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JOHN CABOT UNIVERSITY
COURSE CODE: "AH 385H"
COURSE NAME: "American Art and Identity(This course carries 4 semester hours of credits. A minimum CUM GPA of 3.5 is required)"
SEMESTER & YEAR:
Spring 2016
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SYLLABUS
INSTRUCTOR:
Karen Georgi
EMAIL: [email protected]
HOURS:
TTH 1:30PM 2:45PM
TOTAL NO. OF CONTACT HOURS:
60
CREDITS:
3
PREREQUISITES:
Prerequisite: One previous course in Art History or permission of the instructor
OFFICE HOURS:
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COURSE DESCRIPTION:
For decades the question "What is American about American art?" stood at the center of American art history. American painting consequently has been studied and interpreted for its putative relationship to American identity or to aspects of national self-image. Though this paradigm is now questioned, it remains deeply embedded in the study of American art. By studying the paintings along with key essays, the course will examine the historiography of American art as well as the artworks. It will analyze the paintings and the debates about their relationship to socio-political contexts that are thought to be particularly American. It will also consider the significant influence on American art by Italian artistic traditions and American ex-patriot artists.
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SUMMARY OF COURSE CONTENT:
The course investigates major genres and styles of 19th Century American painting such as landscape painting, images of the West, the "painting of everyday life," and various forms of realism and trompe l'oeil that recur throughout the century. The course is designed to analyze the wide range of pictorial practices that characterize the century while confronting and debating the important themes that have ostensibly made American art American. These include the rejection of European conventions, the democratic character of the artist and his public, empirical and scientific habits of mind, the physical place, and change and expansion. The course looks closely at artists who have become well-known figures—artist such as John Singleton Copley, Thomas Eakins, and Winslow Homer—as well as artists such as Asher Durand, Emanuel Leutze, Elihu Vedder and many others whose fame has not lasted into our time.
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LEARNING OUTCOMES:
Honors students
will engage in greater depth with the critical debates of the period and those
of the modern historiography, allowing them to develop significant
understanding of the artists and movements of 19th
century American art. They will also enhance their skills for
visually analyzing and recognizing forms and competently assessing stylistic
differences, with an understanding of how such styles communicated historically.
Additional research and written work will strengthen those skills necessary to
essay writing and to engaging verbally with the visual.
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TEXTBOOK:
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REQUIRED RESERVED READING:
| Book Title | Author | Publisher | ISBN number | Library Call Number | Comments |
| Inventing the Modern Artist: Art and Culture in Gilded Age America | Sarah Burns | Yale U Press | xxxx | | |
RECOMMENDED RESERVED READING:
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GRADING POLICY
-ASSESSMENT METHODS:
| Assignment | Guidelines | Weight |
| midterm exam | | 25 |
| final exam | | 30 |
| term paper | Honors term paper is a 20-page paper, with significant research | 20 |
| presentation | Honors presentations include an additional presentation of term paper research, and an additional turn at leading a class reading discussion | 15 |
| reading summaries | Honors reading summaries will include meetings with the instructor to discuss the extra readings, which the student will choose in collaboration with the instructor. | 10 |
-ASSESSMENT CRITERIA:
AWork of this quality directly addresses the question or problem raised and provides a coherent argument displaying an extensive knowledge of relevant information or content. This type of work demonstrates the ability to critically evaluate concepts and theory and has an element of novelty and originality. There is clear evidence of a significant amount of reading beyond that required for the co
BThis is highly competent level of performance and directly addresses the question or problem raised.There is a demonstration of some ability to critically evaluatetheory and concepts and relate them to practice. Discussions reflect the student’s own arguments and are not simply a repetition of standard lecture andreference material. The work does not suffer from any major errors or omissions and provides evidence of reading beyond the required assignments.
CThis is an acceptable level of performance and provides answers that are clear but limited, reflecting the information offered in the lectures and reference readings.
DThis level of performances demonstrates that the student lacks a coherent grasp of the material.Important information is omitted and irrelevant points included.In effect, the student has barely done enough to persuade the instructor that s/he should not fail.
FThis work fails to show any knowledge or understanding of the issues raised in the question. Most of the material in the answer is irrelevant.
-ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENTS:
Attendance is mandatory.
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ACADEMIC HONESTY
As stated in the university catalog, any student who commits an act of academic
dishonesty will receive a failing grade on the work in which the dishonesty occurred.
In addition, acts of academic dishonesty, irrespective of the weight of the assignment,
may result in the student receiving a failing grade in the course. Instances of
academic dishonesty will be reported to the Dean of Academic Affairs. A student
who is reported twice for academic dishonesty is subject to summary dismissal from
the University. In such a case, the Academic Council will then make a recommendation
to the President, who will make the final decision.
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STUDENTS WITH LEARNING OR OTHER DISABILITIES
John Cabot University does not discriminate on the basis of disability or handicap.
Students with approved accommodations must inform their professors at the beginning
of the term. Please see the website for the complete policy.
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SCHEDULE
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The course outline will be distributed in class. Below are the topics that will be covered.
Looking
for Origins: J.S. Copley and B. West
Native
genius vs. foreign influence. Late 18th Century cont.
Art and Invention: C.
W. Peale, T. Jefferson
The
forests are our cathedrals”: Hudson River School Landscape Painting
Interpreting
Landscape painting
The Material World
and the Ideal: Transcendental Nature
Genre
Painting and the Ideology of Everyday Life; Antebellum imagery: R.C. Woodville, W. Mount, J.
Quidor
Antebellum
Allegories and Nudes in Sculpture: Italian Influences and American Reception, H. Greenough,
T. Crawford, H. Powers, W.W. Story
Women Sculptors
Representing the Oppressed: H. Hosmer, E.Lewis
Genre Painting,
cont., Civil War Era: E. Johnson, L.M. Spencer
The
Diffusion of National Imagery: The American Art-Union, Mid-CenturyPainting, and the Representation of Slavery
Images
of the Frontier and Native Americans: G. Catlin, G.C. Bingham,
Frontier cont.,
Manifest Destiny, Geographic surveys, Photography
Western Landscape and
Eastern Enterprise: A. Bierstadt, T. Moran, C. Russell
Reformers and Non-Conformists in Art1: The American Pre-Raphaelites and“Truth in Art
Reformers
and Non-Conformists 2: The “ideal” in Art: W. M. Hunt, G. Inness, E.Vedder, A. Ryder
The ideal in art,
cont.; Contrasting interpretations
The European Trained
Generation: J. La Farge, F. Duveneck, J.A.M. Whistler
Modern Visions: T.
Eakins, W. Homer
American
Modernity, Painting, and the Cultures of Display: W.M. Chase, J.S. Sargent
Anti-Modernism
and Aestheticism: K. Cox, T.W. Dewing
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