Romanticism, realism, modernism
K E Bensley
6 points * One 2-hour lecture and one 1-hour tutorial per week * Second semester * Gippsland/Distance, but completion of GVA1553 (The classical tradition in art) is strongly recommended
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%
Preliminary reading
Barnett S A short guide to writing about art 4th edn, Harper-Collins, 1993
Prescribed texts
Denvir B Encyclopaedia of impressionism Thames and Hudson, 1990
Eisenman S F Nineteenth-century art: A critical history Thames and Hudson, 1994
Recommended texts
Clark T J Image of the people: Gustave Courbert and the 1848 revolution Thames and Hudson, 1988
Clark T J The painting of modern life Thames and Hudson, 1985
Holt E (ed.) From the classicists to the impressionists: Art and architecture in the 19th century (A Documentary History of Art vol. 3) Doubleday Anchor, 1966
Honour H Romanticism Penguin, 1979
Nochlin L Realism Penguin, 1971
Novotny F Painting and sculpture in Europe 1780-1880 Penguin, 1978
Rosenblum R and Janson H W Art of the nineteenth century Thames and Hudson, 1984
Stokstad M Art history Abrams, 1995
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