XII. Course Descriptions
Art History
School of Fine Art and Music
Students with a special interest in particular courses in Art History should consult the School concerning prerequisites.
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ARTH*1220 The Visual Arts Today F (3-0) [0.50]
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| An introduction to contemporary visual culture, its current controversies and its historical roots. The avant-grade movements of the modern period and the impact of new technologies and media will be examined within a rich historical context. Topics will include international exhibitions, selling art, art and popular culture, censorship, and the relation between words and images. |
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ARTH*1510 Art Historical Studies I F (3-0) [0.50]
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| A consideration of the visual arts in the Western tradition. Emphasis will be placed on historical and critical analysis of key monuments and on the prerequisite technology, as well as on various ways of looking at the visual past and present. Focus will be on the visual arts from prehistory through the Middle Ages. |
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ARTH*1520 Art Historical Studies II W (3-0) [0.50]
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| A consideration of the visual arts in the Western tradition. Emphasis will be placed on historical and critical analysis of key monuments and on the prerequisite technologies, as well as on various ways of looking at the visual past and present. Focus will be on the visual arts from the Renaissance to today. |
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ARTH*2050 Modern Latin American Art F (3-0) [0.50]
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| An exploration of Latin American art in the context of cultural, social and political experience, with emphasis on the work of the painter Frida Kahlo, the Mexican muralists, performance artists Guillermo Gomez-Pena and Coco Fusco, and other important contemporary artists who have represented identity, culture, and political experience as complex and multifaceted because they have lived between nations and cultures. |
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ARTH*2060 Aboriginal Arts in the Americas W (3-0) [0.50]
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| An introduction to the aboriginal cultures of North, South, and Central America with special emphasis on the pre-contact period. The interdisciplinary approach will take into account recent debates about methodology, ethnocentricity, and aboriginal viewpoints. |
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ARTH*2070 Art of the USA F (3-0) [0.50]
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| In art, the 20th century has been referred to as "The American Century." Artists in the USA have a tradition of creating new visual languages, of using new ideas and technologies, and of representing the vanguard. Where did these ideas originate, and how has the USA determined our notions of what art is? This survey course focuses on modern American artists, on the evolution and growth of modern visual culture, and on how technologies and societies impact on artistic taste. |
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ARTH*2480 Introduction to Art Theory and Criticism F (3-0) [0.50]
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| This course provides an overview of some of the most significant methodological approaches and critical practices used by art historians to write about visual culture. Traditional methods of art historical analysis include connoisseurship, iconography, and formalism. With these we will be exploring newer interpretative models and multidisciplinary approaches such as structuralism, semiotics, post-structuralism, and psychoanalytic theory as well as political theories such as feminism and socio-cultural theory. |
| Prerequisite(s): |
(2 of ARTH*1220, ARTH*1510, ARTH*1520), (1 of SART*1050, SART*1060) |
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ARTH*2490 History of Canadian Art F (3-0) [0.50]
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| An overview of the visual arts in Canada from the earliest times to the present, with emphasis on the diverse contributions made by the First Nations, by French and British colonization, and by subsequent settlers from a great variety of different cultural origins. |
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ARTH*2540 Medieval Art F (3-0) [0.50]
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| The visual arts during a period when the Christian Church built a new synthesis out of the legacies of the late Roman Empire and its "barbarian invaders" are presented in this course. |
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ARTH*2550 The Italian Renaissance F (3-0) [0.50]
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| An investigation of the myths and realities of the Renaissance in the visual arts. The artists to be studied will include Giotto, Duccio, Ghiberti, Donatello, Alberti, the Bellini, Verrocchio and Michelangelo. Their careers will be placed against the theoretical beginnings of art writing and the intricate relationships of the emerging city-states of Siena, Florence, Milan, and the republic of Venice. |
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ARTH*3010 Contemporary Canadian Art W (3-0) [0.50]
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| The wide range of contemporary Canadian visual arts, from painting to new technological media, from 'high' culture to punk, will be examined in the context of specifically Canadian social and historical conditions during the modern and post-modern periods. (Offered in odd-numbered years.) |
| Prerequisite(s): |
10.00 credits |
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ARTH*3050 Pre-Columbian Art F (3-0) [0.50]
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| A detailed investigation of the history and artistic traditions of pre-contact America with special focus on selected cultural areas. The course will bring together such perspectives as archaeology, art history and ethnography. |
| Prerequisite(s): |
10.00 credits |
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ARTH*3060 Public Art W (3-0) [0.50]
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| An investigation of what constitutes the "public" and the "private" domain in the arenas of art and visual culture. Provocative iconography, matters of race, nationality, sexuality, language, and identity in artistic practice, issues of censorship, controversial shows and exhibitions, the ethics of propriety and impropriety will be considered. Artists such as Linda Montano, Andres Serrano, Keith Haring, Annie Sprinkle, Robert Mapplethorpe and others will be discussed. |
| Prerequisite(s): |
10.00 credits |
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ARTH*3150 Space: Roman Art and Urbanism W (3-0) [0.50]
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| Roman art and urbanism from the Early Republic to the end of the imperial period. The course will survey the developments of Roman art with an emphasis in architecture, sculpture and painting. It will illuminate the development of the urban space in the context of cultural, social and political life. (Also listed as CLAS*3150). (Offered in even-numbered years.) |
| Equate(s): |
CLAS*3150
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| Restriction(s): |
ARTH*3530, ARTH*4500
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ARTH*3210 Critical Issues in Art History F (3-0) [0.50]
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| An investigation of art and its histories. Art writing, art history, and art historical methodology will be examined through the work of key art historians, cultural critics, and philosophers such as Clement Greenberg, Rosalind Krauss, Griselda Pollock, and Jacques Derrida for example. Critical issues such as intention and reception, authorship, creativity and originality will be discussed. (Offered in odd-numbered years.) |
| Prerequisite(s): |
10.00 credits |
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ARTH*3220 Nationalism and Identity in Art W (3-0) [0.50]
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| A consideration of issues of identity formation and representation as they intersect with the agendas and interests of the nation state. The course looks at questions of power and exclusion, theories of representation and notions of centre/periphery, cultural hybridity and border-crossing in the age of globalization. It will examine the representation of identity in cultural institutions (including museums, and international art events) in cultural policy, and in cultural forms (fine art and popular culture, journals and periodicals). |
| Prerequisite(s): |
10.00 credits |
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ARTH*3460 English Art, 1750 to Present F (3-0) [0.50]
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| In conjunction with the London Semester, this course will survey the visual arts in England from the mid-18th century to the present. Visits to galleries, museums, libraries, studios, and other cultural institutions will supplement lectures and stress the experience of actual works of art. |
| Prerequisite(s): |
Admission to London Semester |
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ARTH*3520 Idea: Art Since 1950 F (3-0) [0.50]
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| An analysis of the visual arts of painting, sculpture, photographic media and non-traditional media World War II to the present. Selected artists of North America and Western Europe will be considered, as well as the institutions of the art world. |
| Prerequisite(s): |
10.00 credits. |
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ARTH*3550 Lives: Aspects of High Renaissance Art W (3-0) [0.50]
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| A reading of Vasari will inform the investigation of artistic practices in painting, sculpture and architecture. Included will be issues of patronage, audiences, physical and social contexts, art and the household, art and technology, the complexities of Renaissance as period and place. Key artists will be Alberti, Brunelleschi, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael, Giorgione, Titian, Palladio, Vignola. (Offered in even-numbered years.) |
| Prerequisite(s): |
10.00 credits |
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ARTH*3570 Display: Visual Culture in Late 19th Century Europe W (3-0) [0.50]
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| The course will examine the radical transformations in Western painting, sculpture and architecture that occurred alongside the invention of museums, World's Fairs, photography, and the department store. Art movements to be studied will range from Realism, Impressionism and Post-Impressionism to Art Nouveau. |
| Prerequisite(s): |
10.00 credits |
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ARTH*3640 Objects: Baroque Art and Rococo Art F (3-0) [0.50]
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| Selected topics investigating the visual arts in Italy, Spain, and France. These may include the study of key practitioners, the development of a complex artistic theory that reflects patterns of local and national discourse and instruction in the arts, the emergence of female artists. Key artists are Caravaggio, Bernini, Artemisia Gentileschi, Borromini, Velazquez et al. (Offered in odd-numbered years.) |
| Prerequisite(s): |
10.00 credits |
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ARTH*3780 Gender and Art W (3-0) [0.50]
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| A consideration of how the practice and reception of the visual arts intersect with constructs of gender in contemporary contexts and in history. |
| Prerequisite(s): |
10.00 credits |
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ARTH*4600 Individual Study - Art History S,F,W (3-0) [0.50]
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| Each student establishes, in consultation with the faculty member chosen, the content of this special study within the area of expertise of that instructor. |
| Restriction(s): |
This course is available with the approval of the Director for students who have completed their 5th semester and for whom there is no suitable course available. |
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ARTH*4620 Museum Studies W (3-0) [0.50]
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| This seminar course will be offered in conjunction with the staff and facilities of the Macdonald Stewart Art Centre and will deal with historical matters relating to the role of the art museum in western life and the critical day-to-day management of a contemporary one. Students will participate, when possible, in the preparation of a current or forthcoming exhibition in the Centre. |
| Prerequisite(s): |
10.00 credits |
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ARTH*4850 Honours Thesis I S,F,W (0-9) [0.50]
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| Under the guidance of a faculty member over two semesters (ARTH*4850 in the first semester and ARTH*4860 in the second semester), the honours student will research and complete a major independent project in art history or criticism for final approval by a faculty committee. Recommended for all honours students. |
| Restriction(s): |
Registration in semester 7 or 8 and a cumulative average of 70% in Studio and Art History courses. Instructor consent required. |
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