The examination of nineteenth century painting in England with a study on the role of representative artists such as Ford Madox Brown, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, John Everett Millais, Edward Burne-Jones, William Holman Hunt, Elizabeth Siddall. Fredrick Sandys, and William Morris. Following the Second World War, artists transformed the avant-garde tradition of their European predecessors to establish a dialogue with the mass media and consumer culture that has resulted in a wide array of artistic movements. Issues ranging from multiculturalism and gender to modernism and postmodernism will be addressed through the movements of abstract expressionism, pop, minimalism, neo-expressionism and appropriation in the diverse media of video, performance and photography, as well as painting and sculpture. Current exhibitions and criticism are integral to the course.
Topics vary from year to year.
The art museum in the United States is a unique social institution because of its blend of public and private support and its intricate involvement with artists, art historians, collectors, the art market, and the government. This course will study the art museum's history and status in our society today. Special consideration will be given to financial, legal and ethical issues that face art museums in our time. Short papers, oral reports and visits with directors, curators and other museum officials in nearby museums will be included along with a detailed study of a topic of one's choice. Focus on the interpretation and transformation of art historical records into filmic vision as revealed in set and costume design, music, camera technique and other aesthetic elements of film, as well as how such elements function to extend and convey directorial vision to movements in art history.