Art History 258
AMERICAN ART:
Painting and Sculpture until 1918
Spring 2000
Maurie D. McInnis
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Campbell 160
MWF 10:00-10:50AM
Office: 203 Peyton Annex
Office Telephone number: 243-8651
Office hours: Mon. 2:00-3:00P & Wed. 2:00-4:00P
(or by appointment)
e-mail: McInnis@virginia.edu
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Course Overview
This course will examine American painting and sculpture from the time of European
settlement to 1918 with special emphasis on political, social and cultural contexts.
The course is both chronological and thematic. It focuses on major figures,
such as John Singleton Copley, Benjamin West, Thomas Cole, Winslow Homer, Thomas
Eakins, but it also focuses on issues such as the construction of an American
identity, the role of the fine arts in American society, and the tensions of
class, gender, race and ethnicity in American art. This course will combine
slide lecture with discussion of secondary readings.
Required Texts
Craven, Wayne. American Art: History and Culture. McGraw-Hill, 1994.
Doezema, Marianne and Elizabeth Milroy, eds. Reading American Art. Yale University Press, 1998.
Both are available for purchase at the University Bookstore.
Course Requirements:
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1st writing assignment
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15% |
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Midterm |
25% |
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2nd writing assignment |
30% |
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Final exam |
30% |
Dates to Remember:
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Feb. 2
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Last day to drop |
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Feb. 25
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1st writing assignment due |
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Mar. 6
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Midterm |
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Mar. 22
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Last day to withdraw |
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Apr. 19
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2nd writing assignment due |
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May 5
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Final exam |
Policies:
- Writing assignments submitted late will lose one letter grade for every 24 hours (A to B, etc.)
- Study guides, supplementary images, information on the writing assignments, etc. will be posted on the website. It is your responsibility to check it periodically for information. I will announce in class when something new has been posted.
1st writing assignment:
2-3 pages, due Feb. 25. Imagine that you are on
the planning committee for the Centennial Exhibition (1876). As this
exhibit is intended to celebrate American history, Americans as a people,
and America as a place, you are charged with choosing images that illustrate
these different themes. Your task is to nominate three paintings for inclusion
in the exhibition, one painting to illustrate each of the three themes. For
the purposes of this assignment, you may choose any work prior to 1850. After
making your selections, please write an essay in support of these paintings
and tell the committee how your selections illustrate the three themes of
the exhibition.
Midterm:
The midterm will consist of short objective questions,
followed by a series of slide pairs, asking you to identify and compare and
contrast the images on the screen. The images you are responsible for knowing
will be ones shown in class that are also in your textbook or on the class website.
You will be expected to identify the images and make a comparison between the
objects that illustrates your understanding of the visual, thematic or historical
aspects that connect them. You will also be expected to draw upon the material
in your readings when appropriate. These short essays will be followed by a
longer essay question based on discussions in class and readings. A study guide
will be posted on the website.
2nd writing assignment:
4-5 pages, due Apr. 19. The 2nd writing assignment calls for you to visit a museum and write about a work of art based on your observations. Details about the assignment will be posted on the website later in the semester.
Final:
Like the midterm, the final will have some objective questions, and a series of compare and contrast pairs drawn from the last half of the course. That will be followed by a long essay question based on major themes discussed during the course of the semester, asking you to relate materials from the whole range of American art. A study guide will be posted on the website.
Tentative Schedule of Lectures
Jan. 19-21 — Introduction to American Art
Jan. 24-26-28 — Early Colonial Painting
and how to read a portrait
Readings:
Craven: 16-20, 28-29, 42-53, 68-79.
Reading American Art, Chap. 1.
Jan. 31-Feb. 2-4 — Late 18th Century
Portraiture and John Singleton Copley
Readings:
Craven: 94-108.
Reading American Art, Chap. 2.
Feb. 7-9 — Grand Manner History Painting —
West, Trumbull and Copley
Readings:
Craven: 110-111, 135-140.
Feb. 11-14 — Grand Manner History Painting
— Morse, Allston and Vanderlyn
Readings:
Craven: 146-152.
Feb. 16-18 — America’s Heroes: Washington
as Icon and Jefferson as Patron
Readings:
Craven: Craven 141-146.
Feb. 21 — Federal Portraiture and still-life
painting
Readings:
Craven: 153-156.
Reading American Art, Chap. 3.
Feb. 23-25-27 — American Landscape painting
— Allston and Cole
Readings:
Craven: 198-206.
Reading American Art, Chap. 4.
Feb. 25— 1st Writing assignment
due
Mar. 1-3 — Landscape painting —
Manifest Destiny & the search for the ideal
Readings:
Craven: 206-220.
Reading American Art, Chap. 10.
Mar. 6 — Midterm
Mar. 8-10 — Genre Painting — The Politics
of Everyday Life
Readings:
Craven: 157-159, 221-236.
Reading American Art, Chap. 6.
Mar. 13-15-17 — Spring Break
Mar. 20-22-24 — Neoclassical Sculpture
Readings:
Craven: 163-170, 248-260.
Reading American Art, Chap. 8.
Mar. 22 — Last day to withdraw
Mar. 27-29-31 — Images of African-Americans and
Native Americans
Readings:
Reading American Art, Chap. 7 and 9.
Apr. 3-5-7 —
American Naturalism and Realism — Homer
Readings:
Craven: 329-338.
Reading American Art, Chap. 12.
Apr. 10-12 — Eakins
Readings:
Craven: 338-342.
Reading American Art, Chap. 11.
Apr. 14-17-19 — America’s Expatriates
— Whistler, Sargent and Cassatt
Readings:
Craven: 342-348.
Reading American Art, Chap. 13.
Apr. 19 — 2nd Writing assignment
due
Apr. 21-24 — American Impressionism and
American Renaissance
Readings:
Craven: 349-366.
Apr. 26-28 —Henri and The Eight —
the Ashcan School
Readings:
Craven 422-434.
Reading American Art, Chap. 15.
May 1 — Early Modernism and The Amory
Show and
Readings:
Craven: 444-460.
May 5— FINAL EXAM 9:00 a.m.
-12:00 p.m.