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ART HISTORY 202: RENAISSANCE TO MODERN ART

COURSE DESCRIPTION

This is an introductory survey of art produced mainly in Europe and the United States between the fifteenth century and the present. The course focuses on painting, but significant attention also is paid to architecture and sculpture, and to a lesser extent, the decorative arts, the graphic arts, and photography. We will learn about trends in representation as well as information about particular works of art and the artists who produced them. We will study art within national, international, social, cultural, and historical contexts, and consider how factors such as patronage, religion, personality, gender, race, and ethnicity influence artistic representation. We also will look at how different audiences responded to art (and thus influenced its meaning). In addition, students will become acquainted with the discipline of art history; we will discuss how to describe, analyze, and interpret art with the same rigor one might study a work of literature (or even approach a mathematical problem!). Grades will be assessed based on performance on examinations, papers, and participation in discussion sections. No prior knowledge of the history of art is assumed or required.

COURSE OBJECTIVES

Though memorizing information about works of art produced mainly in Europe and the United States between the fifteenth century and the present is an important part of the course (indeed, a requirement for success), the objectives extend beyond simply knowing facts such as the artists, titles, and dates of the “greatest hits.” The principal objectives for the course are threefold:
  • Learn tools of description and visual analysis that will enable you to talk intelligently and cogently about works of art made in Europe and the U.S. from the Renaissance through the present. This will include, but is not limited to, recognizing and explaining techniques, visual features of works of art, and period styles.
  • Become familiar with methods of interpretation that allow you to understand why works of art have become famous, and what meanings they had to artists who produced them and viewers who valued them. We will learn how to talk about works of art in their political, social, and cultural contexts, and about other methods—some from other humanistic disciplines—that can help you make meaning from works of art.
  • Hone skills in critical reading and writing that will be of use throughout your college career and beyond (regardless of their eventual choice of career or major). This goal is tied to the section assignments, which will involve reading and discussion of written texts in the discipline of art history (assembled into the course READER) and close visual analysis of works of art in the Chazen Museum of Art.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

Success in the course is contingent upon attending classes (lecture and section), keeping up with reading and writing assignments, and preparing for quizzes and examinations. Students that come to all class periods (lectures and sections) and regularly engage with the course material (that is, prepare at least SIX hours outside of class per week consistently throughout the semester) will earn the highest grades in the course.

Readings. The following are required for the course:

  • Gardner's Art Through the Ages (The Western Perspective), 12th edition, Volume 2 (2006); available at University Bookstore and also on reserve at College Library (ISBN: 978-0-495-00480-6).
  • Sylvan Barnet, A Short Guide to Writing About Art, 9th edition; available at University Bookstore and on reserve at College Library (ISBN: 978-0-13-613855-6).
  • Course Reader; available at Bob's Copy Shop, 161 University Ave. (257-4536 - call before trekking over to make sure it is available) - PLEASE NOTE THIS IS THE BOB’S NEAR LAKE STREET.

Examinations. There will be a midterm and a final examination (see CALENDAR for dates; check your calendars now for conflicts!). Exams will consist of a mix of short answer and essay questions; many will make use of slides and images discussed in class and the readings, and you will be expected to know terminology. Exams are designed to test your knowledge of important works of art/monuments/artifacts discussed in lecture, section, and the readings, and also measure your grasp of important concepts in the history of western art; they CANNOT and WILL NOT cover everything. Time will be devoted in lecture and/or section to discussing exam format in advance, and I will send out preparation guidelines via email at least one week prior to the exam date. You also may wish to consult the course website for images and other important information.

Although specific guidelines for exams will follow, a few things should be said up front about expectations. First off, even if all of the questions on the mid-term and final will be short answer or essay questions, they will demand a certain degree of memorization of information about works of art and vocabulary. Memorization is one of the chief tools required to master the materials of the class; memorization is only one part of the work and learning required, but an area that demands discipline and regular practice. To begin to understand how and why works were created in a particular time and place, the circumstances and background behind them, and their continuing role in the subsequent history of art can only be understood once you have a sense of the players involved and the circumstances around them--and to do this you have to know information about works of art. This is the basic information of art history, and without mastering it you will be unable to gain a coherent understanding of the larger movements and issues. You will be held responsible for basic information about important works shown in class that are also illustrated in the textbook and/or on the Art History website--particularly the artist's name, the full title, the approximate date, and period, style, and/or location of its origin. If you keep up-to-date (using flashcards, for example), memorization of the works will be easy and enjoyable and will facilitate your understanding of new material; if you wait until the examinations, memorization will be a nightmare. Advice on studying along with image review will take place during the weekly discussion sections. Learning vocabulary will require a similar degree of diligence; words with which you should be familiar are listed on the slide lists.

A few words about DATES (of works of art): Dating a work is essential to understand its origins and background in a specific period and place. We will usually permit a leeway of ten years (+/- 10 years) depending on the period, and on how precisely the work is dated. In every case, we will stress that you learn dates by thinking of how that single work relates to larger stylistic and cultural tendencies. As another professor who taught this class recently noted, what matters is not so much your ability to memorize a set of numbers but that you come away from this class knowing that Andy Warhol did not hang out with Leonardo da Vinci!

Papers. There will be two short papers for the course. The first paper (due WEEK 4 in section) will require you to write a one-page essay dealing with one aspect of visual analysis of a work of art in the Chazen Museum of Art (or elsewhere, if your T.A. approves it), using guidelines presented and discussed in section. The second paper (due week WEEK 11 in section, 2-3 pages long) will be a more interpretive paper, requiring you to analyze a work of art in the Chazen Museum and interpret it using skills learned over the course of the semester. It is not a research paper per se, though you will potentially need to conduct some research to help you in the task of interpretation. Should you wish to conduct research for this paper (or on anything else in the class), you should visit the LIBRARY WEBPAGE, accessible through the on-line course reserves page at MY-UW. There you will find some basic information on "doing research" in art history, and links to helpful resources (including the GROVE DICTIONARY OF ART-online).

Requirements for both papers will be discussed more fully in section; guidelines are found in the course READER. PLEASE NOTE: THESE PAPERS REQUIRE YOU TO CONSULT WITH WORKS IN THE CHAZEN MUSEUM, which is open Tuesday-Friday, 9-5, and Saturday and Sunday, 11-5; THE MUSEUM IS CLOSED ON MONDAYS; please plan accordingly. Your papers must be TYPED; no work will be accepted via email or fax.

Section Assignments/Class Participation. A substantial percentage of your grade (20%) is based upon your attendance and participation in weekly discussion sections. These are not strictly review sessions (though some review will occur here). Rather, these are devoted to exploring methods of interpretation and the "stuff" of art history AS A DISCIPLINE/FIELD OF STUDY in some detail--issues we do not have time to address in lecture. Activities have been designed by the T.A.'s and the Instructor that meet all three objectives of the course outlined above and which (it is hoped) will be fun on top of that. Attendance will be taken, though this is only part of your grade; you also will be assessed based on the extent of your participation in section activities, including (but not limited to) orally participating in discussions. You will be graded on a series of short "take-home" assignments that require you to prepare answers to questions in advance. We ask that you prepare these every week they are assigned; you will be graded on 4 of 8 worksheets (though you may not know in advance when they are collected).  Your T.A. will make decisions about which four of the eight to collect.  PLEASE SEE THE DISCUSSION SECTION "SYLLABUS," ENTITLED DISCUSSION SECTION TOPICS, ASSIGNMENTS, AND PARAMETERS FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT SECTION ASSIGNMENTS AND EXPECTATIONS.

Distribution of Grading
Mid-term 25%
Final 30%
Paper 1 (formal analysis) 10%
Paper 2 (interpretive paper) 15%
Section assignments & participation 20%
  100%

Grading Scale: The grade scale will follow the University standards, but might vary in view of exam results: 94-100, A; 89-93, AB; 84-88, B; 79-83, BC; 74-78, C; 65-73, D, 64 and below, F. Grades are not rounded up.

COURSE WEBSITE

There is a website for this course (www.wisc.edu/arth/ah202/ava). You will find lots of things available in the READER there in downloadable format, including a copy of the syllabus, paper guidelines, and exam guidelines (available approximately one week before each exam). In addition, slide lists (with images) keyed to the lectures are available there for you to print out if you wish to use them to follow along in lecture. There are three things you need to know IN ADVANCE about the website:

  1. The website should not be used as a replacement for lectures or the readings (textbooks and reader). Readings and lectures will cover material which will help you contextualize information about individual works of art; thus simply knowing information about particular images from the website is not enough to succeed in the course.
  2. If you are off campus, you will need to use your UW NetID to access the larger study images. This is due to copyright law and is beyond our control.
  3. We will do our best to make sure the website is current and accurate. However, we do not control the site directly, and thus there may be a time lag when changes have to be made. If you notice a discrepancy or problem, PLEASE TELL the Instructor or your section T.A. as soon as possible. Any changes/problems will be announced in lecture AND/OR on the classlist email. Your patience and understanding are appreciated.

COMMUNICATIONS INFORMATION

The Professor welcomes questions and is always eager to discuss any thoughts you have related to material covered in class--as are the T.A.'s. Please visit us during office hours or make an appointment if you have anything you wish to discuss. Talking with us AFTER CLASS is best, as we are usually preparing before class.

Use of Email. Despite how easy it is to use, email is not instantaneous. If you have something of a time-sensitive nature to discuss with me or your TA, you should telephone or stop by rather than use email. Also, we will not--under any circumstances--discuss issues relating to your performance in the course over email out of interests in security and because of the potential for misunderstanding. This includes requests to reconsider grades, miss an exam, or hand in a paper late. Please recognize that sending an e-mail stating that you are handing in a paper late or missing an exam DOES NOT constitute or imply acceptance on my part or that of the TA's; gaining permission means discussing the issue together and reaching a mutually-accommodating solution.

Classlists. Classlists have been set up for the whole course and for individual sections, which will allow us to send emails to you containing information that will help you succeed in the course. Because email cannot be trusted to arrive in a timely fashion, we will try our best to not send anything out via email that is not also announced in lecture or section, or made available to you by some other means (a handout or posting on the website). Still, it behooves you to make sure your email is current with MyUW, since you will have information sent directly to your desktop and often have it earlier than you would otherwise.

OTHER POLICIES AND IMPORTANT INFORMATION

Attendance Policy. Each student is expected to attend all class sessions (lectures and sections). Failure to attend class regularly will result in a failing grade. PLEASE NOTE: material is covered in lecture that is not available in the textbook or reviewed in section; should you miss class, try to get the notes from someone else. The Instructor does not give out lecture notes. You are graded on attendance and participation in section (20% of grade); more than three unexcused absences in section and you will lose some credit automatically.

Make Up Policy. Make up exams or quizzes are not a given, and given only in extenuating circumstances and with prior approval of the Professor (not the T.A.'s). Any absences due to serious medical conditions or deaths in the family must be supported by written documentation. In addition, all written work must be submitted on time. Your grade will be lowered by one-half letter grade per day late (A to AB, for example) until the work is handed in. No late work will be accepted after one week. Exceptions may be made only in case of medical emergencies supported by appropriate documentation. If there is a valid reason you are unable to submit work on the day it is due, you must consult with your T.A. BEFORE the deadline to make arrangements. Failure to comply with this policy could result in a grade of "0" for the exam or essay in question. PLEASE NOTE: sending an email announcing you are handing something in late or missing an exam is not acceptable; you need to talk to your T.A. or the Instructor in person.

Academic Integrity Policy. All work you do in this class must be your own. You are expected to be responsible to know what constitutes academic dishonesty. The two most common types of academic dishonesty are "cheating" and "plagiarism." Cheating is the act of obtaining or attempting to obtain academic work through the use of dishonest, deceptive or fraudulent acts. Plagiarism is representing the work of someone else as one's own and submitting it to fulfill academic requirements; this includes borrowing ideas, words, sentences or paragraphs from books and periodicals as well as from the Internet without properly citing your sources. It also includes reusing a paper from previous classes, or from another student.  If you commit an act of cheating or plagiarism, there are serious repercussions; on the consequences, please see the University of Wisconsin-Madison's policies on Academic Misconduct. If you have any questions, please speak with me or your T.A.

Special Needs and Accommodations. If you have special educational needs (i.e., trouble with timed written exams, or with note-taking), you should register at the McBurney Disability Resource Center, 1305 Linden Drive, and contact me DURING THE FIRST TWO WEEKS OF CLASS to make arrangements. For help with your writing, you are encouraged to contact the Writing Center, 6171 Helen C. White Hall, tel. 263-1992. In addition to one-on-one consultations, they also offer non-credit classes of one or a few sessions each, to help you with a range of writing issues such as "the ten most important things to know about academic writing," and "writing resumes and cover letters."

Lecture Hall Rules. There is no eating or drinking allowed in the Elvehjem Building, since crumbs and spills attract bugs and bugs are attracted to paintings. PLEASE DEPOSIT ANY FOOD REMAINS IN RECEPTACLES OUTSIDE THE BUILDING OR NEAR THE ENTRANCES. Also, please switch off cell phones and pagers during class time, and keep any whispering to a minimum (though a minimal amount of laughter, when appropriate, is acceptable and even welcome!). No sitting in the aisles due to fire code regulations. Finally, it would be greatly appreciated if you could be to class on time. If you have to arrive late, leave early, or typically can't make it through class without a bathroom break, please enter (or exit) quietly and with minimal disruption. Students have complained to me about this in the past, and if I notice a perpetual problem, action may have to be taken in class.