Art History (ARTH-UA)

Identical to MEDI-UA 1. Students who have taken ARTH-UA 3 or ARTH-UA 4 will not receive credit for this course. Introduction to the history of painting, sculpture, and architecture from ancient times to the dawn of the Renaissance, emphasizing the place of the visual arts in the history of civilization. Includes the study of significant works in New York museums, such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Cloisters, and the Brooklyn Museum.

Students who have taken ARTH-UA 5 or ARTH-UA 6 will not receive credit for this course. Offered every semester. 4 points. Introduction to the history of painting, sculpture, and architecture from the early Renaissance to the present day. Includes the study of significant works in New York museums, such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Frick Collec-tion, the Guggenheim Museum, and the Museum of Modern Art.

History of art in the Western tradition from 20,000 B.C. to the 4th century A.D. From the emergence of human beings in the Paleolithic Age to the developments of civilization in the Near East, Egypt, and the Aegean; the flowering of the Classical Age in Greece; and the rise of the Roman Empire to the beginnings of Christian domination under the Emperor Constantine in the 4th century A.D. Study of the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Brooklyn Museum is essential.

This course offers a broad introduction to the architecture, pictorial arts, and visual and material culture of the European Middle Ages in the Greek-speaking East, Latin West, and transcultural Mediterranean c. 250–1450 CE. It provides an overview of the concepts, developments, and vocabulary necessary for analyzing and understanding the arts of the medieval period in light of the historical, religious, social, cultural, conceptual, and esthetic contexts and of their production and reception. Topics to be examined include the creation of a vocabulary of medieval imagery and architectural forms; uses of and attitudes toward the classical tradition; art and its makers, patrons, and audiences; materials and techniques of medieval art-making; the arts of religious and devotional practice; the relationships of word and image; the imaginative, multisensory, and performative dimensions of medieval art and architecture; medieval cultural exchange and colonization; art and ideologies; the relationship between art and nature; and the functions of and controversies concerning images in the medieval world. Readings include significant primary sources as well as secondary sources that offer a range of approaches to the interpretation and analysis of medieval art, architecture, and visual culture. Museum visits will provide the opportunity to discuss objects firsthand.

The Renaissance, like classical antiquity and the Middle Ages, is a major era of Western civilization embracing a multitude of styles. It is, however, held together by basic concepts that distinguish it from other periods. Main developments of Renaissance art both in Italy and north of the Alps: the Early and High Renaissance; relation to the lingering Gothic tradition; and Mannerism. Emphasis is placed on the great masters of each phase. The survival of Renaissance traditions in Baroque and Rococo art is examined in art and architecture.

Art in the Western world from the late 18th century to the present. Content includes the neoclassicism and romanticism of David, Goya, Ingres, Turner, Delacroix; the realism of Courbet; the impressionists; parallel developments in architecture; the new sculptural tradition of Rodin; post-impressionism to fauvism, expressionism, futurism, cubism, geometric abstraction in sculpture and painting, modernism in architecture in the 20th century, and after the First World War, dadaism and surrealism. Also covers developments since 1945, such as action painting, pop art, minimal art, and numerous strands of postmodernism. Study of the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, the Guggenheim Museum, and the Whitney Museum of American Art is included.

This course introduces students to the skills and concepts they will need in order to develop a meaningful engagement with the visual arts and art history as a global discipline. Rather than providing a chronological survey of great works, it covers examples and perspectives from a wide array of regions, periods, and societies. Topics include materials and techniques of production; formal analysis; subject matter and iconography; historical and cultural contexts; the social role and formation of artists; and the history of art history as a discipline. Pitched for students who have little or no background in the study of art and architecture, this course provides a rigorous introduction to the foundations, techniques and ideologies of the discipline. It is required of all art history majors.

Traces developments in art from the formation of the city of Rome in the early first millennium BCE to the sixth century C.E., when religion, style and imperial territory fundamentally shifted the trajectory of art and cultural interaction thereafter. Includes archaic and classical style art in Rome, the area of Rome's expansion into Italy and the Mediterranean; interaction with Hellenistic art and culture in the east; and the art of the Roman Empire. Study of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Brooklyn Museum collections is essential.

A chronological survey of Roman architecture from its early development against the background of the Greek and Etruscan traditions to the dramatic melding of the divergent trends of late antiquity in the great Justinianic churches of Constantinople and Ravenna. The lectures (and accompanying images) and readings present the major monuments and building types, as well as related subjects such Roman engineering, and the interaction between Rome and its provinces.

Traces developments in the sculpture, painting, and architecture of ancient Egypt from predynastic beginnings through the Old, Middle, and New Kingdoms until the conquest of Augustus (3100-40 B.C.E.). Special emphasis on Egyptian art in the context of history, religion, and cultural patterns. Includes study of Egyptian collections in the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Brooklyn Museum.

Prerequisites vary according to the material chosen for the course. Subjects change from semester to semester and are outside of the usual classification areas.

Christian architecture, sculpture, painting, mosaic, manuscript illumination, and luxury arts in the Greek East and Latin West from 200 C.E. through ca. 950 C.E. Considers visual and material culture of Christianity in light of the religious, historical, political, social, and cultural contexts. Style periods: Christian, early Byzantine, barbarian, insular, Merovingian, and Carolingian. Topics include: the commemoration of the dead; art and theology; emergence of the cult of saints; early medieval patrons; arts of pilgrimage and early monasticism; word and image in early medieval culture; and iconoclasm and debates about the role of images in early Christianity.

Examines architecture, sculpture, painting, manuscript illumination, and treasury arts of the Latin West during ca. 950-1200 C.E., including Ottonian, Anglo-Saxon, Mozarabic, First Romanesque, and Romanesque art. Considers visual arts of Christianity in light of the historical, religious, political, social, and cultural contexts of their creation. Topics: the cult of saints and the arts; the art and architecture of pilgrimage and crusade; monasticism and the arts; Romanesque patrons, artists, and audiences; the Romanesque revival of monumental sculpture; Christian encounters with Islam and Judaism; secular themes in Romanesque art; word and image in Romanesque art; medieval attitudes toward the classical tradition.

Art of the "age of the cathedrals"—including architecture, sculpture, stained glass, manuscript illumination, wall painting, luxury arts, and tapestry—from origins of the Gothic style in the 12th-century Ile-de-France through the early 15th century. Considers artistic developments in light of religious, historical, political, social, and cultural contexts of their creation. Topics include: Gothic patrons, artists, builders, and art-making; lay literacy and the patronage and reception of art; the cult of the Virgin and the arts; the Gothic image as bearer of religious, political, and social values and ideologies; arts of chivalry and courtly love; naturalism and developments in portraiture; the roles of art in devotional and mystical experience; Gothic art and late medieval notions of vision and the self.

Traces the evolution of the painted altarpiece in relation to its liturgical, devotional, and cultic functions, with consideration of artistic personalities such as Duccio, Simone Martini, and the Lorenzetti. Studies great fresco cycles in churches and chapels from the point of view of artists (including Giotto and Taddeo Gaddi), patron(s), and program. Surveys key monuments of religious and civic architecture and their painted and sculpted decoration within the historical and political contexts of the emerging Italian city-states. Topics include: mendicant orders and the arts; Black Death and art; status of the artist; gender and social class in representation and patronage.

Surveys the architecture of the Middle Ages in Western Europe with emphasis on the period from ca. 1000-1500 C.E., from the emergence of the Romanesque to the late Gothic period. Examines monumental religious and secular projects, such as cathedrals and civic palaces, from stylistic, technical, functional, iconographic, and ideological perspectives. Topics include regionalism, patronage, the status of the "architect," and the concept of the multimedia ensemble. Situates buildings within their social, religious, and political contexts.

Prerequisites vary according to the material chosen for the course. Subjects change from semester to semester and are outside of the usual classification areas.

An architectural history of Europe, circa 1600–1750, with emphasis on the social, cultural, and historical conditions that shaped the built environment. Palaces, churches, villas, gardens, and urban spaces such as streets and piazzas are studied in terms of the life that went on in and around them. Themes under discussion include the pursuit of status through architectural patronage; the use of buildings to communicate political power or religious authority; the role of ceremony and spectacle in shaping architectural space and design; the interconnections between the arts of painting, sculpture, and architecture; and the dissemination of the baroque style throughout Europe and beyond. Special attention is given to the contributions of Bernini, Borromini, and Cortona in Rome; Guarini and Juvarra in Piedmont; Mansart, Le Vau, and Le Nôtre in France; Fischer von Erlach, Neumann, and the Asam brothers in Germany and Austria.

Achievements of the chief painters of the 15th century with special attention to the Tuscan tradition. A brief introduction to Giotto and his time provides background for the paintings of Masaccio and his artistic heirs (Fra Angelico, Filippo Lippi, Piero della Francesca). In the later 15th century, social and cultural changes generated by power shifts from Medici Florence to papal Rome also affected art patronage, creating new tensions and challenges for artists and fostering the emergence of new modes of visualization. Topics include the role of pictorial narrative, perspective, and mimesis; the major techniques of Renaissance painting; and the relationship of painting to the other visual arts.

Painting, sculpture, and the graphic arts in Florence and Rome from about 1470 to the mid-16th century. Begins with Andrea del Verrochio, Leonardo, Perugino, Raphael, Domenico Ghirlandaio, and Michelangelo; investigates new pictorial modes emerging after 1510 in Andrea del Sarto, Pontormo, Rosso, Parmigianino, Giulio Romano, and other members of Raphael's school; and then considers their younger contemporaries and successors, including Bronzino and Vasari. Emphasizes the patronage, symbolic tasks, and functions of Renaissance painting and critically examines historical concepts such as high Renaissance, mannerism, and *maniera*.

Painting and sculpture in Italy, 1580-1700. Highlights major developments in the visual arts and the work of leading artists including Caravaggio, Carracci, Bernini, and Poussin. Examines the blurring of boundaries between the real and the imaginary, the instantaneous and the infinite, the imitative and the innovative. Special attention is paid to the creative process and the influences on it: the role of the patron, the logistics of site, and the artist's own thought process as revealed through preparatory drawings and sketches.

In Flanders, Rubens overturned all previous concepts of painting and was the first to deserve the term "baroque." Van Dyck, his pupil, took Rubens's style to England. Dutch painters, including Hals, Rembrandt, and Vermeer, moved in a different direction, addressing every aspect of their country and society: the peasant, the quiet life of the well-ordered household, the sea and landscape, views of the cities, and church interiors.

Begins with El Greco in Italy and Toledo, Velázquez, Zurbarán, Murillo, Ribera, and Valdés Leal before moving to the 18th century (the Tiepolo family, Meléndez). Defines Spain in the 16th and 17th century as a global power by considering colonial-era art in such New World centers as Mexico City and Lima. The focus then shifts to the art of Francisco de Goya and the projection of Spanish art into the modern era.

History of the design of objects used in daily life. Studies works of art in a social and historical context. Beginning with the Italian, French, and northern Renaissance, surveys the Louis styles in France, international neoclassicism, and the Victorian style. Concludes with the modern period. Stresses the history of furniture, although also covers glass, silverware, tapestries, ceramics, wallpaper, carpets, and small bronzes.

Prerequisites vary according to the material chosen for the course. Subjects change from semester to semester and are outside of the usual classification areas.

Chronological account of architecture and ideas since 1914. Considers such subjects as currents on the eve of the First World War, new technology, and the impact of the war; architecture and politics between the wars; the rise of expressionist design; the international style and the concurrent adaptation of traditional styles; art deco design; mid-century glass curtain-wall architecture; brutalism; and reactions to modernism. Includes ideological and political considerations and works by Frank Lloyd Wright, Le Corbusier, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Louis Kahn, Alvar Aalto, Philip Johnson, James Stirling, Frank Gehry, and Santiago Calatrava, among others. The focus early in the course is on innovations in western Europe and North America. The scope broadens later to include work in Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America.

A social and political history of photography, from its beginnings to the present day. Focuses on the popular forms of photographic imagery, such as advertising, fashion, travel photography, family portraits and snapshots, scientific documents, documentary reform, and photojournalism, and describes the medium's relationship to Western (and global) social history during the modern era. Readings from Susan Sontag, John Berger, and Roland Barthes.

Prerequisites vary according to the material chosen for the course. Subjects change from semester to semester and are outside of the usual classification areas.

An introduction to the art and culture of the Far East. The materials are presented in a chronological and thematic approach corresponding to the major dynastic and cultural changes of China, Korea, and Japan. Teaches how to "read" works of art in order to interpret a culture or a historical period; it aims at a better understanding of the similarities and differences among the cultures of the Far East.

An introductory survey. Emphasizes an overall understanding of the development of art and culture, as well as mastery of specific works of art. East Asian Art I followed the development of the common cultural heritage of the Northeast Asia region. Part of this commonality is due to the extraordinary influence of an early-developing Chinese civilization on Japan and Korea. However, Japan and Korea also developed their own cultures and arts. Topics include Song landscape paintings, Edo 'floating world' prints, Koryo celadons, and modern art.

An introductory survey of the history of South Asia from 2000 B.C.E. to 1200 C.E., with an emphasis on the Indian subcontinent. From the Indus Valley culture to the present day, artistic production has played a critical role in the transmission of religious beliefs and the development of cultural systems in and around South Asia. Diverse regions were linked by trade, politics, and cultural relationships, and interaction can be charted through the changing forms and functions of art. We consider the historical circumstances surrounding the production of South and Southeast Asian art, as well as the problems that art historians face when trying to interpret the surviving evidence. We look at art in a variety of media, including, but not limited to, architecture, urban form, sculpture, painting, and performance.

As in ARTH-UA 91, students examine artistic centers from two vast adjoining regions, in this case South and Southeast Asia, both of which include a wide variety of cultures. Includes monuments of Pakistan, India, Cambodia, and Indonesia. Although the two courses use the same approach and are designed to be complementary, either one may be taken without the other.

Provides an outline of Islamic material in its early and classical periods, from 650 to 1200. The period saw the initial formation of an Arab empire stretching from the Atlantic Ocean to the Indian Ocean, a decline in centralized authority, and the rise to political prominence of various North African, Iranian, and Central Asian dynasties from the 10th century onward. These political developments are reflected in the increasingly heterogeneous nature of Islamic material culture over this time span.

This course is intended as an introduction to the arts of Islam during a period of dynamic cultural and political change in the Islamic world. Beginning with the Mongol invasions of the 13th century, the course traces the development of Islamic art and architecture through the eras of Timur, the gunpowder empires (the Mughals, Ottomans, Safavids) and European colonialism, to the art of the nation-state in the 20th-century.

Introduction to the historical and contemporary arts of Africa, ranging from ancient architecture, masquerades, and traditional sculpture to modern photography, recent digital works and multi-media installations. Special attention is given to key moments of contact between different societies within Africa and between Africa and the Americas and Europe, including histories of imperialism and decolonization. It is also considers the challenges and politics of interpreting African arts in our current globalizing world.

Major traditions in painting, sculpture, and architecture of the native peoples of North America, Mexico, Central America, and Andean South America. Material from pre-contact times through the 20th century. Deals with questions of theory and differences between indigenous and Western world views; the relationship of the arts to shamanism, priesthoods, guardian spirits, deities, and beliefs regarding fauna and flora; impact of European contact on indigenous arts and civilization.

Introduction to the history of Western architecture, emphasizing the formal, structural, programmatic, and contextual aspects of selected major monuments from ancient times to the present. Monuments discussed include the Parthenon, the Roman Pantheon, Hagia Sophia, the cathedral at Chartres, St. Peter's, Palladio's Villa Rotonda, St. Paul's Cathedral, Versailles, the London Crystal Palace, Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater, Le Corbusier's Villa Savoye, the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Mies van der Rohe's Barcelona Pavilion, and others. Lectures analyze monuments within their contexts of time and place. Also considers aspects of city planning in relation to certain monuments and to the culture and events of their time.

Subjects change from semester to semester and are outside of the usual classification areas.

Introduces basic concepts of Western urbanism, focusing primarily on Europe and the United States. Lectures, readings, and course work present both a survey of city form since antiquity and an analysis of contemporary urban issues. Students investigate key elements of urban development, including roads, walls, water, housing, transportation, and open space, as well as factors influencing these elements, such as types and shapes of cities, engineering, and architectural form as an expression of political systems. Special attention is given to real estate development, landmark preservation, city planning, and community participation in New York City.

Examines the history of cities, planning, and urban design in Europe and the United States since 1800. Students can expect both a survey of city planning history and consideration of thematic issues. Lectures and readings emphasize the social, political, and economic factors shaping modern cities, including industrialization, housing, sanitation, transportation, social reform, recreation, and infrastructure, as well as cultural and aesthetic debates about style, monumentality, and diversity in cities. Course work includes readings of primary documents and recent interpretations, individual research, and field trips to notably planned sites in the New York area.

The impact and limitations of private and public decision-making power on urban design and architecture. City architecture in light of the values and priorities set by a society. Recognition of citizens' groups as increasingly important factors in city planning and related changes. Critically evaluates the complexity of decision-making and historical circumstances as related to the built urban environment on the basis of historical and modern American and European examples.

Addresses issues arising from new structures and interventions to existing structures, which must relate to existing well-defined contexts of the sort found throughout New York City. Students are encouraged to think about, discuss, create, and present designs that recognize and suit their contexts. The focus is on typical New York City building types. Includes townhouses, additions to existing structures, adaptive reuse of residential structures for institutional use, streetscape improvements, and urban parks.

This course offers an in-depth understanding of the development and direction of environmental sustainability with a focus on architecture and design. The course presents technological advances in the design of sustainable buildings and landscape and addresses methods for evaluating and documenting the ecological impact of such advances. Numerous case studies of various building types will be analyzed to understand practical applications of theoretical principles. The aesthetic and social impact of new construction, renovation and site development on the natural and man-made eco-system will be the focus of discussions, including current events.

Serves as a laboratory for the investigation of New York City's infrastructure, using the definition of the word as a point of departure. In what ways can the city be perceived as a collective undertaking, with intricate components interwoven in continuous strands? What systems and forces give the city and its neighborhoods their current form, and what influences their future shape? Can these systems be dissected? What do these analyses tell us about the relationship of the city to its inhabitants and to the wider environment? Through lectures, reading assignments, discussions, and field trips, we investigate some of the major components of the city's infrastructure, such as the street grid, water supply, waste disposal, and subway system.

Relationship between physical surroundings and the basis of society in law. Examines the effects of zoning laws and building codes; urban renewal legislation; condemnation procedures; real estate law; law concerning tenants; taxation; special bodies such as the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey; preservation and landmarks; licensing procedures for architects, engineers, and planners; and pollution control measures. Special attention to laws of New York City and nearby communities.

Focuses on alternative futures for the city of tomorrow that may be effected through the development of new forms of technology and the utilization and exploitation of the state of the art in urban structural designs. Topics include redesign of the business district; recovery of city resources; and social, political, and economic implications of new city forms considered in projections for a new urban face.

Teaches students to perceive—to record phenomena manually without relying on formulaic methods of drawing perspective, volumetrics, and the like. Students are encouraged to examine proportion, scale, light, shade, and texture, as well as means of expression, the nature and essence of objects, various media, and graphic composition. Assists students in creating a comprehensive series of drawings and in building a portfolio.

The course will focus on observation and documentation of a historical section of New York City from its foundation to the present. Students will participate in field walks and attend in-class lectures and discussions.? A principal objective of the course is to have students learn to read the historical stratigraphy of the city by using primary and secondary sources such as maps, prints, and panoramas, as well as City Council minutes and other printed documents. The goal is to have students deepen their understanding of phenomena that they have observed at first hand.

An overview of history and theory. Presents a series of lectures and case studies examining such issues as the birth of the museum, the role played by world's fairs and biennials, the impact of collectors, the art market, and the gallery system. Visits to museums, galleries, and auction houses in New York.

Departmental consent required to enroll. Open only to departmental majors who have completed five 4-credit art history courses. Other interested students must have a relevant background and receive permission from course instructor.

Open to urban design & architecture studies majors who have been accepted as candidates for honors in urban design & architecture studies in the first term of their senior year and who have the permission of the director of undergraduate studies. See this department's subheading, "Graduation with Honors," for eligibility requirements. Students are expected to work on their theses over a period of two semesters. Applicants must have a GPA of 3.65 in urban design & architecture studies courses and an overall GPA of 3.65 as stipulated by the College's honors program regulations.

Independent study consists of the investigation, under the guidance and supervision of a designated instructor, of a research topic agreed on by the student and instructor and approved by the director of undergraduate studies. Requires a substantial report written by the end of the term. Internships receive a maximum of 2 credits, and written work is required, just as it is for any other independent study. Prior approval by a faculty member is required for internship credit.

Subjects change from semester to semester and are outside of the usual classification areas.

Subjects change from semester to semester and are outside of the usual classification areas.

This course is an introduction to Renaissance Art by exploring in depth the historical, political and cultural evolution of Italy and Europe between the 14th and the 15th centuries. This overview will be not confined to works of art but will include social and patronage issues - i.e. the role of the guilds, the differences in private, civic and church patronage - that affected the style, form and content of the Italian rich artistic output, which reached a peak often nostalgically referred to by later generations as the “golden age”. Themes such as patronage, humanism, interpretations of antiquity, and Italian civic ideals form a framework for understanding the works of art beyond style, iconography, technique and preservation. The course analyzes the historical and social background of the beginning of the Renaissance during the 14th century and the impact of patronage on art. It then focuses on the early 15th century art in Italy and Europe and deals with the Medici Family’s age. Lastly it analyzes the ‘golden Age’ of the Renaissance, specifically focusing on Verrocchio, Botticelli, Perugino and Ghirlandaio. By the end of this course, students gain a thorough knowledge of the Italian and European Renaissance Age, developing practical perception and a confident grasp of the material, understanding the relationship between both historical and artistic events and valuing the importance of patronage. As the Renaissance works are often still in their original physical settings, during field-studies to museums and churches in Florence students will have a unique opportunity to experience the works as their original viewers did and as their creators intended.

The principal aim of this course is to familiarize students with the history of British art from the Stuarts to the early Victorian era. Teaching will be conducted entirely on sites in London or its immediate vicinity. The course will begin with the elite patronage of the Stuart court and end with the development of public institutions of art from the mid-eighteenth century. The social significance of portraiture, the cult of antiquity, the art market and the rise of landscape will all be studied as themes. There will be a strong emphasis on the European sources of British visual culture and the emergence of a distinctive national tradition of painting from Hogarth through to Turner.

The course description for this Topics in Art History course varies depending on the topic taught. Please view the course descriptions in the course notes section below.

This course examines medieval art and architecture of France through an exploration of the monuments and moments that define our understanding of the period. The course moves from the Early Christian Church to late Gothic to help students gain an understanding of medieval France through an analysis of monuments in their historic and cultural contexts. From the portals of Notre-Dame of Paris to the collections of the Musée de Cluny, we will seek to decode the symbolic language of medieval sculpture and architecture. Pairing texts and monuments, we will consider the writings of authors such as the Abbot Suger as we inspect his church of Saint-Denis, or as we study liturgical objects in the collections of the Louvre. Throughout the course we will consider how visual art during the Middles Ages helped shape cultural identity and express the political and religious agendas of the age. The course ends with a study of E.E. Viollet-le-Duc’s work during the 19th century, together with his legacy and role in constructing our notions of medieval art and architecture. Conducted in English.

This course is conceived as a series of selected studies on early Renaissance painting, offering in depth analysis of the historical, political and cultural evolution of Italy and Europe between the 14th and the 15th centuries. This overview will be not confined to works of painting but will include social and patronage issues - i.e. the role of the guilds, the differences in private, civic and church patronage - that affected the style, form and content of the Italian rich artistic output, which reached a peak often nostalgically referred to by later generations as the “dawn of the Golden Age”. Themes such as patronage, humanism, interpretations of antiquity, and Italian civic ideals form a framework for understanding the works of art beyond style, iconography, technique and preservation. Special attention will be given to the phenomenon of collecting as an active force shaping the development of artistic forms and genres. By the end of this course, students gain a thorough knowledge of the Italian and European early Renaissance age, developing practical perception and a confident grasp of the material, understanding the relationship between both historical and artistic events and valuing the importance of patronage. As the early Renaissance works are often still in their original physical settings, during field-studies to museums and churches in Florence, Venice and Milan students will have a unique opportunity to experience the works as their original viewers did and as their creators intended.

This course is conceived as a focused study of the works of Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael Sanzio and Michelangelo Buonarroti, the men whose careers largely defined the concept of Western artistic genius. Particular consideration will also be given to their Italian and European contemporaries and followers in order to take advantage of the opportunity to the study these original works on site. High Renaissance art cannot be divorced from its times; thus, much attention will be given to contemporary history, especially Florentine politics and politics in Papal Rome. Special attention will also be given to the evolution of drawing practice in sixteenth-century Italy, an essential development for the changes that took place in the conception of works of art over the course of the century. Themes such as patronage, humanism, interpretations of antiquity, and Italian civic ideals will form a framework for understanding the works of art beyond style, iconography, technique and preservation. As the high Renaissance works are often still in their original physical settings, during field-studies to museums and churches in Florence students will have a unique opportunity to experience the works as their original viewers did and as their creators intended.

This course introduces to the many villas surrounding the city of Florence. It aims at illustrating their origins, their history from the Middle-Age to the twentieth century, as well as their economic and ideological factors in the relationship with the city of Florence. The course draws on many disciplines, such as architecture, history, economy, social history, history of art, and landscape art.

A gallery course focusing on the baroque schools of Rubens and Rembrandt, "tenebrist" painting, Velázquez, and the etchings and paintings of Goya. Ends with a survey of the painters of the 18th and 19th centuries.

The aim of this course is to offer an introduction to Spanish Art from The Golden Age to the early Nineteenth Century, with special emphasis on El Greco, Diego Velázquez and Francisco de Goya. Given its position as a primary depository for Spanish art, the collection of El Museo del Prado will be a major focus of the course, with regular class visits to the museum and related institutions. The artistic relationship artists of the Spanish School maintained with foreign artists (Bosch, Titian, and Rubens) will be considered in depth. Contemporary readings in art history are incorporated as relevant to the subject. The intention of the course is to teach students how to approach the formal analysis of paintings within a rich context-based interpretative framework, including the social and historical conditions surrounding artistic production.

London has some of the richest collections of renaissance art in the world. Students in this course will be brought into direct contact with a large variety of artifacts to be found in museums and galleries such as the National Gallery, the National Portrait Gallery, the Victoria and Albert Museum and the British Library. Works by Van Eyck, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael, Durer and Holbein will be examined alongside those of less well-known artists. Rather than providing a standard chronological narrative of European Art History c.1400-c.1600, emphasis will be placed on subject areas such as the altarpiece and the private devotional image, the renaissance portrait, graphic practices, print culture, the materials and functions of sculpture, myth and allegory, the cabinet of curiosities, the concept of the ‘Renaissance’ itself. These topics will not be organized around traditional national or regional ‘schools’ considered in isolation from one another but instead interconnections will be explored between the development of different types, technical processes and cultural practices across the Netherlands, France, Germany and Italy. A special case will be made of the English Renaissance, in order to place it within the wider European context through additional visits to Westminster Abbey and Hampton Court.

Beginning by considering how impressionism refined and redirected the artistic aims of 19th-century realism, follows the development of progressive art to the brink of cubism and pure abstraction in the first years of the 20th century. Following impressionism and post-impressionism, close attention is paid to symbolism, aestheticism, art nouveau, the Arts and Crafts movement, fauvism, and expressionism. The aesthetic aims of these movements are analyzed in tandem with the social and cultural conditions that generated them.

Course Description: This survey will examine the major artists and institutions that shaped the development of Spanish art from 1888, the date of Barcelona's Universal Exposition, to the end of the Spanish Civil War. The course takes as it's working model the question of art's relation to social movements, including: the rising tides of cultural and political nationalism in the Basque and Catalan regions; the Colonial Disaster of 1898 and the question of national regeneration; the impact of fin-de-siglo anarchist and worker's movements; the birth of authoritarian politics with the Dictatorship of Primo de Rivera; and the ideological chaos and social violence unleashed during the Spanish Civil War) Class sessions examine the complex roles played by some of Spain's most prominent artists and architects -- Antoni Gaudí, Pablo Picasso, Joan Miró, Luis Buñuel, Josep Lluís Sert, and Salvador Dalí -- and their multivalent responses to modernization, political instability, and social praxis. The course is supplemented by regular visits to the Museo Nacional de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid's museum of modern art.

The course description for this Topics in Art History course varies depending on the topic taught. Please view the course descriptions in the course notes section below.

Berlin is a unique modern Metropolis. Its alternating history with often drastic changes offers a comprehensive background to explore and investigate the nature of architecture in correlation to the various developmental processes of urban life and culture. Architecture is embedded in the urban fabric in which place and time serve as the main threads, constantly changing their multifaceted and layered relationships. This urban fabric provides the fertile soil for urban life and culture, which literally takes place in various scales between the public and the private realm, two further threads intertwined in the urban fabric. Experiencing the city through walking is essential for learning how to observe, see and read "Place, Building and Time" in Berlin. Tours will alternate with classroom discussions and workshops.

To provide the student with an awareness and appreciation of gardens and landscapes of Tuscany from early Roman precedents to the 21st century. The design of the Italian landscape and garden is studied as a means of cultural communication--an expression of a society's values, philosophy and understanding of the environment. Emphasis is placed on historic precedent, sustainable design techniques utilized in Italian gardens and classic Renaissance design concepts. The format includes lectures, class presentations and field trips.

Prague is a unique city, in which all architectural styles combine: from the pre-Romanesque, to Romanesque and Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque and Classicist styles, to the modern ones that include Historicism, Art Nouveau, the original Cubism in architecture, Art Deco, Constructivism and Functionalism, even the post-war Stalinist architecture, and contemporary trends. The city did not undergo extensive renewals such as occurred in other European metropolises, and thus fragments of various epochs have been left standing here side by side, and partially, there is also the medieval urban layout to be seen. Architects and master builders from many European countries worked here and local architects and artists were also influenced by foreign models. The city is in fact an ideal textbook of architecture from the Middle Ages to the present day. The course should take the students through this development chronologically, in lectures accompanied by projections of pictures and short films, but also in visits to typical buildings, including their interiors. The main emphasis will be put on the period of the 19th and 20th centuries, in which the lecturer specializes. Architecture is linked to other fields, such as fine arts, urban planning, national heritage care, industrial design, and others. Teaching will thus also focus on these. During the course, each of the students will present an independent study of one chosen building: they will analyze the building, place it within a broader context of European architecture and supply it with their own illustrations. They will defend the work. At the end of the term they will sit for a test. There is compulsory and recommended specialist literature in English available for them, and they are expected to supplement the information gained at lectures and excursions by self-study. By the end of the term the student should have acquired some knowledge of the complex development of Central-European architecture, of the most significant figures, and be fairly well informed in related fields.

This course presents a survey of art and architecture in Prague and its environs – from the Middle Ages to the modern era – with an emphasis on key periods in Czech history, and placed within the context of the main periods and movements of Western art history. The course is rooted in a discussion of the city of Prague, and students are encouraged, through excursions and assignments, to become acquainted with the city’s architecture, monuments and urban design. Students learn to analyse formal aspects of art and architectural styles, and are encouraged to investigate their sources and theoretical foundations.Emphasis is given to the historical and cultural context of art styles and movements. We also look at art patronage in some key periods of Czech history to see how this reflects political, cultural and ideological change.

This course is designed to work in three ways. First, it is an opportunity to learn about London’s architecture and history by physically exploring the city’s historic and modern built environment. Second, this class is an introduction to sketching and keeping a travel notebook, a fulfilling skill that any liberal arts student should experience. Third, and perhaps most important, this course teaches students how to ‘read’ a building and a town or city. The ability to visually make sense of the built environment of this major capital should help in understanding the architecture of New York City and other towns and cities throughout the world. Our course is formed of a series of site visits through London’s extraordinary and diverse environment, considering significant architectural developments from many periods, while learning to record and describe what we see. We will study the architectural vocabulary of London and learn how to accurately and elegantly depict buildings and places in both word and image. Please note that it is very important that students attend the first class, which covers the introductory information, lecture and drawing session.

Re-cycling or re-using buildings is one of the most important subjects in the built environment. It is an area in which there have been some remarkable successes in recent years both in America and in Europe: impressive and much loved public buildings have been given new life by progressive architects and developers, helping ensure that our towns and cities retain their individual character. Unlike international modern buildings, historic buildings are strong markers of the industry, aspirations, local materials and the resources of a particular place. Recycling old buildings is crucial so our architectural and social history can be read in the townscape that surrounds us.A course about recycling old buildings presents an opportunity to explore some basic themes in the built environment – architecture history, environmental issues and the rise of the conservation movement in the 19th and 20th centuries. Buildings are responsible for 50% of our carbon emissions each year, and more than half of a building’s energy footprint is expended in the relatively short spell of its construction. ‘Even the best planned new buildings are no match against the preservation, modernization, conversion and re-use of existing buildings when it comes down to the consumption of resources’ (Karl Ganser) Re-using our redundant historic architecture for new purposes has obvious positive benefits for the planet. Equally, upgrading historic buildings in use, like our housing stock, is environmentally smarter that demolishing parts of our cities and starting again with new structures.The locations and nature of industrial production has changed across the world. Most western cities have a surfeit of industrial spaces and buildings lying empty, often in their centres. This course will first cover the story of the development of industrial architecture from the 18th century onwards and look at how these robust, proud and often highly decorative structures can accommodate new uses. We will look at how inventive designers, backed by local government, have found ways of reclaiming the industrial ‘brownfield’ landscapes into new spaces for recreation and development in our cities, focusing on particular examples in New York, London and in Germany.

The course description for this Topics in Art History course varies depending on the topic taught. Please view the course description in the course notes section below.