Introduction to Western Art I: From Greece to the Renaissance

Teaches the skills needed for an informed approach to art and architecture by introducing the salient concepts, techniques, and developments of Western Art. Studies works from ancient Greece, Rome, and the European Middle Ages in their historical, social, and cultural contexts. Includes visits to museums and monuments in and around Paris.

Introduction to Western Art II: From the Renaissance to the Present

Continues the study of the most significant monuments of Western painting, sculpture, and architecture, from the Renaissance to the 20th Century. Emphasizes historical context, continuity, and critical analysis. Includes direct contact with works of art in Parisian museums.

Materials and Techniques of the Masters

Lectures, demonstrations, and workshops focus on materials and techniques used by artists over the centuries. Studies the historical background of techniques of drawing, painting, sculpture, and the graphic arts combined with a hands-on approach so that each student can experience the basic elements of the plastic arts.

Junior Seminar: the Historiography and Methodology of Art History

Introduces the methodologies of the discipline. Develops skills in research and analysis by stressing the close, critical reading of art historical texts and investigating the assumptions and perspectives of major art historians. Provides the opportunity to explore different methods and approaches.

Senior Seminar*

The senior seminar involves an in-depth study of major artists, epochs or themes in art history. The course regularly changes focus and approach according to the specialty of the professor. It will, however, always include a historiographic component and may cut across traditional, chronological and/or geographical boundaries.

(*)AH 490 may be taken twice for credit.

Ancient Art and Architecture

Introduces first the specific contributions of Greek art to the Western tradition. Then presents the diversification of these achievements in the Etruscan civilization and in the Hellenistic age. Examines how the Romans absorbed, continued, and creatively transformed Greek and Etruscan art and passed the ancient heritage on to medieval and early modern Europe.

Medieval Art and Architecture

Explores the adaptation of ancient art by the Christian religious establishment and the interaction of early medieval artists with the Graeco-Roman tradition. Follows the development of medieval art in the West to the Gothic period by analyzing its spiritual dimensions and diversity as well as the impact on artistic creation of the changing centers of power and influences.

Renaissance Art and Architecture

Surveys notable developments in painting, sculpture, and architecture in Italy and in Northern Europe (late 13th-16th Century). Emphasizes the origins of the Renaissance and the basic stylistic evolution from Early to High Renaissance and Mannerism. Explores the ramifications of the Italian Renaissance mode as it came into contact with other historical and cultural traditions in Northern Europe.

Baroque and Rococo Art and Architecture

Examines the dynamic and often militant Baroque style in Counter-Reformation Italy and its national variants in France, Spain, and Flanders. Traces the development of new and different modes of expression in the emerging Protestant Netherlands. Explores the evolution from Baroque to Rococo as well as the arts of the 18th Century in France and England.

19th and 20th Century Art and Architecture

Introduces the principal arts and aesthetic issues of the 19th and 20th Centuries from the period of the French Revolution to World War II. Studies individual artists such as David, Turner, Monet, and Picasso, as well as movements such as Romanticism, Impressionism, and Surrealism, stressing continuities beneath apparent differences of approach. Regular museum sessions in the Louvre, the Musée d'Orsay, and the Centre Pompidou.

The French Connection: American Artists and Collectors in France

Explores the experiences of American Artists in European culture, by participation in artists’ colonies such as Pont Aven and in the ateliers of French painters. The expatriate contribution to 19th century art assessed through Whistler's career. The course will include an analysis of American collectors of French art and their role in introducing modern art to America.

History of Photography

Introduces students to the evolution of photography, which is both closely related to modern painting and clearly distinct from it. Focuses on major figures such as Atget, Weston, Stieglitz, Steichen, Hine, Brassaï, and Man Ray, in an effort to develop the visual skills necessary to understand photographs as specific forms of artistic vision and creation.

Impressionism - Post-Impressionism

Discusses the stylistic and thematic concerns of Manet, Monet, Degas, Pissarro, and Renoir, in the context of artistic theory and practice in mid-19th century France. Analyzes the art of Gauguin, Van Gogh, Cezanne, and Seurat as responses to Impressionism. Classes at the Musée d'Orsay are scheduled regularly.

Topics in 17th and 18th Century Art

Offers students more specialized knowledge of specific aspects of art produced during the Baroque, Rococo, and Neoclassical ages. Topics vary. Offerings include: Three Baroque Masters: Rubens, Rembrandt, and Velazquez; Caravaggio and the Caravaggisti; Princes and Patrons: Art Collecting and Patronage in 17th Century Europe; Taste and Society: 18th. Century French and English Art and Art Collecting.

Topics in Ancient Art: The Ancient Orient, Greece, Etruria, and Rome

Courses focusing on issues related to the art of Mediterranean civilizations explore the legacy of the Ancient Orient to later civilizations as well as the frequent reciprocal influences in the pluri-cultural societies of the Mediterranean Basin. Topics include: Art and Mythology; The Power of Images in the Hellenistic Age; Art in the Age of Augustus. Study trips to relevant sites.

Topics in Medieval Art

Exposes students to specific issues of medieval art, focusing on art of limited periods, geographic areas, or particular media. Present topics include: Early Christian and Byzantine Art; Romanesque Art in Europe; Gothic Art in Northern France; and Painting the Written Word: Gothic Illuminated Manuscripts. Appropriate study trips planned for each course.

Topics in Modern Art

Exploring different areas, these courses emphasize artistic theory as well as practice and view the art object in its cultural context, stressing the importance of conceptual concerns for artists from 1780 to the present. Topics include: The Age of Revolution; Neoclassicism, Romanticism, Realism; The French Connection: American Artists and Collectors in France; Early 20th Century Art; Art Since 1945. Includes museum sessions and study trips if appropriate.

Topics in Renaissance Art

Examines specific topics in painting, sculpture, and architecture in Western Europe from the end of the 13th to the late 16th Century. Recent examples include 15th Century Art and Architecture in Florence; Venetian 16th Century Painting; and the French Renaissance. Courses change each year and generally include study trips.

The Philosophy of Aesthetics

Examines major issues in philosophical aesthetics, involving the definition of art; theories of aesthetics; natural and formal beauty; and the value of art. Supplements classical and contemporary readings with film and visual materials.

Art and the Market

Investigates economic and financial aspects of art over several historical periods. Examines painting, sculpture, drawing, and decorative arts as marketable products, analyzing them from the perspective of patrons, collectors, investors, and speculators. Studies artists in their roles as entrepreneurs. Assesses diverse functions and forms of influence exercised by art market specialists: critics, journalists, public officials, auctioneers, museum professionals, experts, and dealers.

Paris through its Architecture: 1795 to the Present

Studies contemporary urban and architectural projects such as the Pyramide du Louvre, the Opéra Bastille, the Bibliothèque de France, the Cité de la Musique, etc. against the background of 19th-century Paris. Explores the modern and post-modern movements, in particular the architecture of the Grands Travaux, in terms of a dialogue between tradition and innovation. Includes on site study.

Paris through its Architecture: From Roman Paris to 1870

Investigates the growth patterns of Paris from Roman times through the Second Empire. Studies major monuments, pivotal points of urban design, and the vernacular architecture on site. Presents the general vocabulary of architecture, the history of French architecture and urban planning, as well as basic knowledge of French history to provide a framework for understanding the development of Paris.

Putting It in Prints

Prints, from woodcuts to etchings, and more experimental media, operate as social satire, political propaganda, and artistic expression. Addresses the function and production of prints in the modern age. Direct contact with the originals introduces issues of connoisseurship and market values. Focuses on artists as diverse as Hogarth, Picasso, and Warhol, and explores the print's power as modern communication and fine art.

European Urban Culture: The Glory of Ancient Athens

Examines the glory of ancient Athens, its political constitution, its exceptional intellectual and artistic achievements, and the legacy to subsequent Western thought, society, and culture. Studies the period from the end of the Persian Wars to the death of Socrates (479-399 BC). Includes a study trip to Athens and environs.

European Urban Culture: Istanbul, an Imperial Palimpsest

Covers the history of Istanbul from its birth as a Greek city in the 7th century BCE to its transition, first, to Constantinople, a major capital of Christendom, then, to its becoming the seat of the Muslim Ottoman Empire. Determines the role of patronage, and the nature of the city's imperial prowess by concentrating on works of art, architecture and literature. Includes a study trip to Istanbul.

Society and Spectacle: Painting, Photography, and Film in Germany and Russia between the Two Wars

European film, photography and painting between the two World Wars shared common concerns in the domains of style, theme and theory. This course explores the parallel paths of painters, photographers and directors associated with German Expressionism and Soviet Constructivism to allow students to investigate the underlying affinities in artistic attitudes and approaches while scrutinizing the specific character of each medium.