(Updated September 2017)This module offers an in-depth study of a revolutionary moment in the production of art. Starting with the provocative Realism of the mid nineteenth century, we’ll further investigate Impressionism and its main rival, Salon Naturalism, in the context of social, political, and economic changes that heralded the birth of modernity in France. The themes we’ll explore will include labour and class, gender, technology including photography, the built environment, and display. We will explore not only the historical stature and reputation of Courbet, Manet, Degas, Monet, Morisot, Cassatt, Caillebotte, Pissarro, Renoir and others, but their contemporary relevance. And we will examine not only why and how artists reacted to their time, but how they also came to influence it.
Aims:
• to introduce students to key movements in the history of art by focusing on Impressionism;
• to develop skills of oral and written description and analysis of art works;
• to develop interpretation skills through comparative visual analysis;
• to familiarise students with the use of primary and secondary sources.
Learning Outcomes:
By the end of this module the student should have:
• a sound grasp of Impressionist artworks and their context;
• the ability to interpret works and texts based on sound knowledge of the appropriate historical and interpretative contexts;
• the confidence to subject the texts studied to critical analysis; and
• good bibliographic and basic research skills.
By the end of the module, students should also have acquired a set of transferable skills, and in particular be able to:
• engage with the subject through visual analysis and close attention to detail;
• define the task in which they are engaged and exclude what is irrelevant;
• seek and organise the most relevant discussions and sources of information;
• process a large volume of diverse and sometimes conflicting arguments;
• compare and evaluate different arguments and assess the limitations of their own position or procedure;
• write and present verbally a succinct and precise account of positions, arguments, and their presuppositions and implications;
• be sensitive to the positions of others and communicate their own views in ways that are accessible to them;
• think 'laterally' and creatively (i.e., to explore interesting connections and possibilities, and to present these clearly rather than as vague hunches);
• maintain intellectual flexibility and revise their own position based on feedback;
• think critically and constructively.
Aims:
• to introduce students to key movements in the history of art by focusing on Impressionism;
• to develop skills of oral and written description and analysis of art works;
• to develop interpretation skills through comparative visual analysis;
• to familiarise students with the use of primary and secondary sources.
Learning Outcomes:
By the end of this module the student should have:
• a sound grasp of Impressionist artworks and their context;
• the ability to interpret works and texts based on sound knowledge of the appropriate historical and interpretative contexts;
• the confidence to subject the texts studied to critical analysis; and
• good bibliographic and basic research skills.
By the end of the module, students should also have acquired a set of transferable skills, and in particular be able to:
• engage with the subject through visual analysis and close attention to detail;
• define the task in which they are engaged and exclude what is irrelevant;
• seek and organise the most relevant discussions and sources of information;
• process a large volume of diverse and sometimes conflicting arguments;
• compare and evaluate different arguments and assess the limitations of their own position or procedure;
• write and present verbally a succinct and precise account of positions, arguments, and their presuppositions and implications;
• be sensitive to the positions of others and communicate their own views in ways that are accessible to them;
• think 'laterally' and creatively (i.e., to explore interesting connections and possibilities, and to present these clearly rather than as vague hunches);
• maintain intellectual flexibility and revise their own position based on feedback;
• think critically and constructively.
- Module Supervisor: Natasha Ruiz-Gomez