MODERN EUROPEAN HISTORY
2017–2018
2017–2018
Lecturer: Deanna Ledezma (PhD Candidate, University of Illinois at Chicago)
Geography sampler, unidentified maker, late eighteenth century, England, Silk, embroidered with silk in running, outline, split, stem, satin and long and short stitch, Victoria & Albert Museum.
ABOUT THE CLASS:
Spanning from the
Renaissance to the twenty-first century, the art history component of the
Modern European History course follows a chronological organization while
maintaining a critical perspective on the standard art history survey. With an
awareness of the current “global turn” in the teaching and writing of art history,
this class investigate the processes and effects of cross-cultural
interactions. Over the school year, we will explore how cross-cultural
interactions permeate through the production, consumption, and circulation of
European art, material culture, and visual culture from the sixteenth century
to the present. In addition to learning about paintings, sculptures, and
architecture firmly established in the canon, we will examine decorative art
objects and material culture, historically deemed secondary to the fine arts.
Each class will also include a contemporary example, such as an artist,
exhibition, or currently debated issue, with ties to the historical topics we discuss.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
- To cultivate skills with
broader applications in our contemporary visual and material world
- To understand artworks
within historical, cultural, and social contexts
- To develop three
methodological approaches to art: Socio-historical analysis, formal analysis,
and iconographical analysis
- To demonstrate a critical
engagement with art through verbal and written analysis
POWERPOINT PRESENTATIONS:
PowerPoint presentations
with images and information from lectures will be posted after each class
meeting. The slides and notes taken by students during class will provide them
with the study materials needed for the visual analysis section of the in-class
tests.
WRITING EXPERIMENTS:
In the fall and spring,
students will receive a prompt for a short writing experiment. The purpose of
these two writing experiments is to practice “translating” objects into words,
one of the fundamental tasks of art historical writing. No research is
necessary for these assignments. Instead, students should rely upon their
experience with the objects and pay close attention to their personal
observations. Each student will determine the form the writing takes: a
description, a poem, a review, a narration, a museum object label—any of these
forms are welcome. The experiments are intended to be creative exercises in
writing about the visual and material world. Students will receive a separate
handout about the writing experiments and possible objects.
PARTICIPATION:
Lectures will include
potential questions for discussion; however, students are highly encouraged to
pose their own questions throughout each class.
Throughout the course of
the year, students may be asked to prepare short writings in advance for the
purpose of using to participate verbally in class. Your participation is
required and always valued.
Under the schedule of
classes, students will find recommended audio recordings (podcast episodes),
readings (news articles and short essays), and viewings (videos). They were
selected to complement the themes and issues that will be addressed on that
day. These recommendations were chosen based on their accessibility and
conciseness. You can complete most of them within fifteen minutes, and all of
them are available online via the hyperlinks. Please listen to, watch, and read
these recommendations before class.
The books and essays
listed in the TEXTS section for each class are not required readings.
They are included to show students some of the sources referenced in my
lectures.
FIELD TRIPS: STUDENT PRESENTATIONS AT THE ART INSTITUTE OF
CHICAGO
Students will be divided
into two groups for the field trip to the Art Institute of Chicago: one group
will attend the field trip in the fall, and the second will attend the field
trip in spring. The field trip will be a student-led tour of European artworks.
At the field trip, each student will act as a docent, or museum guide, to their
peers and give a short presentation on the artwork of their choice. Since this
presentation will require preparation, each student must visit the museum on
their own prior to our field trip in order to select their artwork. Some
research about the artwork, maker, time period, and/or process will be
necessary. The class will receive a handout with guidelines at the beginning of
the school year. Students will sign-up for the Fall Quarter or Spring Quarter
as well as specific works of art to avoid redundancy during the tour. Students who opt to take the AP Modern
European History exam must sign-up for the Fall Quarter.
 |
Geography sampler, unidentified maker, late eighteenth century, England, Silk, embroidered with silk in running, outline, split, stem, satin and long and short stitch, Victoria & Albert Museum.
ABOUT THE CLASS:
- To cultivate skills with broader applications in our contemporary visual and material world
- To understand artworks within historical, cultural, and social contexts
- To develop three methodological approaches to art: Socio-historical analysis, formal analysis, and iconographical analysis
- To demonstrate a critical engagement with art through verbal and written analysis
SCHEDULE OF CLASSES AND FIELD TRIPS:
Class One: Thursday, September 28
TOPICS: INTRODUCTION; CROSS-CULTURAL INTERACTIONS; RENAISSANCE
TEXT:
Cross-Cultural Issues in Art: Frames for Understanding by Steven M. Leuthold (2011)
Misplaced Objects: Migrating Collections and Recollections in Europe and the Americas by Silvia Spitta (2009)
CONTEMPORARY:
Cabinets of Wonder: A Passion for Collecting by Christine Davenne with photographs by Christine Fleurent (2012)
RECOMMENDED AFTER THIS CLASS:
Listen to The British Museum and BBC presents A History of the World in 100 Objects, “The Mechanical Galleon” episode
Assignment due at next meeting: Writing Experiment #1 (due October 12)
Link to the Writing Experiment Guidelines PDF
Link to PowerPoint from the Lecture (September 28)
Class Two: Thursday, October 12
TOPICS: BAROQUE & THEATRICALITY
TEXT:
Caravaggio: Realism, Rebellion, Reception edited by Genevieve Warwick (2006)
CONTEMPORARY:
Eve Sussman (born 1961)
Kehinde Wiley (born 1977)
RECOMMENDED BEFORE THIS CLASS:
Farago, Jason. “From Colonial Mexico, a Towering Vision of Grace.” The New York Times, July 26, 2017. Read online.
Watch the documentary Kehinde Wiley: An Economy of Grace (2014) on the PBS website. View at least the first fifteen minutes, please.
Research the object chosen by you and your partner for your museum presentation in November
Link to Field Trip Presentation Guidelines PDF
Link to Rubric for Student Presentations PDF
Link to PowerPoint from the Lecture (October 12)
Class Three (Field Trip to AIC): Monday, November 13
Student presentations at the Art Institute of Chicago
Class Four: Thursday, January 11
TOPIC: DECORATIVE ARTS, MATERIAL CULTURE, AND THE HOME
TEXTS:
“Picturing Dutch Culture” by Svetlana Alpers (1997)
Europeans at Home: Family and Material Culture, 1500–1800 by Raffaella Sarti (2002)
CONTEMPORARY:
Fred Wilson (born 1954)
The exhibition catalog for Vanitas: Meditations on Life and Death in Contemporary Art by John B. Ravenal (2004)
RECOMMENDED BEFORE THIS CLASS:
The British Museum and BBC presents A History of the World in 100 Objects: Listen to the “Early Victorian Tea Set” episode
Link to Slides from the January 11 Lecture
Class Five: Thursday, January 18
TOPIC: PHOTOGRAPHY & ITS BEGINNINGS, PART I
TEXTS:
The Pencil of Nature by William Henry Fox Talbot (1844)
The Miracle of Analogy, or: The History of Photography by Kaja Silverman (2015)
CONTEMPORARY:
Contemporary photographers featured in Ted Loos’s article for The New York Times
RECOMMENDED BEFORE THIS CLASS:
Listen to the BBC Radio 4 series In Our Time, “The Invention of Photography” episode
Loos, Ted. “Cyanotype, Photography’s Blue Period, Is Making a Comeback.” The New York Times, February 5, 2016. Read online.
Rosenberg, Karen. “Rough-Hewn Images for Rough-Hewn Times.” The New York Times, September 18, 2008. Read online.
Colman, David. “This Just in from the 1890s.” The New York Times, November 11, 2009. Read online and view “The Making of a Tintype” slideshow.
Link to Slides from January 18 Lecture
Class Six: Monday, February 26
TOPIC: PHOTOGRAPHY, COLONIALISM, AND IMMIGRATION
TEXTS:
The Coming of Photography in India by Christopher Pinney (2008)
In Sight of America: Photography and the Development of U.S. Immigration Policy by Anna Pegler-Gordon (2009)
CONTEMPORARY:
Exhibition catalog for African Photography from The Walther Collection: Distance and Desire: Encounters with the African Archive by Tamar Garb (2013)
RECOMMENDED BEFORE THIS CLASS:
Johnson, Ken. “Huddled Masses, Studiously Eyed: Lewis Hine’s Photographs, in Two Shows at I.C.P.” The New York Times, October 3, 2013. Read online.
Wender, Jessie. “Distance & Desire: Encounters with the African Archive.” The New Yorker, March 26, 2013. Read online and view slideshow.
Assignment distributed: Follow this link to the guidelines and photographs for Writing Experiment #2 (due April 12)
Link to Slides from February 26 Lecture
Class Seven: Thursday, March 8
TOPICS: WARTIME IMAGES: ROGER FENTION'S PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE CRIMEAN WAR
Link to Slides from March 8 Lecture
Assignment: If you are attending the Art Institute of Chicago field trip in May, then you need to select a partner for your museum presentation. You may choose a partner from Ms. Gerst or Mr. Janus's class.
On Sunday, March 11 at noon, the sign up sheet will be available as a Google doc. Presentation partners need to choose ONE object from the list.
Link to the Guidelines for the Museum Presentation Assignment
Link to the Rubric for the Museum Presentation Assignment
LINK TO THE PRESENTATION SIGN-UP SHEET (GOOGLE DOC)
Class Eight: Thursday, April 12
TOPIC: SURREALISM: ITS WORLDS AND ITS OTHERS
TEXTS:
Women Artists and the Surrealist Movement by Whitney Chadwick (1991)
“Made in Her Image: Frida Kahlo as Material Culture” by Lis Pankl and Kevin Blake (2012)
CONTEMPORARY:
Fridamania (The Contemporary Debates on the Legacy of Frida Kahlo)
RECOMMENDED BEFORE THIS CLASS:
Learn about and view photographs of the Witnesses to a Surrealist Vision exhibition at the Menil Collection. Visit website.
Trebay, Guy. “Frida Kahlo Is Having a Moment.” The New York Times, May 8, 2015. Read online.
Writing Experiment #2 due in class (bring printed copy for Ms. Ledezma)
Link to Slides from April 12 Lecture
Class Nine (Field Trip): Thursday, May 17
Student presentations at the Art Institute of Chicago
Class Ten: Monday, June 4
TOPICS: CONTEMPORARY ART, GLOBALIZATION, & THE VENICE BIENNALE
Link to the PowerPoint from June 4 Lecture
TEXT:
“Art and Art History after Globalization” by Marc James Léger (2012)
CONTEMPORARY:
El Anatsui (born 1944)
RECOMMENDED BEFORE THIS CLASS:
Finkel, Jori. “For Latino Artists in Sci-Fi Show, Everyone’s an Alien.” The New York Times. August 25, 2017. Read online.
Learn more about the exhibition Mundos Alternos: Art and Science Fiction in the Americas at the University of California, Riverside website
TOPICS: INTRODUCTION; CROSS-CULTURAL INTERACTIONS; RENAISSANCE
TEXT:
Cross-Cultural Issues in Art: Frames for Understanding by Steven M. Leuthold (2011)
Misplaced Objects: Migrating Collections and Recollections in Europe and the Americas by Silvia Spitta (2009)
CONTEMPORARY:
Cabinets of Wonder: A Passion for Collecting by Christine Davenne with photographs by Christine Fleurent (2012)
RECOMMENDED AFTER THIS CLASS:
Listen to The British Museum and BBC presents A History of the World in 100 Objects, “The Mechanical Galleon” episode
Assignment due at next meeting: Writing Experiment #1 (due October 12)
Link to the Writing Experiment Guidelines PDF
Link to PowerPoint from the Lecture (September 28)
Class Two: Thursday, October 12
TOPICS: BAROQUE & THEATRICALITY
TEXT:
Caravaggio: Realism, Rebellion, Reception edited by Genevieve Warwick (2006)
CONTEMPORARY:
Eve Sussman (born 1961)
Kehinde Wiley (born 1977)
RECOMMENDED BEFORE THIS CLASS:
Farago, Jason. “From Colonial Mexico, a Towering Vision of Grace.” The New York Times, July 26, 2017. Read online.
Watch the documentary Kehinde Wiley: An Economy of Grace (2014) on the PBS website. View at least the first fifteen minutes, please.
Research the object chosen by you and your partner for your museum presentation in November
Link to Field Trip Presentation Guidelines PDF
Link to Rubric for Student Presentations PDF
Link to PowerPoint from the Lecture (October 12)
Class Three (Field Trip to AIC): Monday, November 13
Student presentations at the Art Institute of Chicago
Class Four: Thursday, January 11
TOPIC: DECORATIVE ARTS, MATERIAL CULTURE, AND THE HOME
TEXTS:
“Picturing Dutch Culture” by Svetlana Alpers (1997)
Europeans at Home: Family and Material Culture, 1500–1800 by Raffaella Sarti (2002)
CONTEMPORARY:
Fred Wilson (born 1954)
The exhibition catalog for Vanitas: Meditations on Life and Death in Contemporary Art by John B. Ravenal (2004)
RECOMMENDED BEFORE THIS CLASS:
The British Museum and BBC presents A History of the World in 100 Objects: Listen to the “Early Victorian Tea Set” episode
Link to Slides from the January 11 Lecture
Class Five: Thursday, January 18
TOPIC: PHOTOGRAPHY & ITS BEGINNINGS, PART I
TEXTS:
The Pencil of Nature by William Henry Fox Talbot (1844)
The Miracle of Analogy, or: The History of Photography by Kaja Silverman (2015)
CONTEMPORARY:
Contemporary photographers featured in Ted Loos’s article for The New York Times
RECOMMENDED BEFORE THIS CLASS:
Listen to the BBC Radio 4 series In Our Time, “The Invention of Photography” episode
Loos, Ted. “Cyanotype, Photography’s Blue Period, Is Making a Comeback.” The New York Times, February 5, 2016. Read online.
Rosenberg, Karen. “Rough-Hewn Images for Rough-Hewn Times.” The New York Times, September 18, 2008. Read online.
Colman, David. “This Just in from the 1890s.” The New York Times, November 11, 2009. Read online and view “The Making of a Tintype” slideshow.
Link to Slides from January 18 Lecture
Class Six: Monday, February 26
TOPIC: PHOTOGRAPHY, COLONIALISM, AND IMMIGRATION
TEXTS:
The Coming of Photography in India by Christopher Pinney (2008)
In Sight of America: Photography and the Development of U.S. Immigration Policy by Anna Pegler-Gordon (2009)
CONTEMPORARY:
Exhibition catalog for African Photography from The Walther Collection: Distance and Desire: Encounters with the African Archive by Tamar Garb (2013)
RECOMMENDED BEFORE THIS CLASS:
Johnson, Ken. “Huddled Masses, Studiously Eyed: Lewis Hine’s Photographs, in Two Shows at I.C.P.” The New York Times, October 3, 2013. Read online.
Wender, Jessie. “Distance & Desire: Encounters with the African Archive.” The New Yorker, March 26, 2013. Read online and view slideshow.
Assignment distributed: Follow this link to the guidelines and photographs for Writing Experiment #2 (due April 12)
Link to Slides from February 26 Lecture
Class Seven: Thursday, March 8
TOPICS: WARTIME IMAGES: ROGER FENTION'S PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE CRIMEAN WAR
Link to Slides from March 8 Lecture
Assignment: If you are attending the Art Institute of Chicago field trip in May, then you need to select a partner for your museum presentation. You may choose a partner from Ms. Gerst or Mr. Janus's class.
On Sunday, March 11 at noon, the sign up sheet will be available as a Google doc. Presentation partners need to choose ONE object from the list.
Link to the Guidelines for the Museum Presentation Assignment
Link to the Rubric for the Museum Presentation Assignment
LINK TO THE PRESENTATION SIGN-UP SHEET (GOOGLE DOC)
Class Eight: Thursday, April 12
TOPIC: SURREALISM: ITS WORLDS AND ITS OTHERS
TEXTS:
Women Artists and the Surrealist Movement by Whitney Chadwick (1991)
“Made in Her Image: Frida Kahlo as Material Culture” by Lis Pankl and Kevin Blake (2012)
CONTEMPORARY:
Fridamania (The Contemporary Debates on the Legacy of Frida Kahlo)
RECOMMENDED BEFORE THIS CLASS:
Learn about and view photographs of the Witnesses to a Surrealist Vision exhibition at the Menil Collection. Visit website.
Trebay, Guy. “Frida Kahlo Is Having a Moment.” The New York Times, May 8, 2015. Read online.
Writing Experiment #2 due in class (bring printed copy for Ms. Ledezma)
Link to Slides from April 12 Lecture
Class Nine (Field Trip): Thursday, May 17
Student presentations at the Art Institute of Chicago
Class Ten: Monday, June 4
TOPICS: CONTEMPORARY ART, GLOBALIZATION, & THE VENICE BIENNALE
Link to the PowerPoint from June 4 Lecture
TEXT:
“Art and Art History after Globalization” by Marc James Léger (2012)
CONTEMPORARY:
El Anatsui (born 1944)
RECOMMENDED BEFORE THIS CLASS:
Finkel, Jori. “For Latino Artists in Sci-Fi Show, Everyone’s an Alien.” The New York Times. August 25, 2017. Read online.
Learn more about the exhibition Mundos Alternos: Art and Science Fiction in the Americas at the University of California, Riverside website
Office Hours:
I am available to meet
with students on the day of each class and by appointment. Please email me at
ledezma@uchicago.edu to schedule a meeting.
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