Introduction to Western Art History: Proto-Renaissance to Contemporary Art
Purpose of Course showclose
In this course, we will study important movements and some influential artists in Western art history. We will begin with the “Proto-Renaissance” in Italy in the 13th century and continue through to the late 20th century. You will become acquainted with certain regional and personal styles of art through this period, as well as a number of renowned works of art and architecture.
Art forms and imagery are influenced by the surrounding world, the biography of the artist who produced the artwork, and other circumstances of artistic production. This course provides a framework for considering how and why certain artistic movements emerged in certain places at certain times. Some of the names and works we will look at might already be familiar to you, while others will be new. The ultimate goal of this course is not to provide data on individual works of art, although that is part of art history, but to act as a sort of springboard. You will gain tools for looking at and analyzing not only art by the visual world around you. Please note we will make a number of sweeping generalizations regarding styles to provide a broad foundational arc. Divisions between styles, periods, and cultures are always fluid and selected examples could be substituted with many others.
The course design mirrors the scope and content of similar courses available through traditional undergraduate programs. We will move more or less chronologically, with some thematic sections. In some cases, in-depth resources on specific works and artists are assigned to suggest a broader range; in others, we will run through a number of examples briefly.
To begin, review a map of modern Europe that you can compare with some historical maps we will look at. As we proceed, look up terms and supplemental images. The following links* are suggested:
General (extensive):
Art Dictionaries:
- Art Lex (HTML)
- National Gallery of Art, London’s Glossary (HTML)
Quality Art Reproductions:
- Web Gallery of Art (Medieval to mid-nineteenth century) (HTML)
- World Images (California State University Image Project) (HTML)
- Mark Harden’s Artchive (HTML)
*Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on these websites.
Course Information showclose
Course Designer: Jody Cutler
Primary Resources: This course uses materials from a wide range of sources, including the following:
- Khan Academy’s SmartHistory
- Web Gallery of Art
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History
- National Gallery of Art
- Guggenheim Museum
-
The Museum of Modern Art
Time Commitment: This course will take a total of 25.25 hours to complete. Each unit includes a “time advisory” that lists the amount of time you are expected to spend on each subunit. These should help you plan your time accordingly. It may be useful to take a look at these time advisories and determine how much time you have over the next few weeks to complete each unit and then set goals for yourself. For example, Unit 1 should take you 1.5 hours. Perhaps you can sit down with your calendar and decide to complete the first half of Unit 1 (a total of approximately 45 minutes) on Monday night, the second half of Unit 1 on Tuesday night, etc.
Tips/Suggestions: As with any art history course, it is important that you take time to carefully examine any and all images presented in this course. Pay careful attention to images presented in video lectures and pause the videos or go back as necessary to review. Most images also can be easily located in a Google search.
Learning Outcomes showclose
- Identify the major styles of works of art in the West from the Italian proto-Renaissance through contemporary art.
- Explain how political, social, and religious ideas inform art styles and images.
- Explain prevalent artistic and architectural techniques developed through the period covered.
- Discuss formal aspects of works of art in terminology basic to the field.
- Recognize important artworks and describe them in terms of their form, content, and general history of their creation.
Course Requirements showclose
√ Have access to a computer
√ Have continuous broadband internet access
√ Have the ability/permission to install plug-ins or software (e.g. Adobe Reader of Flash)
√ Have the ability to download documents
√ Have the ability to open and save Microsoft word documents (worksheets)
√ Be competent in the English language
√ Have read the Saylor Student Handbook.
It is strongly recommended that you complete ARTH110 (Introduction to Western Art History: Pre-historic to High Gothic) prior to taking this course.Unit Outline show close
Expand All Resources Collapse All Resources
-
Unit 1: The Proto-Renaissance In Italy: 13th Century
The beginning of the period known as the Renaissance is generally dated to the thirteenth century in Italy. The style has its roots in Byzantine, Roman, and Early Christian art. Patronage developed beyond the aristocracy to include urban merchants and the clergy. The rising influence of the mendicant orders (isolated communities of monks and nuns) promoted a new spirituality and a program of commissions that told stories directly to mainly illiterate lay viewers. Their mission of preaching to the masses necessitated the building of new, larger churches. In addition to architectural developments, painters began to exhibit greater interest in nature, adjusting their techniques from schematic medieval style. The first step was to study the properties of light and volume in order to depict three-dimensional space.
Unit 1 Time Advisory show close
Through a look at the frescoes of Giotto, we will see examples of this new naturalism as well as expanded religious narratives based on situations and emotions of real contemporary life. Also in Giotto, as well as the Pisano family of sculptors, we see a new interest in pre-Christian, Classical art. We will also touch on distinctions in regional styles in painting, sculpture, and architecture throughout Italy influenced by various political and trade alliances.
Unit 1 Learning Outcomes show close
- Web Media: University of Austin: Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection: “Italy, 1050”
Link: University of Austin: Perry-Catañeda Library Map Collection: “Italy, 1050” (PDF)
Instructions: Review this period map of the Italian peninsula; use the click/zoom feature.
Terms of Use: This material is in the public domain.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: Annenberg Foundation’s Interactives: “Renaissance”
Link: Annenberg Foundation’s Interactives: “Renaissance” (HTML)
Instructions: Read the webpage and the first four entries from the left column menu for a basic sociological and cultural introduction to the early Renaissance period. At this time, there is no need to click on the embedded links, which are extensive. We will return to this site later in the course.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpages above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: SmartHistory: “Pisa: Nicola and Giovanni Pisano”
Link: Smarthistory: “Pisa: Nicola and Giovanni Pisano” (Adobe Flash)
Instructions: Please watch this video, with speakers Dr. David Drogin and Dr. Beth Harris, in its entirety (approximately 14 minutes). As you listen to this video about the Pisano family of sculptors, use the pause function to note down any art terms you may be unfamiliar with to look up later. Please look up a few better-illustrated details of this and other works by Pisano at: Digital Imaging Project (scroll down to Artist index; search Pisano).
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpages above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: Wikipedia: “Bonaventura Berlinghieri”
Link: Wikipedia: “Bonaventura Berlinghieri” (PDF)
Instructions: Please view this image of the St. Francis Altarpiece by Berlinghieri. This is an example of the maniera greca, or the Greek style, in late Byzantine painting that was popular in Italy just at the time interest in earlier Classical art was increasing. Note the frontal rigidity. The format of the piece shows the narrative turn that altarpieces will take, with scenes from the saint’s life in film-strip fashion.
Terms of Use: This material is in the public domain.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: Smarthistory: “1300-1400 Proto-Renaissance”
Link: Smarthistory: “1300-1400 Proto-Renaissance” (Adobe Flash)
Also available in:
YouTube
Instructions: Listen carefully to this audio lecture as Dr. Beth Harris and Dr. Steven Zucker compare Cimabue's Santa Trinita Madonna, c. 1280, with Giotto's Ognissanti Madonna, c. 1310, both in the Uffizi Gallery, Florence. Please listen to the entire audio clip (about 11 minutes). This comparison shows the shift away from the stiff and flat maniera greca of the Cimabue to the more spatially situated Giotto, who initiates the “Florentine” Renaissance style.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpages above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: Wikipedia: “Scrovegni Chapel” and Wikimedia “Cappella degli Scrovegni”
Link: Wikipedia: “Scrovegni Chapel” (PDF) and Wikimedia: “Cappella degli Scrovegni” (PDF)
Instructions: Read this entry on Giotto’s most famous work, a fresco cycle commissioned for a private chapel in Padua. Then click on the gallery of images via the second link. Scroll to the end and see an interior view of the project; then scroll up, enlarging a few scenes to study the Giotto’s solid depictions of human form.
Terms of Use: The article above is released under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0 (HTML). It is attributed to Wikipedia and the original can be found here (HTML). The gallery of images above are released under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0 (HTML). It is attributed to Wikimedia and the original can be found here (JPG).See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: Italian Renaissance Art: “The Fresco Painting Technique”
Link: Italian Renaissance Art: “The Fresco Painting Technique” (HTML)
Instructions: Read this introduction to fresco painting, a major art form in Italian since Roman times. Please take notes on any vocabulary you may be unfamiliar with.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpages above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: Smarthistory: “Giotto’s Lamentation”
Link: Smarthistory: “Giotto's Lamentation” (PDF)
Also available in:
iTunes
Instructions: Please read the entirety of this webpage and watch the 7-minute video (Adobe Flash) as speakers Dr. Beth Harris and Dr. Steven Zucker commentate on Giotto’s The Lamentation (The Mourning of Christ).
Terms of Use: The article above is released under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0 (HTML). It is attributed to SmartHistory.org and the original version can be found here (HTML).See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: YouTube: “La Cappella degli Scrovegni: Giotto”
Link: YouTube: “La Cappella degli Scrovegni: Giotto” (YouTube)
Instructions: Please note this video is optional. For a wonderful tour of Giotto’s Scrovegni Chapel (audio in Italian), please view the images in this video (approximately 16 minutes).
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpages above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: Smarthistory: Sienese Art: Duccio, Martini, and Lorenzetti”
Link: Smarthistory: “Sienese Art: Duccio, Martini, and Lorenzetti” (Adobe Flash)
Instructions: Read introduction and view brief video (about 5 minutes) with speakers Dr. David Drogin and Dr. Beth Harris discussing art in Sienna. Please note regional variation between the style of Giotto and Duccio.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpages above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: Essential Architecture’s “Florence Cathedral aka "The Duomo"”
Link: Essential Architecture’s “Florence Cathedral aka "The Duomo"” (HTML)
Instructions: Scroll down to read the history of the cathedral at the heart of Florentine Renaissance culture; also, browse the images. Note that the cathedral (as it stands today) was constructed in the late 13th century; however, the famous dome was added a century later with new technology and styles, so try to imagine the structure without that for now. The elongated style of northern Gothic never became popular in this area; rather the heavier feel and geometric façades survived from earlier styles and led to a full revival of Classical forms in architecture in the 1400s, including the dome. The octagonal plan of the famous baptistery that faces “The Duomo” was built at least a century earlier in a late Byzantine style.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpages above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: World Images: “Milan Cathedral (Duomo) Façade”
Link: World Images: “Milan Cathedral (Duomo), Facade” (JPEG)
Instructions: View the Milan Cathedral and compare its more “spiky” ornamentation with the Duomo; building in this city-state was more heavily influenced by French Gothic.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpages above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: World Images: “Palazzo Pubblico, Siena” and “Doge’s Palace, Venice”
Links: World Images: “Palazzo Pubblico, Siena” (JPEG) and “Doge's Palace, Venice” (JPEG)
Instructions: View these two examples of civic, administrative buildings of the period. In Siena, a heavier style prevails, while the Venetian building is influenced by Islamic forms, introduced through trade and diplomatic exposure to the styles of the East.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpages above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: Wikipedia: “The Black Death” and “Francesco Traini”
Links: Wikipedia: “The Black Death” (PDF) and “Francesco Traini” (PDF)
Instructions: Read these pages on the “Black Death,” or the plague that devastated Europe around mid-century. By c. 1400, Florence was emerging as the center of Renaissance culture, to which we will return. Click on the image of The Triumph of Death in the “Traini” reading to enlarge the image.
Terms of Use: The articles above are released under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0 (HTML). It is attributed to Wikipedia and the original versions can be found here (HTML) and here (HTML).See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: University of Austin: Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection: “Italy, 1050”
-
Unit 2: The Early Renaissance Outside Italy - Fifteenth Century
In this unit, we will look at stirrings of a Renaissance in Northern European (Dutch, Flemish, German regions), which remained tied to the ornamental style of earlier Northern Gothic through the 14th century. By the early 15th century, influences from Italy and new sources of patronage promoted greater interest in naturalistic representations, which integrated with the elegance of earlier style became known as “International Gothic.” In urban centers, an emerging burgher or merchant class commissioned devotional images of sacred figures in recognizable, earthly surroundings. Importance was placed on minute details that conveyed both realistic observation and symbolic meanings. We will focus on “Netherlandish” painting (which loosely includes Flemish and Dutch); however, we will also look at a few stylistic developments elsewhere (beyond Italy) and the emergence of printmaking as an art form.
Unit 2 Time Advisory show close
Unit 2 Learning Outcomes show close
-
2.1 Burgundy: the Low Countries
- Web Media: Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection, “Europe during the 15th Century”
Web Media: Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection, “Europe during the 15th Century”
Link: Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection, “Europe during the 15th Century” (JPEG)
Instructions: Use the click/zoom tool to become familiar with the geography of Northern Europe. Flanders now corresponds roughly to modern Belgium. The “Brabant” encompasses modern Holland. “The Netherlands” and “Lowlands” are other common references to the combined region. In our period, some of this territory was an extension of the Kingdom of France under the Dukes of Burgundy, who were major art patrons.
Terms of Use: The image above is in the Public Domain.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: Wikipedia: “Les Trés Riches Heures du Duc de Berry”
Link: Wikipedia: “Les Trés Riches Heures du Duc de Berry” (PDF)
Instructions: Read this introduction to “illuminated manuscripts,” an important art form in the International Gothic style. Enlarge several of the images in the “Calendar Gallery” section on the webpage. This “Book of Hours,” a kind of devotional calendar, is perhaps the most famous surviving examples of the illuminated manuscript.
Terms of Use: The article above is released under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0 (HTML). It is attributed to Wikipedia and the original version can be found here (HTML).See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: The J. Paul Getty Museum’s version of “The Hidden Masters of the Middle Ages: The Limbourg Brothers”
Link: The J. Paul Getty Museum’s version of “The Hidden Masters of the Middle Ages: The Limbourg Brothers” (RealPlayer)
Instructions: View this excellent documentary, which gives insight into artists’ lives and their role in society around 1400, as well as techniques, patronage, contemporary conservation. Take notes as the narrative proceeds and jot down familiar and unfamiliar terms to be referenced later. The video is 30 minutes long.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: Antique Spectacles and Other Vision Aids: “The Well of Moses”
Link: Antique Spectacles and Other Vision Aids: “The Well of Moses” (HTML)
Instructions: Please read and view illustrations of this sculptural project at a monastery in Burgundy, which gives an idea of the complex biblical iconography prevalent at the time and shows growing interest in gravity-bound anatomy, as opposed to stylized gothic figures.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpages above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History: Maryan W. Ainsworth’s "Early Netherlandish Painting"
Link: The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History: Maryan W. Ainsworth’s "Early Netherlandish Painting" (HTML)
Instructions: Read the entire article. Please also click on the thumbnail images located above the text to view the artworks and their captions. Pay careful attention to the first image of a triptych known as The Merode Altarpiece and all of the details shown. On the bottom right of the main webpage “Early Netherlandish Painting,” you will see a list of articles. At the end there are two articles on the Merode Altarpiece; please browse them to get an idea of the detailed symbolism in this work, which is also based on detailed observation of the real world. These in-depth studies are beyond the content of this course; optionally, feel free to read thoroughly based on your interests.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History: Susan Jones’s "Painting in Oil in the Low Countries and Its Spread to Southern Europe"
Link: The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History: Susan Jones’s "Painting in Oil in the Low Countries and Its Spread to Southern Europe" (HTML)
Instructions: Read this article, which builds on the “Early Netherlandish Painting” article in this subunit but also focuses on the development of the oil painting technique taken for granted in fine arts for centuries. The accompanying images are mainly duplicates from the presentation we have looked at above, though you may want to briefly review these images.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: Artchive’s “Jan Van Eyck”
Link: Artchive’s “Jan Van Eyck” (JPEG)
Instructions: Jan van Eyck is the most renowned painter of the era and this is perhaps his most famous work. View this image in detail, and click on the “Text about ‘The Betrothal of the Arnolfini” hyperlink to read the short passage from E.H. Gombrich’s The Story of Art. This was written nearly fifty years ago, when there were already several important interpretations of the work, and there have been many more in recent decades.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpages above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: Smarthistory: “Hubert (?) and Jan van Eyck's Ghent Altarpiece or The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb”: “Part 1” and “Part 2”
Links: Smarthistory: “Hubert (?) and Jan van Eyck's Ghent Altarpiece or The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb”: “Part 1” (Adobe Flash) and “Part 2” (Adobe Flash) - Part 1 & 2 (PDF)
Also available in:
YouTube for Part 1
YouTube for Part 2
Instructions: Please watch both of these videos (about 15 minutes total) on Jan van Eycks’s most renowned religious commission.
Terms of Use: The article above is released under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0 (HTML). It is attributed to SmartHistory.org and the original versions can be found here and here (HTML).See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: Wikipedia: “Portinari Altarpiece”
Link: Wikipedia: “Portinari Altarpiece” (PDF)
Instructions: Read about this work by the Flemish painter, Hugo van der Goes. Commissioned by an Italian banker, it was brought to Florence where its detailed technique influenced Florentine painters working with more structured compositions and volume; think of Giotto and the feeling of gravity in his figures around 1300. Click on the “Portinari Triptych” hyperlink in the box in the lower right corner of the webpage to browse a selection of image details.
Terms of Use: The article above is released under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0 (HTML). It is attributed to Wikipedia and the original version can be found here (HTML).See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection, “Europe during the 15th Century”
-
2.2 France, Germany (Holy Roman Empire)
- Web Media: Art and the Bible: Jean Fouquet’s “Virgin and Child”
Link: Art and the Bible: Jean Fouquet’s “Virgin and Child” (HTML)
Instructions: Prior to clicking on the above link, please review the map at the start of Unit 2. The “Empire,” or Holy Roman Empire, was an alliance including territory of modern Germany at the heart, with roots in alliances from Roman times. Then, please view the image of this panel of an altarpiece, and read the accompanying description. “Virgin and Child” has been viewed as quintessential of a cool, geometric French style.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpages above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: National Gallery of Art: “Tilman Riemenschneider: Master Sculptor of the Late Middle Ages”
Link: National Gallery of Art: “Tilman Riemenschneider: Master Sculptor of the Late Middle Ages” (HTML)
Instructions: Please read this entire presentation on Tilman Riemenschneider, a German sculptor. Click on the hyperlinks for each of the following sections and read the text on each webpages: “Introduction,” “Style,” “The Münnerstadt Altarpiece,” and “Chronology.” Then, click on the hyperlink to the “Images” section to view related images of Riemenschneider’s sculptures. You may click on each thumbnail to enlarge the image and read its caption. Please take notes on the section on carved altarpieces and study the anatomy of the works illustrated.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: Web Gallery of Art: Konrad Witz’s The Miraculous Draught of Fishes
Link: Web Gallery of Art: Konrad Witz’s The Miraculous Draught of Fishes (HTML and JPEG)
Instructions: Please examine The Miraculous Draught of Fishes” and enlarge it. This panel from an altarpiece has become famous for its depiction of identifiable site on Lake Geneva and thus an early true landscape.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: Wikipedia: “Nuremberg Chronicle”
Link: Wikipedia: “Nuremberg Chronicle” (PDF)
Instructions: After Gutenberg’s innovations with movable type, illustrated prints took off in the North. Read this Wikipedia entry to see examples of early illustrations in a printed book (click on each image to enlarge it). The media (print type) is woodcut.
Terms of Use: The article above is released under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0 (HTML). It is attributed to Wikipedia and the original version can be found here (HTML).See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: Wikipedia: “Martin Schongauer”
Link: Wikipedia: “Martin Schongauer” (PDF)
Instructions: Read the Wikipedia entry in its entirety. Then, click on the hyperlink titled “Martin Schongauer” in the lower right corner of the webpage to view a few prints, includingThe Temptation of St. Anthony. The media is primarily metal engraving.
Terms of Use: The article above is released under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0 (HTML). It is attributed to Wikipedia and the original version can be found here (HTML).See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: Encyclopedia of Irish and World Art: “Fine Art Printmaking”
Link: Encyclopedia of Irish and World Art: “Fine Art Printmaking” (HTML)
Instructions: Read the beginning sections through the section titled “History” for brief background on printmaking processes and terms.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: Art and the Bible: Jean Fouquet’s “Virgin and Child”
-
Unit 3: The Renaissance: Fifteenth Century Italian Art
In this unit, we will continue with the evolution of the Renaissance in Italy, starting with Florence, the epicenter of this revolution in art. Contemporary artists looked to the accomplishments of Roman art to express their own age, borrowing Classical forms for Christian subjects but also reviving mythological subjects, including nudes. Images of patrons integrated with saintly beings became prevalent in extravagant fresco cycles and altarpieces.
Unit 3 Time Advisory show close
Artists as well as thinkers promoted art-making as an intellectual, rather than merely manual pursuit. Some artists were able to move away from guilds to have independent workshops. The emergence of linear perspective, realistic human anatomy, and naturalism generally became the new norm and spread to the rest of Europe. This dramatic artistic move towards an illusionistic representation of the world would influence Western art for centuries.
Unit 3 Learning Outcomes show close
- Web Media: Annenberg Foundation’s Interactives: “Renaissance”
Link: Annenberg Foundation’s Interactives: “Renaissance” (HTML)
Instructions: From left column menu choose, “Symmetry, Shape, Size”; read this entry and click on the hyperlink at bottom titled “Read more: Renaissance Architecture, Painting, and Music.” After you read this text at the bottom of the webpage, click on “Next Topic” to move on to read the “Focus on Florence” article.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: Annenberg Foundation’s Interactives: “Renaissance”
-
3.1 Painters and Sculptors Based in Florence
- Web Media: Smarthistory: “Florence in the Early Renaissance”
Link: Smarthistory: “Florence in the Early Renaissance” (PDF)
Instructions: We will make extensive use of this resource for the next few units. Begin by reading this introduction on “Florence in the Early Renaissance” in its entirety. Then, read each of the following sections in its entirety: “On Linear Perspective & Filippo Brunelleschi,” “How Brunelleschi Discovered Linear Perspective,” and “Applications of Linear Perspective in the Renaissance.” Please also click on the link to “The Sacrifice of Isaac” (Abode Flash) and view the 11-minute video with speakers Dr. David Drogin and Dr. Beth Harris.
Terms of Use: The article above is released under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0 (HTML). It is attributed to SmartHistory.org and the original version can be found here (HTML).See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: The Art Institute of Chicago: “The Gates of Paradise: Lorenzo Ghiberti’s Renaissance Masterpiece” (Exhibition, 2007)
Link: The Art Institute of Chicago: “The Gates of Paradise: Lorenzo Ghiberti’s Renaissance Masterpiece” (Exhibition, 2007) (HTML)
Instructions: Read and view images, which focuses on a set of cast bronze doors that Ghiberti completed several decades after the bronze competition panel we viewed above. By comparison, you can see the development into a fully Renaissance style, from the ornamental shape of the earlier panel to square “window” panel, greater integration of landscape, architecture and narrative, and the use of linear perspective. Skim the “Overview” webpage. Then, from the menu on the left, choose “Themes,” and read this entire section, which includes embedded hyperlinks to images for viewing. Finally, choose “Selected Works,” and click on each thumbnail to enlarge the image.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: Smarthistory: “Holy Trinity”
Link: Smarthistory: “Holy Trinity” (PDF)
Instructions: Read about Masaccio’s “Holy Trinity” fresco, which introduces the application of linear perspective into painting. At the bottom of the webpage, view the 10 minute National Gallery Art video (Adobe Flash) for an excellent presentation of development of the technical development of the work. Optional: From the menu on the left, click on “The Tribute Money,” and view the video (13 minutes) about a scene from a famous fresco cycle by Masaccio.
Terms of Use: The article above is released under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0 (HTML). It is attributed to SmartHistory.org and the original version can be found here (HTML).See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: Smarthistory: “Donatello’s David” and “Contrapposto”
Links: Smarthistory: “Donatello’s David” (PDF) and “Contrapposto” (PDF)
Instructions: Please read each section “Donatello’s David” and “Contrapposto” in its entirety. Carefully view the images on each webpage.
Terms of Use: The article above is released under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0 (HTML). It is attributed to SmartHistory.org and the original version can be found here and here (HTML).See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: Wikipedia: “Equestrian Statue”
Link: Wikipedia: “Equestrian Statue” (PDF)
Instructions: This page offers a brief history of the equestrian statue type, which symbolized imperial power in Rome, and was appropriated in the Renaissance, mainly to honor heroic soldiers. Skim through the section on the Renaissance and view links to “Gattamalata” (by Donatello) and “Bartolomeo Colleoni” (by Verrocchio).
Terms of Use: The articles above are released under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0 (HTML). You can find the original Wikipedia versions of these articles here (HTML), here (HTML), and here (HTML)See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: Smarthistory: “Fra Angelico: The Annunciation”
Link: Smarthistory: “Fra Angelico: The Annunciation” (PDF)
Instructions: Please read the text on this webpage and view the 4-minute video (Adobe Flash). Aspects to note: humanizing religious figures; personal style; figures occupying represented space.
Terms of Use: The article above is released under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0 (HTML). It is attributed to SmartHistory.org and the original version can be found here (HTML).See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: Smarthistory: “Fra Filippo Lippi,” “Madonna and Child,” and “Man and Woman at a Casement”
Links: Smarthistory: “Fra Filippo Lippi (HTML), “Madonna and Child,” (Adobe Flash) and “Man and Woman at a Casement” (Adobe Flash)
“Madonna and Child” is also available in:
YouTube
Instructions: Please read the introductory text on the “Fra Filippo Lippi” webpage. Then, view the brief videos (less than 10 minutes total) on the “Madonna and Child” and “Man and Woman at a Casement” webpages.
Terms of Use: The article above is released under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0 (HTML). It is attributed to SmartHistory.org and the original versions can be found here (HTML) and here (Adobe Flash).See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: Wikipedia: “Domenico Ghirlandaio,” “Paolo Uccello,” and “Andrea del Castagno”
Links: Wikipedia: “Domenico Ghirlandaio,” (PDF) “Paolo Uccello,” (PDF) and “Andrea del Castagno” (PDF)
Instructions: Read these Wikipedia pages on three active, top artists in Florence towards mid-century. Click on the thumbnails for each image to enlarge them. As you view these images, note any overlap in form among the images as well as individual styles. Also, take notes on the descriptive art terms used across the entries, including the following: chiaroscuro, buon fresco, foreshortened (foreshortening), and trompe l’oeil.
Terms of Use: The articles above are released under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0 (HTML). You can find the original Wikipedia versions of these articles here (HTML), here (HTML), and here (HTML).See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: Encyclopedia of Irish and World Art: “Alessandro Bottecelli”
Link: Encyclopedia of Irish and World Art: “Alessandro Bottecelli” (HTML)
Instructions: Read this article on Bottecelli, a top Florentine painter at the end of the century. For better images, go to the Web Gallery of Art index and search for the artist Bottecelli or any of his painting titles.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpages above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: Smarthistory: “Botticelli’s The Birth of Venus”
Link: Smarthistory: “Botticelli’s The Birth of Venus” (Adobe Flash)
Also available in:
iTunes
Instructions: Please view the brief video (less than 5 minutes) in which speakers Dr. Beth Harris and Chad Laird comment on Sandro Botticelli’s masterpiece.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: Smarthistory: “Florence in the Early Renaissance”
-
3.2 Florentine Architects
- Reading: Wikipedia: “Filippo Brunelleschi” and BrunelleschisDome.com
Link: Wikipedia: “Filippo Brunelleschi” (PDF) and BrunelleschisDome.com (HTML)
Instructions: Read this summary of the career of Brunelleschi, the most renowned architect of the era. We looked at the history of the Florence Cathedral (Duomo; Santa Maria del Fiori) earlier in this course. It was around 1420 that Brunelleschi began work on the dome, after another competition with Ghiberti. The main innovations in his work are the use of mathematically-derived modules and forms and geometry of Classical antiquity. For more information, please also read the description and introduction at the Brunelleschi’s Dome website.
Terms of Use: The Wikipedia article above is released under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0 (HTML). You can find the original Wikipedia version of this article here (HTML). Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the Brunelleschi’s Dome webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: Great Buildings: Kevin Matthews and Artifice, Inc.’s “Pazzi Chapel”
Link: Great Buildings: Kevin Matthews and Artifice, Inc.’s “Pazzi Chapel” (HTML)
Instructions: Read the text on the Pazzi Chapel, thought to be designed by Brunelleschi and probably finished by another architect. Also, click on each thumbnail to view the enlarged image.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: Wikipedia’s “Leone Battista Alberti”
Link: Wikipedia: “Leone Battista Alberti” (PDF)
Instructions: Read this summary of the career of Alberti, well known as an early art theorist as well as a preeminent architect. In the section titled “Architectural Works,” click on the hyperlinks for the following entries: Tempeo Malatestiano, Palazzo Rucellai, and Santa Maria Novella. Read the text and view the images for more information on Alberti’s architecture.
Terms of Use: The article above is released under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0 (HTML). You can find the original Wikipedia version of this article here (HTML).See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: Wikipedia: “Filippo Brunelleschi” and BrunelleschisDome.com
-
3.3 Several Painters outside Florence
- Web Media: Smarthistory: “Portrait of Federica de Montefeltro and Battista Sforza” and “Piero della Francesca’s Baptism of Christ”
Links: Smarthistory: “Portrait of Federica de Montefeltro and Battista Sforza” (Adobe Flash) and “Piero della Francesca’s Baptism of Christ” (Adobe Flash)
Instructions: Please listen to the 5-minute video in which Dr. Beth Harris and Chad Laird discuss the portraits of Federica da Montefeltro and Battista Sforza. Then, watch to the 4-minute video in which Dr. Beth Harris and Dr. Steven Zucker comment on the Baptism of Christ.
Terms of use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpages above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: Wikipedia: “Brera Madonna”
Link: Wikipedia: “Brera Madonna” (PDF)
Instructions: Please read this Wikipedia entry for more information on another famous work of Piero. Also, please click on the thumbnail of the image of The Brera Madonna for an enlarged version of the image.
Terms of Use: The article above is released under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0 (HTML). You can find the original Wikipedia version of this article here (HTML).See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: Smarthistory: “Mantegna’s Dead Christ,” “Mantegna’s St. Sebastian,” “Camera degli Sposi,” and “Dormition of the Virgin”
Link: Smarthistory: “Mantegna’s Dead Christ,” (Adobe Flash) “Mantegna’s St. Sebastian,” (Adobe Flash) “Camera degli Sposi,” (Adobe Flash) and “Dormition of the Virgin” (Adobe Flash)
Instructions: Please watch the “Mantegna’s Dead Christ” video in its entirety (about 5 minutes) in which Dr. Steven Zucker, Isaac Peterson, and Dr. Beth Harris discuss this work by Mantegna. Continue viewing videos for other works by Mantegna: St. Sebastian (5 minutes), Camera degli Sposi (8 minutes), and Dormition of the Virgin (3 minutes). Supplement these videos with several detailed images of the Camera degli Sposi at the Web Gallery of Art index by searching by author/artwork at the bottom of the webpage.
Terms of use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpages above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: Wikipedia: “Pietro Perugino”
Link: Wikipedia: “Pietro Perugino” (PDF)
Instructions: Read this Wikipedia entry in its entirety and click on the thumbnails to enlarge the images on the webpage.
Terms of Use: The article above is released under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0 (HTML). You can find the original Wikipedia version of this article here (HTML).See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: Smarthistory: “Portrait of Federica de Montefeltro and Battista Sforza” and “Piero della Francesca’s Baptism of Christ”
-
Unit 4: The Later Renaissance - Sixteenth Century Italian Art
During the 16th century, the trend towards multi-talented artists in Italy was climactic in the careers of Leonardo Da Vinci (1452-1519), Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564) and Rafaello (Raphael) Sanzio (1483-1520), whose works have come to define High Renaissance art. This unit will focus mainly on these artists. We will also see how the event of Martin Luther and the Reformation facilitated clerical commissions by the Catholic Church on a large scale. Rome was a major center of artistic activity and patronage in this period. We will also look at major artists in Venice. Please continue to supplement these readings and videos with a few high-quality, detailed images by searching for images discuss in this unit, and throughout the course, at the Web Gallery Index.*
Unit 4 Time Advisory show close
* Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.
Unit 4 Learning Outcomes show close
-
4.1 Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael
- Web Media: Smarthistory: “High Renaissance,” “Leonardo da Vinci,” “Leonardo’s Virgin of the Rocks,” “Leonardo’s Last Supper,” “Burlington House Cartoon,” and “Leonardo’s Mona Lisa”
Links: Smarthistory: “High Renaissance (PDF)” “Leonardo da Vinci (PDF),” “Leonardo’s Virgin of the Rocks (PDF),” “Leonardo’s Last Supper (PDF),” “Burlington House Cartoon" (Adobe Flash),” and “Leonardo’s Mona Lisa (PDF)"
Instructions: Read this introduction on the “High Renaissance (HTML).” Then, read each webpage and view each video for the following sections to learn more about the biography of Leonardo da Vinci and his works: Leonardo da Vinci (13- minute Adobe Flash video), Virgin of the Rocks (5-minute Adobe Flash video), The Last Supper (12-minute Adobe Flash video), The Burlington Cartoon (4-minute Adobe Flash video), and Mona Lisa (HTML).
Terms of Use: The article above is released under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0 (HTML). It is attributed to SmartHistory.org and the original versions can be found in the instructions above (HTML).See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: The New York Times: Ian Austen’s “New Look at ‘Mona Lisa’ Yields Some New Secrets” (9/27/2006)
Link: The New York Times: Ian Austen’s “New Look at ‘Mona Lisa’ Yields Some New Secrets” (9/27/2006) (HTML)
Instructions: Please read the linked material.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: UNESCO World Heritage: Church and Dominican Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie’s “The Last Supper Restoration”
Link: UNESCO World Heritage: Church and Dominican Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie’s “The Last Supper Restoration” (Adobe Flash)
Also available in:
YouTube
Instructions: Please view this brief video (2:30 minutes).
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpages above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: Smarthistory: “Michelangelo: Sculptor, Painter, Architect, and Poet”; “Michelangelo’s Pietà”; “Michelangelo’s David”; “Michelangelo’s Moses”; “Michelangelo’s Ceiling of the Sistine Chapel”; and “Michelangelo’s Last Judgment”
Link: Smarthistory: “Michelangelo: Sculptor, Painter, Architect, and Poet” (PDF), “Michelangelo’s Pietà” (Adobe Flash), “Michelangelo’s David” (PDF), “Michelangelo’s Moses” (Adobe Flash), “Michelangelo’s Ceiling of the Sistine Chapel”; (Adobe Flash) and “Michelangelo’s Last Judgment” (Adobe Flash)
Also available in:
YouTube for “Michelangelo’s Ceiling of the Sistine Chapel”
YouTube for “Michelangelo’s Moses”
YouTube for “Michelangelo’s Last Judgment”
Instructions: Read the introduction and biographical information in “Michelangelo: Sculptor, Painter, Architect, and Poet.” Then, go through the entire section on Michelangelo, as follows: Pietà (2 Adobe Flash videos; 11 minutes; 3 minutes), David, Moses (4-minute), Sistine Ceiling Frescos (22-minutes), and The Last Judgment (17-minutes).
Terms of Use: The article above is released under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0 (HTML). It is attributed to SmartHistory.org and the orginal versions can be found by navigating the pages found here (HTML and Adobe Flash).See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: Vatican Museums: “The Last Judgment”
Link: Vatican Museums: “The Last Judgment” (HTML and Java)
Instructions: Read the Vatican’s description of Michelangelo’s The Last Judgment. Click on each button under the image on the webpage and move your cursor over the image to try each function (zoom, pan, etc.) and explore the detail of the work.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: Wikipedia: “Moses (Michelangelo)”
Link: Wikipedia: “Moses (Michelangelo)” (PDF)
Instructions: Prior to his work on The Last Judgment, Michelangelo was commissioned by the Pope to design his tomb, an elaborate project never finished. In this Wikipedia article, you will read about several sculptures made for the tomb, including the powerful Moses and those known as “the slaves,” which show Michelangelo’s dramatic mature style.
Terms of Use: The article above is released under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0 (HTML). You can find the original Wikipedia version of this article here (HTML).See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: Smarthistory: “Raphael’s Alba Madonna,” “Raphael’s Portrait of Pope Julius II,” and “Raphael’s School of Athens”
Link: Smarthistory: Raphael’s Alba Madonna (PDF), “Raphael’s Portrait of Pope Julius II” (PDF), and “Raphael’s School of Athens” (PDF)
Also available in:
iTunes (#32) for “Raphael’s Alba Madonna”
YouTube for “Raphael’s Portrait of Pope Julius II”
Instructions: Read the text on the “Raphael’s Alba Madonna” webpage and then view the video (about 6 minutes). Continue learning about Raphael’s other works by viewing the videos for Portrait of Pope Julius II (approximately 4 minutes) and School of Athens (approximately 12 minutes).
Terms of Use: The article above is released under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0 (HTML). It is attributed to SmartHistory.org and the original versions can be found above in instructions (HTML/Adobe Flash).See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: Smarthistory: “Saint Peter’s Basilica”
Link: Smarthistory: "Saint Peter’s Basilica" (PDF)
Instructions: Please read the short reading on Saint Peter's Basilica and view the brief 4-minute video (Adobe Flash) in which Dr. Beth Harris and Dr. Steven Zucker comment on the history of Saint Peter’s Basilica.
Terms of Use: The article above is released under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0 (HTML). It is attributed to SmartHistory.org and the original version can be found here (HTML).See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: Wikipedia: “Donato Bramante” and “San Pietro in Montorio”
Link: Wikipedia: “Donato Bramante” (PDF) and “San Pietro in Montorio” (PDF)
Instructions: Read both of these Wikipedia entries in their entirety. Click on the thumbnails for any images to view an enlarged version.
Terms of Use: The articles above are released under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0 (HTML). You can find the original Wikipedia versions of these articles here (HTML) and here (HTML).See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: Smarthistory: “1500-1600: End of the Renaissance and the Reformation”
Link: Smarthistory: “1500-1600: End of the Renaissance and the Reformation” (HTML)
Instructions: Read this introduction to the end of the Renaissance and the Reformation in its entirety.
Terms of Use: The article above is released under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0 (HTML). It is attributed to SmartHistory.org and the original version can be found here (HTML).See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: Smarthistory: “High Renaissance,” “Leonardo da Vinci,” “Leonardo’s Virgin of the Rocks,” “Leonardo’s Last Supper,” “Burlington House Cartoon,” and “Leonardo’s Mona Lisa”
-
4.2 Mannerism in Florence and Rome
Note: By the time Michelangelo painted the Last Judgment (1536-1541), he and other artists working primarily in Florence and Rome had moved away from the idealistic proportions and symmetry of the High Renaissance, a stylistic tendency later known as Mannerism
- Web Media: Smarthistory: “Pontormo’s Entombment,” “Bronzino’s Portraits,” “Parmigianino’s Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror,” “Parmigianino’s Madonna of the Long Neck,” and “Cellini’s Perseus with the Head of Medusa”
Links: Smarthistory: “Pontormo’s Entombment” (Adobe Flash), “Bronzino’s Portraits” (Adobe Flash), “Parmigianino’s Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror” (Adobe Flash), “Parmigianino’s Madonna of the Long Neck,” (Adobe Flash) and “Cellini’s Perseus with the Head of Medusa” (Adobe Flash)
Also available in:
iTunes (#69) for “Pontormo’s Entombment”
iTunes (#71) for “Parmigianino’s Madonna of the Long Neck”
iTunes (#40) for “Parmigianino’s Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror”
iTunes (#73) for “Cellini’s Perseus with the Head of Medusa”
Instructions: Please view the following videos in their entirety: Pontormo’s Entombment (10-minute video), Bronzino’s Portraits (10-minute video), and Parmigianino’s Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror (12-minute video). Optionally, you may also decide to view Parmigianino’s Madonna of the Long Neck (6-minute video) and Cellini’s Perseus (12-minute video).
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: The Museums of Florence: Laurentian Library
Link: The Museums of Florence: Laurentian Library (HTML)
Instructions: Read this article on Michelangelo’s library for the Medici around mid-century. Click on each image to enlarge it, and note the bold, ornamental use of classical forms and exaggerated elements.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: Wikipedia: “Benvenuto Cellini”
Link: Wikipedia: “Benvenuto Cellini” (PDF)
Instructions: Read this Wikipedia entry in its entirety and view images on Mannerist sculptor Cellini. You may click on the thumbnails of the image to open a new page with an enlarged version and description of the image.
Terms of Use: The article above is released under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0 (HTML). You can find the original Wikipedia version of this article here (HTML).See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: Smarthistory: “Pontormo’s Entombment,” “Bronzino’s Portraits,” “Parmigianino’s Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror,” “Parmigianino’s Madonna of the Long Neck,” and “Cellini’s Perseus with the Head of Medusa”
-
4.3 Venice
Note: By the end of the fifteenth century, Venetian painters had become known for light and color, led by Giovanni Bellini, as opposed to geometric structure and drawing (or design) on the peninsula. The transition to Mannerism was generally later than in the south.
- Web Media: Artchive’s “San Zaccaria”
Link: Artchive’s “San Zaccaria” (HTML)
Instructions: View this image of a late work by Giovanni Bellini, and read the excerpt from E.H. Gombrich’s “The Story of Art.”
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History: Andrea Bayer’s "Sixteenth-Century Painting in Venice and the Veneto"
Link: The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History: Andrea Bayer’s "Sixteenth-Century Painting in Venice and the Veneto" (HTML)
Instructions: Read the webpage in its entirety for an overview of 16th century painting in Venice. Please also click on the thumbnail images located above the text to view the artworks and their captions.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History: Department of European Paintings’ "Titian (ca. 1488–1576)"
Link: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History: Department of European Paintings’ "Titian (ca. 1488–1576)" (HTML)
Instructions: Please read this entire article to learn about Titian, the most renowned Venetian artist of the sixteenth century. Please also click on the thumbnail images located above the text to view the artworks and their captions.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: Smarthistory’s “The Venetian Renaissance,” “Titian’s Bacchus and Ariadne,” and “Titian’s Portrait of a Man”
Link: Smarthistory’s “The Venetian Renaissance,” (Adobe Flash) “Titian’s Bacchus and Ariadne,” (Adobe Flash) and “Titian’s Portrait of a Man” (Adobe Flash)
Also available in:
YouTube for “The Venetian Renaissance”
Instructions: Please view each video in its entirety (about 3-4 minutes for each video).
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: Wikipedia: “Tintoretto”
Link: Wikipedia: “Tintoretto” (PDF)
Instructions: Skim this Wikipedia entry and view the images, with particular attention to the final paragraph and image on The Last Supper.
Terms of Use: The article above is released under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0 (HTML). You can find the original Wikipedia version of this article here (HTML).See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: Great Buildings: Andre Palladio’s “Villa Capra, or Villa Rotunda” and “San Giorgio Maggiore”
Links: Great Buildings: Andre Palladio’s “Villa Capra, or Villa Rotunda” (HTML) and “San Giorgio Maggiore” (HTML)
Instructions: Scroll down each webpage and read the text. Also, enlarge several views of these buildings by Palladio, who worked mainly in the Veneto. While the “Villa Capra, or Villa Rotunda” was created after mid-century, its plan epitomizes High Renaissance ideas of unity, symmetry, mathematic proportion, and interaction with light and environment. In viewing “San Giorgio Maggiore,” note the ornamental, less clarified use of classical elements, especially on the façade.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: Artchive’s “San Zaccaria”
-
Unit 5: Sixteenth Century Outside Italy
The most impactful socio-political development in the 16th century in Europe was probably Martin Luther’s religious revolution against the Catholic Church, dating from 1517, that established Protestantism in Northern areas. As we shall see, this facilitated new ways of representing religious and moralistic subjects in the region. We will look at shifts in architectural style in France and Spain, as well as the Mannerist painter known as El Greco, who worked in Spain.
Unit 5 Time Advisory show close
Unit 5 Learning Outcomes show close
-
5.1 German Painters
- Web Media: Web Gallery of Art: Matthias Grünewald’s “Isenheim Altarpiece”
Link: Web Gallery of Art: Matthias Grünewald’s “Isenheim Altarpiece” (HTML)
Instructions: Read this short text on a deeply symbolic, Catholic altarpiece for a hospital church in what is today northeastern France by German artist, Grünewald (done on the eve of Marin Luther’s public declarations that we will read about below). This altarpiece represents the epitome of late Gothic style but also shows spatial depth in several scenes and the humanizing representations associated with the Renaissance. At the bottom of the webpage, click link on “First View”; please enlarge each image that appears in this section and study its visual details. Click on the hyperlinks at the bottom of this webpage to proceed to “2nd view,” and continue through the “3rd view” and the “predella,” viewing all images in each section.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: Smarthistory: “1500-1600: The End of the Renaissance and the Reformation”
Link: Smarthistory: “1500-1600: The End of the Renaissance and the Reformation” (PDF)
Instructions: Please read this introductory text on the end of the Renaissance and the Reformation in its entirety.
Terms of Use: The article above is released under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0 (HTML). It is attributed to Smarthhistory and the original version can be found here (HTML).See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: Smarthistory: “Northern Renaissance,” “Dürer’s Self-Portrait,” “Dürer’s Prints,” and “Dürer’s The Four Apostles”Links: Smarthistory: “Northern Renaissance” (Adobe Flash) “Dürer’s Self-Portrait” (Adobe Flash), “Dürer’s Prints” (Adobe Flash) and “Durer’s, The Four Apostles, 1526” (Adobe Flash)
Also available in:
YouTube for “Dürer’s, The Four Apostles, 1526”
Instructions: Please view the video for “Northern Renaissance.” Then, watch the three videos on Dürer’s three works in the following order: “Self-Portrait” (2 minutes), “Prints” (8 minutes), and “The Four Apostles” (10 minutes).
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History: "Albrecht Dürer: Melencolia I (43.106.1)"
Link: The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History: "Albrecht Dürer: Melencolia I (43.106.1)" (HTML)
Instructions: Please read this entry and click on the images to enlarge them. View each image carefully.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: The Wall Street Journal: Judith H. Dobrzynski’s “An Epic Poem in Paint: ‘The Story of the Battle of Issus’ and Albrecht Altdorfer” (January 8, 2010)
Link: The Wall Street Journal: Judith H. Dobrzynski’s “An Epic Poem in Paint: ‘The Story of the Battle of Issus’ and Albrecht Altdorfer” (January 8, 2010) (HTML)
Instructions: Please read this critical piece on a painting by an Altdorfer, a contemporary of Dürer. Note, this is a “history” painting (not a religious work) that shows interest in landscape. Please remember to enlarge image.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: Smarthistory: “Hans Holbein, The Ambassadors” and “Hans Holbein’s the Younger’s Henry VIII”
Link: Smarthistory: “Hans Holbein, The Ambassadors” (Adobe Flash) and “Hans Holbein’s the Younger’s Henry VIII” (Adobe Flash)
Also available in:
iTunes for “Hans Holbein, The Ambassadors”
YouTube for “Hans Holbein’s the Younger’s Henry VIII”
Instructions: Please listen to 15-minute video on a fascinating painting by Hans Holbein, who worked at the court of Henry VIII in England. Please supplement this audio lecture with a close up from the Web Gallery of Art, Index. Then, listen to “Portrait of Henry VIII” (4 minutes).
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: Web Gallery of Art: Matthias Grünewald’s “Isenheim Altarpiece”
-
5.2 Painting in Flanders and Holland
- Web Media: Wikipedia: “The Garden of Earthly Delights”
Link: Wikipedia: “The Garden of Earthly Delights” (PDF)
Instructions: Read the webpage in its entirety. Also, click on each thumbnail to enlarge all reproductions to view this unusual triptych by Bosch. Note the continuity from earlier Netherlandish painting we have looked at, though this work is even more complex in composition. Bosch can also be considered the epitome of late Gothic.
Terms of Use: The article above is released under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0 (HTML). You can find the original Wikipedia version of this article here (HTML).See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: Web Gallery of Art: Pieter Aersten’s Butcher’s Stall
Link: Web Gallery of Art: Pieter Aersten’s Butcher’s Stall (HTML)
Instructions: Read brief entry on Aersten and view his painting Butcher’s Stall. While the text notes the religious iconography in the work, it still shows real observation of foodstuffs and the emergence of the still life genre.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: Wikipedia: “Caterina van Hemessen”
Link: Wikipedia: “Caterina van Hemessen” (PDF)
Instructions: Read this entry on an early female Flemish painter.
Terms of Use: The article above is released under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0 (HTML). You can find the original Wikipedia version of this article here (HTML).See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: Wikipedia: “Pieter Bruegel the Elder”
Link: Wikipedia: “Pieter Bruegel the Elder” (PDF)
Instructions: Read about the brief text on Bruegel, the major Northern painter of the second half of the century. In the section titled “Works,” please click on Netherlandish Proverbs, which will give you text and images of this fascinating work; you can enlarge the full image and its details. Then, return to the Bruegel page and click on a few images that interest you. Be sure to also click on Hunters in the Snow, which shows interest in deep space as well as landscape, along with the satirical, symbolic works.
Terms of Use: The article above is released under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0 (HTML). You can find the original Wikipedia version of this article here (HTML).See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: Wikipedia: “The Garden of Earthly Delights”
-
5.3 France and Spain
- Reading: Web Gallery of Art: Jean Clouet’s “Portrait of Francois I, King of France”
Link: Web Gallery of Art: Jean Clouet’s “Portrait of Francois I, King of France” (HTML)
Instructions: Please read this entry on Clouet and his portrait of Francis I.
Note: By this point and as you continue through the course, you should be starting to describe stylistic aspects of images, such as a “flatness” and “linear quality,” as well as subject matter (for example, “royal portraiture”).
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: Great Buildings: “Chateau de Chambord” and “The Louvre”
Links: Great Buildings: “Chateau de Chambord” (JPEG) and “The Louvre” (JPEG)
Instructions: On each webpage, click various views provided for each building. If possible, try to have windows open for both webpages to toggle back and forth between the images for each building. The point here is a comparison of two royal residences in France, one early in the sixteenth century and one after mid-century; both were royal residences. The earlier Chateau de Chambord retains some ornamental aspects of regional Gothic, while the large, clear spaces of the plan reflect Italian influence. Construction of The Louvre started in the mid-16th century; note how this building is more severely geometric and related to the palazzo style that we have studied.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: Wikipedia: “Colegio de San Gregorio”
Link: Wikipedia: “Colegio de San Gregorio” (PDF)
Instructions: Here, enlarge each image on the webpage. Please note as the brief text is in Spanish; the English is currently abbreviated. This building in Valladolid represents a late Gothic in Spain sometimes called plateresque (referring to ironwork), for its detailed sculptural ornamentation.
Terms of Use: The article above is released under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0 (HTML). You can find the original Wikipedia version of this article here (HTML).See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: Great Buildings: “The Escorial”
Link: Great Buildings: “The Escorial” (PDF)
Instructions: Scroll down the webpage to read a paragraph on the Escorial, a royal palace complex; then scroll back up to the details, starting with the engraving just before the text to see the overall layout. The Escorial shows a full-fledged Renaissance style with grand geometric plan and restrained palazzo façade
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: National Gallery of Art: “Tour: El Greco”
Link: National Gallery of Art: “Tour: El Greco” (HTML)
Instructions: Read the article entitled “Overview.” Then, click on “Start Tour” and “Continue Tour” (at the bottom of each webpage) to view the eight images and read the corresponding text. Alternatively, to access this material you may click on the individual thumbnails for each image.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: Web Gallery of Art: Jean Clouet’s “Portrait of Francois I, King of France”
-
Unit 6: The Seventeenth Century: Baroque Art
As the Counter Reformation picked up steam, grandiose renovations to St. Peter’s Basilica ensued. We will begin this unit by taking a look at these renovations and by taking note of the High Renaissance illusionism and aspects of Mannerism seen in Italian and Spanish Baroque painting around the same time. In this genre, artists employed dramatic lighting to emotional and theatrical effect, embedded messages of the Counter Reformation, and began to experiment with close-up realism—features that stood in contrast to the idealized harmonies and perspectival distance emphasized in Renaissance art.
Unit 6 Time Advisory show close
In Holland, where Protestantism has taken firm hold, diverse, new genres emerged amidst a burgeoning art market. It is important to note that Flanders, a Spanish subject territory in the era and a high point in the wealth of European monarchies, remained Catholic. (Note: In France, government-sponsored exhibitions of art known as “salons,” began under Louis XIV; these salons become extensive in the next century, giving public exposure to many artists and eventually becoming a standard of conservative art tradition that “modern” artists will challenge.)
Unit 6 Learning Outcomes show close
- Web Media: Euratlas.net: History of Europe
Link: Euratlas.net: History of Europe (HTML)
This is the index page; for the rest of the course, you may want to refer to the maps here to see how modern Europe takes shape from the seventeenth through the twentieth century.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: Euratlas.net: History of Europe
-
6.1 Italy
- Reading: Wikipedia: “Carlo Maderno”
Link: Wikipedia: “Carlo Maderno” (PDF)
Instructions: Read the brief text and enlarge the images (façade of St. Peter’s Basilica; Santa Susanna). The mix of scale in ornamentation and rippling surfacing breaks out of the Renaissance sense of equilibrium.
Terms of Use: The article above is released under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0 (HTML). You can find the original Wikipedia version of this article here (HTML).See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: Smarthistory: “Bernini’s St. Peter’s Square,” “Cathedra Petri (Peter’s Chair),” “Ecstasy of St. Theresa,” and “David”
Links: Smarthistory: “Bernini’s St. Peter’s Square” (Adobe Flash) “Cathedra Petri (Peter’s Chair)” (Adobe Flash) “Ecstasy of St. Theresa” (Adobe Flash) and “David” (Adobe Flash)
Also available in:
YouTube Bernini's "David"
PDF Bernini's "David"
PDF Bernini's "Ecstasy of St. Theresa"
Instructions: Watch the 3-minute video “Bernini's St. Peter's Square” about the addition of the plaza to the entrance of St. Peter’s, started around mid-17th century. Continue to the 3-minute video “Cathedra Petri”; “Ecstasy of St. Theresa,” a commission for a private chapel; and “David” (text and 3-minute video).
Terms of Use: The article above is released under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0 (HTML). It is attributed to SmartHistory.org and the original versions can be found from here (HTML).See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: Smarthistory: “Borromini: San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane”
Link: Smarthistory: “Borromini: San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane” (Adobe Flash)
Also available in:
YouTube
Instructions: Listen to the 6-minute video in which speakers Frank Dabell, Dr. Beth Harris, and Dr. Steven Zucker discuss this Baroque Church in Rome.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: Smarthistory: “Caravaggio’s Deposition, or Entombment” “Caravaggio’s Calling of St. Matthew,” and “Caravaggio’s Crucifixion of St. Peter”
Links: Smarthistory: “Caravaggio’s Deposition, or Entombment” (PDF) “Caravaggio’s Calling of St. Matthew,” (PDF) and “Caravaggio’s Crucifixion of St. Peter” (Adobe Flash)
Instructions: View the pages on Caravaggio, influential for the formation of what is now known as Italian or Southern Baroque painting, as follows: Read "Caravaggio's Deposition, or Emtombment"; then read Calling of St. Matthew and watch the 6-minute video (Abobe Flash); and finally, read Crucifixion of St. Peter and watch the 4-minute video (Adobe Flash).
Terms of Use: The article above is released under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0 (HTML). It is attributed to SmartHistory.org and the original versions can be found from here (HTML).See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: Art and the Bible’s “Artemisia Gentileschi” and “Biblical Art by Artemisia Gentileschi”
Link: Art and the Bible’s “Artemisia Gentileschi” (HTML) and “Biblical Art by Artemisia Gentileschi” (HTML)
Instructions: Read the text on female artist Artemisia Gentileschi, who was in Caravaggio’s orbit in Rome. Then, click on each image (6 images total) on the “Biblical Art by Aremisia Gentileschi” webpage to view enlarged versions and accompanying text for each image.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: Casa-in-italia.com’s “Pozzo – Sant’Ignazio”
Link: Casainitalia.com’s “Pozzo – Sant’Ignazio” (PDF)
Instructions: Read the brief introductory text, and click on all of the hyperlinks on the webpage to see images of frescos by Pozzo in the church of St. Ignazio, dedicated to the founder of the highly spiritual Jesuit order. In the context of this course, this can be considered the epitome of Catholic Baroque painting in content and style, climactic in illusionistic effects, drama, lighting, and detail. This is a culmination of Michelangelo’s conception and forms in the Sistine Ceiling frescoes, however unified into a mystical, rather than measured, space.
Terms of Use: The material above has been reposted with permission for *educational, *noncommercial use by Casainitalia.com. It can be viewed in its original form here (HTML).See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: Wikipedia: “Carlo Maderno”
-
6.2 Beyond Italy
- Web Media: Smarthistory: “France 1600-1700,” “Poussin,” and “Claude Lorraine”Links: Smarthistory: “France 1600-1700” (PDF), “Poussin,” (Adobe Flash) and “Claude Lorraine” (Adobe Flash)
Instructions: Read the “France 1600-1700” (HTML) webpage on Hyacinthe Rigaud and the court of Louis XIV. Then, play the 9-minute video on Poussin (Adobe Flash) and the 4-minute video on Claude Lorraine (Adobe Flash). Please note, as we have seen in some Italian work above, mythology is increasingly popular from the High Renaissance. Note the formal description of the Claude Lorraine painting in the analysis (compositional structure, lighting).
Terms of Use: The article above is released under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0 (HTML). It is attributed to SmartHistory.org and the original versions can be found in the instructions above (HTML).See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: Chateau de Versailles: The Palace of Versailles
Link: Chateau de Versailles: The Palace of Versailles (HTML and Adobe Flash)
Instructions: Please note this resource is optional. This is the official site of the Palace of Versailles. To get an idea of the extravagance of the reign of Louis XIV, as well as French styles of the Baroque era, browse, from top menu, “Explore the Estate”; and from left menu, “Explore the Palace” (as well as other links that may interest you).
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: Web Gallery of Art: “Nicholas Poussin’s Et in Arcadia Ego”
Link: Web Gallery of Art: “Nicholas Poussin’s Et in Arcadia Ego” (HTML)
Instructions: Please note this resource is optional. This is an important painting by Poussin, about which much has been written. It clearly shows the artist’s classicizing style, which anticipates styles of the following century.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.The Saylor Foundation does not yet have materials for this portion of the course. If you are interested in contributing your content to fill this gap or aware of a resource that could be used here, please submit it here.
- Reading: Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History: "Iberian Peninsula, 1600–1800 A.D."
Link: Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History: "Iberian Peninsula, 1600–1800 A.D." (HTML)
Instructions: Read this text for an introduction to Spanish art of the Baroque era, and click on the first four thumbnails at the top of the webpage to view these images.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: Smarthistory: “Velázquez’s Las Meninas” and “Velázquez’s Los Borrachos”
Links: Smarthistory: “Velázquez’s Las Meninas” (Adobe Flash) and “Velázquez’s Los Borrachos” (Adobe Flash)
Also available in:
iTunes for “Velázquez’s Las Meninas”
YouTube for “Velázquez’s Los Borrachos”
Instructions: Listen to videos on two famous paintings by “Velázquez” (each 4-5 minutes). The stylistic emphasis is on realistic details.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: Smarthistory: “Ribera’s Martyrdom of Saint Philip”
Link: Smarthistory: “Ribera’s Martyrdom of Saint Philip” (Adobe Flash)
Instructions: Listen to the clip (3 minutes) in which Dr. Beth Harris and Dr. Steven Zucker discuss Ribera in relation to Baroque art.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: Smarthistory: “Flanders: Ruben’s The Elevation of the Cross”
Link: Smarthistory: “Flanders: Ruben’s The Elevation of the Cross” (PDF)
Instructions: Read this text on Rubens and Flemish art, also introducing Rembrandt (Dutch art).
Terms of Use: The article above is released under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0 (HTML). It is attributed to SmartHistory.org and the original version can be found here (HTML).See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: Smarthistory: “1600-1700: The Baroque”
Link: Smarthistory: “1600-1700: The Baroque” (Adobe Flash)
Instructions: View this 12-minute video that further explains Baroque artists and their societies.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: Webmuseum Paris’s “Van Dyck”
Link: Webmuseum Paris’s “Van Dyck” (PDF)
Instructions: Read the text and view the images on this webpage devoted to Flemish artist, Van Dyke, who worked for Rubens for a time, and later worked mainly in England. Van Dyke was known for naturalizing portraits of royalty.
Terms of Use: The article above is released under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0 (HTML). It is attributed to Nicolas Pioch and the original version can be found here. (HTML)See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: Wikipedia: “Dutch Golden Age Painting”
Link: Wikipedia: “Dutch Golden Age Painting” (PDF)
Instructions: Read this page on Dutch seventeenth-century painting; note the various genres that develop; enlarge images accompanying the main text.
Terms of Use: The article above is released under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0 (HTML). You can find the original Wikipedia version of this article here (HTML).See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: Wikipedia: “Rembrandt”
Link: Wikipedia: “Rembrandt” (PDF)
Instructions: Read this entire article about Rembrandt; enlarge painting images accompanying the main text. (Please recall we have heard about Rembrandt in the Smarthistory video on Rubens, above.)
Terms of Use: The article above is released under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0 (HTML). It is attributed to Wikipedia and the original version can be found here (HTML).See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: Jonathan Janson’s www.EssentialVermeer.com : “The School of Delft”
Link: Jonathan Janson’s www.EssentialVermeer.com: “The School of Delft” (HTML)
Instructions: This is an excellent, comprehensive site on all things related to the 19th-century Dutch painter Vermeer. For the course purpose: on right, embodied menu, choose “The School of Deft,” and read through the 4-page article. This will give you a good idea of Dutch life and painting in the era. Return to the homepage and scroll down to “Something to Smile About,” to browse several more detailed reproductions of several of Vermeer’s paintings.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: Great Buildings: Inigo Jones’s Banqueting House and Sir Christopher Wren’s Saint Paul’s Cathedral
Links: Great Buildings: Inigo Jones’s Banqueting House (HTML) and Sir Christopher Wren’s Saint Paul’s Cathedral (HTML)
Instructions: Scroll down each webpage to read brief text; then, scroll back up to browse images of these two buildings. Seventeenth-century architecture in England was classicizing and restrained. The main Baroque aspects are the rippling façade of Jones’s Banqueting House, creating by superimposed pilasters (or engaged columns) and the superimposed porticos (porches) on the Cathedral.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: Smarthistory: “France 1600-1700,” “Poussin,” and “Claude Lorraine”
-
Unit 7: Eighteenth-Century Art
While Baroque styles continued to dominate eighteenth century artwork in many places in Europe, an outgrowth known as Rococo lightened up the dark palettes and further exaggerated excessive detail and ornament in painting and architecture. In this unit, we will look at regional and cultural nuances of this development, and note the relationship between rococo styles and royal patronage across Europe. It is important to consider this style within its social-economic context: at the time, the rise of colonial economies was generating great wealth in Europe.
Unit 7 Time Advisory show close
After the mid-century, a return to Classical form and subject matter accompanied the so-called “age of enlightenment,” when secular thinking began to challenge the entrenched Christian worldview of Europe. Art came to be seen as witness to and expressive of the American Revolution and the first overthrow of a sitting monarch in Europe with the French Revolution by the end of the century.
Unit 7 Learning Outcomes show close
-
7.1 Rococo
- Web Media: Smarthistory: “Rococo,” “Fragonard’s The Meeting,” “Boucher’s Venus Consoling Love,” “Boucher’s Madame de Pompadour,” and “Vigée Le Brun’s Madame Perregaux”
Link: Smarthistory: “Rococo,” (PDF) “Fragonard’s The Meeting,” (Adobe Flash) “Boucher’s Venus Consoling Love,” (Adobe Flash) “Boucher’s Madame de Pompadour,” (Adobe Flash) and “Vigée Le Brun’s Madame Perregaux” (Adobe Flash)
Also available in:
YouTube for “Boucher’s Madame de Pompadour”
iTunes for “Fragonard’s The Meeting”
iTunes for “Boucher’s Venus Consoling Love”
Instructions: Read the introductory page titled “Rococo,” and view the brief 3-minute video in which Dr. Beth Harris and Dr. Steven Zucker discuss Jean-Honoré Fragonard’s The Swing. Then, view the following videos for Fragonard’s The Meeting (about 5 minutes), Boucher's Venus Consoling Love (2-3 minutes), Boucher’s Madame de Pompadour (2-3 minutes), and Vigée Le Brun’s Madame Perregaux (2-3 minutes).
Terms of Use: The article above is released under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0 (HTML). It is attributed to SmartHistory.org and the original versions can be found in the instructions above (HTML).See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: Smarthistory: “The Tiepolo Family”
Link: Smarthistory: “Tiepolo Family” (PDF)
Instructions: Please read this text in its entirety and carefully view the images on the webpage.
Terms of Use: The article above is released under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0 (HTML). It is attributed to SmartHistory.org and the original version can be found here (HTML).See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: National Gallery of Art’s Exhibitions: “The Age of Watteau, Chardin, and Fragonard” Exhibition
Link: National Gallery of Art’s Exhibitions: “The Age of Watteau, Chardin, and Fragonard” (HTML)
Instructions: Click on the links for each section of the site from the menu at the top of the webpage (below the title). You may click on each thumbnail of an image to enlarge it. This covers a range associated with the Rococo style in French painting broadly.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: Bayerische Schlösserverwaltung’s Würzburg Residenz: Kaisersaal (Imperial Hall)
Link: Bayerische Schlösserverwaltung’s Würzburg Residenz: Kaisersaal (Imperial Hall) (HTML)
Instructions: Read about this hall in a Bavarian palace, designed by Balthasar Neumann, premier German architect of the era, with frescos by Giambattista Tiepolo. Enlarge the details of the paintings at the bottom of the page.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: Great Buildings: Johan Balthasar Neumann’s Vierzehnheiligen
Link: Great Buildings: Johan Balthasar Neumann’s Vierzehnheiligen (HTML)
Instructions: Scroll down the webpage until you reach “Vierzehnheiligen Commentary,” and read the text on Neumann’s “Church of Fourteen Saints.” Then, scroll back up the webpage to the images and enlarge each. Mixed media, curvilinear rhythms, and confusion of space are typical of Rococo design.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: Bayerische Schlösserverwaltung’s Palace and Park Nymphenburg and Park Palace Amalienburg
Link: Bayerische Schlösserverwaltung’s Palace and Park Nymphenburg (HTML) and Park Palace Amalienburg (HTML)
Instructions: Read about the history of the building by architect François de Cuvillés, with emphasis on the Rococo phase. Then, read and view the images on the “Park Palace Amalienburg” webpage.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History: "Clodion (Claude Michel): Nymph and Satyr Carousing (14.40.687)”
Link: Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History: "Clodion (Claude Michel): Nymph and Satyr Carousing (14.40.687)” (HTML)
Instructions: Read the text and view the images on this example of Rococo style in sculpture. Please note how Rococo remains steeped in Classical precedents in form and content.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: Tate Britain’s “Hogarth,” “The Modern Moral Series,” and “Marriage à la Mode”
Link: Tate Britain’s “Hogarth,” (HTML) “The Modern Moral Series,” (HTML) and “Marriage à la Mode” (HTML)
Instructions: Read the text on the “Hogarth” webpage. Then, read the introduction to “The Modern Moral Series” and the section on “Marriage à la Mode.” Carefully view the images on each webpage.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: WebMuseum, Paris, “Gainsborough, Thomas”
Link: WebMuseum, Paris, “Gainsborough, Thomas” (HTML)
Instructions: Read about English Rococo portraitist, Gainsborough, and view the images on the webpage.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: Smarthistory: “Rococo,” “Fragonard’s The Meeting,” “Boucher’s Venus Consoling Love,” “Boucher’s Madame de Pompadour,” and “Vigée Le Brun’s Madame Perregaux”
-
7.2 Neoclassicism
- Reading: Smarthistory’s “1700-1800: Age of Enlightenment,” “Neo-Classicism,” “David’s Oath of the Horatii,” “David’s Death of Socrates,” and “David’s Death of Marat”
Links: Smarthistory’s “1700-1800: Age of Enlightenment” (PDF), “Neo-Classicism” (PDF), “David’s Oath of the Horatii” (PDF), “David’s Death of Socrates” (PDF), and “David’s Death of Marat” (PDF)
Also available in:
YouTube for “David’s Oath of the Horatii”
YouTube for “David’s Death of Socrates”
Instructions: Read the overview on “Age of Enlightenment,” transitioning into the latter eighteenth century towards the age of revolution. Continue to read the introduction to “Neo-Classicism.” Then, read the text and view the videos for the other entries on the work of Jacques-Louis David as follows: “David: Oath of the Horatii” with 5-minute video (Adobe Flash); Death of Socrates and optional 6-minute.
Terms of Use: The article above is released under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0 (HTML). It is attributed to SmartHistory.org and the original versions can be found from here (HTML).See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: Wikipedia: The Death of General Wolfe
Link: Wikipedia: The Death of General Wolfe (PDF)
Instructions: View this entry on a famous painting by Pennsylvania-born artist, Benjamin West, who made his career at the Royal Academy in London. The work shows contemporary details coming mixed into Neo-Classical form.
Terms of Use: The article above is released under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0 (HTML). You can find the original Wikipedia version of this article here (HTML).See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: Smarthistory: John Singleton Copley’s “Boy with a Squirrel” and “Watson and the Shark”
Links: Smarthistory: John Singleton Copley’s “Boy with a Squirrel” (PDF) and “Watson and the Shark” (PDF)
Instructions: Read about painting in America just before the Revolution, via Copley’s Boy with a Squirrel. Then, read about his other painting, Watson and the Shark.
Terms of Use: The articles above are released under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0 (HTML). It is attributed to SmartHistory.org and the original versions can be found here and here (HTML)..See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History: Jean Sorabella’s "The Grand Tour”
Link: Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History: Jean Sorabella’s "The Grand Tour” (HTML)
Instructions: Read about the “Grand Tour,” which advocated travel to Italy from elsewhere in Europe to learn about Classical culture. Click on “View slide show” at the top of the webpage below the images; view each image and choose about two or three images to review more in-depth by reading the accompanying text.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: Great Buildings: Jacques Germain Soufflot’s “Pantheon in Paris” and Lord Burlington’s “Chiswick House”
Links: Great Buildings: Jacques Germain Soufflot’s “Pantheon, Paris” (HTML) and Lord Burlington’s “Chiswick House” (HTML)
Instructions: On each webpage, scroll down to read the brief paragraph. Then, scroll up the webpage to view and enlarge the images and diagrams of the buildings. These buildings, French and English, respectively, represent the full-fledged “Neo-Classical.” They build on Palladio a century earlier (as we have seen). (Note: this period style in architecture is sometimes considered a severe or restrained late Baroque.)
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: Monticello’s “House and Gardens”
Link: Monticello’s “House and Gardens” (HTML)
Instructions: Monticello was the home of President Thomas Jefferson, a trained architect. Explore the page and a few links to round out your understanding of Neo-classical aesthetics. (Note: This is an excellent website to explore further, as interested.)
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: The Wall Street Journal: Catesby Leigh’s “Our First President in Three Dimensions,” February 19, 2011
Link: The Wall Street Journal: Catesby Leigh’s “Our First President in Three Dimensions,” February 19, 2011 (HTML)
Instructions: Read this article on early Neo-classical portraits of George Washington by French sculptor, Houdon.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: Smarthistory’s “1700-1800: Age of Enlightenment,” “Neo-Classicism,” “David’s Oath of the Horatii,” “David’s Death of Socrates,” and “David’s Death of Marat”
-
Unit 8: Nineteenth Century
As you proceed through this unit, please keep the two significant historical and social contexts in mind: first, Napoleon rose to power and crowned himself Emperor of the French Republic in 1804; second, European imperialism and colonialism throughout the world approached a climax. (There would be three more revolutionary uprisings before monarchy was definitively dissolved in France.)
Unit 8 Time Advisory show close
It is important to understand “Realism,” around mid-century, as a style with certain aims and tendencies beyond an objective translation of reality. In America, Realism was manifested in the art of the Civil War era. The Industrial Revolution, rail travel, and especially the advent of photography were impactful in the development of “modern art,” which was perhaps first recognized as such in the art of Manet and, soon after, the Impressionists. By the end of the century, many artists, in different ways, were turning distinctly away from visual reality as the model for an “essence” of art.
Unit 8 Learning Outcomes show close
-
8.1 Napoleonic Era and the Evolution of Romantic Painting
- Web Media: Smarthistory: “David’s The Emperor Napoleon in His Study at the Tuileries”
Link: Smarthistory: “David’s The Emperor Napoleon in His Study at the Tuileries” (Adobe Flash)
Also available in:
YouTube
iTunes (#55)
Instructions: Watch this 3-minute video in which Dr. Beth Harris and Dr. Steven Zucker provide an introduction to end of the first French Republic and the era of Napoleon.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: Galleria Borghese: “Pauline Bonaparte”
Link: Galleria Borghese: “Pauline Bonaparte” (HTML)
Instructions: Read this entry on this Neo-classical sculpture commissioned by Napoleon’s sister.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: Smarthistory: “Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres” and “La Grande Odalisque (1814)”
Link: Smarthistory: “Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres” (PDF) and “La Grande Odalisque (1814)” (PDF)
Also available in:
YouTube for “La Grande Odalisque (1814)”
Instructions: Please read this introduction to the artist Ingres for a discussion on his painting, Apotheosis of Homer. Then, read the page “La Grande Odalisque” (HTML) and listen to the 8-minute video (Adobe Flash) in its entirety. The video starts with a formal description and broaching overlaps in Romantic and Classical sensibilities, and then goes on to provide a good background on historical and social contexts in relation to this painting by Ingres.
Terms of Use: The article above is released under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0 (HTML). It is attributed to SmartHistory.org and the original version can be found here (HTML) and here (Adobe Flash/HTML).See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: Smarthistory: “Romanticism in Spain: Goya’s Third of May 1808”
Link: Smarthistory: “Romanticism in Spain: Goya’s Third of May 1808” (PDF)
Also available in:
iTunes (#65)
Instructions: Read page on the painting, Third of May 1808. The 15-minute video (Adobe Flash) is optional.
Terms of Use: The article above is released under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0 (HTML). It is attributed to SmartHistory.org and the original version can be found here (HTML).See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: Smarthistory: Goya’s “The Family of Charles IV” and “Saturn Devouring his Sons”
Link: Smarthistory: Goya’s “The Family of Charles IV” (Adobe Flash) and “Saturn Devouring One of His Children” (Adobe Flash)
Instructions: View the videos in the sections on Goya’s paintings, The Family of Charles IV and Saturn Devouring his Sons (3-minutes each).
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: Smarthistory: “Romanticism”
Link: Smarthistory: “Romanticism” (PDF)
Instructions: Read the brief text, and listen to this 12-minute video (Adobe Flash) on three famous paintings by Constable, Friedrich and Géricault, covering forms and subject matter associated with Romanticism.
Terms of Use: The article above is released under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0 (HTML). It is attributed to SmartHistory.org and the original version can be found here (HTML).See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: Smarthistory: “Romanticism in England: Constable’s The Hay Wain” and “Turner’s Rain, Steam, and Speed – the Great Western Railway”
Link: Smarthistory: “Romanticism in England: Constable’s The Hay Wain” (PDF) and “Turner’s Rain, Steam, and Speed – the Great Western Railway” (Adobe Flash)
Instructions: Read this page on Constable and English landscape painting (4-minute Adobe Flash video optional). Proceed to “Turner: Rain, Steam and Speed – the Great Western Railway,” and play the 4-minute video.
Terms of Use: The article above is released under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0 (HTML). It is attributed to SmartHistory.org and the original version can be found here (HTML) and here (Adobe Flash).See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: WebMuseum, Paris: “Blake, William”
Link: WebMuseum, Paris: “Blake, William” (HTML)
Instructions: Read about British artist, William Blake. From the gallery at the bottom of the webpage, enlarge several images, including The Ancient of Days.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: Smarthistory: “Romanticism in France: Delacroix’s Liberty Leading the People” and “Romanticism in the United States: Thomas Cole’s The Oxbow”
Link: Smarthistory: “Romanticism in France: Delacroix’s Liberty Leading the People” (PDF) and “Romanticism in the United States: Thomas Cole’s The Oxbow” (Adobe Flash)
Also available in:
YouTube and iTunes (#86) for Delacroix’s Liberty Leading the People”
YouTube for “Romanticism in the United States: Thomas Cole’s The Oxbow”
Instructions: Read this webpage in its entirety, then watch the 5-minute video on "Romanticism in France: Delacroix’s Liberty Leading the People". Note: this marks the second French Revolution (displacing the monarchy installed after the fall of Napoleon). Proceed to listen to the 3-minute video on “Thomas Cole’s The Oxbow.”
Terms of Use: The article above is released under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0 (HTML). It is attributed to SmartHistory.org and the original version can be found here (HTML) and here (Adobe Flash).See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: The J. Paul Getty Museum’s “Making Daguerreotypes”
Link: The J. Paul Getty Museum’s “Making Daguerreotypes” (Adobe Flash)
Instructions: Please view the four video segments on the page (approximately 10 minutes, total).
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: Smarthistory: “David’s The Emperor Napoleon in His Study at the Tuileries”
-
8.2 Realism and Impressionism
- Reading: Smarthistory: Beth Gersh-Nesic’s “Realism” and Smarthistory: “Courbet's Bonjour Monsieur Courbet,” “Stonebreakers,” and “The Artist’s Studio”
Link: Smarthistory: Beth Gersh-Nesic’s “Realism” (PDF) and Smarthistory: “Courbet's Bonjour Monsieur Courbet,” (PDF) “Stonebreakers,” (PDF) and “The Artist’s Studio” (PDF)
Instructions: Please read the webpage on “Realism." Then, read “Courbet's Bonjour Monsieur Courbet," “Stonebreakers," and “The Artist’s Studio." Please also watch the 5-minute video (Adobe Flash), which discusses Gustave Courbet's The Studio.
Terms of Use: The article above is released under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0 (HTML). It is attributed to SmartHistory.org and the original versions can be found from here (HTML).See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: Smarthistory: “Rosa Bonheur”
Link: Smarthistory: “Rosa Bonheur” (Adobe Flash)
Instructions: Please view this brief video (2:25 minutes).
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: L & D Noack’s Daumier Register
Link: L & D Noack’s Daumier Register (HTML)
Instructions: This is an extensive website on the artist Honoré Daumier, best known as a graphic artist (also a painter) who was influential in the development of illustration, including caricature and political cartoons. The invention of lithography facilitated illustrated journals in Paris by mid-century, where his work was widely distributed. Begin from the top menu, under “Reference” tab, click “Printing Glossary.” On this webpage, read section “#2. General Information on Lithography,” and watch the 3-minute video. Then, go back to the top menu, and choose the “Caricatures” tab, then “Our Exhibitions.” Scroll down the webpage, and browse two or three exhibitions briefly to get an idea of the topicality of his work.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History: Rebecca Rabinow’s "Édouard Manet (1832–1883)"
Link: The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History: Rebecca Rabinow’s "Édouard Manet (1832–1883)" (HTML)
Instructions: Read this entire webpage about Manet; be sure to enlarge the two images accompanying the article (at left). Click on “View slide show” to examine the images and read the accompanying text.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: iTunes: Smarthistory: “Millais’ Ophelia”
Link: iTunes: Smarthistory: “Millais’ Ophelia” (iTunes)
Instructions: Please listen to the 5-minute video, number 47 on the linked page.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: Smarthistory: “Academic Art”
Link: Smarthistory: “Academic Art” (PDF)
Instructions: Read this entire webpage on academic art.
Terms of Use: The article above is released under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0 (HTML).See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History: Barbara H. Weinberg’s "Winslow Homer (1836–1910)”
Link: The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History: Barbara H. Weinberg’s "Winslow Homer (1836–1910)” (HTML)
Instructions: Read about Homer, whose oeuvre is focused on American subjects and issues, while embracing Realist and Impressionist approaches to form and light. Enlarge the first four images (top) and read data.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpages above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: Smarthistory: Meg Floryan, “Eakins’s The Gross Clinic” and “Impressionism”
Link: Smarthistory: Meg Floryan, “Eakins’s The Gross Clinic” (HTML) and “Impressionism” (HTML)
Instructions: Read the page on this quintessential example of American Realist painting. Then, read the webpage on “Impressionism.”
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: Artchive’s “The First Impressionist Exhibition 1874”
Link: Artchive’s “The First Impressionist Exhibition 1874” (HTML)
Instructions: This site introduces the paintings in the first exhibition of artists who subsequently came to be known as Impressionists. From left, click sections on Renoir and Monet, and click on each image to enlarge it. Then, click on “Critics” under each to see original reviews of these paintings. Note that most reviews are negative, as the style was highly unusual compared to academic art of the time. Back at the main menu, go through all the artist images (you can proceed from the “next” tab at the bottom right of each artist page). The last formal exhibition of the Impressionist was in 1886.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: Smarthistory: “Monet’s Gare St. Lazare” and “Renoir’s Moulin de la Galette”
Link: Smarthistory: “Monet’s Gare St. Lazare” and “Renoir’s Moulin de la Galette" (Adobe Flash)
Instructions: Listen to the 5-minute videos on each of these Impressionist paintings.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: Smarthistory: “American in the Gilded Age”: “Whistler, Symphony in White” and “Sargent's El Jaleo”
Link: Smarthistory: “American in the Gilded Age”, “Whistler, Symphony in White” (PDF) and “Sargent's El Jaleo” (PDF)
Instructions: Please read these two webpages in their entirety.
Terms of Use: The article above is released under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0 (HTML). It is attributed to SmartHistory.org and the original version can be found here (HTML) and here (HTML).See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: Artchive’s “Henry Ossawa Tanner”
Link: Artchive’s “Henry Ossawa Tanner” (HTML)
Instructions: Read this page on Tanner, the best-known African American painter of the nineteenth century, whose begins as a Realist and absorbs the light of Impressionism and other trends in European painting towards the end of the century, when he relocates to France. Click on each image to enlarge and view it.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: Wikipedia: “Rodin”
Link: Wikipedia: “Rodin” (PDF)
Link: Read about the French sculptor Rodin, whose long a prolific career is associated with Impressionism because he was interested in light on the surface of his works, as well as later Symbolism.
Terms of Use: The article above is released under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0 (HTML). You can find the original Wikipedia version of this article here (HTML).See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History: Clare Vincent’s "Edgar Degas (1834–1917): Bronze Sculpture”
Link: The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History: Clare Vincent’s "Edgar Degas (1834–1917): Bronze Sculpture” (HTML)
Instructions: Read about the sculpture of the Impressionist, Degas, and explore the images by clicking on the link “View slide show” at the top of the webpage.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: J. Paul Getty Museum: “Nadar,” “Julie Margaret Cameron,” and “Timothy O’Sullivan”
Links: J. Paul Getty Museum: “Nadar,” (HTML) “Julie Margaret Cameron” (HTML) and “Timothy O'Sullivan” (HTML)
Instructions: Read about these well-known French, British, and American nineteenth-century photographers; view several images from the right image menu for each.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: Wikipedia’s “Eadweard Muybridge”
Link: Wikipedia: “Eadweard Muybridge” (PDF)
Instructions: Read about Muybridge’s photographic experiments, which led to motion photography.
Terms of Use: The article above is released under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0 (HTML). You can find the original Wikipedia version of this article here (HTML).See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: Smarthistory: Beth Gersh-Nesic’s “Realism” and Smarthistory: “Courbet's Bonjour Monsieur Courbet,” “Stonebreakers,” and “The Artist’s Studio”
-
8.3 Painting at the End of the Century (“Fin de Siècle”)
- Web Media: The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History: James Voorhies’s "Post-Impressionism”
Link: The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History: James Voorhies’s "Post-Impressionism” (HTML)
Instructions: Read about Post-Impressionism. Explore the images by clicking on the link “View slide show.”
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: Smarthistory: “Post-Impressionism”: “Seurat's Sunday Afternoon at La Grande Jatte,” “Cezanne's Still Life with Apples,” “Gauguin's Vision after the Sermon,” and “Gauguin's Nevermore”
Link: Smarthistory: “Post-Impressionism”: “Seurat's Sunday Afternoon at La Grande Jatte” (Adobe Flash), “Cezanne's Still Life with Apples” (PDF), “Gauguin's Vision after the Sermon” (Adobe Flash) and “Gauguin's Nevermore” (Adobe Flash).
Also available in:
iTunes (#70) for “Seurat's Sunday Afternoon at La Grande Jatte”
iTunes (#49) for “Gauguin's Vision after the Sermon”
YouTube for “Gauguin's Nevermore”
Instructions: Please view the brief videos and read any accompanying text for each of the following webpages: Seurat's Sunday Afternoon at La Grande Jatte (10-minute video); Cezanne's Still Life with Apples and 5-minute video (Adobe Flash); Gauguin's Vision After the Sermon (7-minute video); Gauguin's Nevermore (5-minute video).
Terms of Use: The article above is released under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0 (HTML). It is attributed to SmartHistory.org and the original versions can be found from here (HTML).See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History: Nicole Myers’ “Symbolism”
Link: The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History: Nicole Myers’ “Symbolism” (HTML)
Instructions: Please read this entry.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: Wikipedia: “Edvard Munch”
Link: Wikipedia: “Edvard Munch” (PDF)
Instructions: Read this entire Wikipedia entry. In the “Gallery” section, click on the thumbnails for The Scream andThe Dance of Life to enlarge the images. Note that viewing other images is optional.
Terms of Use: The article above is released under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0 (HTML). You can find the original Wikipedia version of this article here (HTML).See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: Wikipedia’s “Aubrey Beardsley”
Link: Wikipedia’s “Aubrey Beardsley” (PDF)
Instructions: Read this text in its entirety, and view images accompanying the article.
Terms of Use: The article above is released under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0 (HTML). You can find the original Wikipedia version of this article here (HTML).See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History: James Voorhies’s "Post-Impressionism”
-
8.4 Nineteenth-Century Architecture
- Reading: Arqhys: “The Romantic Architecture”
Link: Arqhys: “The Romantic Architecture” (HTML)
Instructions: Read article and supplement with the following image links from Wikimedia: Royal Pavilion, Brighton (PDF) and Westminster (PDF).
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on Arqhys' webpage above. The photographs above are released under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0 (HTML). You can find the original Wikimedia Commons versions of these photos here (JPEG) and here (JPEG).See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: Great Buildlings: Henry Labrouste’s Bibliotèque Ste. Genieviève
Link: Great Buildlings: Henry Labrouste’s Bibliotèque Ste. Genieviève (HTML)
Instructions: Scroll down to read the paragraph, and then view images of this Renaissance Revival building that uses new, cast iron construction.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: Victorian Station’s “The Great Exhibition at the Crystal Palace”
Link: Victorian Station’s “The Great Exhibition at the Crystal Palace” (HTML)
Instructions: Read this page on the first modern “world’s fair” and the main building created for it.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: Great Buildings: Joseph Paxton’s “Crystal Palace”
Link: Great Buildings: Joseph Paxton’s “Crystal Palace” (HTML)
Instructions: Read the brief commentary at bottom of the webpage, and view images of this building (now destroyed), which introduced modern “pre-fabrication.”
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: Wikipedia’s “Palais Garnier” (Paris Opera)
Link: Wikipedia’s “Palais Garnier” (Paris Opera) (PDF)
Instructions: Read about the history of this building, begun just after mid-century.
Terms of Use: The article above is released under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0 (HTML). You can find the original Wikipedia version of this article here (HTML).See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: Tour Eiffel’s “Origins and Construction of the Eiffel Tower”
Link: Tour Eiffel’s “Origins and Construction of the Eiffel Tower” (HTML)
Instructions: Read the webpage in its entirety, and click on each thumbnail of the Mr. Eiffel’s blueprints to view a larger image.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: Great Buildings: “Victor Horta”
Link: Great Buildings: “Victor Horta” (HTML)
Instructions: Read about the Belgian Art Nouveau architect and designer, Victor Horta. Click on the embedded links to pages on four buildings to get an idea of the aesthetic.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: Smarthistory: “Modernisme: Gaudí’s Sagrada Familia”
Link: Smarthistory: “Modernisme: Gaudí’s Sagrada Familia” (PDF)
Also available in:
YouTube
Instructions: Read the text, and view this 5-minute video (Adobe Flash) on Gaudí’s most famous work. Note: “Modernisme” was the Spanish equivalent to the French Art Nouveau.
Terms of Use: The article above is released under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0 (HTML). It is attributed to SmartHistory.org and the original version can be found here (HTML).See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: Great Buildings: Marshall Field Store (Richardson) and Wainwright Building (Sullivan)
Links: Great Buildings: “Marshall Field Store” (HTML) and “Wainwright Building” (HTML)
Instructions: Read the “commentary” on the beginnings of American skyscrapers. Then, scroll up the webpage to view the images.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: Arqhys: “The Romantic Architecture”
-
Unit 9: The Twentieth Century to WWII
Early in the 20th century, “modernism” in art came to be closely associated with abstraction, although many styles remained grounded in figurative forms. As we proceed through this unit, consider the concurrent technological and social developments, such as the development of the automobile and airplane, the advent of the two world wars, the Communist Revolution in Russia, the height of European Imperialism in Africa, and the Great Depression. Note that a migration of artists and intellectuals from Europe took place as Hitler came to power. This migration shaped the course of American art and effected a shift of the center of the art world from Paris to New York.
Unit 9 Time Advisory show close
Unit 9 Learning Outcomes show close
-
9.1 Through WWI
- Web Media: Smarthistory: “1907-1960: Age of Global Conflict”
Links: Smarthistory: “1907-1960: Age of Global Conflict” (Adobe Flash)
Instructions: Please view this brief video in its entirety (12:30 minutes).
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpages above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: Smarthistory: “Fauvism and Matisse’s Bonheur de Vivre,” “Les Demoiselles d’Avignon,” “Picasso Early Work,” “Matisse’s Dance I,” “Expressionism: Kirchner’s Street, Dresden,” “Georges Braque’s The Portuguese,” and “Cubism & Picasso’s Still Life with Chair Caning”
Links: Smarthistory: Fauvism and Matisse’s Bonheur de Vivre” (PDF), “Les Demoiselles d'Avignon” (PDF), “Picasso Early Work” (PDF), “Matisse's Dance I” (PDF), “Expressionism: Kirchner's Street, Dresden” (Adobe Flash), “Georges Braque's The Portuguese” (PDF), “Cubism & Picasso's Still Life with Chair Caning” (PDF).
Also available in:
YouTube and iTunes (#115) for “Les Demoiselles d’Avignon”
YouTube and iTunes (#117) for “Expressionism: Kirchner’s Street, Dresden”
Instructions: Please read the text for and view any videos for each of the following webpages: Fauvism and Matisse’s Bonheur de Vivre; Les Demoiselles d'Avignon and 7-minute video (Adobe Flash); Picasso Early Work; Matisse's Dance I; Expressionism: Kirchner's Street, Dresden (9-minute video); Georges Braque's The Portuguese (HTML); Cubism & Picasso's Still Life with Chair Caning with optional 13-minute video (Adobe Flash).
Terms of Use: The article above is released under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0 (HTML). It is attributed to SmartHistory.org and the original versions can be found from here (HTML).See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: Museum of Modern Art, New York: “Picasso Guitars 1912-1914”
Link: Museum of Modern Art, New York: “Picasso Guitars 1912-1914” (HTML)
Instructions: View the featured work of Picasso’s Guitar. Play the acoustiguide on the right side of the webpage (about 2 minutes). Optional: peruse several other works in the presentation.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: Smarthistory: “Futurism” and “Arp’s Untitled (Collage with Squares Arranged According to the Laws of Chance)”
Link: Smarthistory: “Futurism” (Adobe Flash) and “Arp’s Untitled (Collage with Squares Arranged According to the Laws of Chance)” (Adobe Flash)
Also available in:
YouTube and iTunes (#99) for “Arp’s Untitled (Collage with Squares Arranged According to the Laws of Chance)”
Instructions: Please view each video on these webpages (11 minutes for “Futurism” and 3 minutes for “Arp’s Untitled.”)
Terms of Use: The articles above are released under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0 (HTML).See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: Encyclopedia of Irish and World Art: “Dada Anti-Art Movement”
Link: Encyclopedia of Irish and World Art: “Dada Anti-Art Movement” (HTML)
Instructions: Skim the entire article to learn about Dada.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpages above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: Wikipedia: “Readymades of Marcel Duchamp”
Link: Wikipedia: “Readymades of Marcel Duchamp” (PDF)
Instructions: Read the Wikipedia entry in its entirety. Then, from the list of works, click on “Fountain” (1917) and “L.H.O.O.Q.” (1919), and read these entries.
Terms of Use: The article above is released under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0 (HTML). You can find the original Wikipedia version of this article here (HTML).See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: Smarthistory: “Dada: Schwitter’s Merzbild 32A, The Cherry Picture,” “Dada: Klee's Twittering Machine,” and “Ashcan School, George Bellows”
Link: Smarthistory: “Dada: Schwitter’s Merzbild 32A, The Cherry Picture” (Adobe Flash), “Dada: Klee's Twittering Machine” (Adobe Flash) and “Ashcan School, George Bellows” (Adobe Flash).
Also available in:
iTunes (#94) for “Dada: Klee's Twittering Machine”
YouTube for “Ashcan School, George Bellows”
Instructions: Please view the videos on these webpages (3-6 minutes each).
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpages above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: The Guggenheim Museum: Teacher Resources: “Kandinsky September 18, 2009-January 13, 2010”
Link: The Guggenheim Museum: Teacher Resources: “Kandinsky September 18, 2009-January 13, 2010” (HTML)
Instructions: Read the brief introduction. Then, click on the following artwork images: “Der Blaue Reiter” and “Towards Abstraction 1910-1914.” To see larger images go to the Kandinsky index page (HTML) of the museum’s online collection database.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpages above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: Guggenheim Museum: “Suprematism”
Link: Guggenheim Museum: “Suprematism” (HTML)
Instructions: View on the entries on the two images. Then, read the entirety of essay on Suprematism by clicking on the hyperlink “More.”
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpages above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: Wikipedia: “Armory Show”
Link: Wikipedia: “Armory Show” (PDF)
Instructions: Browse this page on this 1913 show in New York that brought the latest European art to America.
Terms of Use: The article above is released under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0 (HTML). You can find the original Wikipedia version of this article (HTML).See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: Wikipedia: “De Stijl”
Link: Wikipedia: “De Stijl” (PDF)
Instructions: Read the entire entry on this loose design movement in Holland. Note: The style formed in the war years although the career of Mondrian, its most famous practitioner, developed after the war.
Terms of Use: The article above is released under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0 (HTML). You can find the original Wikipedia version of this article here (HTML).See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History: James Voorhies’ "Alfred Stieglitz (1864–1946) and His Circle”
Source: The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History: James Voorhies’ "Alfred Stieglitz (1864–1946) and His Circle” (HTML)
Instructions: Read essay on early Modernism among American artists. View images by clicking on “View slide show.” Specifically focus on the details for the following images: Portrait of a German Officer; Here, This Is Stieglitz Here; Black Iris; The Figure 5 in Gold.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpages above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: Smarthistory: “1907-1960: Age of Global Conflict”
-
9.2 Between the Wars
- Reading: Boundless: “Neue Sachlichkeit”
Link: Boundless: “Neue Sachlichkeit” (PDF)
Instructions: Read this article about the character of German art between WWI and WWII. Be sure to study the accompanying images closely.
Terms of Use: This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. It is attributed to Boundless, and the original version can be found here.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History, James Voorheis, “Surealism."
Link: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History, James Voorheis, “Surealism."
Instructions: Read entry and all entries for accompanying images.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: Smarthistory’s “Surrealism: Giacometti’s The Palace at 4am,” “1907-1960: Age of Global Conflict,” and “Branscusi’s Bird in Space”
Link: Smarthistory: “Surrealism: Giacometti’s The Palace at 4am” (Adobe Flash), “1907-1960: Age of Global Conflict” (Adobe Flash), “Brancusi's Bird in Space” (Adobe Flash)
Also available in:
iTunes (#113) for “Surrealism: Giacometti’s The Palace at 4am”
iTunes (#111) for “Branscusi’s Bird in Space”
Instructions: Please view the videos for the following webpages: Surrealism: Giacometti’s The Palace at 4am (5-minute video on a Surrealist sculpture);
1907-1960: Age of Global Conflict (main page) (12-minute video on works by Picasso, Magritte and Mondrian); and Brancusi's Bird in Space (3-minute video).
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: ArtLex: “Bauhaus”
Link: ArtLex: “Bauhaus” (HTML)
Instructions: Please read this entire webpage and view the images.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpages above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: Wikipedia: “Bauhaus”
Link: Wikipedia: “Bauhaus” (PDF)
Instructions: Read this entry and browse the images for more details on Bauhaus architecture and influence.
Terms of Use: The article above is released under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0 (HTML). You can find the original Wikipedia version of this article here (HTML).See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: Wikipedia: “Degenerate Art”
Link: Wikipedia: “Degenerate Art” (PDF)
Instructions: Read this entry about Hitler’s attempts to ban modern art.
Terms of Use: The article above is released under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0 (HTML). You can find the original Wikipedia version of this article here (HTML).See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: PBS: “Treasures of the World: Guernica: Testimony of War”
Link: PBS: “Treasures of the World: Guernica: Testimony of War” (HTML)
Instructions: Read this essay about Picasso’s famous work of 1937; supplement with a quick web search for better image and details.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpages above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: Tate Gallery: Past Exhibitions: “Henry Moore”
Link: Tate Gallery: Past Exhibitions: “Henry Moore” (HTML)
Instructions: Read this introduction to Moore, a British sculptor emerging in this period. Visit one or two more “rooms” (from left menu).
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpages above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: National Gallery of Art, “Alexander Calder 1898-1976”
Link: National Gallery of Art: “Alexander Calder 1898-1976” (HTML)
Instructions: From the left menu, browse through the first few sections of this website as an introduction to the work of American sculptor, Calder.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpages above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: Museum of Modern Art: “Stuart Davis”
Link: Museum of Modern Art: “Stuart Davis” (HTML)
Instructions: Read this webpage and enlarge at least the first two images in the slide show on Stuart Davis, who adapts Cubism to American subjects.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpages above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: Links: ArtLex: “African American Art: The Harlem Renaissance,” “The New Deal,” and “American Scene Painting”
Links: ArtLex: “African American Art: The Harlem Renaissance” (HTML), “The New Deal” (HTML) and “American Scene Painting” (HTML)
Instructions: Read these webpages, and enlarge several images on American figurative painting in the Depression era. Note: Artists generally categorized under “The Harlem Renaissance” are part of larger tendency towards art with social themes in this period.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpages above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: Artlex: “Regionalism”, “Social Realism”, and “American Scene Painting”
Link: Artlex: “Regionalism”, “Social Realism”, and “American Scene Painting” (HTML)
Instructions: Read this brief entry and enlarge images for an idea of Depression-era painting in America. At the bottom of the page continue by clicking “Social Realism”; and at the end of that page, “American Scene Painting.”
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpages above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: Wikipedia: “Diego Rivera”
Link: Wikipedia: “Diego Rivera” (PDF)
Instructions: Read about Mexican artist Diego Rivera, and enlarge any images for viewing. Under the section “See also,” click “Mexican Muralism” and read brief entry.
Terms of Use: The article above is released under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0 (HTML). You can find the original Wikipedia version of this article here (HTML).See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: Archinnovations: Camille Chami’s “Le Corbusier and Villa Savoye Remembered” (2007)
Link: Archinnovations: Camille Chami’s “Le Corbusier and Villa Savoye Remembered” (2007) (HTML)
Instructions: Read about this landmark of modernism by French-Swiss architect, Le Corbusier.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: Great Buildings: “Frank Lloyd Wright”
Link: Great Buildings: “Frank Lloyd Wright” (HTML)
Instructions: Scroll down to read brief biography on Wright; then, from the menu at the top of the webpage, choose the following buildings to view: Robie Residence and Fallingwater. Read the brief text entries below each image of these buildings.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: Smarthistory: “Early Modern Photography”
Link: Smarthistory: “Early Modern Photography” (PDF)
Instructions: Please read this webpage in its entirety.
Terms of Use: The article above is released under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0 (HTML). It is attributed to SmartHistory.org and the original version can be found here (HTML).See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: Wikipedia: “Dorothea Lange”
Link: Wikipedia; “Dorothea Lange” (PDF)
Instructions: Read about this American documentary photographer.
Terms of Use: The article above is released under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0 (HTML). You can find the original Wikipedia version of this article here (HTML).See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: Boundless: “Neue Sachlichkeit”
-
Unit 10: The Later Twentieth Century
After WWII, the art world largely relocated from Europe to the United States, where it came to be firmly centered in New York. Total abstraction in art became the norm until around 1980s, when figuration made a strong comeback in various ways. Advances in technology, such as video cameras, space travel, and finally, the Internet, as well as the new geographies of post-colonialism help open up a new pluralism in art that could not be contained in traditional stylistic overviews. Art historians and critics have often drawn on the past to find connections that facilitate engagement me continuous, challenging new art in the contemporary world.
Unit 10 Time Advisory show close
Unit 10 Learning Outcomes show close
-
10.1 Painting, Sculpture, Photography
- Reading: Guggenheim Museum: “Jean Dubuffet,” “Alberto Giacometti,” “Karen Appel,” and “Francis Bacon”
Links: Guggenheim Museum: “Jean Dubuffet” (HTML), “Alberto Giacometti” (HTML), “Karen Appel” (HTML) and “Francis Bacon” (HTML).
Instructions: Read each webpage on each artist to get an idea of abstraction after the war in Europe. Also, carefully view each image of the artist’s work: Dubuffet’s Will to Power (1945), Giacometti’s Piazza (1947-48), Appel’s The Crying Crocodile Tries to Catch the Sun (1956), and Bacon’s Three Studies for a Cruxifixion (1962).
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History: Stella Paul’s "Abstract Expressionism”
Link: The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History: Stella Paul’s "Abstract Expressionism” (HTML)
Instructions: Read the essay, and view images by clicking on the hyperlink “View slide show.”
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: Smarthistory: “Abstract Expressionism: Pollock's One: Number 31, 1950”
Link: Smarthistory: “Abstract Expressionism: Pollock's One: Number 31, 1950” (Adobe Flash)
Also available in:
iTunes (#136)
Instructions: Play this 7-minute video in which Dr. Beth Harris and Dr. Steven Zucker discuss Jackson Pollack’s One: Number 31, 1950.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpage above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: Museum of Modern Art, The Collection: “Flag, Japser Johns”
Link: Museum of Modern Art, The Collection: “Flag, Japser Johns” (HTML)
Instructions: Read entry the text, and play the 1-minute audio clip (lower left of the webpage).
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpages above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: Wikipedia: “Richard Hamilton”
Link: Wikipedia: “Richard Hamilton” (PDF)
Instructions: Read this Wikipedia entry with a focus on the collage of 1956 illustrated, which is credited with ushering in the stylistic idea of Pop Art.
Terms of Use: The article above is released under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0 (HTML). You can find the original Wikipedia version of this article here (HTML).See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: Smarthistory: “1960-2010: Age of Post-Colonialism”
Link: Smarthistory: “1960-2010: Age of Post-Colonialism” (Adobe Flash) and "1960-2010: Age of Post-Colonialism" (PDF)
Also available in:
iTunes (#39)
Instructions: Please read the text on this webpage and view the 11-minute video.
Terms of Use: The article above is released under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0 (HTML). It is attributed to SmartHistory.org and the original version can be found here (HTML).See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: Smarthistory: “Pop Art: Andy Warhol's Gold Marilyn,” “Pop Art: Claus Oldenburg's Floor Cake,” “Minimalism: Donald Judd's Untitled,” “Minimalism: Dan Flavin’s Untitled (To Donna) II,” “Earth Art: Smithson’s Spiral Jetty, 1970,” “Photography after 1960, Sherman's Untitled Film Still #2,” and “Postmodernism: Robert Colescott's Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder”
Links: Smarthistory: “Pop Art: Andy Warhol's Gold Marilyn” (PDF), “Pop Art: Claus Oldenburg's Floor Cake” (Adobe Flash), “Minimalism: Donald Judd's Untitled” (PDF), “Minimalism: Dan Flavin’s Untitled (To Donna) II,” (Adobe Flash) “Earth Art: Smithson’s Spiral Jetty, 1970” (Adobe Flash), “Photography after 1960, Sherman's Untitled Film Still #21,” (Adobe Flash), and Postmodernism: Robert Colescott's Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder” (Adobe Flash)
Also available in:
YouTube and iTunes (#12) for “Pop Art: Andy Warhol's Gold Marilyn”
iTunes (#13) for Pop Art: Claus Oldenburg's Floor Cake
iTunes (#24) for Postmodernism: Robert Colescott's Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder
Instructions: Please view the videos and read any accompanying text for the following webpages: Pop Art: Andy Warhol's Gold Marilyn (text and 3-minute video); Pop Art: Claus Oldenburg's Floor Cake (3-minute video); Minimalism: Donald Judd's Untitled (text and 3-minute video); Minimalism: Dan Flavin’s Untitled (To Donna) II (2-minute video); Earth Art: Smithson’s Spiral Jetty, 1970 (5-minute video); Photography after 1960, Sherman's Untitled Film Still #2 (4-minute video); and Postmodernism, Robert Colescott's Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder (4-minute video).
Terms of Use: The article above is released under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0 (HTML). It is attributed to SmartHistory.org and the original versions can be found from here (HTML).See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: Smarthistory: “Minimalism: Robert Morris’s Untitled (L-Beams),” “Conceptual Art: Vito Acconci's Following Piece,” “Feminist Art; Kelly's Post-Partum Document,” and “Post-Minimalism: Nauman's The True Artist Helps the World by Revealing Mystic Truths”
Links: Smarthistory: “Minimalism: Robert Morris’s Untitled (L-Beams)” (PDF), “Conceptual Art: Vito Acconci's Following Piece,” (PDF) “Feminist Art; Kelly's Post-Partum Document” (PDF) and “Post-Minimalism: Nauman's The True Artist Helps the World by Revealing Mystic Truths” (PDF)
Instructions: Please read each of these webpages in their entirety.
Terms of Use: The articles above are released under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0 (HTML). It is attributed to SmartHistory.org and the original versions can be found from here (HTML).See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: Museum of Modern Art, The Collection: “Conceptual Art”
Link: Museum of Modern Art, The Collection: “Conceptual Art” (HTML)
Instructions: Please note this resource is optional. Read introduction and click each of five images below on Conceptual Art.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpages above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: Wikipedia: “Photorealism”
Link: Wikipedia: “Photorealism” (PDF)
Instructions: Read this entire entry.
Terms of Use: The article above is released under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0 (HTML). You can find the original Wikipedia version of this article here (HTML).See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: Encyclopedia of Irish and World Art: “Video Art”
Link: Encyclopedia of Irish and World Art: “Video Art” (HTML)
Instructions: Read this entry in its entirety.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpages above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: Guggenheim Museum, Collection Online: “Neo-Expressionism”
Link: Guggenheim Museum, Collection Online: “Neo-Expressionism” (HTML)
Instructions: Read the entry, and then return to the image page and enlarge one work by each artist represented (five total) for detailed text.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpages above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: Wikipedia: “Vietnam Veterans Memorial”
Link: Wikipedia: “Vietnam Veterans Memorial” (PDF)
Instructions: Read this Wikipedia entry, and view images on this work by Maya Lin, who designed it as a college student and entered and won the national competition of 1979 (installation, 1982). It has been widely influential as a new kind of sculptural memorial.
Terms of Use: The article above is released under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0 (HTML). You can find the original Wikipedia version of this article here (HTML).See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: Museum of Modern Art, The Collection: “Jean-Michel Basquiat’s Untitled,” “Christian Boltanski’s The Storehouse,” “David Hammons’ High Falutin’,” “Gary Hill’s Inasmuch as It Is Always Already Taking Place,” “Barbara Kruger’s Untitled (You Invest in the Divinity of the Masterpiece),”
Links: Museum of Modern Art, The Collection: “Jean-Michel Basquiat’s Untitled” (HTML) “Christian Boltanski’s The Storehouse” (HTML), “David Hammons’ High Falutin'” (HTML), “Gary Hill’s Inasmuch as It Is Always Already Taking Place,” (HTML) “Barbara Kruger’s Untitled (You Invest in the Divinity of the Masterpiece)” (HTML)
Instructions: These 5 entries on several diverse works in the collection of the Museum of Modern art loosely reflect some “postmodern” sensibilities in art from c. 1980-1990. Please read each entry, and view the images on the webpages.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpages above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: Museum of Modern Art, The Collection: “Jeff Koons’ New Shelton Wet/Dry Doubledecker,” “Sherrie Levin’s President Collage 1,” “Lari Pittman’s Untitled,” “Lorna Simpson’s Wigs (Portfolio),” and “Bill Viola’s Stations”
Links: Museum of Modern Art, The Collection: “Jeff Koons’ New Shelton Wet/Dry Doubledecker” (HTML), “Sherrie Levine’s President Collage 1” (HTML), “Lari Pittman’s Untitled” (HTML),“Lorna Simpson’s Wigs (Portfolio)” (HTML) and “Bill Viola’s Stations” (HTML).
Instructions: 5 more entries on several diverse works in the collection of the Museum of Modern art which loosely reflect some “postmodern” sensibilities in art from c. 1980-1990. Please read each entry, and view the images on the webpages.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpages above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Reading: Guggenheim Museum: “Jean Dubuffet,” “Alberto Giacometti,” “Karen Appel,” and “Francis Bacon”
-
10.2 Architecture
- Web Media: Smarthistory: “Architecture: Gordon Bunshaft's Lever House”
Link: Smarthistory: “Architecture: Gordon Bunshaft's Lever House” (Adobe Flash)
Instructions: Play this 4-minute video on the first glass skyscraper in New York (1951-52).
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpages above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: Great Buildings: “Glass House, Johnson, 1949,” “Guggenheim Museum, Wright, 1943-1959,” “Notre Dame du Haut, Le Corbusier, 1950-1955,” “Seagram Building, Van der Rohe and Johnson,” “Sears Tower, Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, 1974,” “Centre Pompidou, Rogers and Piano, 1977,” “Portland Building, Graves, 1980,” and “Guggenheim Bilbao, Gehry, 1997”
Links: Great Buildings:
Glass House, Johnson, 1949 (HTML)
Guggenheim Museum, Wright, 1943-1959 (HTML)
Notre Dame du Haut, Le Corbusier,1950-55 (HTML)
Seagram Building, Van der Rohe and Johnson (HTML)
Sears Tower, Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, 1974 (HTML)
Centre Pompidou, Rogers and Piano, 1977 (HTML)
Portland Building, Graves, 1980 (HTML)
Guggenheim Bilbao, Gehry, 1997 (HTML)
Instructions: For each webpage, scroll down to read brief text at the end of the page. Then, view images and notes about each building and note the construction techniques.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpages above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: YouTube: APArtHistory2009’s “Postmodern Architecture”
Link: YouTube: APArtHistory2009’s “Postmodern Architecture” (YouTube)
Instructions: Play this 2-minute video, and read the text below the video (click on “Show More”) for a brief presentation contrasting modern and postmodern architecture.
Terms of Use: Please respect the copyright and terms of use displayed on the webpages above.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Web Media: Smarthistory: “Architecture: Gordon Bunshaft's Lever House”
-
Final Exam
- Final Exam: The Saylor Foundation's ARTH111 Final Exam
Link: The Saylor Foundation's ARTH111 Final Exam
Instructions: You must be logged into your Saylor Foundation School account in order to access this exam. If you do not yet have an account, you will be able to create one, free of charge, after clicking the link.See a broken link? Please let us know!
- Final Exam: The Saylor Foundation's ARTH111 Final Exam
Questions? Consult the FAQs!

