Course Description
Art in the United States from the Colonial period through the Depression of the 1930s. The social, political, and intellectual contexts of American visual culture will be stressed.
Athena Title
American Art
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
Offered every year.
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
This course will provide a selected overview of American artistic production from the late 17th through the early 20th centuries with a focus on the cultural, social, and political meanings of the seminal American achievements in painting, photography & sculpture. We will probe how the history of ideas in America profoundly intersects with the history of American art. Students are expected to gain an under- standing of America's major artists of this key formative period in the history of the nation and the cultural significance of their creations.
Topical Outline
I. Introduction: The Imaging of America II. The Limners and the Beginnings of Professional Art III. Painting Portraits, Picturing History: John Singleton Copley and Benjamin West IV. George Washington as Symbol V. Enlightenment Visions: Charles Willson Peale VI. Romantic Views: Thomas Cole VII. Painting
Syllabus