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ART HISTORY 408: ART IN ITALY, 1850-2007

Course Description and Requirements

Aims of the Course

The course is designed to introduce you to a broad span of modern Italian art history in its historical, cultural, and social contexts. Although the primary emphasis is on Italian painting, sculpture, architecture, and design, we will also consider Italy's position within the larger international history of modern art, particularly as Italians responded to, acquired, and mounted major shows of international art from the turn of the century on. I will cover major figures and movements with an eye to their national and international connections: from the 19th-century movements of the Macchiaioli, realism, and Liberty Style to pre-World War I divisionism, symbolism, and futurism; interwar Scuola Metafisica, Novecento, Second Futurism, fascist, and other kinds of figural art; postwar neo-realist and figural styles; modern Italian design; and abstraction, minimalia, informel, arte povera, and transavanguardia from the 1960s to the present. I am far less interested to have you amass a large body of facts and information than to have you learn to see, read, and talk about these works in context.

I want to teach you to see, analyze, and understand the works of art, and to articulate how their complexities of form and meaning are related to the time and place in which they were produced. To this end, I will give much importance to learning to look. I will also place much emphasis on writing & revising as they help you to clarify and discipline your thoughts and to comprehend and put art historical practices to work. All of you will write some short responses to specific issues or questions, as well as the papers and examinations. Through this emphasis on writing and through class discussions and presentations, I hope to engage you regularly as active participants & facilitators of our exploration of this period.

Required Texts

  • Barnet, A Short Guide to Writing About Art
  • Course Reader (at Bob’s Copy Shop, 616 University Avenue only)
  • Duggan, A Concise History of Italy
  • Pinto, History of Italian Art in the 20th Century
  • Tisdall and Bozzola, Futurism

Recommended Texts

(search for these and other out-of-print books at abebooks.com or amazon.com)
  • Affron & Antliff, eds., Fascist Visions
  • Braun, ed., Italian Art of the 20th-Century

Online Resources

 

Other Requirements

Class Participation: You are expected to attend all lectures, complete all short written response and précis assignments, and join regularly in the class talk as both a discussant and a presenter. Written responses in the form of short précis of readings and/or journal type responses to modern works of art. 10% of your grade will be based on your class participation.

Exams: (40% of grade) The two essay exams include slide comparison, attribution, and short answer responses.

Papers: (50% of grade) A few longer papers beyond the short assignments counted towards participation. One 2-page formal analysis of a work in the original in the Chazen Print Room or another museum (10%) and a 8-15 page development of a research paper subject, proposal, and outline (40%) that focuses on a single work of art (perhaps the subject of of your formal analysis) developed in stages to consider the work’s subject and style in context. You will develop your research proposal after meeting with me to discuss which work interests you.