Nineteenth-Century Art

ARH 4430-001                                                            Professor E. Fraser

Mon, Wed 10-11:50                                                    office: FAH 272

Fall 2005                                                                      tel. 974-4549 (no voice mail)

University of South Florida                                            leave messages: 974-2360

(meets in FAH 290)                                                      E-mail: fraser@arts.usf.edu

 

Office hours: Wednesdays 1:00-2:00, and by appointment

 

Teaching assistant: Jackie Longe: longe@mail.usf.edu; office hour: room 232, Mondays 12:00-1:00, and by appointment

                                                                       

Brief description and goals: 

A critical examination of the social and cultural history of 19th-century art.  Students will develop critical thinking skills, their ability to write and research on art issues, and will acquire a strong grasp of the main images and issues of the 19th century.

 

Course requirements:

1) Attendance and participation in class discussion

2) Readings (completed by class time)

3) Completion of worksheets (due as marked in syllabus throughout semester )

4) One essay (5-6 pp.); one in-class essay exam; one research paper (8 pp.)

 

 

Required textbooks (available in USF bookstore):

Stephen Eisenman, ed., Nineteenth-Century Art: A Critical History (2nd ed. only)

Robert L. Herbert, Impressionism; Art, Leisure, and Parisian Society

Sylvan Barnet, A Short Guide to Writing about Art (8th ed., earlier editions acceptable)

 

Also to obtain: readings on electronic reserve in the USF library [available by second week of class]:

-Course packet (includes worksheets and paper assignments): Bring to every class session!

-Tomlinson reading: “Goya’s Modernity”

-Boime reading: “John Constable”

-Rosen and Zerner reading: “Caspar David Friedrich and the Language of Landscape”

-Mathews reading: “The Symbolist Aesthetic”

-Mathews reading: “Symbolist Women Artists”

 

Attendance policy [the fine print]:

Important concepts of the course will be conveyed in each lecture/discussion; furthermore, there will be class discussion and in-class writing during each meeting.  Therefore attendance is mandatory.  Three absences are allowed, excused or unexcused.  After three absences, the final grade is dropped by a half-grade for each absence, excused or unexcused (ex: from B to B-).  A student with five absences (or more) cannot receive a final grade higher than C, no matter what the actual grade average would be.  Frequent lateness and early departures will be counted as absences.  (Please note: according to university policy, students who anticipate being absent from class due to religious observance should inform me by the second class meeting of the term.)

 

Reading and Discussion

We will read about a chapter a week, mostly from the main textbook, occasionally two chapters a week.  Since these chapters are challenging and densely written, we will spend time in class breaking down and discussing the ideas presented.  You will be expected to have carefully read the assigned chapter for that week, and to participate in discussion of it, based on worksheets.  Discussion may take the form of class debates, small group discussion, or informal class discussion of a few chosen images.

 

Policy on plagiarism:

Plagiarism (copying or simply rewording all or parts of other people’s texts) is an academic and legal offense: review the definition of plagiarism in Sylvan Barnet’s Short Guide to Writing about Art.   In this course, plagiarism of any kind and extent will result in a failed grade for the assignment.  Extensive or repeated plagiarism will result in a failed grade for the course.

 

The University of South Florida has an account with an automated plagiarism detection service which allows instructors to submit student assignments to be checked for plagiarism.  I reserve the right to 1) request that assignments be submitted to me as electronic files and 2) electronically submit assignments to SafeAssignment.  Assignments are compared automatically with a database of papers and publications, including materials available on the web.  For information about plagiarism in USF’s Undergraduate Catalog, go to

            http://www.ugs.usf.edu/catalogs/0304/adadap.htm#plagiarism

Lecture, discussion, and reading schedule:

            * indicates day that a worksheet must be handed in 

            [chapter numbers refer to the main class textbook]

Any student with a disability is encouraged to meet with me privately during the first week of class to discuss accommodations.  A current Memorandum of Accommodations from the Office of Student Disability Services is required.

 

I. Art and the new public sphere                                                      

Aug      29         Introduction: Art and the French Revolution

            31         Neo-Classicism and David; chapter one

Sept      5          LABOR DAY: NO CLASS

             7         chapter one

            12         chapter one

            *14       chapter one, chapter one worksheet due          

            19         chapter two

            *21       chapter two, chapter two worksheet due

            *26       Goya: Tomlinson, “Goya’s Modernity” (e-reserve), chapter three worksheet due           

II. Regional and national identity in art: subverting the universalism of history painting

            28         landscape: Turner: chap. 5, pp. 134-141; and Constable: Boime, “John Constable” (e-reserve), and chap. 5, pp. 124-132.

Oct       3          NO CLASS: PAPER PREPARATION TIME

            ** FIRST PAPER DUE by 4:30 p.m. in my office, FAH 272**

             5         landscape: Friedrich: Rosen and Zerner, “Caspar David Friedrich and the Language of Landscape” (e-reserve)           

            *10       chapter ten; plus p. 280 (in chap. 12, on Breton and Bonheur), worksheet on landscape due

            12         chapter ten, plus p. 280 from chapter twelve

III.  Art and individualism: the artist’s self-fashioning

            *17       NO CLASS: EXAM PREPARATION

            19         Impressionism: Herbert, “Paris Transformed,” pp. 1-32; worksheet on chapter 10 due

24         In-class essay examination: landscape; chapter 10; and Breton and Bonheur (12)

            26         Herbert, “Impressionism and Naturalism,” pp. 33-57                   

            31         Herbert, “Café and Café-Concert,” pp. 59-60, 72-91 only

Nov      2         Herbert, “Suburban Leisure,” pp. 195-196, 229-263

             *7        chapter fifteen [ch. 16 recommended], Herbert worksheet due

             9         chapter seventeen

             *14      Mathews, “The Symbolist Aesthetic” (e-reserve), worksheet for chaps. 15, 17 due

            16         chapter eighteen

             21        required paper consultations (meetings but no lecture)   

            23         NO CLASS: THANKSGIVING BREAK                   

            *28       Mathews, “Symbolist Women Artists” (e-reserve); worksheet on Symbolist aesthetic and ch. 18 due     

            *30       chapter nineteen; in-class worksheet on Cézanne due 

Dec      5          NO CLASS: PAPER PREPARATION TIME

             7         ** FINAL RESEARCH PAPER DUE **

12:00 noon, in my office, FAH 272

Pick up all final graded work on the shelves in the slide study room at the end of the semester.  You may also give me a stamped, self-addressed envelope to have all your materials mailed to you.

Explanation of course requirements

 

Worksheets

Informational worksheets with terminology, chronologies, and broader synthetic questions based on class readings.  Use the worksheets to determine what you don’t understand in the reading, and to help you assimilate the main ideas of the class.  Please use your own words: it’s the best way to learn.  Answers to the worksheets can be written on a separate paper or directly on the worksheet.  Worksheets will be the basis for in-class discussions (participation is part of your grade).   While we will work on worksheets during class time, you MUST complete the final, general question on your own.  (What is the main idea of the reading and what do you think about this idea?)

 

Worksheets will be collected throughout the semester, as marked on syllabus.  Failure to complete worksheets will result in a final grade of “C” or lower.

 

Papers

One essay-style paper (5-6pp) and one research paper (8pp) with full bibliography, footnotes or endnotes.  All papers must use standard formats: margins of 1"; 12-point Times New Roman font; they must be typed and double spaced, and have a supported thesis or argument.  Please proofread for typos, misspellings, and basic grammatical errors.  Since the paper topics rely on class materials, including reading, lectures, and discussion, you must carefully follow class to do well on the papers.  See relevant sections of Barnet, Short Guide to Writing about Art for guidance on paper writing.  It is strongly recommended that you speak to me or your teaching assistant while you prepare each paper.

 

Paper one (chapters 1-2, Goya): due October 3 by 4:30pm (at my office, room 272)

Paper two (chapters 14-19, Herbert and Matthews chapters):

                                                due December 7 by 12:00 noon (at my office, room 272)

 

Essay examination (October 24)

Building on the paper-writing skills developed in this class, the essay exam covers the second section of our class (landscape readings and chapter10, Breton and Bonheur) on regional and national identity.  The exam will consist of two essays: one essay on landscape painting and one essay on Realism.  For each essay you will be asked to compare and contrast two works of art.  You will be asked a question about these images that will be related to our prior class discussion and the readings.  The images will not be announced before the exam, but they will be identified for you on the exam sheet and will be drawn from assigned class texts.  (It is possible that works not discussed in lecture but mentioned in the readings will appear on the exam!)  In other words, this exam does not require you to memorize dates and titles, but it does require you to have a good grasp and knowledge of the concepts, images, and artists presented in class materials.  To prepare for this essay exam, you will want to re-read the assigned texts very carefully.  We will do in-class practice to prepare for this exam.

 

Class discussion and attendance

See page one of syllabus.

 

Grading

Discussion                                                        10%

Worksheets                                                       20%

Essay paper                                                      20%

In-class essay exam                                          20%

Research paper                                                 30%

How to get electronic reserves from home (remote access), using MyUSF (Blackboard):

 

Go to MyUSF (Blackboard) web address: https://my.usf.edu/

 

            Sign up for account and log in.

 

            You get a menu; click on USF Libraries (top right).

 

            Click on USF libraries (again).

 

            Click on Reserves.

 

            Type in title or author of reading.

 

            Click on link for reading desired.

 

            You will get a request for a user id and password: type in your MyUSF user id and password.

 

            The link will open and the reading will appear on your screen.

 

 

            [Troubleshooting: call USF reference librarians at 974-2729.]

 

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Electronic resources recommended for this class:

In the readings for this class, you will encounter unfamiliar names, historical references, and words.  These resources will help you figure them out, and I encourage you to use them often.  They are available through USF library’s online databases: from the library’s main menu, click on databases, then either type in the name of the database or use the alphabetical guide.

 

                - britannica online: Encyclopaedia Britannica Online.  Available through webluis, otherwise available to individuals only through subscription, for a fee.

 

                - link to Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary from britannica.  The vocabulary used in the class text is sometimes challenging; use this quick dictionary (or have an old-fashioned paper dictionary ready to hand!).

 

                -Grove Online Dictionary of Art: for looking up unfamiliar art references, for an overview of movements in art or of individual artists, etc.

 

            - Bibliography of the History of Art: This is the most important resource for doing research in art and art history; it will help you locate sources for your final research paper.