Course Description
The methods and ideas associated with the study of art history; attention will be focused on one or more of a variety of different eras, themes, or issues, e.g., painting in northern Europe from 1400 to 1700, Byzantine art and architecture, post-colonial arts.
Athena Title
Topics in Art History
Prerequisite
ARHI 2000 or ARHI 2000E or ARHI 2000H or ARHI 2300 or ARHI 2300E or ARHI 2311H or ARHI 2400 or ARHI 2400E or ARHI 2411H
Semester Course Offered
Not offered on a regular basis.
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
This course addresses special topics in art history. One such course might be on 20th-Century African American Art. In this case, the course would be designed chronologically and would trace the development of African American art throughout the twentieth century. Students will study painting, sculpture, photography, and mixed media work, considering key artistic, cultural, political, and social themes in relation to African American artists. Some topics to be discussed included: the Harlem Renaissance, the New Negro, primitivism, identity politics, new patronage, social realism during the Great Depression, avant-racism, black consciousness, and the Black Arts Movement.
Topical Outline
I. Prologue: Artists of Color in the 19th Century: Robert S. Duncanson, Edward Mitchell Bannister, Edmonia Lewis, and Henry Ossawa Tanner II. Introduction to "The New Negro" - Idealized Representation and Popular Illustration of the Harlem Renaissance: Meta Warrick Fuller, James Van Der Zee, Aaron Douglas III. Mining the Souls of Black Folk: Aaron Douglas and James Weldon Johnson IV. Representation, Politics, and Identity in the 1920s and 1930s - Painting; Palmer Hayden, Archibald J. Motley, Jr., Norman Lewis V. Representation, Politics, and Identity in the 1920s and 1930s - Sculpture: Richmond Barthe, Augusta Savage, Sergeant Claude VI. Patronage and Style: The Harmon Foundation and "Racial Art" VII. Primitivism and "Primitives": Horace Pippin, William Edmondson, William H. Johnson VIII.History, Legend, and "the Usable Past": Narrative Series and Murals: Aaron Douglas and Jacob Lawrence IX. History, Legend, and "the Usable Past": Narrative Series and Murals: Charles Alston and Hale Woodruff X. The WPA, The Harlem Artists' Guild, and Black Artist Circles, 1933-1945: The Harlem Art Workshop, The '306' Group, and the Atlanta and Hampton University Art Programs XI. Artist Exiles/Artist Travelers: Lois Mailou Jones, Beauford Delaney, Elizabeth Catlett, and Eldzier Cortor XII. The New York School "Others": Romare Bearden, Norman Lewis, and Hale Woodruff in the 1940s and 1950s XIII.The Washington Color School: Sam Gilliam and Alma Thomas XIV. Art and Politics: The Spiral Group and Projections: Romare Bearden's Colleges, 1963-75. XV. Pop, Civil Rights, and Feminism in the 1960s: Faith Ringgold and Betye Saar. XVI. Black Nationalism and the Black Arts Movement: Ben Jones, QBAC