I. Introductory

105a-106b. Introduction to the History of Art (1)

An historical and analytical introduction to architecture, sculpture, and painting. The department.

Open to all classes. Enrollment limited by class.

Three 50-minute periods and one 50-minute conference section.

[ 120a. Viewing and Reading Race in Today's Visual Culture ] (1)

This course draws on individual case studies to explore ideas and representations of race, specifically as they relate to people of African descent in today's global visual culture. Focusing on the twenty-first century, we consider ways of viewing and "reading" race in contemporary visual art, film, video, mass media, fashion, advertising and music. Ms. Brielmaier.

Open to freshmen. Limited enrollment.

Satisfies college requirement for Freshman Writing Seminar.

Two 75-minute periods.

Not offered in 2009/10.

183a. Images, Objects, and African Americans (1)

(Same as Africana Studies 183a) Freshman seminar in Art. In this interdisciplinary freshman seminar, we examine images and objects created by African Americans in the United States from the slave past to the present day. Working with an expansive conception of art, we pay close attention to the work of formally trained and non-formally trained creators in relation to their social, cultural, artistic, and historical contexts. Ms. Collins.

Open to freshman. Limited enrollment.

Satisfies college requirement for Freshman Writing Seminar.

Two 75-minute-periods.

184b. A Different Way of Seeing: The Art of Native North America (1)

Drawing on the collections of the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center, this course addresses issues regarding the acquisition and exhibition of Native American art. During the first part of the semester, we develop an awareness of these issues through study of key case studies. Investigation of this topic focuses on skills of critical evaluation and verbal/written exposition. In the second half of the semester, the students participate in creating an on-line virtual exhibition of Native art. Ms. Lucic.

Open to freshman. Limited enrollment.

Satisfies college requirement for Freshman Writing Seminar.

Two 75-minute-periods.

185a. Behind the Scenes in the Museum (1)

Using the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center and the newly renovated Art Library as our laboratories, we explore the museum, in past and present, as both a functioning actuality and as an idea. Oral and written presentations are based upon study of original works of art in Vassar's collection, the question of who "owns" works of art, and how terms such as value, authenticity, originality, appropriation and forgery have been defined by galleries and museums. Related themes in literature and film are also explored. Ms. Kuretsky.

Open to freshman. Limited enrollment.

Satisfies college requirement for Freshman Writing Seminar.

Two 75-minute periods.

[ 190a. Images and Ideas: Exploring the Sense of Sight ] (1)

An exploration of how various notions of seeing (as perception, as recognition, as revelation) have been treated in the visual arts and in literature. Class meetings take place in the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center so that students may make regular use of Vassar's extensive art collection. Ms. Kuretsky.

Open to freshmen. Limited enrollment.

Two 75-minute periods.

Not offered in 2009/10.

II. Intermediate

210b. Greek Art and Architecture (1)

(Same as Classics 210b) Sculpture, vase painting, and architecture from the Archaic and Classical periods, with glances back to the Bronze Age and forward to the Hellenistic kingdoms. Stylistic developments leading to the ideal types of hero, warrior, athlete, maiden, etc. are central to the course, along with the mythological subjects that glorified the city‑state and marked religious cults and the rituals of everyday life. Ms. D'Ambra.

Prerequisite: Art 105‑106 or Classics 216 or 217, or by permission of instructor.

Two 75-minute periods.

211a. Roman Art and Architecture (1)

(Same as Classics 211a) Sculpture, painting, and architecture in the Roman Republic and Empire. Topics include: the appeal of Greek styles, the spread of artistic and architectural forms throughout the vast empire and its provinces, the role of art as political propaganda for state and as status symbols for private patrons. Ms. D'Ambra.

Prerequisite: Art 105‑106 or Classics 218 or 219, or by permission of instructor.

Two 75-minute periods.

220a. Medieval Architecture. (1)

A survey of the greatest moments in Western, Byzantine and Islamic architecture from the reign of Constantine to the late middle ages and the visual, symbolic and structural language developed by the masters and patrons responsible for them. Particular attention is paid to issues of representation: the challenge of bringing a medieval building into the classroom, that of translating our impressions of these buildings into words and images, and the ways in which other students and scholars have done so. Mr. Tallon.

Prerequisite: Art 105-106, coursework in Medieval Studies, or by permission of instructor.

Two 75-minute periods.

221b. The Sacred Arts of the Middle Ages (1)

A selective chronological exploration of the art of western Europe from early Christian Rome to the late Gothic North, with excursions into the lands of Byzantium and Islam. Works of differing scale and media, from monumental and devotional sculpture, manuscript illumination, metalwork, to stained glass, painting and mosaic, are considered formally and iconographicallly, but also in terms of their reception. Students work directly with medieval objects held in the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center and with manuscripts in the Special Collections of the Vassar Library. Mr. Tallon.

Prerequisites: Art 105-106, or coursework in Medieval Studies, or by permission of instructor.

Two 75-minute periods.

[ 230a. Northern Renaissance Painting ] (1)

Early Netherlandish and German painting and printmaking from Campin and van Eyck to Bruegel, Holbein, and Dürer. The course examines northern European attitudes toward nature, devotional art and portraiture that developed in the early fifteenth century and their evolution up to and through the Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century. Ms. Kuretsky.

Prerequisite: Art 105-106, or by permission of instructor.

Two 75-minute periods.

Not offered in 2009/10.

231b. Dutch and Flemish Painting in the Seventeenth Century (1)

An exploration of the new forms of secular and religious art that developed during the Golden Age of the Netherlands in the works of Rubens, Rembrandt, Vermeer and their contemporaries. The course examines the impact of differing religions on Flanders and the Dutch Republic, while exploring how political, economic and scientific factors encouraged the formation of seventeenth century Netherlandish art. Ms. Kuretsky.

Prerequisite: Art 105-106, or by permission of instructor.

Two 75‑minute periods.

235a. Art In Early Renaissance Italy (1)

A survey of Italian art from c. 1300 - c.1485, focusing on painting, sculpture and decorative arts by artists including Giotto, Fra Angelico, Mantegna, Botticelli, Donatello, and the della Robbia. We consider works in social, political, religious, and cultural contexts, looking at various forms of patronage as we move from the republics of Florence, Siena, and Venice to the courts of Mantua and Urbino, and to papal Rome. Particular attention is given to the original function and settings of works; the Renaissance reception of antiquity; notions of artistic competition and originality; developments in perspective and illusionism; experiments with new media; and the relation of contemporary art theory to artistic practice. Ms. Elet.

Prerequisite: Art 105-106, or by permission of the instructor.

Two 75-minute periods.

236b. Art in the Age of Leonardo, Raphael, and Michelangelo (1)

An exploration of the works of these three great masters and their contemporaries in Italy, c. 1485 - c. 1565. The primary focus is on painting and sculpture, but the course also considers drawings, prints, landscape, gardens, and decorative arts, emphasizing artists' increasing tendency to work in multiple media. We trace changing ideas about the role of the artist and the nature of artistic creativity, which are expressed in these works and in theoretical debates about the superiority of painting or sculpture, and the primacy of design or color. Other topics include interactions between artists and patrons; the role of the spectator; ritual and ceremonial; contemporary ideas about sexuality and gender; and historical constructs of genius. Ms. Elet.

Prerequisite: Art 105-106, or by permission of instructor.

Two 75-minute periods.

[ 242a. Seventeenth-Century Painting and Sculpture in Italy and France ] (1)

An examination of the dominant trends and figures of the Italian and French baroque period. This course explores the works of major masters including Caravaggio, Bernini, Poussin, and La Tour, as well as such issues as the development of illusionistic ceiling decoration, the theoretical basis of baroque art, the relationship of art to the scientific revolution, and art's subservience to the church and the royal court. Ms. Winston.

Prerequisite: Art 105-106, or by permission of instructor.

Two 75-minute periods.

Not offered in 2009/10.

[ 243b. Art and Ideas of the Golden Age in Spain ] (1)

This class addresses painting and sculpture in Spain during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. We explore the art of major figures, such as El Greco, Diego Velazquez and Francisco de Zurbarán, as well as those who are less familiar. Artists and ideas are considered in their cultural context: monastic, religious, popular, devotional, court and bourgeois. In addition, we examine the use of art to expand the empire, both politically and religiously, in the New World. Ms. Winston.

Prerequisite: Art 105-106, or by permission of instructor.

Two 75-minute periods.

Not offered in 2009/10.

[ 250a. Change and Diversity in American Art, from the Beginnings to 1865 ] (1)

This course examines the arts of the prehistoric, colonial, early republic, and antebellum periods. Important figures include painters such as Copley, West, Mount, Cole, and Church, and architects such as Jefferson, Bulfinch, Latrobe, Davis, and Downing. In addition, we consider the diverse and often overlooked contributions of women, Native Americans, African Americans, and folk artists. Ms. Lucic.

Prerequisite: Art 105-106, or by permission of instructor.

Two 75-minute periods.

Not offered in 2009/10.

251b. The Challenge of Modernity: American Art 1865-1945 (1)

Painting, sculpture, photography, architecture, and design during America's "coming-of-age'' as a cultural, economic, and political power. The course examines the work of such figures as Richardson, Sullivan, Wright, Homer, Eakins, Cassatt, Sargent, Whistler, O'Keeffe, Hopper, Stieglitz, Strand, and the artists of the Harlem Renaissance. Ms. Lucic.

Prerequisite: Art 105-106, or by permission of instructor.

Two 75-minute periods.

253b. The Arts of Central, Eastern, and Southern Africa (1)

(Same as Africana Studies 253b) This course explores the ways in which sculpture, textiles, painting, drawing, and photography function both historically and currently in relationship to particular themes such as religion, trade and diaspora (both Atlantic and Indian Ocean), political power and healing. We also consider the visual arts in relationship to ideas of improvisation, identity and self-representation, and forms of resistance. Ms. Brielmaier.

Prerequisite: Art 105-106, or one 200-level course in Africana Studies, or by permission of the instructor.

Two 75-minute periods.

254a. The Arts of Western and Northern Africa (1)

(Same as Africana Studies 254a) This course is organized thematically and examines the ways in which sculpture, architecture, painting, and photography function both historically and currently in relationship to broader cultural issues. Within this context, this course explores performance and masquerade in relationship to gender, social, and political power. We also consider the connections between the visual arts and cosmology, Islam, identity, ideas of diaspora, colonialism and post-colonialism, as well as the representation of the "Self", and the "Other". Ms. Brielmaier.

Prerequisite: Art 105-106, or one 200-level course in Africana Studies, or by permission of instructor.

Two 75-minute periods.

257b. The Arts of China (1)

A survey of the major developments in Chinese art from the Neolithic period to the present, including archaeological discoveries, bronzes, sculpture, ceramics, architecture, calligraphy, and painting. The course explores factors behind the making of works of art, including social, political and religious meanings, while examining the historical contexts for and aesthetic principles of the arts of China. Ms. Hwang-Gold.

Prerequisite: Art 105-106, or by permission of instructor.

Two 75-minute periods.

258a. The Arts of Japan (1)

A survey of the major developments in Japanese art from prehistoric times to the present in a wide range of media, including sculpture, ceramics, architecture, calligraphy, painting, garden design, woodblock prints, film, and installations. Among topics covered are: Buddhist art, narrative handscrolls, ink painting and portraiture associated with Zen, ceramics for tea ceremony, Edo and Meiji period woodblock prints, and Western and Chinese influences on Japanese artists. Modern and contemporary filmmakers and artists such as Isamu Noguchi, Akira Kurosawa, Yayoi Kusama, Yasumasa Morimura, and Takashi Murakami are also investigated. The course explores factors behind the making of works of art, including social, political and religious meanings, while examining the historical contexts for and aesthetic principles of the arts of Japan. Students work with Japanese objects from the collection of Vassar's Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center as part of the course. Ms. Hwang-Gold.

Prerequisite: Art 105-106, or by permission of instructor.

Two 75-minute periods.

[ 259b. Warriors, Deities and Tea Masters: Japanese Art of the Momoyama Period (1568-1615) ] (1)

A survey of the arts during this brief yet pivotal period, when artists and patrons in a newly redefined Japan explored several—often contrasting—aesthetic ideals. The course examines developments in a range of mediums, including painting, architecture, ceramics, and lacquer. Some of the themes treated are the tea ceremony, the first arrival of Europeans, the workshop in Japanese art, and genre. Instructor to be announced.

Prerequisite: Art 105-106, or by permission of instructor.

Two 75-minute periods.

Not offered in 2009/10.

[ 262a. Art and Revolution in Europe, 1789-1848 ] (1)

A survey of major movements and figures in European art, 1789-1848, focusing on such issues as the contemporaneity of antiquity in revolutionary history painting, the eclipse of mythological and religious art by an art of social observation and political commentary, the romantic cult of genius, imagination, and creative self-definition, and the emergence of landscape painting in an industrializing culture. Mr. Lukacher.

Prerequisite: Art 105-106, or by permission of instructor.

Two 75-minute periods.

Not offered 2009/10.

263b. Painters of Modern Life: Realism, Impressionism, Symbolism (1)

A survey of major movements and figures in European art, 1848-1900, examining the realist, impressionist, and symbolist challenges to the dominant art institutions, aesthetic assumptions, and social values of the period; also addressing how a critique of modernity and a sociology of aesthetics can be seen developing through these phases of artistic experimentation. Mr. Lukacher.

Prerequisite: Art 105-106, or by permission of instructor.

Two 75-minute periods.

[ 264b. The Avant-Gardes, 1889-1929 ] (1)

(Same as Media Studies 264a) The formation of the European avant-gardes is studied as part of the general modernization of everyday life. Various media are included: painting, sculpture, architecture, photography, the applied arts, and film. Ms. Nesbit.

Prerequisite: Art 105-106, or by permission of instructor.

Two 75-minute periods.

Not offered 2009/10.

265a. Modern Art and the Mass Media, 1929-1968 (1)

(Same as Media Studies 265a) The history of modernist painting in Europe and America from 1930 to 1975, together with those contemporary developments in film, photography, and the mass media. Special attention is paid to the criticism, theory, and politics of the image. Ms. Nesbit.

Prerequisite: Art 105-106, or by permission of instructor.

Two 75-minute periods.

[ 266b. African American Arts and Artifacts ] (1)

(Same as Africana Studies 266) An introduction to the artistic and material production of African Americans in the U.S. from the colonial period to the present day. We examine multiple influences on (African, European, American, diasporic, etc.) and uses for black creative expression. Working with an expansive conception of art, we pay close attention to the work of formally and non-formally trained artists in relation to their social, cultural, aesthetic, and historical contexts. Ms. Collins.

Prerequisite: Art 105-106, or by permission of instructor.

Two 75-minute periods.

Not offered in 2009/10.

268b. The Times, 1968 - now (1)

(Same as Media Studies 268b) This course studies the visual arts of the last thirty years, in America and abroad, together with the often difficult discussion emerging around them. The traditional fine arts as well as the new media, performance, film and architecture are included. Ms. Nesbit.

Prerequisite: Art 264 or 265 or by permission of instructor.

Two 75-minute periods.

[ 270a. Renaissance Architecture ] (1)

European architecture and city building from 1300-1500; focus on Italian architecture and Italian architects; encounters between Italian and other cultures throughout Europe and the Mediterranean. Mr. Adams.

Prerequisite: Art 105-106, or 170 or by permission of instructor.

Two 75-minute periods.

Not offered in 2009/10.

272a. Architecture after the Industrial Revolution (1)

Architecture was utterly changed by the industrial revolution of the eighteenth century. This course examines the changes in materials (iron and steel), building type (exhibition halls, train stations), and architectural practice (the rise of professional societies). The course terminates with the rise of modernism at the beginning of the twentieth century (Gropius, Le Corbusier), an architecture that fully embodied these industrial changes. Mr. Adams.

Prerequisite: Art 105-106, or 170 or by permission of instructor.

Two 75-minute periods.

273b. Modern Architecture and Beyond (1)

European and American architecture and city building (1920 to the present); examination of the diffusion of modernism and its reinterpretation by corporate America and Soviet Russia. Discussion of subsequent critiques of modernism (postmodernism, deconstruction, new urbanism) and their limitations. Issues in contemporary architecture. Mr. Adams.

Prerequisite: Art 105-106, or 170, or by permission of instructor.

Two 75-minute periods.

288b. Islamic Art and Architecture, 7th-13th C (1)

The course is designed to familiarize the student with the evolution of Islamic art and architecture in different regions of the Islamic world in the period from the seventh to the thirteenth century. Major emphasis is placed on the establishment of an Islamic tradition, the formation of visual identity in the context of multi-cultural landscapes, exchange and appropriation in the development of regional styles. The issues of function and patronage are explored in the examination of the varied types of architectural structures and of the portable arts, ceramics, metalwork, textiles and books. Ms. Bush.

Prerequisite: Art 105-106.

Two 75-minute periods.

290a or b. Field Work (1/2 or 1)

Projects undertaken in cooperation with approved galleries, archives, collections, or other agencies concerned with the visual arts, including architecture. The department.

May be taken either semester or in the summer.

Open by permission of a supervising instructor. Not included in the minimum requirements for the major.

Prerequisites: Art 105-106 and one 200-level course.

298a or b. Independent Work (1/2 or 1)

Open by permission of the instructor with the concurrence of the adviser in the field of concentration. Not included in the minimum for the major.

III. Advanced

Prerequisite for advanced courses: 3 units of 200-level work or the equivalent. By permission.

300a or b. Senior Paper Preparation (1/2)

Optional. Regular meetings with a faculty member to prepare an annotated bibliography and thesis statement for the senior paper. Course must be scheduled in the semester prior to the writing of the senior paper. Credit given only upon completion of the senior paper. Ungraded.

Prerequisite: permission of the Chair of the Art Department.

301a or b. Senior Project (1)

Supervised independent research culminating in a written paper.

310b. Seminar in Ancient Art (1)

(Same as Classics 310b) Pompeii: Public and Private Life. A study of the urban development of a Roman town with public buildings and centers of entertainment that gave shape to political life and civic pride. The houses, villas, and gardens of private citizens demonstrate intense social competition, as well as peculiarly Roman attitudes toward privacy, domesticity, and nature. Ms. D'Ambra.

Prerequisite: permission of instructor.

One 2-hour period.

320b. Chartres Cathedral (1)

The cathedral of Chartres has long been viewed as the Gothic building par excellence, a position secured by the likes of Henry Adams, Otto von Simson, and the legendary guide Malcolm Miller. A focal point for medieval pilgrims and modern tourists alike, Chartres is also at the heart of the story of Gothic as traditionally told in the English language-the moment at which the structural, symbolic and aesthetic challenges of this new and daring architecture were finally resolved. Students are invited to reconsider Chartres not only as a construction of stone and glass but as one of words, to test the validity of its near-mythical status in light of recent scholarship. Mr.Tallon.

Prerequisite: permission of instructor.

One 2-hour period.

331a. Seminar in Northern Art (1)

Durer and Rembrandt: Master Printmakers. This seminar concentrates on the extensive collection of original engravings and etchings in the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center, focusing primarily on Albrecht Durer and Rembrandt van Rijn: the most innovative and influential northern European printmakers of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. At least one field trip to the Morgan Library and Museum in New York is planned. Ms. Kuretsky.

Prerequisite: permission of instructor.

One 2-hour period.

332b. Seminar in Italian Renaissance Art (1)

Reconsidering Raphael. This great Renaissance master has long been known as "the prince of painters," but this label ignores the astonishing range of Raphael's activities and accomplishments. Not only a brilliant painter, he was also an accomplished architect, landscape designer, draftsman, designer of prints, archeologist, and papal surveyor of antiquities. This seminar reconsiders Raphael's oeuvre, taking a comprehensive view of his varied projects, and how they informed each other. We also examine his writings and his close collaborations with literary figures, including Baldassare Castiglione, addressing the relation of word and image. This synthetic approach allows a fuller appreciation of Raphael's brilliance and originality, and the reasons he was so admired in his own time and in later centuries. Ms. Elet

Prerequisite: permission of instructor.

One 2-hour period.

[ 354a. Seminar in African Art ] (1)

(Same as Africana Studies 354a) Contemporary African Photography and Video. This seminar explores the development of contemporary photographic and video practices as they relate to Africa. Organized thematically, it focuses on the individual case studies, artists, and exhibitions that comprise the dynamic and international realm of contemporary photo and video by artists living inside and outside of the African continent. Emphasis is placed on the changing significance and role of photography within African and trans-African contexts. As a part of this process, we consider issues of representation; documentation, critiques, and re-framing of socio-political issues and global relations; the visual articulation of racial, ethnic, gendered and religious identities; as well as aesthetic ideas, performance and the role of varied audiences and reception. Ms. Brielmaier.

Prerequisite: permission of instructor.

One 2-hour period.

Not offered in 2009/10.

358b. Seminar in Asian Art (1)

Chinese Art: 19th Century to Now. From the last decades of imperial rule through the rise of Communism and ending with China's current presence on the global stage, this seminar investigates the multiple realities that Chinese artists have constructed for themselves. By examining artworks in a variety of media including painting, sculpture, decorative arts, performance art, and installations, the seminar explores relationships between tradition and modernity, confluences between East and West, representations of cultural identity, the role of expatriate artists, and the impact of the international art market. Ms. Hwang-Gold.

Prerequisite: permission of instructor.

One 2-hour period.

[ 362a. Seminar in Nineteenth-Century Art ] (1)

Ruskin, Baudelaire, and Art Criticism in Nineteenth-Century Europe. This seminar examines the art criticism and social opinions of John Ruskin and Charles Baudelaire, whose writings on English and French art and culture converged around the following issues: the instrumentality of nature in an industrial/urban society; the pleasures and tribulations of the commodity, fashion and femininity; the contesting claims of sensuality and morality in esthetic experience; and the nostalgia for the historical past. We explore how Ruskin and Baudelaire developed art criticism as a controversial medium for social and cultural commentary at the nexus of romanticism and modernism. Mr. Lukacher.

Prerequisite: permission of instructor.

One 2-hour period.

Not offered in 2009/10.

364a. Seminar in Twentieth-Century Art (1)

The World Picture: The Shape of Change. It has been a while since the world appeared as it did to Heidegger—as a picture. What shape, then, does the world take? Or, is it better to turn George Kubler's "Shape of Time" sideways and ask about the shape of change? The seminar studies the global condition of present day culture. That there continues to be no consensus on its definition enables us to explore the active critical problems as steps in a larger trajectory inherited from the utopian experiments of the 1970s and the use they made of materialism. These questions are examined through the work of various contemporary artists. Ms. Nesbit.

Prerequisite: permission of instructor.

One 2-hour period.

366b. Seminar in African American Art and Cultural History (1)

(Same as Africana Studies 366b and American Culture 366b) Creativity and Politics During the Jazz Age and the Great Depression. Focusing on the experiences and representations of African Americans in the U.S., this seminar examines the arts, institutions, and ideas of the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s and New Deal projects of the 1930s and 1940s. Analyzing paintings, sculptures, photographs, novels, folk arts, murals, illustrations, manifestos, films, performances, and various systems of patronage, we explore relationships between art, politics, and society. Ms. Collins.

Prerequisite: permission of instructor.

One 2-hour period.

370a. Seminar in Architectural History (1)

(Same as Urban Studies 370a) Rome of the Imagination. No city has had a greater influence on the architectural imagination than Rome. Throughout western history the standard for architecture has been measured by Rome. In this seminar we investigate the continuing hold and varied architectural interpretations of Rome and Romanness: the built Rome, the ruined Rome, and the imagined Rome. How has Rome changed its significance for architects over time? Among the architects we consider Andrea Palladio, Giovanni Battista Piranesi, E.L. Boullée, Giuseppe Terragni, Albert Speer, Gunnar Asplund, Louis Kahn and others. We may also consider those such as John Ruskin who reject the Roman stampe. and consider how they manage to do. Mr. Adams.Scandinavian Modernism. Swedish architecture stands apart from the major developments of central European modernism. Architects such as Gunnar Asplund are seduced by the new modern architecture that they discover in central Europe, but they adapt and transform it to local social and environmental conditions. We examine the importance of the Stockholm Exhibition (1930) and its influence on developments in architecture, the role of Cooperative Society movement, housing policies and practices, urban and city planning, as well as the development of social democracy. Our main focus is the work of Gunnar Asplund and his "conversion" from traditionalist to modernist. Along with architecture, we also examine the role of film, music, and literature in the formation of national identity. Mr. Adams.

Prerequisite: permission of instructor.

One 3-hour period.

378b. Seminar in Museum Studies (1)

What the Art Object Can Tell Us. This seminar focuses only on original works of art from the over 17,000 objects in the permanent and loan collections at the Loeb Art Center. The class explores how history and society affect the creation and reception of art objects. Special attention is paid to patterns of collecting, conservation, and connoisseurship. Mr. Mundy.

Prerequisite: permission of instructor.

One 2-hour period.

382b. Belle Ribicoff Seminar in the History of Art (1/2)

Topic and instructor to be announced.

Prerequisite: permission of the chair of the department.

One 2-hour period.

Six-week course.

385a. Seminar in American Art (1)

"The Art of Nature: Painting, Literature, and Landscape Design in the Hudson Valley." This seminar examines the vital concern for picturesque landscape-both actual and imaginary-in the evolution of art and cultural expression in the Hudson River Valley. The course investigates the relationship of important innovators in landscape design, such as Downing, Vaux, and Olmsted, to the literary and artistic works of Cole, Durand, Cooper, Irving, Bryant, and others. It includes a consideration of contemporary artists' engagement with the environment, such as Eric Lindbloom's photographs, Andy Goldsworthy's wall at Storm King, and the installations of the Minetta Brook Hudson River Project, such as George Trakas's pier at Beacon. The course has several fieldtrips to study the continuing impact of nineteenth-century landscape theory and traditions in the Hudson River Valley. Ms. Lucic, Mr. Peck.

Prerequisite: permission of instructor.

One 2-hour period.

399a or b. Senior Independent Work (1/2 or 1)

Open by permission of the instructor with the concurrence of the department adviser in the field of concentration. Not included in the minimum for the major.