Post on 06-Jul-2020
An Introduction to Art History
Intructor: Raffaele Bedarida
Phone: 718.951.5181 (Art
Department)
Email: rbedarida@gc.cuny.edu
Office Hours: Rm 5307, M. 1:15-
2:15
Class material is available online
at:
www.ccintrotoart.wordpress.com
This class is an introduction to the
history of art from the origins
until today.
You will be expected to:
1. U n d e r s t a n d b r o a d
historical changes that affected
the history of art: the diverse
functions, languages, and ways of
production-consumption of art in
different societies, periods, and
geographical areas.
2. Use art as a tool for
learning about history: the
artwork as a document/witness of a
culture, but also as an expression
of specific viewpoints or agendas
within a society.
3. Identify major works of
art: images, objects or
architectures that have entered the
art historical canon as
masterpieces for highly diverse
reasons (beauty, size, symbolic
value, location, etc.).
4. Analyze works both in
writing and in discussion by the
end of this course.
requirements
•Mid-term Exam- April 7
•Final Exam - May 24, 1-3pm
Both exams will include a multiple-choice and an
essay section.
The multiple-choice section will consist of two
parts:
1) you will be asked to identify works that will
have been discussed in class (author, title, date,
and style/cultural context) and recognize their
formal qualities and historical relevance;
2) you will need to identify the main formal
qualities of works that have not been
discussed in class, relate them to studied works,
and therefore recognize their style/cultural
context, approximate date, and author.
In the essay section you will analyze
one or more studied artworks, relate
them to the assigned readings, and
develop your own independent thought
on the pieces and their cultural context
Due date: May 5
You will visit a museum (either theMetropolitan Museum of Art, the BrooklynMuseum of Art or the Museum of ModernArt), make some research,
and write 3 pages about a chosen artwork
a detailed paper assignment is availableonline at:
www.ccintrotoart.wordpress.com
Museum paper
Method quiz
multiple-choice quiz (20 min)
It will test your comprehension of
major art-historical methods
and specific terms discussed in
class
Important:
1) the first two classes;
2) textbook at pp. 3-15
3) Definitions of art-historical
terms discussed in class
(textbook’s Glossary at pp.
553-566)
4) Talking About Art, posted
online.
Attendance is required for class andwill be worth 10% of your grade;
you will be granted either a 100% or a
30% for this grade.
More than three unexcused absenceswill result in a failing grade forattendance.
Please notify me IN ADVANCE byemail if you need to miss class.
Participation and attendance
Attendance: 10%
Surprise exam: 15%
Paper: 20%
Mid-term exam: 25%
Final exam: 30%
Grading:
You will be graded in the following areas:
•If it is too costly, used copies can bepurchased
•Both the BC Library and the Meier
Bernstein Art Library 5(300 Boylan Hall)
have copies for you to read.
(order at Shakespeare & Co. Booksellers)
Text:Gardner's Art through the Ages:A Concise History
These readings will be the starting point
for our discussion
In order to prepare for the exams, you
will need to study both book and notes
Source readings and images discussed in
class will be downloadable online at:
www.ccintrotoart.wordpress.com
You will be asked to read the relative
chapter and source materials before
each class
In the syllabus you will findweekly assignments
FUNCTION
STYLE: Subject matter and
Formal analysis
SYSTEM OF PRODUCTION-
CONSUMPTION
HISTORICAL CONTEXT
MUSEUMS AND MASTERPIECES
Intro: problems of method
CHANGING OF TASTE
How to approach a work of art?
Different ways of seeing (textbook, pp. 14-15)
We would be surprised today to find thisimage in a Playboy cover
However when Rubens painted it in the17th century, these were considered
the most beautiful and
sensual of the women
This exemplifies the changing
of taste/aesthetic sensibility
Which correspond to wider and
deeper metamorphoses in
culture, values, and
historical circumstances
How to approach a work of art?
Due to the fact that the artwork is part andexpression of this ever changing system,
we need to consider it from at least 3vantage points:
1) FUNCTION
3) SYSTEM OF PRODUCTION-
CONSUMPTION
2) STYLE: Subject matter and
Formal analysis
What is the FUNCTION of a work of art?
(Textbook, pp. 3-4)
The concept of ART that we have today is a recent notion
some examples:
Probably as a magical image
embodying the wishes of a pre-
historical hunter
This image was painted in a
cave in Spain 14,000 years
ago
Altamira cave, Spain, ca. 12,000-11,000 B.C.
We call “ART” things that were originally conceived with different functions thanmuseums
to find, kill, and eat a huge
bison
Function: how an image, object or building was
practically USED by the people that created it
What is the FUNCTION of a work of art?
this is a mural painting
With the aim to communicate not tohuman beings
But rather to divinities
Which was painted in Egypt almost4,000 years ago inside a tomb
Fowling scene from the tomb of Nebaum, Egypt,
ca. 1400-1350
What is the FUNCTION of a work of art?
these FRESCOES
With the goal of telling the story ofJesus Christ
To illiterate people who were
not able to read the Gospel
Were painted in Italy 700 years ago
Giotto,
Scrovegni
Chapel, Padua
(Italy), ca. 1305,
fresco
What is the FUNCTION of a work of art?
this PHOTOGRAPH
To be published in afashion magazine
With the aim of exploiting
a beautiful female nude
was done in Paris 28years ago
Photograph by
Helmut Newton,
Self-Portrait with
Wife and Models,
Paris 1981.
and the theories of Freud
on desire and sexuality
In order to better sell the
magazine and its fashion
products
What is the FUNCTION of a work of art?
Or, finally, this ALTARPIECE
In order to be placed in achurch
In a dark chapel, illuminated
only by a few candles that
would make its gold sparkling:
Which was painted680 years ago inSiena
It was supposed to appear as
a mystical vision to the
faithful,
Who would kneel and pray
before this image
Simone Martini, altarpiece, Florence, Uffizi,
ca. 1329-33
Rather than to be displayed in
the white room of the Uffizi
Museum, for thousands of
tourists
They’re all labeled “art” and reproduced in
art history textbooks
But we should study what their original
purpose and use were in order to get a
better sense of their meaning
FUNCTION
What is the STYLE of a work of art?
(textbook: pp.5-6; reading: “Form, Content, Style)
The style is the “what’’ plusthe “HOW” things are shown:
If the history of art is a historyof DIFFERENT WAYS OFSEEING,
It is interesting to consider twothings together:
-the SUBJECT MATTER: thecontent, what is depicted in awork of art
(what is consideredinteresting or worth attentionin different cultures and fordifferent individuals), pp.6-7
-the FORMAL QUALITIES:the FORMAL ANALYSIS ofan artwork is the visualanalysis of its artistic form
(how differently the samesubject matter can beshown/interpretetd by differentartists)
Villa of Livia:
main salon with
mural fresco of
garden & birds,
Primaporta,
c.10 BC-10 CE
What is the STYLE of a work of art?
(textbook: pp.5-6; reading: “Form, Content, Style)
Dome of the Rock
Interior, Jerusalem, 691
The style is the “what’’ plusthe “HOW” things are shown:
If the history of art is a historyof DIFFERENT WAYS OFSEEING,
It is interesting to consider twothings together:
-the SUBJECT MATTER: thecontent, what is depicted in awork of art
(what is consideredinteresting or worth attentionin different cultures and fordifferent individuals), pp.6-7
-the FORMAL QUALITIES:the FORMAL ANALYSIS ofan artwork is the visualanalysis of its artistic form
(how differently the samesubject matter can beshown/interpretetd by differentartists)
What is the STYLE of a work of art?
(textbook: pp.5-6; reading: “Form, Content, Style)
Van
Gogh,
Olive
Yard,
det.
1889
The style is the “what’’ plusthe “HOW” things are shown:
If the history of art is a historyof DIFFERENT WAYS OFSEEING,
It is interesting to consider twothings together:
-the SUBJECT MATTER: thecontent, what is depicted in awork of art
(what is consideredinteresting or worth attentionin different cultures and fordifferent individuals), pp.6-7
-the FORMAL QUALITIES:the FORMAL ANALYSIS ofan artwork is the visualanalysis of its artistic form
(how differently the samesubject matter can beshown/interpretetd by differentartists)
P. Mondrian, The Red Tree.
1908
1st stage
P. Mondrian, The Grey Tree. 1912 2nd stage
P. Mondrian, The Apple Tree. 19123nd stage
4th stage:P. Mondrian, Composition (Blue, Red, and
Yellow), 1930
The formal analysis defines
an artwork through 6 basic
visual aspects (pp. 8-9):
1) Form and composition
2) Medium and technique
3) Line
4) Color
5) Texture
6) Space
The formal analysis defines
an artwork through 6 basic
visual aspects (pp. 8-9):
1) Form is an object’s shape
either in two or three
dimensions (Mondrian’s
tree and squares);
composition is the way
an artist organizes forms in
an artwork
2) Medium and technique
3) Line
4) Color
5) Texture
6) Space
The formal analysis defines
an artwork through 6 basic
visual aspects (pp. 8-9):
1) Form and composition
2) Medium: to create the
artwork, an artist shapes
materials (pigment,
marble…) with tools
(brush, chisel…). Part of
an artist’s activity is to
select the materials
(medium)most suitable to
the artist’s purposes;
the process employed
(applying paint to a canvas
with a brush) is the
technique
• Line
• Color
• Texture
• Space
Medium:
Oil on
canvas
Technique:
Dripping
The formal analysis defines
an artwork through 6 basic
visual aspects (pp. 8-9):
1) Form and composition
2) Medium and technique
3) A fundamental element to
define an artwork’s form,
line can be more or less
visible (thick/thin,
sharp/blurred), regular,
irregular, continuous,
broken. Contour line is
when a continuous line
defines an object’s outer
shape
4) Color
5) Texture
6) Space
Haronubu, Evening Bell at
the Clock, from Eight views
of the Parlor series, ca.
1765. Woodblock print
The formal analysis defines
an artwork through 6 basic
visual aspects (pp. 8-9):
1) Form and composition
2) Medium and technique
3) Line
4) Color is the way a material
or pigment absorb/reflect
light. Red, yellow, blue,
and red are the primary
colors. Colors can vary in
saturation (dull/bright)
and in tonality (light/dark)
5) Texture
6) Space
The formal analysis defines
an artwork through 6 basic
visual aspects (pp. 8-9):
1) Form and composition
2) Medium and technique
3) Line
4) Color
5) Texture is the quality of a
surface (rough/shiny).
We’ll distinguish between
actual texture (tactile
quality of the surface) and
represented texture
(when a painter depicts an
object as having a certain
texture)
6) Space
Brancusi,
Bird in
Space, c.
1924,
polished
bronze
and
marble
versions
Brancusi,
The Kiss,
marble,
1916
In two-dimensional
works, artists can create a
sense of texture that our
eyes perceive -
we “read” the imaginary
surface of the object
represented by the artist
Represented Texture
But also the painter can
emphasize the actual texture of
the pictorial surface for
expressive purposes
Actual texture of
painting
The formal analysis defines
an artwork through 6 basic
visual aspects (pp. 8-9):
1) Form and composition
2) Medium and technique
3) Line
4) Color
5) Texture
6) Space is both the literal
space occupied by a
statue or a painting (size
and location), and
illusionistic three-
dimensional space that a
painter represents on a
two-dimensional surfaceMagritte, The
human
condition,
1933
This is a wrongconcept: the historyof art is NOT theresult of a growingability
Different styles
correspond to
different values and
interests of specific
cultures and artists
Problem:
We would naturally tend tounderstand these changesthrough time as anevolution from a childishstage to a more mature andsophisticated one
Why each culture and period has a different STYLE?
Similarly, one needs to study the“grammar” and “vocabulary” ofdifferent visual languages inorder to “read” works of art fromdifferent cultures
With their roles and conventions
As one needs to study Latin orJapanese to understand a text in theselanguages (without knowing thempreviously)
How to “read” a work of art?
The medieval Europeanpublic would immediatelyunderstand that this is asacred scene (goldbackground) representing theVirgin (blue mantle, red dressand shining halo)
Who has just “landed” from awindow, to announce to Marythat she would give birth toJesusEverybody would also
understand that these are not
decorative flowers, but lilies,
which symbolize that Maria is
virgin
and the Archangel Gabriel
How could they know all this?
How to “read” a work of art?
Just as we would understandimmediately that thesesilhouettes represent
And that there is a restroombehind that door
Maybe in 2000 years
somebody will wonder if these
were symbols of decapitation
A woman and a man (which isnot obvious)
How to “read” a work of art?
The same way, everybody inthis room probably knows
But not everybody, maybeknows that a Japanese Manga
Should be read in the opposite
direction (from right to left)
Which one is the first scene inthe story represented here,and the order of the followingepisodes
How to “read” a work of art?
This scene, where space correspondsto a convention of time
Would be inverted in Japan
What is the system of PRODUCTION-CONSUMPTION
of an artwork? (pp. 7-8)
Not only do we need to understand the function ofa work of art, as we have seen
Let’s take the example of music:
Every culture, since the ancient of days, has
had music
We must also consider the way people used to“consume” it
For thousands of years, the experience of
music meant having someone playing an
instrument or singing, and someone else
listening
It was necessarily an unrepeatable moment
made of music but also noises, gazes, and
psychological dynamics between performer and
audience
What is the system of PRODUCTION-CONSUMPTION
of an artwork?
Today the same piece can be repeated infinitely andeverywhere
Maybe Beethoven wouldhave composed hissymphonies differently,
Without the presence of the musician
had he known that people would play them with their I-pods in the subway
What is the system of PRODUCTION-CONSUMPTION
of an artwork?
With images we have something similar
How many of you have actually seen it in Paris?
When Leonardo painted the Mona Lisa, he would
have never imagined
How many of you know this image?
That this image would be reproduced
everywhere and in many ways
Leonardo Da
Vinci, Mona
Lisa, 1503-06
What is the system of PRODUCTION-CONSUMPTION
of an artwork?
When the Mona Lisa was painted, theonly way to see how a painting lookedlike
The German philosopher Walter Benjamin,described the phenomenon of
Technical reproducibility as one of the most
revolutionary and peculiar phenomena of the Modern
Age
Was to physically reach it
Highly recommended
reading: John Berger, Ways
of Seeing, esp. chapter 1
What is the system of PRODUCTION-CONSUMPTION
of an artwork?
In today’s idea of art
But of the 30,000 years ofart history that we willconsider during thissemester
Museums have existed only
in the last 200 years
The “natural” place for anartwork is for us themuseum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Gagosian Gallery,
Chelsea, New
York
What is the system of PRODUCTION-CONSUMPTION
of an artwork?
When Leonardo painted this portraitit was intended to be seen privatelyon a wall, in an apartment
He would have never imaginedthe experience of looking at thispainting