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2000 Level Art History, Theory, and Criticism
Course Descriptions
ARTHI 2058
Survey of African American Art
African American culture has produced a body of work as rich and diverse
as it is generally unknown. This course examines selected topics on
the art of African Americans. Both historical perspective and contemporary
issues are considered. Field trips and studio visits are included when
appropriate.
Prerequisite: ARTHI 1001 and ARTHI 1002.
ARTHI 2068
Ancient Andean Art
Within the pre-Columbian cultures of South America, intimate connections
were felt to exist between the human, natural, and supernatural worlds.
The visual arts served to articulate and display an experience of the
world very different from ours today. Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, and Colombia
are explored: their setting in the landscape, the cosmology expressed
in their layout, and the symbolism found in stone texts. Learning to
read the structure and meaning encoded in varied media and different
styles challenges us to explore our own inner landscapes.
Prerequisite: ARTHI 1001 and ARTHI 1002.
ARTHI 2130
Survey of Medieval Art
This course surveys European art and architecture from the fall of the
Roman Empire to the
fifteenth century. Course material is related
to the socioeconomic, intellectual, and cultural
trends of the period. Prerequisite: ARTHI 1001 and ARTHI 1002.
ARTHI 2191
History of Architecture and Design I
This course surveys the developments of architecture and interiors from
its ancient origins to the time of Napoleon. Special attention will
be given to the environments in which the great cultures flourished.
The course will also look closely at the interiors developed by such
cultures as the ancient Egyptians, the Greeks, especially in Southern
Italy, the Romans, Early Christians, the Byzantines and Russians. European
Middle Ages as well as the Renaissance, Baroque and Rococo architecture
and interiors will be looked at in context. Prerequisite: ARTHI 1001
and ARTHI 1002.
ARTHI 2192
Survey of Architectural History II: 1800–now
The second half of the course surveys the developments of architecture
and interiors from the Greek Revival, through Egyptomania and numerous
other Revivals, Japonisme and the Victorians, various world’s fairs,
the Arts and Crafts in England and the United States, the Wienerwerkstatte,
Werkbund, Bauhaus, Art Deco, the 1950s to the 1990s. Influential architects,
interior designers and firms such as Schinkel, Furness, Sullivan, Mackintosh,
Hoffman, Ruhlman, Wright, Green and Green, Codman, Knoll, and Stark
will be discussed in detail. Prerequisite: ARTHI 1001 and ARTHI 1002.
ARTHI 2310
Machine Aesthetics In The Twentieth Century
This course explores, in painting, architecture, sculpture, theater,
photography, and film, the “machine romance” of twentieth-century
artists, that is, the embrace of technology, engineering, aesthetics,
functionalism, and Taylorism as a utopian model for the “new man”
or “new spirit” of the age. Futurism, art deco, Russian constructionism,
the Bauhaus and the New Objectivity in Germany, and precisionism in
the U.S. are treated in this modern survey of the first half of the
twentieth century.
Prerequisite: ARTHI 1001 and ARTHI 1002.
ARTHI 2342
Survey of Twentieth-Century European Art
The rapid succession of late nineteenth-century artistic movements accelerates
in the twentieth century, with as many as several new movements emerging
each decade. Cubism, the most influential new style, spawned in its
wake Futurism, Orphism, Suprematism, and more. Abstraction was born,
both the emotional, expressionistic variety from Kandinsky, and the
cool, analytic species of Mondrian. Dada artists mock art, government,
and society; the Surrealists plumb the depths of their unconscious.
The Tachisme and COBRA movements of the 1950s are supplanted by the
French Nouveau Realists and Italian Arte Povera in the 1960s. The course
climaxes with the wide spread resurgence of figurative painting in the
1980s known as Neo-Expressionism. This course explores these movements
and more through a consideration of the art of major European artists
of the twentieth century.
Prerequisite: ARTHI 1001 and ARTHI 1002.
ARTHI 2420
Survey of African Art
This course surveys the arts of Africa in their cultural and historical
context. It examines diverse forms of artistic production from a variety
of civilizations and cultures which include rock painting and the ancient
arts of Nubia and Ethiopia, in addition to traditional and contemporary
art production in West and Central African societies. Prerequisite:
ARTHI 1001 and ARTHI 1002.
ARTHI 2450
Survey of Asian Art
This introduction to Asian art from ancient times to the present is
designed to provide a broad historical and cultural framework for the
arts of South Asia, Southeast Asia, Japan, China, and Korea. The course
will cover several broad themes that will help illuminate the extraordinary
diversity of Asian art: religious art and architecture, the art and
architecture of authority, images of nature, and aesthetics. Prerequisite:
ARTHI 1001 and ARTHI 1002.
ARTHI 2501
History of Space: Interior Architecture
Using key examples of public and private exterior and interior architectural,
urban, and garden spaces, this course focuses on the universal elements
(such as social, political, religious, and cultural forces) which define
such spaces. It includes a history of furniture, interior design and
color, light, and the fourth dimension of architecture through the major
periods of history. Prerequisite: ARTHI 1001 and ARTHI 1002.
ARTHI 2510
History of Art and Technology
This course examines the impact of new technologies on the aesthetics
of the twentieth century. Issues explored in the course include the
structure of synthetic pictorial spaces, creating art on a global scale,
responding to the images of pure light, the aesthetics of motion, behavior
in virtual environments, and the experiences of interactive artworks.
Main lecture topics are: avant-garde typography, Moholy-Nagy’s
work, early radio and the impact of auditory images, kinetic art, robotic
art and robotic dance, telecommunication art, computer art, electronic
photography, space art, virtual reality, tele-presence, and holographic
art. By focusing on the theoretical and historical implications of the
aforementioned media and movements, and on the work of several artists,
the course contextualizes technological trends in modern and contemporary
art.
Prerequisite: ARTHI 1001 and ARTHI 1002.
ARTHI 2530
History of Ceramics
This history of design and techniques in the ceramic arts focuses on
geographical areas of major historical interest and importance. The
course discusses the function of ceramic objects in history and their
role and character in contemporary art. Prerequisite: ARTHI 1001 and
ARTHI 1002.
ARTHI 2541
History of Visual Communication: Survey
This survey will provide an introduction to the history of graphic culture
and objects. Topics will range from seventeenth- and eighteenth-century
trade-card advertising to the nineteenth-century color poster, and from
current corporate identity systems to contemporary documentary photography.
Students will be given a grounding in the ideas of Modernism and postmodernism,
and how these ideas have affected visual communication. Throughout the
course, visual communication will be placed in context with other art
and design historical movements. Prerequisite: ARTHI 1001 and ARTHI
1002.
ARTHI 2542
The History of Furniture
Furniture embodies the culture which contains it. A study of the history
of furniture reveals the general development of society as well as the
psychology of the individual. This course surveys the evolution of furniture
and interior appointments from the earliest human societies of Africa
and the Middle East to contemporary designs of the late twentieth century.
Focus is on how furniture provides information on the way people live
and how they order their lives. This survey also investigates the influence
of architecture on furniture and the relationship of furniture to sculpture.
Prerequisite: ARTHI 1001 and ARTHI 1002.
ARTHI 2545
History of Decorative Arts
This course deals with the decorative arts of Europe and America from
the Renaissance through today, with observations on non-European influences.
Emphasis is placed on glass, ceramics, metalwork, and furniture of the
Baroque/Rococo, various nineteenth-century revivals, the Bauhaus, modernism,
deco, machine age, and Chicago. Prerequisite: ARTHI 1001 and ARTHI 1002.
ARTHI 2560
Survey of The History Of Dress
This survey of the history of costume (clothing) from ancient times
to the present provides a framework for seeing and understanding the
development and harmony of costume in an historical perspective. Prerequisite:
ARTHI 1001 and ARTHI 1002.
ARTHI 2570
History of Textiles: Survey
This course is an introductory survey to the history of textiles and
is offered every other year in the spring semester, alternating with
History of Textiles: Thematic Focus. This survey course explores
forms and meanings of textiles within diverse Western and non-Western
cultural contexts. Visiting curators and scholars are invited to participate.
Research within local textile collections and exhibitions at the Art
Institute and the Field Museum is integral to the class. Prerequisite:
ARTHI 1001 and ARTHI 1002.
ARTHI 2571
History of Textiles: Thematic Focus
This course is offered every other year in the spring semester, alternating
with the introductory survey of textile history. A special thematic
orientations is developed that includes lectures by visiting artists
and scholars. Themes in the past have included “The Sacred and
the Profane,” “History of Modern Textiles: Critical Issues,
1850 to the Present,” “Pattern, Abstraction, and Meaning,”
and “Image and Narrative.” Look for the thematic focus in
the Department of Fiber and Material Studies’ Expanded Course
Descriptions, available two weeks prior to pre-registration.
Prerequisite: ARTHI 1001 and ARTHI 1002.
ARTHI 2583
Introduction to Film Studies
This course is designed to serve as an introduction to film analysis,
in which students learn the basic concepts and vocabulary of film aesthetics
and criticism. Students will examine different trajectories of film,
studying mainstream film practices next to alternative ones. By studying
the basics of film form and film style, through examples from different
national cinemas, genres, and directorial oeuvres, students learn to
analyze and write about films as both formal and cultural constructs.
Along with questions of film technique and style, student will study
cinema’s relationship to popular culture and fine art. The films
discussed include works by Griffith, Eisenstein, Welles, Hitchcock,
and Godard. This course does not assume any prior exposure to film studies.
Prerequisite: ARTHI 1001 and ARTHI 1002.
ARTHI 2586
Film Genre
These classes examine film genres such as (but not limited to) The Western,
Film Noir, Science Fiction, Horror, Romance, and Screwball Comedy. Each
course illuminates the defining characteristics of the particular genre
by establishing its narrative conventions, its influences in literature,
art and other film genres. These courses discuss the conventions of
the genre’s visual style and its relationship to popular culture
and social upheaval. Prerequisite: ARTHI 1001 and ARTHI 1002.
ARTHI 2596
National Cinema Histories
Topic: Brazilian Cinema
Beginning with the “Cinema Novo” of the 1960s, Brazilian cinema
has developed a unique body of feature, documentary, and short films
that combine formal experimentation with radical politics in an unlikely
but often successful quest for popular appeal. Through screenings of
rare archival and recent films unavailable in the United States, the
course examines this peculiar triangulation of avant-garde artistic
practices, left politics, and concern with popular culture. In addition
to discussing issues in Brazilian culture and society raised by the
films (the relationship of an avant-garde to national cultural tradition
and to foreign models, indigenous peoples, the environment, dictatorship
and democracy, sexuality, race, etc.) we focus on the precise relationship
in the films between formal experimentation and radical politics. Readings
are drawn from the literature on Brazilian cinema, culture, and politics.
Prerequisite: ARTHI 1001 and ARTHI 1002.
ARTHI 2601
Investigating Painting: A History of the Painted Medium
This course provides an introduction to the history of painting, oriented
towards students of painting and drawing. Although in many ways like
a traditional art history course, this course seeks to focus on painting
exclusively, and attempts not only to understand paintings within a
cultural/historical context, but also to gain insight from the perspective
of the maker. Students are able to explore the history of the painted
medium at various historical moments, gain an understanding of artistic
training and technique, and learn how then-current aesthetics and technique
affected particular trends in the history of art. Students, as part
of their investigation of the history of painting, engage in the replication
of various historical techniques as well. Prerequisite: ARTHI 1001 and
ARTHI 1002.
ARTHI 2605
History of Mural Painting
The main focus of the course is to introduce the history and theory
of the mural composition, including exploration of issues such as the
relationship between easel and mural painting, and the role of social
issues in the history of this medium. Starting with Neolithic cave murals
and finishing with contemporary graffiti, the survey covers the mural
arts from ancient civilizations through the Renaissance, to contemporary
European and American 1960–1997. The survey will address some of
the technical, social, and aesthetic issues raised by murals, and their
relevance to contemporary concerns. Prerequisite: ARTHI 1001 and ARTHI
1002.
ARTHI 2610
History of Performance
This course begins with the origins of performance art in the Renaissance
and concentrates on its twentieth-century development. Among topics
to be considered are the roles of performance in Futurism, Expressionism,
Dada, the Bauhaus, and Surrealism; the influence of Brecht and Cage;
happenings; environments; process art; and the work of European performance
artists. Prerequisite: ARTHI 1001 and ARTHI 1002.
ARTHI 2620
History of Photography
This course surveys the works of those artists and artisans who have
explored and defined the aesthetic boundaries of photography since the
medium’s invention in 1839. Nineteenth- and twentieth-century art
and ideas are related to events and ideologies to explain contextually
significant photographic directions and tendencies. Prerequisite: ARTHI
1001 and ARTHI 1002.
ARTHI 2640
History of Prints
The ability to repeat and disseminate pictorial statements has altered
science and technology as well as art since about 1400. Prints constituted
the first “media explosion.” This historical discussion encompasses
printmaking techniques and styles and studies examples in the Art Institute’s
collection. Prerequisite: ARTHI 1001 and ARTHI 1002.
ARTHI 2660
History of Sonic Art
This course offers an historical survey of music as a sonic art form
from the Futurists to the present day. Emphasis is placed on works that
tune the performance environment, explore sound as sculpture, interact
with the listener/viewer, and employ intermedia. Class discussions include
topics such as basic psycho-acoustics, sound manipulation, conceptual
art, installation techniques, and constructivist aesthetics. Prerequisite:
ARTHI 1001 and ARTHI 1002.
ARTHI 2670
History of Video Art
This survey of independent video art attempts to identify the unique
properties of the medium as a tool for personal expression in the major
categories of electronic imagery, conceptual/narrative works, and documentaries.
Works are analyzed in terms of formal structures, coding processes,
and social, psychological, and philosophical implications. Prerequisite:
ARTHI 1001 and ARTHI 1002.
ARTHI 2710
Introduction to Theory
This course provides students with a grounding in major developments
in critical thinking in the U.S. since 1968, when many theoretical works
began to be translated into English. Readings in the following will
be included: semiotics, structuralism, Marxism, psychoanalysis, and
feminism. Lecture and discussion will focus on similarities and differences
between theoretical agendas, significant historical and national contexts
in which these theories developed, and their relevance to contemporary
art making and critical practices. Prerequisite: ARTHI 1001 and ARTHI
1002.
ARTHI 2800
All That Glitters: Media and Modernity
With the advent of the newspaper in the nineteenth century and the invention
of “the masses” a set of problems developed concerning the
structuring role of media in society. Through the inventions and developments
of various forms of mass culture—film, television, the best-seller,
and tabloid journalism—we have arrived at our spectacular culture
of the present. How do notions of mass and popular culture figure for
us in a culture where media shapes even the most intimate of our relations?
How are social spaces and the boundaries of communities shaped through
representation? Prerequisite: ARTHI 1001 and ARTHI 1002.
ARTHI 2801
Concepts of Art
This course provides a basic grounding in the language of art, examining
words and ideas that are used in art history, criticism, and recent
visual theories. The course surveys the critical and descriptive vocabularies
of light, space, and style, and addresses conceptual issues and thematic
concerns in the context of multiculturalism. Prerequisite: ARTHI 1001
and ARTHI 1002.
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