UCL - Art and Civilisation : Visual Arts from Modern Times to the Contemporary Period

[ARKE1456]

[37.5h] 5 credits

This course is taught in the 2d semester.

This two-yearly course is taught in 2009-2010, 2011-2012,...

Teacher(s): Alexander Streitberger

Language: French

Level: First

Aims
Main themes
Content and teaching methods

Aims

During this course, students will learn a range of different methodologies intended to enable them to analyse a selection of key works of Western Art since the Renaissance, encompassing painting and sculpture and other media as drawing, engraving and photography. They will also learn how to sythesise these analyses and develop a chronological and typological framework for the history of forms and themes in Art.

Main themes

The course introduces students to the major trends and key personalities in European painting and sculpture from the XVth to the XXIth century. It deals with general issues relating to the emergence of art and the artist in society, in theoretical discourse and examines how their work came into being, how it spread and how it was understood. These issues are used to structure analyses of works from the concerned periods. From this broad perspective, the course focuses in on particular aspects of artistic activity: painting and sculpture from the Renaissance to the Baroque period and the "golden century" of Flemish and Dutch painters, from French classicism to international rococo; the main movements and media of modern and contemporary art.

Content and teaching methods

This course uses case studies of major paintings and sculptures to establish a chronological and/or thematic framework of forms and themes in Western Art. These works are studied primarily in the lecture hall, where the images are projected for students to study. They are presented in chronological and thematic order, and emphasis is placed on identifying changes in style and iconography over time, for all typological domains considered. Varied analytical perspectives will be adopted, giving students an overview of the range and complementarity of different scientific approaches.