Style and Stylistic Change: Creativity and the Recurrent Problem of Reaching an Audience in the Arts
ARHA 358
Spring 2017 not offered
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This seminar treats in historical overview, and from diverging disciplinary perspectives, major developments in the theory and interpretation of style in the visual arts. Style is, in effect, a culturally defined visual language that enables the transmission of meaning between the artist and his/her audiences, i.e., both to the artist's initial audience and to secondary audiences of later times. How does the style of a work of art relate to the sociocultural context in which it was produced? Are there definable and historically meaningful patterns of stylistic change? Readings and class discussions will focus on the writings of Hegel, Wölfflin, Panofsky, Kubler, Belting, and others who have made important contributions to a fuller understanding of these matters. On the whole, the approach to the material will be that of intellectual history, but intellectual history with the aim of helping one to clarify his/her thinking on style to evolve an understanding of stylistic change that is relevant to his/her own art historical (or, by extension, cultural historical) interests and everyday experience. |
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| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
HA ART |
| Course Format: Seminar | Grading Mode: Graded |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
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Fulfills a Requirement for: None |
Major Readings:
Henry Paolucci, ed. & trans., HEGEL: ON THE ARTS
Heinrich Wölfflin, PRINCIPLES OF ART HISTORY: THE PROBLEM OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF STYLE IN LATER ART
Erwin Panofsky, "THE HISTORY OF ART AS A HUMANISTIC DISCIPLINE" in MEANING IN THE VISUAL ARTS
George Kubler, THE SHAPE OF TIME
Michael Baxandall, PAINTING AND EXPERIENCE IN FIFTEENTH CENTURY ITALY
Hans Belting, both the PREFACE and "THE END OF THE HISTORY OF ART?" in the book also named THE END OF THE HISTORY OF ART?
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Examinations and Assignments:
There will be no quizzes or examinations in this class, but students will be required to write weekly papers of one to two pages in length summarizing the concepts of style and stylistic change in the major text(s) assigned for the week (i.e., these are not "response papers" expressing your reactions to the ideas contained in the reading).
In addition to the brief weekly papers:
(1) A 5-7 page descriptive paper treating a significant stylistic developmental sequence);
(2) A 12-20 page paper that explicates your own current theoretical understanding of stylistic change and then applies it to analyze a specific stylistic development of at least three distinct and sequential phases in art, ideally that treated in your 5-7 page paper noted above. |
Additional Requirements and/or Comments:
It also should be emphasized that this seminar is concerned with different concepts of style and stylistic change, not with the art history of any particular period or region. No images will be shown other than by students as part of their class presentations associated with the 5-7 and 12-20 page papers described above. The readings are fairly extensive, and it is expected that they will be done critically and punctually. Classes will be devoted almost exclusively to discussion of the assigned texts, focusing on the theoretical assumptions underlying the treatment of style and stylistic change in those readings. Shy or reticent persons should be aware that regular and informed participation in discussion is a primary responsibility of all class members, and is a significant factor in determining the final grade in the course. Successful seminars require the consistent investment of thought and energy by all members of the class. |
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