Time Schedule:
Deborah Caplow
B CUSP 117
Bothell Campus
Examines an important social issue such as ecology, art, political change, the power of media, educational reform, or the role of science in contemporary culture through interdisciplinary investigation and the lens of the visual, literary, and performing arts.
Class description
Winter 2010 The Revolutions of Art From the nineteenth century to the present, the arts have gone through a series of revolutionary transformations, based on art of the past, especially art from the Renaissance and Baroque periods. This course will explore the conditions that created these dramatic and exciting developments and pose a number of questions. Focusing primarily on Europe, the United States and Mexico, the course will address the following: How did war and revolution influence artists? How do politics, gender, race and class come into the picture? What are some underlying meanings of Impressionist paintings? Why was landscape painting important in the nineteenth century? How do portraits express a painter’s worldview? What is a Cubist collage, an abstract painting, a Dada photomontage, a Surrealist object, a Pop Art painting, a Minimalist sculpture, or an installation? The course will explore a wide range of images by well-known artists such Leonardo da Vinci, Rembrandt, Caravaggio, Vincent Van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, Frida Kahlo and Andy Warhol, along with many other significant artists, putting these works in the context of history, politics, psychology, film and literature. We will be using the Seattle Art Museum as a resource to experience art first-hand.
Student learning goals
Students will learn to analyze, interpret and discuss modern art in the context of history, culture, class, race and gender.
Students will explore major concepts connected to major artistic movements in the last 500 years, gaining an understanding of major shifts of culture and consciousness in this time period.
Students will learn to write analytically about works of art, using new vocabulary and terminology. Optional research-based art projects will help students gain an understanding of style and process in art.
Students will learn to place art in historical context through close readings of individual works of art.
Students will gain skills in library research and interpretation of scholarly texts in the field of art.
Students will learn to work together in groups to apply the skills of interpretation and analysis to visual cultural phenomena and historical, political and cultural change.
General method of instruction
Lecture, discussion and group activities
Recommended preparation
Strong interest in art history and history essential.
Class assignments and grading
Short writing assignments, a term paper or art project, in-class essays and slide quizzes based on readings and class material.
Writing assignments, tests and class participation.
