Authorised by Academic Registrar, April 1996
Objectives By the completion of this subject students are expected to have demonstrated that they can recognise the key formal and conceptual characteristics of the significant nineteenth-century European art styles; that they understand the social and cultural climates prevailing from the French Revolution to the turn of the century, and how these provided evaluative and critical contexts for the birth of `modernism' in European culture; and that they have developed the capacity to identify, analyse, discuss, and appraise significant examples of the several movements and schools of nineteenth-century European art and of important individual artists.
Synopsis This subject introduces the art of the nineteenth century in both Europe and Australia, and provides a foundation for the study of modern art in later years. It studies romantic art, realism, and impressionism, and how they marked changes from the former academic tradition towards the new tradition of modernism. There will be a concentration on major French artists such as Delacroix, Courbet, Manet, Degas, and Rodin. Themes and issues discussed will include the role of Salon exhibitions, the use of photography, political imagery, the depiction of modern life, the exploitation of the female image, the rise of the avant-garde, and the transformation of the depicted world. The idea of modernism in the visual arts will be examined within the context of an era of social and technological changes.
Assessment One short paper (1000 words): 20% + One essay: (1500 words): 30% + One 2-hour examination: 50%