This course offers an introduction to the art and architecture of the Islamic world, from the Alhambra to the Taj Mahal, and from miniature paintings of Persia to the vivid Iznik tiles of Turkey. We begin with the early years of Islam and move chronologically to the present. The course includes masterpieces of art and architecture from Islamic Spain, North Africa, Turkey, Iran, Central Asia, and South Asia. We will cover paintings, ceramics, book arts, architecture, and urbanism.

Art 203 earns credit towards Major, Divisional, MESASP (Middle East and South Asian Studies), and CD (Cultural Diversity) requirements.

ART 203 | FALL 2016

ISLAMIC ART AND ARCHITECTURE

Department of Art

Tuesday / Thursday 11:00am - 12:15pm SFAC 102

Prof. Chanchal Dadlani

In the middle ages, blue paint could cost more than gold, diamonds were among the least desirable stones, and ivory and silk were traded across thousands of miles. In this course, we will examine which materials were valuable and why. We will look at how tapestries, carved ivory, manuscripts, armor and jewelry were made, and what aspects of their artistry were particularly desirable. We will investigate how luxury objects were commissioned, given as gifts, traded, and used. Finally, we will consider how Renaissance scholars, museums, and modern pop culture affect how we value medieval luxury objects today.

ART 254 | FALL 2016

LUXURY ART IN THE MIDDLE AGES

Department of Art

Tuesday / Thursday 12:30 - 1:45pm SFAC 9

Prof. Elizabeth Fischer

What kind of image is a photograph? This lecture course investigates this question from the 19th century to the present, with particular emphasis on its role in the United States and Europe.We will discuss strategies for interpreting photographs and raise critical issues connected with the medium. This course will count toward the Fine Arts Divisional and/or the post-1900 area requirement for the art history major. No previous art history knowledge required.

ART 259 | FALL 2016

HISTORY OF PHOTOGRAPHY

Department of Art

Wednesday / Friday 11:00am - 12:15pm SFAC 9

Prof. Morna O’Neill

In this new course we will examine cross-cultural developments in the visual arts in Italy, Flanders, and other European centers in the 15th and 16th century. We’ll focus on specific works to learn about how people used art in the home, the church, and political arena. We will compare how artists worked and sold their products in Italy and northern Europe, and how art was used to disseminate discoveries about science and world explorations.

ART 265 | FALL 2016

ART & LIFE IN RENAISSANCE EUROPE

Department of Art

Monday / Wednesday 12:30 - 1:45pm SFAC 9

Prof. Bernadine Barnes

This course will survey select contemporary art practices from around the world from around 1989 to the present day, with special emphasis given to art's relation to politics, globalization, and technology.  No prerequisites required.  This course is required for students applying for the Wake Forest Art Buying Trip, but open to all.

ART 285| FALL 2016

GLOBAL CONTEMPORARY ART

Department of Art

Tuesday / Thursday 9:30 - 10:45am SFAC 9

Prof. Jay Curley

The course explores modern and contemporary art in the United States as it unfolds across key exhibitions and within the changing architecture of galleries and museums. From shows by modern American painters and photographers at the tiny top-floor gallery of Alfred Stieglitz at 291 Fifth Avenue early in the twentieth century, to the sweeping and varied installations at the Whitney Museum of American Art’s opening exhibition “America is Hard to See” in its vast new building in the Meatpacking District in 2015, we will consider the closely entwined histories of art and the spaces where it is displayed.

ART 286: TOPICS IN ARCHITECTURAL HISTORY | FALL 2016

AMERICAN ART IN EXHIBITION SINCE 1900

Department of Art

Wednesday / Friday 9:30 - 10:45am SFAC 102

Prof. Lisa Ashe

Upper images: 1931 Whitney Museum (exterior and interior views). Lower images: 2015 Whitney (exterior and interior).

Although we know the names of very few female artists from the early modern period, women played a vital role in the visual arts as viewers, patrons, and most of all subjects of works of art. This seminar will explore the constraints, opportunities, ideals and expectations of women in the early modern period, with our greatest focus on images and artists from around 1475-1650. This course satisfies the seminar requirement for Art History majors. It also can be used as an elective in the Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies major and minor.

ART 351: TOPICS IN GENDER AND ART | FALL 2016

RENAISSANCE WOMEN: ARTISTS, VIEWERS, IMAGES

Department of Art

Tuesday 2:00 - 4:30pm SFAC 103

Prof. Bernadine Barnes

This seminar examines the history of art history and current debates about its theory and practice. By exploring the roots of art history as a field of study, examining the works of some its most influential thinkers, and charting the historical shifts in the field, students will gain a broad and critically informed understanding of the discipline. We will explore art history as a field of intellectual inquiry that has developed and changed over time. Required for the art history major. POI only for non-majors. 

ART 394 | FALL 2016

ISSUES IN ART HISTORY

Department of Art

Wednesday 2:00 - 4:30pm SFAC 103

Prof. Morna O’Neill