Art History Course Descriptions

Fall. General survey with focus on painting, sculpture, and architecture of major civilizations, including ancient Egypt, the ancient Americas, Greece, Rome, Byzantium and Islam, as well as that of Romanesque, Gothic, and Renaissance Europe.

Spring. General survey with focus on major art movements since the Renaissance in the West and elsewhere: Baroque, Rococo, Neoclassicism, Romanticism, Realism, Impressionism, Expressionism, Surrealism; nineteenth century through contemporary United States; sub-Saharan Africa; Harlem Renaissance.

An introduction to architecture considering the built environment we experience daily as well as historical buildings and practices. We will study architecture as a process of design, negotiation, construction, and reception and explore critical and social issues of representation and meaning.

Limited to freshmen and introductory in nature, these seminars may feature discussion, readings, museum visits, and presentations. Previous offerings have included "Love, Death, and Image-Making" and "Animals in Ancient American Art."

An introduction to the art of ancient Egypt from the late Predynastic Period through the Old and Middle Kingdoms to the end of the Second Intermediate Period.

An introduction to the art of ancient Egypt from the beginning of the New Kingdom to the conquest of Egypt by Rome.

An investigation of ancient Greek art and architecture from its Dark Ages beginnings through the legacy of Alexander the Great, concentrating on the creation of monumental stone sculpture and ordered buildings, the visual interpretation of Greek mythology in painting and relief sculpture, the interaction of art and politics, of architecture and ritual, the dissemination of Greek art across the Mediterranean, and the history of archaeological discovery.

The Roman genius for cultural assimilation and innovative techniques transformed the art of the ancient Mediterranean. The course investigates major achievements in sculpture, painting, and architecture and their resonances with Roman politics, society, and religion.

Introduction to the art and architecture of ancient Mesoamerica (lower Mexico and upper Central America), particularly the Olmec, Maya, and Aztec cultures. Includes artworks in jade, ceramic, stone, obsidian, and bone from the Carlos Museum.

Introduction to the art and architecture of ancient Central and South America (Northern and Central Andes) with emphasis on Costa Rica and Peru. Art of various media in the Carlos Museum collection will be featured.

Explores of the world of late antiquity including the Roman mystery cults, arts of the Jews and early Christians. From these diverse beginnings, we will examine the rise of major new cultural centers in Ravenna, Byzantium, the British Isles, and Damascus.

Arts of the Romanesque and Gothic period, including architecture, sculpture, stained glass, and manuscript illumination. Major topics include the revival of monumental sculpture, the cult of relics, the rise of urban centers, and the development of a stonevaulted architecture.

Medieval architecture revolutionized the building techniques and aesthetic principles employed in the ancient world. These spaces served new practices, worshipers and pilgrims. This course examines how and why these soaring cathedrals, Byzantine churches and Islamic mosques came about.

Innovations in painting and sculpture of Germany and the Low Countries between 1400 and 1600; emphasis on methods of verisimilar imitation, on art as an instrument of soul formation, on the rise of new pictorial genres.

An introduction to the art and architecture of Italy from the late thirteenth century to the middle of the sixteenth, featuring such artists as Giotto, Donatello, Leonardo, Michelangelo, and Titian.

An introduction to the masters who transformed the visual arts in Europe between 1400 and 1600, from the age of Jan van Eyck to that of Michelangelo and his followers.

Architectural styles and urban design in such centers as Rome, Venice, Turin, Paris, Versailles, London, Bath, Dublin, Vienna, Berlin, and Leningrad. Architects include Bramante, Sansovino, Palladio, Michelangelo, Bernini, Boromini, Cortona, Longhena, Mansart, Wren, von Erlach, Neumann, and Gabriel.

Painting in Italy, Spain, France, Flanders, Holland, and England to the time of the French Revolution. Emphasis on the production of such artists as Caravaggio, Rubens, Poussin, El Greco, Velasquez, Hals, Rembrandt, Van Dyck, Vermeer, Watteau, Fragonard, Boucher, and Greuze.

The cultural context of selected traditions of European art and architecture, from ancient Mediterranean to eighteenth century, exploring the interplay of culture with historical circumstances. May be repeated when topic changes.

An introductory survey of European art and architecture (with some consideration of the decorative arts) from the Louis XV period through the age of revolution. Concentration on neoclassicism and romanticism in Britain, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain.

An introductory survey of European art and architecture from realism to postimpressionism (c. 1850c. 1900). Artists and architects discussed include Labrouste, Courbet, Corot, Manet, Monet, Degas, Gauguin, Van Gogh, Cezanne, and Rodin. The integration of art with the social, political, and cultural currents of the time will be stressed, as will the evolution of modernism.

Survey of modernist art in France, Germany, Italy, Russia, the Netherlands, and Britain. Artistic movements and tendencies including fauvism, expressionism, cubism, futurism, dada, abstract art, surrealism, and developments following World War II. Writings by artists and critics will be considered in relation to the art.

Survey of avant-garde developments in the visual arts from 1945 to the present, ranging from painting and sculpture to architecture, photography, and video, with emphasis on the critical concepts and the aesthetic, social, and historical implications of these cultural activities. Movements and tendencies include abstract expressionism, pop art, color-field painting, minimalism, conceptual art, postminimalism, earthworks, performance art, postmodernism, and 1990s feminist art.

A survey of U.S. painting and its context from the colonial period to within two decades of the present. Artists considered include Copley, Peale, Church, Eakins, Whistler, Ryder, O'Keeffe, Hopper, Pollock, Rauschenberg, Rothko, and others.

An introduction to the history and interpretation of major developments in architectural theory and practice in Europe and the United States from the late nineteenth century to World War II.

An introduction to the visual and performative arts of major West African civilizations and their cultural descendants in the Americas.

An introduction to the arts of small-scale, non-Western societies in Africa, North America, and the Pacific Islands during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

Visual arts and architecture of Africa from the Horn to the Cape of Good Hope with emphases on the major monuments of early coastal and southern African states, the visual culture of pastoralism and foragers and their associated body arts and rock paintings, and the development of postcolonial art forms in urban and rural areas.

Painting, sculpture, the graphic arts, photography, and architecture from Cuba, Haiti, and Jamaica in the Caribbean; Venezuela, Colombia, Uruguay, Chile, and Brazil in South America, and Mexico.

Focuses on one of several diverse, non-European art historical traditions, such as ancient Egypt, pre-Hispanic Americas, medieval Islam, Oceania, and sub-Saharan Africa. May be repeated for credit when topic changes.

Focuses on one of several diverse, non-European art historical traditions, such as ancient Egypt, pre-Hispanic Americas, medieval Islam, Oceania, and sub-Saharan Africa. May be repeated for credit when topic changes.

Monuments and art collections studied in important cities such as Amsterdam, London, Munich, New York, Paris, Rome, and Venice. Details can be obtained from the art history department. May be repeated for credit when topic varies.

Topics could include the treasures of Tutankhamun; images of women in Egyptian art; and the art of New Kingdom Egypt. May be repeated for credit when topic changes, up to a maximum of sixteen hours

Topics could include ancient sanctuaries; early Greece: real and imagined and religious festivals; myth and art in ancient Greece; and Greek architecture. May be repeated for credit when topic changes, up to a maximum of sixteen hours.

Topics include textiles of the Americas; sculpture and museology; Aztec and Inka art; art and shamanism. May be repeated for credit when topic changes, up to a maximum of sixteen hours.

Topics include: Medieval Monumental Stained Glass, Manuscript Illumination, and Romanesque art and architecture. May be repeated for credit when topic changes, up to a maximum of sixteen hours.

The Gothic cathedral has been portrayed as a symbol of the Heavenly Jerusalem, a masterpiece of structural engineering, the reflection of Scholastic ideals, and a visual Bible for the poor. This course will explore all aspects of this artistic endeavor, with an emphasis on French monuments of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries.

An introduction to the early formative period of Islamic art in the sixth through the thirteenth centuries, drawing upon architecture, ceramics, textiles, metalwork, and manuscript illumination. May be repeated for credit when topic changes, up to a maximum of sixteen hours.

Topics could include Giotto, Michaelangelo, and sixteenth-century mannerism. May be repeated for credit when topic changes, up to a maximum of sixteen hours.

Traditional genres of African art with a focus on masks and figure sculpture in West and Central African city-states and chiefdoms from 1500 to European colonization. May be repeated for credit when topic changes, up to a maximum of sixteen hours.

Topics could include problems in the study of Rubens; poetics and painting; the Carraci reform of art and its consequences; and problems in the study of Rembrandt. May be repeated for credit when topic changes, up to a maximum of sixteen hours.

Treatment of the major issues raised by the new genres of art that have resulted from the African experience of European colonization. May be repeated for credit when topic changes, up to a maximum of sixteen hours.

Developments in African American art in the United States in the twentieth century considering the key artists/movement/moments and larger themes in African American society and culture. May be repeated for credit when topic changes, up to a maximum of sixteen hours.

Possible topics: from David to Manet; post-impressionism and its consequences; early twentieth-century German art; dada and surrealism; sources of modernism in nineteenth-century architecture; feminist issues in art, architecture, and design; and visionary architecture. May be repeated for credit when topic changes, up to a maximum of sixteen hours.

(Same as African American Studies 379, when topic is African American art.) Topics could include romanticism in England and the United States, issues in American painting; African diaspora ritual arts; and African American painting and sculpture. May be repeated for credit when topic changes, up to a maximum of sixteen hours.

An introductory course that provides students with a basic knowledge of the physical nature of museum collections, what factors cause their deterioration, and the various methods used for their preservation.

(Same as African American Studies 389 and African Studies 385 or 386, when topic is African and African American art.) Credit, two to four hours. Topics could include African art and architecture; colonial and contemporary African art; and arts of ancient Africa. May be repeated for credit when topic changes, up to a maximum of sixteen hours.

Advanced courses dealing with various specialized problems in the history of art from antiquity to modern times, such as individual artists, genres (e.g. portraiture, landscape); themes (e.g. theory, iconography); artistic movements, and museum studies. May be repeated for credit when topic varies.

Every semester. Credit, one to four hour per semester. Interns must be approved by the art history department for internships with the Georgia Intern Program, the Michael C. Carlos Museum, the High Museum of Art, and elsewhere. May be repeated for credit with permission from the director of internships, up to a maximum of twelve hours.

Credit, two to four hours. Reading and research projects decided upon between the student and a member of the faculty, with final approval from the chair. May be repeated for credit.

Advanced seminar with emphasis on critical texts, methods, and techniques of art historical investigation. For art history majors; open to others with permission from the instructor.

Advanced seminar with emphasis on critical texts, methods, and techniques of art historical investigation. For art history majors; open to others with permission from the instructor.

Advanced seminar with emphasis on critical texts, methods, and techniques of art historical investigation. Permission from instructor required.

Advanced seminar with emphasis on critical texts, methods, and techniques of art historical investigation. For art history majors; open to others with permission from the instructor.

Open to candidates for honors in the senior year who are writing an honors thesis. For requirements and permission, consult the departmental honors coordinator.