AH 251 The Museum Experience

Overview:

Art history and art appreciation courses are traditionally taught with projected images in a darkened room. Contrast that with the experience of viewing actual works in beautifully lit and presented displays. This course in art appreciation will provide an authentic experience of living art. This course asks you to appreciate art from a personal, lively point of view.

We are fortunate in that we are in close proximity to some of the greatest institutions for collecting, presenting and interpreting art in the world. Art must be engaged personally to be understood and appreciated. Subtleties such as color, scale, texture, space and many other qualities of a work can never be fully understood in a projected image. You the viewer must put your self in the place of the artist as they created the work and engage it personally and physically.

This course focuses on the personal experience and response to art. It is not limited to any particular time period -- you literally have the entire visual history of civilization to engage. On each outing, you will choose a work or a related body of work to write about. Follow your intuition as you begin each new exploration. What excites you? What do you want to learn more about? Take time to fully engage the work. Follow up with research about the materials (medium), cultural context and biographical information about the artist. Write a 3-page paper for four of your outings and include images of the work, including details. For two of your outings you may submit a captioned series of photographs of your visit.

This is a level A course and fulfills the general education component for the art requirement. As part of the Invitation to Insight program, this course seeks to engage you in a discourse about human creativity from around the world and from all eras. It seeks to foster in you critical thinking skills relevant to gaining a deeper understanding of visual art. After taking this course, hopefully you will continue to visit museums for lifelong enrichment and education as well as enroll in art history courses at the college.

Goals of the written component of the course:

o Understand and use the vocabulary of art

o Identify some of the purposes of art and the roles of the artist

o Perceive the elements and principles of design and explain how they are being used in a work of art.

o Understand how the materials and processes involved in the production of a work contribute to its meaning.

o Discuss art in an historical and cultural context

o Develop a lifelong personal love and appreciation for the visual arts and that you will continue to enrich your life through regular visits to museums.

How to Proceed:

This is essentially a travel course. Your classroom will be the institutions you visit on a weekly basis. Plan for 6 outings during this Mod. One outing is to New York City, to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, one is to Hartford to visit the Wadsworth Atheneum and one to New Haven to visit The Yale Art Gallery. The other 3 outings may be chosen among the list in the syllabus. Arrive at each museum with the intent of taking a general tour given by a docent. They will show you highlights of the permanent collection. This is a good way to learn the layout of the museum and gain an overall sense of the collection. The tours generally last an hour and are free. Take a break, then go back and wander on your own. What are you drawn to? Narrow down your choice to three pieces and take another break. Now go back, notebook and digital camera in hand and decide to focus in on one piece. It may be sculpture, painting, photography, modern or ancient. It may be one or more works included in a special collection or it may be a work from the permanent collection. If from the permanent collection, you can take pictures of it to include in your paper. A digital camera is especially handy. Remember to turn off your flash! Take several pictures of your chosen object. Photograph close up details. These pictures are an important part of the papers you will be writing.. Photograph the outside and the inside of the museum too... These will be needed for your blog postings. Post 4 "papers" with multiple photographs from 4 of your visits and post just photographs with captions from 2 more of your visits. If you are feeling adventureous, you may certainly visit other great museums in NY City in place of Connecticut museums. These might include The Museum of Modern Art, The Guggenheim and the Whitney... There are many more possibilities... too many to list here. Check with me first, however. It's important to allow a most of a day for a visit to a major museum... have lunch there, relax.... have fun... take your loved ones... children, parents, spouse or best friend!

Topics to be covered in each paper:

Context: Carry a journal on each outing. In it, write down information regarding date, period, type of work, artist, etc. (A digital camera is handy here to record this information quickly and easily.) When was the object made? Did it serve a function? Was it made for religious or secular reasons? Does the work contain symbolism? What do the symbols mean? Is a message or lesson communicated? What were the cultural, political, economic, social or religious influences on the life of the artist and the community in which he/she worked? How does the style of the work reflect the time or culture in which it was made? Why did the artist make it? Was it a commission? Was there a patron? Was it a personal mission or vision?

Formal analysis.... What do you see? What does the composition look like? What stands out the most when first approaching the work? How did the artist use color, line, texture, material (wood, clay, steel, paper, canvas, etc.) What about the use of scale, proportion and balance? How does the size of the object contribute to its impact or meaning? Take notes in your journal... detailed notes.... look harder than you imagined possible. No detail is unimportant. Keep writing. Explain how the artist consciously uses these various elements. This translation of visual information into text will help clarify what you are seeing. What have other critics or art historians said about the formal elements of a piece? You may quote or attribute those ideas. You are probably not used to looking so closely and carefully at a visual object. Verbalizing what you see is hard to do. Keep at it. Details matter!

1. Summarize the overall appearance of the object. Then move into details. You may begin at one side and move across or go from top to bottom.

2. Note the elements of composition -- line, balance, texture, perspective, color, contrast. What is the medium -- acrylic, oil, conte, etc.?

3. Let your eyes pull you into the experience. What do you see first? What next? And so on.

Style analysis.... What style does the piece fit into? What art movement, i.e., Impressionism, Cubism, Expressionism, etc. How does this piece illustrate the essential qualities of that style or period? Include a reference to larger cultural or historical issues surrounding the creation of the work. What iconography did the artist use? Before the modern era, artists often worked with many traditional icons of mythology or religious meaning. Place the artist's use of the iconography in the context of his era and how it might be different from the same subject treated in a different stylistic era.

Personal Discovery... This is essential. The central thesis point of the paper hinges on this. What drew you to the piece in the first place? Why did you choose this piece in the face of the myriad of possibilities? What is your emotional response? Your first-person account of your encounter with the artwork is at the heart of each writing assignment.

Resources for writing:

Important links:

Metropolitan Museum of Art, Timeline of Art History.

Extremely useful trove of information. Searchable database by artist, movement, medium, period, etc.

Art History Resources on the Web Maintained by Dr. Christopher L. C. E. Witcombe Professor, Department of Art History, Sweet Briar College. Amazingly rich resource!

Wesleyan University Writing Center Very helpful suggestions on how to write about art. Detailed questions to ask oneself about Painting, Sculpture and Architecture.

Dartmouth Writing Program Center How to write about art. How to master the art of "simultaneously analyzing and describing the work of art you have chosen to discuss."

The Smithsonian Museum ht.://www.si.edu/

Home page of the Smithsonian, a good place to begin research.

Checklist or Rubric for assessment of performance in writing about art, compiled by M. Bartel, Goshen College

Assignment:

Browse through all of the following shows. Plan your outings with these events in mind. Begin your research, if possible before encountering the work in person. These shows provide focussed scholarship which will help in writing your papers... you are not limited to these specific shows, however.... Any work in each museum is a possibility. Photography is not generally alllowed in the special shows as much of the work had been borrowed from other institutions. Many special shows have an exhibition catalog you can purchase or borrow for enough time to take pictures with your digital camera from it. It is always a good idea to check with the guard regarding their photography policy. Often times you can find the works on the internet with Google images and postcards are sometimes offered for sale in the museum shop.

Think about your outings in terms of having a fun adventure! Getting the motivation to go may be an obstacle to overcome at first, but after you get there, I can promise that you will be glad you went. Think of each outing as a "mini vacation" and don't rush it... take your family.

Metropolitan Museum of Art , 84th and 5th Ave, NYC

New Greek and Roman Galleries to open April 20th, 2007

"The spectacular redesign and reinstallation of the Museum’s superb collection of classical art is nearing completion. On April 20, 2007, the New Greek and Roman Galleries, which include the dramatic Leon Levy and Shelby White Court, will be unveiled, concluding a 15-year project and returning thousands of works from the Museum’s permanent collection to public view. The new galleries will house objects created between about 900 B.C. and the early fourth century A.D. Works on view will trace the evolution of Greek art in the Hellenistic period and the arts of southern Italy and Etruria, culminating in the rich and varied world of the Roman Empire. First-floor galleries will be dedicated to Hellenistic and Roman art, and the wholly redesigned mezzanine level—which overlooks the stunning new court from two sides—will include galleries for Etruscan art as well as the Greek and Roman study collection. Together, the astonishing assembly of works on display—some never before seen by the public—will bring to life the aesthetic and philosophical roots of Western civilization."

Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, CT

The YCBA holds one of the most comprehensive collections of British Art outside of London. The Center places special emphasis on art from the 17th Century to the present.
Yale University Art Gallery

American Paintings, Sculpture, and Decorative Arts
Ongoing, third floor

"The Yale University Art Gallery’s collection of American paintings, sculpture, and decorative arts has a long history, spanning nearly two and a half centuries. A comprehensive selection of highlights is on view, ranging from one of the earliest American paintings, the 1670 portrait of John Davenport, the first minister to the New Haven Colony, through mid-twentieth-century masterpieces by artists such as Edward Hopper and Thomas Hart Benton. Outstanding examples of furniture, turned wood, glass, pewter and other metals, ceramics, and textiles are also on display."

The Free Audio tour is highly recommended!

Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, CT

The Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art, Ridgefield, CT

The Museum of Modern Art, NYC

The Bruce Museum, Greenwich, CT

The Wordsworth Atheneum, Hartford, CT

New Britain Museum of American Art, New Britain, CT

Florence Griswold Museum, Old Lyme, CT

Academic Expectations: Plan to spend the better part of a day traveling to and visiting any of the above museums. 1 trip to New York to the Metropolitan Museum of Art is required as well as one trip to the Wadsworth Ateneum in Hartford. You may choose among the other museums listed to plan what you'd like to do. Photograph the museum with your digital camera and an interior shot or two. Post your image to the class blog with personal comments.

Post to the class blog! This is an important part of your grade! It is important to learn from each other, find out tips of what to see, and encourage each other on. Each week, after your outing, post an image or two and tell us something about your trip. Building community this way is very important to make your online experience in this class a richer one. Your regular posts let me know that you are keeping up with your museum visits. Post at least twice each week that class is in session. Posts can be details about your travels, what you saw, questions, comments on what others in the class are up to, etc. Posting is like coming to class. If you don't post, you are skipping class.

The primary basis of your grade will be your written work done as the class progresses. Create your own blog when you sign up for the class blog Post your papers there. Provide a link to it each week on the class blog.. There will be a total of 6) 2 1/2 page papers due, spaced evenly through the 8 week term. If your papers come in at the end of the class, but you are posting to the blog regularly, he highest grade you could earn would be a C. (for A level work). If your papers are coming to me in a timely fashion but you don't participate much in the blog, then the highest grade for the class you can receive will be a "C" (with A level papers.) Academic honesty is important. You must cite all information in your written work.

Write about your piece, artist or show from an enthusiastic, personal point of view yet also support your ideas with research on historical and cultural context as well as biographical information about the artist(s). Keep a journal/notebook that you bring with you on each outing. Take notes and write down impressions about the art, the museum, the experience, etc. Try your hand at some sketching (even if all you can do is stick figures!) Draw the frame and place the major figures and leading lines of the painting. Follow the light. Where is the focal point? Each of the 6 papers will be graded.

Technical Requirements: A digital camera with usb cable to connect to computer usb port or a card reader, connected to your usb port (preferred). -A reliable Internet connection from home. Broadband is preferred and is cheaper than dial up for most people at this point. Your browser should be Internet Explorer. 5.5/6.0 or Firefox.1.x -Know how to create online accounts, upload text and images, and how to save your work into folders on your computer and how to locate and browse to those folders to retrieve it. You need to attach your .doc files in an email to me each week. Learn to post images and text to the class blog. I have authored a video tutorial on how to create and use the blog here.

Tradition of Honor: As a member of the Albertus Magnus College Community, each student taking this course agrees to uphold the principles of honor set forth by this community, to defend these principles against abuse or misuse and to abide by the regulations of the College. To this end, every student must write and sign the following statement at the end of each examination: "I declare the Honor Pledge."

Special Needs and Accommodations: Please advise the instructor of any special problems or needs at the beginning of the semester or mod. Those students seeking accommodation based on disabilities should provide a Faculty Contact Sheet obtained through the Academic Development Center in Aquinas Hall, (203) 773-8590.

Contact me through email

Jerry Nevins

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