• This art appreciation course is designed for students with no or little background in Art History who would like to try a Humanities subject for their general culture and to better appreciate museums and esthetics. A quick survey of early 19th century French art and civilization provides the background for France's renowned Impressionism movement during the Industrial Revolution when art left the patronage of the Church and State and became a middle-class enjoyment. At this moment, painting reflected not only contemporary life-styles and fashion but also modern transport and entertainment centers.
• Emphasis is on learning to see art for art itself by becoming open and sensitive to: The joy in color harmonies, the calm of composition, the mood-setting of lighting, humor of caricature, the tromp l'oeil of perspective, etc. while not neglecting the references to past works and subject matter that enhance the meaning.
• All class lectures and discussions are illustrated with slides of works of art. Four museum visits give direct access to great works allowing students to develop a critical eye and get the most out of the experience.

It is hoped that the students will:

- Acquire a certain "connoisseur's eye" able to notice beauty in all aspects of everyday life.

- Develop an awareness of the civilization reflected in works of art and of the particular ways each individual artist responded and created his/her own approach.

- Recognize and differentiate the palette and brushwork of over 15 world-class painters.

- See that many solutions are possible for the same problem and use one's esthetic component (gut feeling) instead of always seeking a rational justification.

- Understand how to evaluate and appreciate quality directly especially in a realm where quantitative data has no bearing.

- Learn to enjoy museums and visit them in the future as a pleasant pass-time.

Presence in class is mandatory. More than 2 absences will lead to a failing grade.

 

Upon completion of this course students should be able to:

- Understand and properly apply the artistic terminology acquired in the course,

- Learn the basic genres (subject matter) seen in painting.

- Organize thoughts and opinions into well-written critiques.

- Slow down viewing so as to relish a single image instead of having to zap by several per second to satisfy a limited attention span.

- Cultivate "sensibility and appreciation" which includes noticing design and beauty in everyday life

- Understand the notions of harmony, balance, order, pattern, creativity, etc. not only in esthetic objects but also, by extension, in any domain including management and economics

 

The final grade will be determined as follows:

- 2 quizzes of 30 minutes and 1 final exam of 120 minutes. Will test the student's identification and critical analysis of the material and paintings discussed in class.

- The final grade will be determined as follows:

First homework 10 points

A quiz 15 points

Second homework 20 points

Final Exam 30 points

Participation 25 points (creative tasks, weekly reading review, debates, films, gallery game)

 

Session 1

Photo card-set game

Creative task 1

Modified postcards or

Chance aesthetics

Reading: Rubin: Chapter 1 Modernity and Form

Introduction: Seeing through Art, the Art of Seeing

Introduction to the basic elements of color and design including tricks of trompe l?oeil and other ways of creating illusion. How to understand color harmony, the golden ratio, and composition.

Debate: What is good taste; what is art; what is Art History?

 

Session 2

GUIDE FOR FIRST HOMEWORK (Creative

Reading: Rubin: Chapter 2 the Artists as Subject Edouard Manet

Found objects transformed

Recollecting your younger self

LECTURE: Background for Impressionism - Geography, Dates, Society, Political Framework, previous and parallel styles

Debate: Sensor and Political cartoons

 

Session 3

Museum visit

Making Excel spread sheets on artists

Creative task 3

Picture Poem

Torn paper

Reading: Rubin, Chapter 7 Opposition or Complicity - Political

Visit 16:00-19:30 Louvre Museum at 16:00, meeting inside the grand hall under the big pyramid at the "Accueil groups desk". - Earlier 19th century painting: Neoclassicism, Romanticism), Private apartments of Napoleon III and the private collection of Impressionist works. (Coffee Break half way through)

 

Session 4

FIRST HOMEWORK PAPER DUE

Bingo over Reading and visits questions

Reading: Rubin Chapter 3 Naturalism in Plein-air

LECTURE : Ecology and 19th century landscape painting

Luminous brushstroke artists (Monet, Renoir, Pissarro, Sisley, etc.) En plein air. Landscape and portrait painting

Beginnings of Impressionism How? A leader/work? Influences and reactions.

Debate: How to communicate a message through art. Is this propaganda?

 

Session 5

Museum visit

Creative task 4

Nature: things themselves

Figuration to abstraction

VISIT 8:00-11:00 sharp at the Church Saint Sulpice. 2 rue Palatine, 75006 Paris.

Métro Saint Sulpice. Double visit of mural paintings in the church and then the home of Delacroix, Musée national Eugène Delacroix 6 rue de Furstenberg 75 006

 

Session 6

Just-a-minute game

How to write an essay

Creative task 5

Surreal scenarios

Composite faces

Reading: Rubin: Chapter 4 Places, People and Traditions - Bazille, Pissarro & Renoir

Chapter 5 Choreography and Science Edgar Degas

Review first homework & Writing guide for second homework (Biography of an artist)

Debate: Art verse Science, what side of your brain should you think through?

 

Session 7

Slide Quiz over chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 7

Creative task 6

Walking to abstraction

Poetic actualities

Reading: Rubin: Chapter 6 Feminine and Masculine - Morisot, Cassatt & Caillebotte

The "snapshot" capturing an instant of modern life artists (Bazille, Degas, Caillebotte) Cityscapes, Ballet and Nightlife in Haussmannian Paris. Women artists (Cassatt, Morisot, Gonzales) Impact of contemporary fashions on painting

Debate: Gender differences in artistic style and subject matter

 

Session 8

Afternoon Visit

Museum visit

Creative task 7

Scrapbook collage Miniature museums

Reading: Rubin: Chapter 9 Commerce and Creativity - Series and Originals

Visit, 15:15 to 18:00 either at Musée Marmotton, Tuilleries, Grand Palais or elsewhere

Temporary exhibition on ???? the new programs for 2016-17 at museums have not yet been announced.

 

Session 9

SECOND HOMEWORK DUE

Teamwork for Gallery game

Reading: Rubin: Rubin Chapter 8 Reassessment and Renewal

Lecture: Impressionism and Marketing. Art Dealers, Auction Houses, prefabricated canvas and tubes of oil paint

Beyond Impressionism, pixel-like perfection: Neo-Impressionism, Pointillism (Seurat, Signac, etc.)

Debate: What business does business have with art?

 

Session 10

Slide Quiz over chapters 4, 6, 5, 8, 9 & visit

Presentation and animation of Gallery Show Game

Reading: Chapter 10 towards an Aftermath - Cézanne

Lecture: Developments and variations on Impressionism. What would Impressionism really influence? From Cezanne to Pollock. Impressionism in sculpture (Rodin, Claudel)

Debate: Paris as the "Capital of Art", until when?

 

Session 11

Museum visit

Students present a painting from their homework biography

Treated faces

Modified readymade

Reading: Rubin Chapter 11 Other Media, Other Places

VISIT 9:00-11:00 Musée d'Orsay 1 Rue de la Légion d'Honneur, 75007 Paris meeting at 9:00 in front of the Group entrance (near the statue of a Rhinoceros) Visit the permanent collections of the Impressionists

General revision

 

Session 12

FINAL EXAM over all chapters & Slide Quiz with paintings from CHAPTERS 6, 8, 9, 10 & 11 and from visits

Lecture: Merits/limits, charm, originality, how fitted into historical situation, Impact contribution to cultural and other history. Why finished? What's next?