ARTH 180 Introduction to Later European and American Art

A selective survey of European and American painting and sculpture from the Renaissance to the mid-20th century. Coursework introduces students to the fundamental art historical practices of visual description and visual analysis. Readings, lectures, discussions and writing assignments focus on key artistic and visual conventions of the Euro-American tradition, from the invention of one-point perspective and illusionist models of art, to modernist critiques of those models in the 19th and 20th centuries. Major themes of the course will include changing approaches to visual narrative and description; the shifting status of the artist in Euro-American cultures; patronage, audience, art criticism and exhibition culture; issues of race, gender, identity and power in visual representation; abstraction and the rise of the avant-garde. Museum visit required. Not open to seniors.