Saturdays, 4:00-5:30PM ET
JUN 19 - AUG 28 // SEP 19 - NOV 27

REMOTE: Via Zoom
FORMAT: 30-minute lecture followed by discussion.

REGISTRATION CLOSED

COURSE DESCRIPTION

Our understanding of how art changes and the stories we tell ourselves about its development in history constitute our theory of what art is and can be today. Whether implicitly or explicitly, our conception of the history of art is an account of how its present came to be and what tasks its future poses. Thus, the study of the history of art is more than an intellectual interest of artists; it plays a crucial role in our capacity to determine what art can become.

This course studies the evolution of art throughout its more than 30,000-year history, from the oldest cave paintings at Altamira and Lascaux to the emergence of modern art in the nineteenth century. How has the role of art in society changed from what it meant for an Egyptian, who lived in the same way for generations, devoted to tradition and religion, to its value for a bourgeois individual, preoccupied with the building of industries, the enjoyment of cities, and the ephemeral quality of modern life? We will discuss the development of art’s history primarily by reading Arnold Hauser’s 4-volume text The Social History of Art, paying close attention to what is unique about the problems of aesthetic objects in distinct historical epochs and seeking to clarify the unprecedented qualities of art in our moment. 

Textbook: 
Arnold Hauser, The Social History of Art. Ed. Jonathan Harris. (New York: Routledge, 1999)*

* Information about acquiring Hauser’s four volumes will be provided to all participants upon registration.

Instructors: 
Gabriel Almeida
Austin Carder
Allison Hewitt Ward
Laurie Rojas
Bret Schneider
Grant Tyler
Patrick Zapien

Schedule

VOL 1.

From Prehistoric Times to the Middle Ages

MEETING 1 (06/19): Introduction to Hauser — Little History of Art in Society,
Prehistoric Times and Ancient-Oriental Urban Culture.
Readings:
- Chapter 1: Prehistoric Times (9 pages)
- Chapter 2: Ancient-Oriental urban cultures (15 pages)

MEETING 2 (07/03): Greece and Rome 
Readings:
- Chapter 3: Greece and Rome (33 pages)

MEETING 3 (07/17):  The Middle Ages
Readings:
- Chapter 4: The Middle Ages (71 pages) 

VOL 2.

Renaissance, Mannerism and the Baroque

MEETING 4 (07/31): Renaissance
Readings:
- Chapter 1: The Concept of The Renaissance (14 pages)
- Chapter 2: The Demand for Middle-class and Courtly Art in The Quattrocento (31 pages)
- Chapter 3: The Social Status of The Renaissance Artist (29 pages)

MEETING 5 (08/14): Mannerism
Readings:
- Chapter 4: The Classicism of The Cinquecento (13 pages)
- Chapter 5: The Concept of Mannerism (8 pages)
- Chapter 6: The Age of Political Realism (35 pages)
- Chapter 7: The Second Defeat of Chivalry (27 pages)

MEETING 6 (08/28): Baroque
Readings:
- Chapter 8: The Concept of The Baroque (10 pages)
- Chapter 9: The Baroque of The Catholic Courts (23 pages)
- Chapter 10: The Baroque of The Protestant Bourgeoisie (18 pages)

[ B R E A K ]

VOL 3.

Rococo, Classicism and Romanticism

MEETING 7 (9/18): Rococo and the New Bourgeois Public
Readings:
- Chapter 1: The Dissolution of Courtly Art (32 pages)
- Chapter 2: The New Reading Public (42 pages)

MEETING 8 (10/02): Classicism and the Enlightenment
Readings:
- Chapter 3: The Origins of Domestic Drama (14 pages)
- Chapter 4: Germany and the Enlightenment (30 pages) 

MEETING 9 (10/16): The Revolution and Romantic Art
Readings:
- Chapter 5: Revolution and Art (30 pages)
- Chapter 6: German and Western Romanticism (60 pages)

VOL 4.

Naturalism, Impressionism and the Film Age

MEETING 10 (10/30): Naturalism and Impressionism (Part 1/2)
Readings:
- Chapter 1: The Generation of 1830 (34 pages)
- Chapter 2: Second Empire (28 pages)

MEETING 11 (11/13): Naturalism and Impressionism (Part 2/2)
Readings:
- Chapter 3: The Social Novel in England and Russia (48 pages)
- Chapter 4: Impressionism (35 pages)

MEETING 12 (11/27): The Film Age
Readings:
- Chapter 5: The Film Age (28 pages)