. Arts of the Twentieth Century. Hist.
of Art 101 or 102; or permission of instructor. (4). (HU).
A survey of the major movements and personalities of 20th century
western art. The primary focus will be on painting and sculpture, with some attention given to the arts of photography, architecture, cinema, and graphics. The required discussion sections will center
on particular aspects of the course material to develop individual
skills in approaching 20th-century visual art and ideas. Grading
will be based on midterm and final examinations, a term project/paper, and section participation [Cost:2] [WL:2] (Kirkpatrick)
292. Introduction to Japanese Art and Culture. No
credit granted to those who have completed or are enrolled in
Hist. of Art 495. (3). (Excl).
A selective, in-depth look at key aspects of Japanese art and culture, this course requires no background in either art history
or Japanese studies. The course will be taught chronologically, with topics drawn from prehistory to the contemporary period, but it will not provide a comprehensive survey of all arts from
all periods. Topics may include, but are not limited to: cord-marked
pottery, recent discoveries in archaeology, the Sun Goddess and Ise Shrine, Prince Shotuku and Horyuji, the Great Buddha of Todaiji;
esoteric mandalas; art of the Western Paradise; feminine sensibility
and the ILLUSTRATED TALE OF GENJI; poetry and design motifs; the
warrior aesthetic; Zen and ink painting; garden design; tea ceremony;
screens, woodblock printing;. Two textbooks will be required:
Paul Varley, JAPANESE CULTURE and Joan Stanley-Baker, JAPANESE
ART, along with additional readings on reserve or in a course
pack. Two exams and one short paper will be required. Class size
is limited to 45. Freshmen and sophomores are especially welcomed.
[Cost:3] (Kita)
393. Junior Proseminar. History of Art
concentrators. (3). (Excl).
The junior proseminar for winter, 1992, will consider the many
ways in which painting and poetry interact in the Chinese tradition
by examining secondary studies, original poems (in translation)
and paintings. Secondary readings on relations between painting
and poetry in the European tradition will provide opportunities
for a comparative perspective. Students will be introduced to
methods of literary and visual analysis in a series of informal
lectures. Each week both secondary and primary sources (in translation)
will be discussed with an emphasis on the development of critical thinking skills. In addition to a short essay quiz, each student
will be expected to present an oral report on a topic of choice
related to the proseminar theme and a written term paper. For the term paper, students will be encouraged to assemble and conduct
research on materials related by imagery, common literary strategies, or historiography. Although some background in East Asian cultures
will be helpful, knowledge of Chinese painting and poetry is not
presumed. (Powers)
Open to Upperclass Students and Graduate Students
402. Contemporary Modes of Interpretation in Art History. (3).
(Excl).
For many people today Art History is not a single discipline with
its own method but rather the meeting ground of many different
techniques and interests having the visual image as a common point
of reference. This course, designed as an overview of theoretical
and critical approaches to the study of historical images, will
begin by establishing a base of terms and concepts drawn from the German critical tradition of art history and from structuralist
analyses of sign systems (Panofsky, Saussure, Levi-Strauss) before
taking up a range of topics exemplifying the predominantly post-structuralist
approaches of recent Marxist, Feminist and Psychoanalytic investigations
(T.J.Clark, Mieke Bal, Joan Scott, Lisa Tickner, Julia Kristeva, Norman Bryson, Craig Owens, Griselda Pollack, and others). Students
will find many ideas in the course useful for "reading"
and thinking about images, from ancient sculptures to oil paintings
and videos, but disagreement and discussion is anticipated. Short
papers will be assigned weekly and one long paper will be due
at the end of the term. (Willette)
405. Artists and Patrons. Hist. of Art
101 or permission of instructor. (3). (Excl). May be elected for
credit more than once with permission of chair.
This course is designed to familiarize the students with a variety
of approaches to interpreting relations between artists, clients
and audience. A comparative framework is employed throughout the
course so that students in Weste Artists and Patrons and Michel Buerdeley's The Chinese Collector through the Ages
will serve as core sources for the course, but in addition
readings from a variety of sources will be placed on reserve.
(Powers)
413/Scandinavian 413/Architecture 413. Architecture
and Art of Scandinavia. (3). (Excl).
See Scandinavian 413. (Marzolf)
424/Class. Arch. 424. Archaeology of the Roman Provinces.
Hist. of Art 221 or 222; or permission of instructor.
(3). (HU).
See Classical Archaeology
424. (Humphrey)
433/Class. Arch. 433. Greek Sculpture. Hist.
of Art 101 or permission of instructor. (3). (HU).
See Classical Archaeology
433. (Pedley)
445/MARC 445. Medieval Architecture.
Hist. of Art 101 or permission of instructor. (3).
(HU).
Section 001: The Great Church. This course will survey elite
ecclesiastical architecture between the 4th and 15th centuries
A.D., concentrating on such monuments as Constantine's Saint Peter's
in Rome, Hagia Sophia, the Palatine Chapel at Aachen, and Reims
Cathedral. We will approach the buildings as embodiments of structural
technology, as stages for the performance of religious, political, and communal ritual, and as vehicles for propaganda through the
manipulation of decoration, form, and space. (Davis)
454/MARC 454. Late Renaissance
Art in Italy. Hist. of Art 102 or 250; or permission
of instructor. (3). (Excl).
On this offering the course will focus upon Florentine painting
during the 16th century. Early lectures will treat the classical
style in Florence, discussing Fra Bartolommeo and Andrea del Sarto.
Considerable attention will be given to the so-called "anti-classical
style" of Pontormo and Rosso Fiorentino. The later lectures
will discuss Florentine Mannerism, emphasizing Bronzino. At the
conclusion of the course there will be some discussion of the
Florentine "controriforma" and the emergence of the
Baroque. There will be a midterm and a final exam. Students will
also be required to write a short research paper. Texts for the
course will be S.J.Freedberg's Painting in Italy 1500-1600,
W.Friedlaender's Mannerism and Anti-Mannerism, and J.Shearman's Mannerism. Students intending to take this course should
have has a good grounding in Italian Renaissance art (preferably
via HA 250 and/or 451) and a declared interest in the materials.
Cost:2 WL:2 (Smith)
479. Nineteenth-Century Masters. Hist.
of Art 102, or 271, or permission of instructor. (3). (Excl).
Section 001: The Golden Age of British Photography. The course
will be concerned with the history of British photography from
1839 to the late nineteenth century. The early part of the course
will be devoted to the origins of photography in England and Scotland, with several lectures devoted to Fox Talbot, the inventor of negative-positive
paper photography, and his Scottish disciples. The Edinburgh partnership
of Hill and Adamson will also be studied in detail. Later lectures
will be devoted to Anna Atkins, Julia Margaret Cameron, Clementina
Lady Hawarden, Lewis Carroll, Oscar Rejlander, and others. The
course is intended for students with some prior background in the history of photography; some knowledge of 19th century British
history will also be helpful. There will be a midterm examination;
otherwise the work will be in the form of short interpretive essays
and a longer research paper. (Smith)
482. Buddhist Art. (3). (Excl).
This course will present a detailed survey of the Buddhist architecture, sculpture, and painting of India, Southeast Asia, Tibet, China
and Japan, with particular emphasis on the development of these
arts in response to the evolution of Buddhist doctrine and changes
in devotional practices. Students should therefore bring to the
course an interest in Buddhism as a religion, as well as some
prior knowledge of the history and culture of the countries involved.
The main requirements will be a final exam and a term paper on
a subject of the student's choice. [Cost:1] [WL:4] (Kane)
485. The Art of Thailand and Burma. Hist.
of Art 103 and 383. (3). (Excl).
Buddhism as it was exported from Sri Lanka served as a unifying
force in the development of Thai and Burmese art and architecture, yet classic sculptural styles remained distinctive in each nation, and the architectural centers at Pagan and Sukhothai represent
completely different modes of expression. The Mons in Thailand and Burma will be compared for similarities and differences in their art and temples from the 6th through the 13th centuries.
Also, the role of royal patronage in each nation, and urban planning
and cosmology, will be examined for influences on the great centers
of temple construction. The final grade will be based on class
participation, two hour exams, and one final paper. Cost:2 WL:3
(Mannikka)
487/Chinese 475/Asian Studies 475/RC Hums. 475/Philosophy
475. The Arts and Letters of China. (4). (HU).
See Chinese 475. (Y. Feuerwerker).
534/Class. Arch. 534. Ancient Painting. Hist.
of Art 101 and either Hist. of Art 221 or 222; or permission of
instructor. (3). (Excl).
See Classical Archaeology
534. (Hutchinson)
565. Baroque Architecture in Italy and Germany. Hist.
of Art 555 or permission of instructor. (3). (Excl).
After a short study of the seminal architecture of Alberti in
Rimini, Florence, and Mantua, the course will focus on Rome as
an urban center from the early 16th to the early 18th centuries.
The city will be treated as an organism within which operated
such great architects as Bramante, Raphael, Michelangelo, Vignola, Maderno, Bernini, Borromini, and Pietro da Cortona. Behind them
is the patronage of the popes and cardinals of the papal court
and such sponsorship will form an integral part of the lectures.
In brief, the course will concern itself with the development
of Rome as a visible expression of both the Renaissance and the
Catholic Restoration. From Rome, the focus will shift northward
to Turin where where the dukes of Savoy employed Guarini and Juvarra
to create another civic organism which revealed in vivid architectural
language with their anointed right to autocratic rule. The course
will conclude with the expansion into Germany and Austria of architectural
forms originating in Italy but carried to new heights of religious
and imperial expression in areas prosperous after decades of war
and invasion. Great architecture, especially in the early modern
period, is inseparable from social forces and will be so treated, while at the same time every effort will be made to help the student
appreciate the subleties of the language of classical architecture.
(Whitman)
580. Twentieth-Century Masters. Hist.
of Art 102, 272, or permission of instructor. (3). (Excl).
Section 001: Romare Bearden. The course will survey the career
of American painter, Romare Bearden (1912-1988). Lectures will
focus on the various artistic and literary influences upon Bearden's
paintings, and the symbols and images derived from African American
culture and society. Bearden's paintings, dating from 1939 to
1987, will be compared to those by his contemporaries highlighting
artistic movements, periods, and organizations such as Abstract
Expressionism, Harlem in the 1940s, and Spiral. Discussion is
encouraged. There will be two exams; graduate students will be
required to submit a research paper. Assigned and recommended
readings will be from books and articles on reserve in the Fine
Arts Library, Tappan Hall. (Zurier)
599. Japanese Painting of the Edo Period. Hist.
of Art 103, 390, or 495. (3). (Excl).
CLASSICAL TRADITIONS. During the Edo period (1600-1868), Japan's
doors to the world closed to a much greater degree than in previous
centuries. Strict rule by the Tokugawa family brought about an
unprecedented era of peace and prosperity, enjoyed particularly
by the townsmen of Japan's major cities. While the economic power
of the imperial family and hereditary aristocracy declined, their
traditional arts and literature were eventually revitalized in the hands of the newly literate, newly rich lower classes. This
course will examine the transformation of classical themes, styles, and formats in the hands of the Edo-period painters and designers
active primarily in the city of Kyoto. Special attention will
be given to Tosa and Sumiyoshi painters; the painting of Iwasa
Matabei and Tawaraya Sotatsu and the latter's followers; and the
rise of the Kyoto publishing industry. Students will participate
in class discussion, prepare several written exercises, and write
a final research paper. Open only to graduate students who have
had a previous course in Japanese art. Cost:1 (Kita)
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