History of Art Courses
ARHS 101 Art Survey I: Prehistory through the Middle Ages (3)
Staff. An introduction to the history of painting, sculpture and architecture from the Old Stone Age through the ancient Mediterranean world to the end of the medieval period in Western Europe. Considers issues including technique, style, iconography, patronage, historical context, and art theory. Required for majors in the history of art.
ARHS 102 Art Survey II: Renaissance to the Present (3)
Staff. An introduction to the history of Western European and American painting, sculpture and architecture from the Renaissance through the baroque, rococo, and early modern periods to the late 20th century. Considers issues including technique, style, iconography, patronage, historical context, and art theory. Required for majors in the history of art.
ARHS 291 Special Topics in the History of Art (3)
Staff. Special topics in the history of art. Subjects will vary and may not be available every semester. Individual topics will be listed in the Schedule of Classes.
ARHS 320 Early Christian and Byzantine Art (3)
Prof. Flora. A survey of art and architecture in the Mediterranean from the third through the fourteenth centuries, with a focus on the rise of Christian art in the late Roman world and the art of the Byzantine state.
ARHS 321 Art and Experience in the Middle Ages (3)
Prof. Flora. A survey in which both modern and historical categories of experience are used to understand the art of the Middle ages, especially as it manifested itself in the most characteristic of all medieval forms, the church. Along a chronological and geographical trajectory from Early Christian Rome to Gothic Paris this course will move through topics such as memory, poetry, pilgrimage, the body, gesture, devotion, narrative and liturgy.
ARHS 322 Romanesque & Gothic Art (3)
Prof. Flora. This course will examine painting, sculpture, architecture, mosaics, tapestries, metalwork, ivories, and stained glass windows of the late Middle Ages in Europe. Through weekly readings and discussions will also explore themes such as religion, women, the Classical tradition, and cross-cultural contact. Various critical and theoretical approaches to art history will be considered.
ARHS 323 Visual Culture in Golden Age Spain (3)
Staff. This course will study the cultural role of images, largely painting, in Spain during the period 1500-1700. Topics to be explored include: the pictorial use of mythological themes in the projection of imperial power, the importance of portraiture in the legitimization of the Spanish monarchy, the art market and the social status of the artist. While painting will be our main focus, we will examine other visual documents such as maps and read literary works that illuminate the functions of images in the period. Counts as elective credit towards the art history major. Same as SPAN 423.
ARHS 331 Art of the Early Renaissance in Italy (3)
Staff. The arts in Italy from circa 1250 to 1500, with attention given to important artists and patrons active in the main urban centers of Florence, Rome, Venice, and Naples, as well as Siena, Assisi, Padua, and the Northern Italian courts. We will consider not just canonical figures and works but also the fuller range of artistic practice, focusing on the social networks that linked artists with their patrons and publics.
ARHS 332 16th-Century Italian Art (3)
Staff. The arts in Italy from circa 1500-1580, with an emphasis on important artists, patrons, and works in Rome, Florence, and Venice, as well as smaller centers such as Parma and Mantua. At issue are the social, historical, religious, and political contexts of artistic production in early modern Italy. Attention is also given to the scholarly methods that have been brought to bear on this much studied period, and to the advantages and disadvantages of traditional labels— High Renaissance, Mannerist, and so on.
ARHS 342 Baroque Art (3)
Prof. Porras. Examines major developments in European art during the seventeenth century. Works of art will be discussed in terms of the historical, social, and artistic trends that surround them.
ARHS 343 Northern Baroque Art (3)
Prof. Porras. Seventeenth-century art in the Netherlands. Topics include the development of new genres in the Habsburg Netherlands, the rise of the Dutch Republic, the question of Dutch realism, as well as artists such as Rubens, Rembrandt, and Vermeer.
ARHS 344 Italian Baroque Art (3)
Prof. Porras. Survey of Italian painting and sculpture in the seventeenth century. Topics include artistic responses to the Counter-Reformation, Caravaggio and Caravaggism, the tension between realism and classicism; Bernini, and theoretical approaches to baroque style.
ARHS 351 From Rococo to Romanticism (3)
Prof. Foa. In this course we will analyze art produced in Europe from the early 18th century through the mid-19th century. We will consider the work, careers, and reputations of key artists such as Watteau, David, Goya, Friedrich, Turner, and Delacroix, among others, situating their work in relation to the political, socio-economic, and intellectual developments of the period.
ARHS 354 Impressionism and Post-Impressionism (3)
Prof. Foa. In this course we will analyze art produced in Europe from the mid-19th century through the early 20th century. The class will focus primarily on French painting, but will also include art produced in Germany, Belgium, Norway, and Austria, and will explore the histories of photography, sculpture, print-making, and architecture as well. We will consider the work and reputations of artists such as Manet, Seurat, Cézanne, Munch, and Rodin, situating their work in relation to the political, socio-economic, and intellectual developments of the period.
ARHS 356 Twentieth-Century Art (3)
Prof. Plante. Symbolism, art nouveau, the development of fauvism, expressionism, cubism, futurism, constructivism, de stijl, dada, surrealism, abstract expressionism, pop, minimal, conceptual, and the other artistic styles and movements in the 20th century in Europe and America, with emphasis on painting and sculpture and the forces and theories that influenced them. Some consideration of architecture.
ARHS 360 American Art 1750-1950 (3)
Prof. Plante. Analysis of American painting and sculpture from the colonial period until the onset of World War II. Issues include the transformation of cultural forms from the Old World to the New in developments (such as the rise of American urbanism and the formation of a “national” iconography in America in the years following the Civil War) and the ways in which that art reflects the social, intellectual, and political life of the nation up to World War II.
ARHS 362 Contemporary Art since 1950 (3)
Prof. Plante. Explores the developments in the visual arts in the U.S. and Europe since 1950. Concentrates upon the social-historical formation of artistic development beginning with the aftermath of World War II, and continuing to the present. Emphasizes movements such as Pop, Minimalism, Earth art and Postmodernism. Issues surrounding the objects will include post-structuralism, postcolonialism as well as African-American, feminist, and gay and lesbian strategies for self representation.
ARHS 365 Early Twentieth Century European Modernism (3)
Prof. Plante. This course will explore the developments in the visual arts in Europe from 1890 to 1945. We will concentrate upon the social-historical formations of artistic production beginning in the late-nineteenth century with Post-Impressionism and continuing into the first half of the twentieth century examining movements such as Fauvism, Cubism, Dada, Surrealism, Russian Suprematism.
ARHS 366 Art & Desire in Renaissance Courts (3)
Prof. Dunlop. This course focuses on the art and culture of European courts between about 1300 and the later sixteenth century. At the heart of the course is the problem of desire - for people, things, experiences, power - that marked all aspects of court life and court art production. Major themes include the depiction of the sovereign's body, courtly love and the representation of desire, the rise of pornography, the cult of chivalry and war, the position of the court artist, performance culture, and the theatrical nature of court life.
ARHS 370 Pre-Columbian Art (3)
Staff. An introduction to the art and architecture of Pre-Columbian Mesoamerica (Mexico and Central America) with an emphasis on Mexico. The course focuses on the historical, political, and religious contexts of the visual arts and addresses the function of these artworks as ideological statements.
ARHS 371 Colonial Art of Latin America (3)
Staff. Renaissance and baroque architecture, painting and sculpture of the metropolitan centers of the Spanish and Portuguese colonies from the 16th to the early 19th century with a major emphasis on Mexico.
ARHS 376 Art in Latin America, 1900-1950 (3)
Staff. Studies the production of the leading visual artists, architects, and photographers active in their native Latin American countries as well as abroad during the first half of the 20th century. Examines their works in relation to their local historical and cultural circumstances, the major artistic avant-garde trends in Latin America, and the broader context of international modernism.
ARHS 377 Art in Latin America since 1950 (3)
Staff. Studies the production of the leading contemporary Latin American artists, architects, and photographers active in their native countries as well as abroad. To this end, we will examine their works in relation to the relevant local historical and cultural contexts since the 1950s, to the main artistic movements that developed in Latin America during this period, and to the broader trends in international contemporary visual arts.
ARHS 385 African Art (3)
Staff. This course introduces students to the visual and performative arts of sub-Saharan Africa with primary emphasis on sculpture, pottery, leadership arts, and ritual performances. The time frame extends from the 10th century to the present, though most of the objects would have originated prior to the 20th century and have undergone varying degrees of transformation under colonialism.
ARHS 386 Arts of the African Diaspora (3)
Staff. This course seeks to introduce students to the geographical and cultural notion of “African Diaspora.” It addresses such issues as migration, creolizaiton, hegemony, and resistance. It also examines indigenous art forms including popular urban forms and performances.
ARHS 387 20th Century African-American Art (3)
Staff. This course is a survey of African-American art in the United States in the 20th century. The chronological development of African-American art parallels the chronology of twentieth-century American art. This course is organized around social, cultural, and political issues and themes, including the relation of art to identity politics.
ARHS 391 Special Topics in the History of Art (3)
Staff. Special topics in the history, criticism, or theory of art. The subjects will vary and may not be available every semester. Individual topics will be listed in the Schedule of Classes.
ARHS 456, 457 Internship Studies (1-3)
Prof. Bartlett. The internship course is designed to give students the opportunity for hands-on experience in the arts fields. Students commit eight-hours per week to an internship situation, supported by a weekly classroom component. The classroom component is used to examine issues facing an arts professional, such as answerability to the community, the role of art in healing/preservation, ownership of culture, alternative voices, etc. Class meetings include discussions of readings, guest lectures, field trips and/or site visits, in addition to student research and the presentation of student research papers. The course is available as a service learning course. As a result of their service learning activities, students will become engaged in, and provide service to, the community.
ARHS 488 Writing Practicum (1)
Staff. Prerequisite: successful completion of the First-Year Writing Requirement. Corequisite: three credit departmental course. Fulfills the college intensive-writing requirement.
ARHS 491, 492 Independent Studies (3, 3)
Staff. Open to qualified juniors and seniors with approval of instructor and chair of department.
ARHS H499-H500 Honors Thesis (3, 4)
Staff. Open to qualified students with approval of department, instructor, and Honors Committee.
ARHS 576 Modern Art, Cezanne to the Present (3)
Staff.
ARHS 602P Capstone Seminar: Art and Belief in the Western Tradition (3)
Prof. Flora. This course will provide a capstone experience for undergraduate majors in art history via an examination of major monuments and works in the Western tradition in the context of systems of belief, such as mythology, philosophy, and religion. The notion of belief will be the lens through which we approach selected case studies drawn from throughout the history of Western art. We will examine instances where belief is thought to influence art and we will probe the problems and tensions that can arise when art and belief coincide. Integrating interdisciplinary readings with critical texts from the discipline of art history, the course will require students to actively recall and critically synthesize the works and methods learned in courses at the 100 and 300 levels.
RHS 605P Capstone Seminar: Scandals of Modern Art (3)
Prof. Foa. From the shock that greeted Manet's portrayal of a modern Parisian prostitute in his 1863 painting Olympia, to Sally Mann's 1992 exhibition of disturbing photographs of her pre-adolescent children, the history of modern art is very much a history of scandal-of challenge to the artistic, social, and political orders. The objective of this course is to examine key works of controversial modern art to shed light on changing social values and on the expectations and definitions of art at different points in the modern period, including the present time. Scandals we examine include those surrounding Matisse's Blue Nude, Marcel Duchamp’s Fountain, Constantin Brancusi’s Bird in Space, Richard Serra’s Tilted Arc, and Maya Lin’s Vietnam Veterans Memorial, among others. Throughout the course, we will ask: What is the place and function of art in modern society? How should art represent the world to its audience? How can we account for viewers' wildly divergent reactions to the same work? And, finally, who determines the meaning and value of a work of art-the artist, the general public, arts professionals, the courts, or the government?
ARHS 606P Capstone Seminar: Gender, Race and Representations of the Body (3)
Prof. Plante. This course will examine the ways in which artists--painters, sculptors, filmmakers, writers, etc.--have constructed and organized representations of the body. We will examine the human body as a contested field, a site across which history, memory, and politics are played. We will be using a wide variety of methodologies as appropriate to certain artistic expressions such as phenomenological experiences of art and the body; the organizing principles of “visuality,” as interpreted through the psychoanalytic writings of Freud and Lacan; and both the political and subjective uses of the body as it is deployed in culture through methodologies as diverse as social history, feminist theory, queer theory, and post-colonial theory.
ARHS607P Capstone Seminar: Artists as Global Travelers (3)
Staff.
ARHS 609P Capstone Seminar: The Intersections of Art and Science (3)
Prof. Foa. The objective of this course is to explore key moments in the relationship between art and science in Europe and the United States from the Renaissance to the 20th century. Over the course of the semester, we will examine the many ways that artists have drawn on scientific methods and practices to inform their work, and analyze how scientists have employed visual images to advance their investigations. We will focus on a series of topics that span time and place, such as Leonardo da Vinci’s anatomical drawings and interest in optics, Enlightenment theories of perception, Impressionist and Neo-Impressionist painting, and abstraction in the 20th century, among other topics.
ARHS 621 Medieval Pilgrimages: Saints, Bones and Art (3)
Prof. Flora. This course will examine some of the most popular medieval Christian pilgrimage centers of Europe. We will focus mostly on Santiago de Compostela and Rome, with brief looks at other pilgrimage centers such as Jerusalem, Assisi, and Canterbury. Topics to be covered include the cult of the saints, the pilgrimage roads, architectural settings and their decoration, as well as reliquary shrines and related works of art, images and their use in imaginary or mental pilgrimage.
ARHS 622 Women and Gender in Medieval Art (3)
Prof. Flora. This seminar will focus on the relationships between gender and the production and reception of medieval European art and architecture. Topics to be explored include images of women, works of art commissioned by women, images made for women, architectural spaces designed for women and/or men specifically (i.e. monastic architecture), women as artists, etc. Comparative material known to have been made for/by men specifically will also be explored as we consider the meaning of the concept of “gender”. Feminist theory and various contemporary critical approaches to gender and medieval art will enhance our exploration of specific works.
ARHS 623 Art and Architecture of Medieval Italy (3)
Prof. Flora. This course will examine the art and architecture of the late Middle Ages in Italy from approximately 1200 to 1350 A.D./C.E. We will focus particularly on the rise of the mendicant orders in the thirteenth century and their impact on art and the narrative (the introduction of "naturalism" into art of the late medieval period). Topics include civic architecture and the city-states, the development of the tradition of panel painting, and the impact of Byzantine art on art of the Italian peninsula.
ARHS 653 Degas (3)
Staff. In-depth examination of Degas's works and career in light of various historical and critical approaches, ranging from formalism and iconography to sociopolitical and cultural studies, Marxism, psychoanalysis, and feminism. Attention will be paid to male and female spectatorship and to relevant works by Degas's Impressionist contemporaries, including Cassatt, Gonzales, Manet, Morisot, and Whistler, as well as other artists including Daumier, Delacroix, Ingres, Tissot, and Toulouse-Lautrec. Additional comparative topics include academic art, photography, journalistic illustration, and Japanese prints.
ARHS 654 Paris: Capital of the 19th Century (3)
Prof. Foa. In this seminar, we will explore the transformation of Paris during the second half of the nineteenth century into a great modern metropolis. Beginning with the formation of the Second Empire in 1851, we will analyze the ways that the architecture, painting, photography, literature, urban planning, and popular and visual culture of the era both reflected and shaped experiences and perceptions of this modern city. During the semester, we will explore such developments as the controversial reconstruction of the city by Baron Haussmann, the poetry and prose of Charles Baudelaire, Impressionist painting, the construction of the Eiffel Tower, the rise of photography, and new spaces and modes of leisure, entertainment, and consumerism in the city. Throughout the course, we will investigate the complex relationship between urban modernity and modernist art, situating the artistic and cultural production of the period in its rich historical context.
ARHS 655 The Work and Mythology of Vincent Van Gogh (3)
Prof. Foa. In this seminar, we will explore the brief but productive career of Vincent van Gogh and the mythology that developed around him during and after his lifetime. We will look closely at Van Gogh's paintings, drawings, and writings, studying them in the context of such issues as his attitudes towards modernity and his relationship to the art market. We will also undertake a critical examination of the myth surrounding Van Gogh's life and work, discussing such themes as the modern artist as mad genius and the quest for originality and immediacy in modern art.
ARHS 662 Reading Abstract Expressionism (3)
Prof. Plante. Examines the ways in which Abstract Expressionism has been interpreted, both from the view of American critics and historians and their European counterparts. Emphasizes the extent to which formalist criticism evolved around Abstract Expressionism, and that only recently have scholars challenged those apolitical reading of this art, considering the political and economic factors which contributed to its international predominance on the global stage. Artists will include De Kooning, Frankenthaler, Hofmann, Krasner, Newman, Pollock, and Still.
ARHS 663 Revising the 1960’s (3)
Prof. Plante. Charts the development of American, and some European, art during the 1960’s, away from the international dominance of Abstract Expressionist style toward a more diverse range of styles such as Color Field painting, Pop art, Minimalism and Post-Minimalism, and Performance art. Attention will be paid to the development of artistic and cultural criticism during this period (Greenberg, Sontag, Barthes), and the arguments about the role of culture in American society, the status of so-called “high” and “low” art. Artists studied will include Frankenthaler, Hesse, Judd, Lichtenstein, Morris, Smithson, and Warhol.
ARHS 665 Postmodern Formations: Art Since 1980 (3)
Prof. Plante. Examines both European and American conceptions of postmodernism, as it originated in post-structural and psychoanalytic theory. Emphasis will be place upon artists working since 1980, including Basquiat, Jenny Holzer, Barbara Kruger, Mapplethorpe, Cindy Sherman, Warhol and the politically-based art project of Gran Fury, the Guerrilla Girls and the Names Project. Interpretive strategies will be taken from readings in European literary theory, with emphasis place upon the shift in criticism in art-making, away from Europe, toward an ideology formed around the issues of racial, sexual, and gender performance of identity.
ARHS 672 Seminar on Aztec Arts (3)
Prof. Boone. Prerequisite: ARHS 370 or approval of instructor. Intensive investigation of Aztec arts as fundamental manifestations of Aztec imperial ideology (especially political and religious). The course concentrates on the urban iconographic programs developed in sculpture and architecture and considers the role of ritual and performance within these programs. It also reviews the sixteenth century sources (pictorial and alphabetic) that are used to understand Aztec culture.
ARHS 673 Seminar in Mexican Manuscript Painting (3)
Prof. Boone. Prerequisite: ARHS 370 or approval of instructor. Detailed investigation of the pictorial codices painted in Mexico in the 15th and 16th centuries. The course examines the pictorial conventions and grammar used by the Mexican scribes to record knowledge. It analyzes the tradition of manuscript painting as it developed in Pre-Columbian Mesoamerica and then as it adapted to new functions and changed audiences in the early colonial period. Specific topics will vary from time to time.
ARHS 678 Latin American Avant-Gardes of the 1920's (3)
Staff.
ARHS 681 Impressionism (3)
Prof. Foa. In this seminar we will explore various facets of the Impressionist movement, analyzing the work, reputations, and careers of its main artists, as well as looking at reactions to Impressionism by key Post-Impressionist artists. Over the course of the semester we will discuss such issues as the history of alternative exhibition practices and spaces in the nineteenth century, the relationship of the Impressionists to the art market and private galleries, and competing definitions of Impressionism at work within the group. We will pay particular attention to writings on Impressionism and Post-Impressionism, studying the different approaches taken by art critics and art historians to the work of the individual artists and to this period in French art.
ARHS 651, 652, 656, 657, 658, 682, 683, 685, 686, 687 Seminars in the History of Art (3 each)
Staff, Prof. Boone, Prof. Flora, Prof. Foa, Prof. Plante. Advanced topics in the history, criticism, or theory of art. The subjects of the seminars vary according to the needs of the students and the scholarly interests of the individual instructor. Specialized topics are listed in the Schedule of Classes.
ARHS 688 Writing Practicum (1)
Staff. Prerequisite: successful completion of the First-Year Writing Requirement. Corequisite: three credit departmental course. Fulfills the college intensive-writing requirement.
Tulane University, Newcomb Art Dept., 202 Woldenberg Art Center, New Orleans, LA 70118 504-865-5327 artdept@tulane.edu