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MW 2:30PM-4:00, 180 Tappan Hall Art and Life in
19th-Century America (IV.4)
This course will examine painting, sculpture, and material culture produced in the United States during the nineteenth century and use isolated examples of 19th-century Canadian and Mexican art as comparison. This century saw the transformation of the United States from a rural to an industrial, urban nation; a Civil War that divided the country, Westward expansion that enlarged it, and waves of immigration and border movements that changed its population; the rise of a middle class, and the emergence of women into public and professional life. While the general outline of the course is chronological, we will not be attempting a complete survey, but will focus instead on certain artists (and media) within the context of broader themes. As a course in social art history, rather than art appreciation, the emphasis will be on developing a critical analysis of how images function within specific moments in time. Through lectures, discussion, and visits to see original works of art, among the topics we will examine are: the West as viewed from the painter's easel, the photographer's lens, and the frontier homestead; the creation of Civil War and other public monuments; the representation of African Americans and Native Americans by Anglo-American artists, versus self-representation; mass-produced images and the dissemination of art for middle-class tastes; and imagery which upheld traditional gender roles. Cost: 2 WL 2 (Linden, Diana) |
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