ART IN CONTEXT COURSES
Masters of the Italian Renaissance: The High Renaissance in Rome, Florence, and Venice
Lecturer: Lisa Boutin Vitela
The High Renaissance was a brief but intense period of artistic innovation that forever altered the trajectory of European art. The course will cover select artworks from the period, including the School of Athens and the Sistine Chapel Ceiling, which will be situated within a broader historical and cultural framework. Some of the main questions with which we will be concerned are: What religious, political, and intellectual changes contributed to artistic innovations in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries? What makes High Renaissance art distinctive from the art of other periods? How does the High Renaissance shape modern conceptions of the artist-as-genius?
The Magnificent Northern Masters: The Art of the Low Countries
Lecturer: Annalee Andres
In this six week session, Annalee Andres will discuss key artists of The Low Countries during the 15th, 17th, and 19/20th centuries. We will begin with a discussion of the Netherlandish Primitifs active in the Flemish city of Bruges in the 15th Century at the Fabulous Burgundian Court. Art in the region will thrive in the 17th Century when the newly formed Dutch Republic emerged to produce an extraordinary market for works of art and exceptional artists to meet the demand, most notably Rembrandt and Vermeer. Our final lectures will focus on the 19th century and the art and architecture produced in Brussels during the fin de siècle. Under the eccentric Leopold II, Belgium will emerge as a center of Art Nouveau architecture and Symbolist Art.
Manet's Paris
Lecturer : Annalee Andres
Paris, newly updated and “Haussmannized” by the late 1860's, will spark an artistic response in Édouard Manet that will catalyze Modernism in art. In this course, we will consider Impressionism and the work of painter Manet and the group of young artists that surrounded him; a group that included Claude Monet, Auguste Renoir, Frédéric Bazille, Berthe Morisot, Edgar Degas, and Mary Cassatt. From cafes, to masked balls, to café concerts, we consider the urban spectacle of Paris through the lens of Manet and the Impressionists. .
The Art of Spain: El Greco to Gaudi
Lecturer: Annalee Andres
This six week series focuses on the glorious art of the Golden Age of Spain and beyond. Beginning with the Hapsburg Court of the Baroque period. We study the emergence of Goya in the Age of Enlightenment and then discuss Spanish Modernism in the hands of Gaudi and Pablo Picasso.
Toulouse Lautrec Montmartre // Picasso Barcelona
Lecturer: Annalee Andres
This lecture series will explore two artists working at the turn of the century: Henri Toulouse Lautrec and Pablo Picasso and the work that they produced during a transformational time in their careers and the way in which their chosen cities informed their work. Toulouse Lautrec will move to the gritty neighborhood of Montmatre in 1885 and make it his home. His work will come to celebrate this marginal neighborhood, known for it’s fringe bohemian culture. He will befriend the actors, performers, and sex workers who lived there. Likewise Picasso will move to Barcelona, as an art student in the early part of his career. There his work will transform from Academic exercises to avant garde investigations setting him up for his explosive career in Paris in the early 20th century
American Sculpture of the 20th Century
Lecturer: Annalee Andres
This course is a consideration of the rigors of the sculptural tradition in the United States. From the three generations of Alexander Calders in Philadelphia, to the Minimalist movement of the 1960’s, to the feminist work of Louis Bourgeois, and the development of sculpture around found objects, we will discuss key trends in sculpture in America. Beginning with a theatrical overview of the medium to a consideration of glass sculpture in the hands of the Dale Chihuly,it is a fascinating course.
Contemporary Art: Understanding Art Today
Lecturer: Thomas Folland
Much of what has been made in the late 20th and early 21st century can be bewildering in its complexity and newness. Not only is it globally dispersed but it can be confounding as you find yourself asking: what exactly am I looking at? The gallery might appear to be empty or the museum might have a massive crack running along the floor. But it can also be exciting and thought-provoking when you learn to really see what you are looking at. Taking you through a range of topics, and representative artists, that comprise major themes of contemporary art, this series of lectures will explore the major themes of the 20th century that lead to the concerns and issues treated by contemporary artists. Also considered will be the redefinition of sculpture, as well as the challenges produced by Conceptual art and the introduction of new media such as video. Prof. Folland will explore the 1995 exhibition called Traffic and the rise of seemingly incomprehensible art exhibitions focused on the viewer-oriented experiential encounter. He will also discuss the new global art scene, and finally consider the most traditional of media, painting, and how it exists in the contemporary world.
Artistic Dialogues
Lecturer: Annalee Andres
A consideration of interesting relationships and the impact they have on art. How was the work of Diego Velázquez affected by his relationship with his patron, King Philip IV of Spain? What was the dynamic in play in creative partnerships such as that between Wassily Kandinsky and Franz Marc? How about the dynamics between Edgar Degas and Mary Cassatt? We will consider the relationship between master artist and students such as Jacques Louis David and his atelier. Also, the intrigue of romantic love in the partnerships such as Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera. Join us as we consider how these artistic dialogues have had a dynamic influence on artists and their work.
Woman in Art in America
Lecturer: Annalee Andres
This series dicusses the many contributions of woman to the realm of fine arts beginning with an historical overview of the development of woman artists and the educational systems available to them in the United States. Also discussed is the important role of female patrons in the arts such as Isabella Stewart Gardner, Arabella Huntington, Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, and Alice Walton as well as the evolution of woman artists from Georgia O’Keeffe to the Feminist movement of the 1970’s.
