NOTE: see syllabus for info about accessing readings and images
WEEK 1
Monday, January 23
Intro: What, when, and where is "Art"?
OIV link
Wednesday, January 25
Olmec Art
de la Fuente, Beatriz. "Order and Nature in Olmec Art," Ancient Americas. Chicago, Art Institute, 1992.
Reading question: This article gives an overview of Olmec art. For our interests think in particular about power in the Olmec world. de la Fuente talks a lot about the importance of order in Olmec art. How might this relate to authority? Watch for any other references to elite power and authority.
OIV link (these are the lecture slides, available through ARTSTOR. You will need to sign up for an artstor account to access these images. See syllabus for instructions.)
Required images and terms
Friday, January 27
Mayan Rulership
Schele, Linda. "Bloodletting and the Vision Quest," The Blood of Kings. Fort Worth, Kimble Art Museum, 1986. Note: If you are printing this out, I recommend focusing on the first 14 pages; the rest are largely images.
Reading questions: focus on the importance of blood and role of sacrifice in the Maya world; how does a leader demonstrate his or her power, and what role does "art" play in this?
OIV link
Required images and terms
Sunday: last day to ADD/DROP
WEEK 2
Monday, January 30
The Inca Empire
Niles, Susan. "Inca Architecture and the Sacred Landscape," Ancient Americas. Chicago, Art Institute, 1992.
Readings: We'll discuss the Inca origins myth and identify the ways that it establishes Inca ideology, also seen in Inca "art." As you read the myth (excerpted in at the beginning of the chapter), see if you can indentify any claims made here about why the Inca (should) rule this region. Our related artistic question: how do the distinct Inca forms of visual production express Inca beliefs about their rightful power and authority?
OIV link
Required images and terms
Wednesday, February 1
Discussion: Rulership and Power
Friday, February 3
Colonial Latin America – Religion in New Spain and Brazil
Underwood, David. "Civilizing Rio de Janeiro: Four Centuries of Conquest through Architecture" Art Journal (Winter 1992). NOTE: especially pp.48-52
Sullivan, Edward. "Main Altar, Sao Bento de Olinda," Brazil Body and Soul. New York, Guggenheim, 2002.
READING QUESTIONS: be sure to focus on the first 5 pages of the Underwood article, and bring notes on the following question to class: Howis the architecture of early Portuguese settlements in Brazil indicative of the European conquest of the Americas? We'll talk about how the style, production, location, and use of Church buildings all speak to the history and ideology of conquest. Sullivan gives you additional background info on Sao Bento's Main Altar.
OIV link
Required images and terms
WEEK 3
Monday, February 6
Colonial Portraiture
Staiti, Paul. "Character and Class: the Portraits of John Singleton Copley," Reading American Art. New Haven, Yale, 1998.
READING QUESTIONS: The article opens with a quote claiming that portraiture is both history and fiction: consider this idea as you read; explain why the author might have used it is the basis of this essay. Also, focus on what qualities and values were emphasized to celebrate the ideal males and females in Colonial USA.
OIV link
Required images and terms
Wednesday, February 8
Discussion: Christianity, Art and Authority
Friday, February 10
Nationalism and Art Academies in the Americas
Ades, Dawn. "Academies and History Painting," Latin American Art in the Modern Era. New Haven, Yale, 1989.
OIV link
Required images and terms
Friday: Last Day S/D/F
WEEK 4
Monday, February 13
Northwest Coast: Power and the Potlach
Whalens, Stanley. "The Weight of My Name is a Mountain of Blankets: Potlach Ceremonies (1982)," The Arts of Africa, Oceania and the Americas. Ed. Janet Berlo and Lee Anne Wilson. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1993: 184-195.
OIV
Required images and terms
Wednesday, February 15
Discussion: Art as Power
Friday, February 17
Consumer Culture: US, Brazil, Cuba
Katz, Jonathan. Andy Warhol. New York, Rizzoli, 1993
Cullen, Deborah. "Antonio Frasconi's Viet nam! And Cildo Meireles's Insertions into Ideological Circuits," in Latin American and Caribbean Art: MOMA at El Museo. New York, Museo del Barrio and MOMA, 2004.
READINGS> In the Warhol piece, focus on how Warhol's production is informed by the world of advertising, production, and consumerism. In Cullen's piece, focus on Meireles's work: how does it serve as a kind of resistance (to ideas about art, to the political situation)?
OIV link
Required images and terms
WEEK 5
Monday, February 20
Discussion: Art as Resistance; Review
Wednesday, February 22
EXAM #1
Friday, February 24
TBA
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