Art History is the study of the visual arts in civilization. It examines changing aesthetic and cultural values and significant material and ideological developments as seen in works of art and architecture. It emphasizes visual as well as verbal intelligence, providing more than the standard advantages of liberal arts training.
The Program. The student majoring in art history begins with courses which survey the arts of Asia, Europe, and America. More specialized courses follow in ancient, Byzantine, medieval, Renaissance, baroque, modern, Non-Literate, East Asian, and American art and architecture. At the same time students are encouraged to take classes in related disciplines such as religion, history, philosophy, literature, and foreign languages.
Career Alternatives. The major prepares students for advanced study in either graduate school or professional programs. It can also serve as the foundation for careers in teaching, research, museums, galleries, arts administration, art criticism, publishing, and art investment.
| UNITS | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preparatory Subject Matter | 20 | |
| Three courses selected from Art History 1A, 1B, 1C, 1D | 12 | |
| One art studio course in drawing, printmaking, painting, or photography. | 4 | |
| One art studio course in sculpture or ceramics | 4 | |
| Depth Subject Matter | 36 | |
| Nine upper division art history courses, which must be taken in at least four of the following five areas
| 36 | |
| Total Units for the Major | 56 | |
| UNITS | ||
|---|---|---|
| Art History | 20 | |
| Five upper division art history courses
Courses must be chosen from at least three of the following subject areas with no more than two courses in any single area (one lower division substitute course permissible):
| 20 | |
Honors Program. An Honors Program is available to Art History majors who are seriously considering attending graduate school. To be eligible for the program, a student must have a grade point average of 3.7 in the major. In addition to meeting the standard major requirements, the honors student completes one quarter of language in German or Chinese, one seminar (courses 190 or 198), and writes an honors thesis (course 194H). Students participating in this Program are candidates for Departmental recommendation for graduation with High or Highest Honors. See the Academic Information chapter, Letters and Science honors section, of this catalog and consult the department for more information.
Teaching Credential Subject Representative. Department Chairperson. See also the Teacher Education Program.
Graduate Study. The Program in Art History offers studies leading to the Master of Arts degree in History of Art as preparation for further graduate study or professional work. Further information may be obtained by writing to the Graduate Adviser or consulting the Graduate Announcement.
| Upper Division Courses | Graduate Courses | Professional Courses |
*Course not offered this academic year.
General Education (GE) credit: ArtHum = Arts and Humanities; SciEng = Science and Engineering; SocSci = Social Sciences; Div = Social-Cultural Diversity; Wrt = Writing Experience. Select this link to information on the General Education requirement.
1A. Ancient Art (4) I. Roller
Lecture--3 hours; discussion--1 hour. Art of the pagan Mediterranean world from the prehistoric caves to the fall of the Roman Empire. GE credit: ArtHum.
1B. Medieval and Renaissance Art (4) II. Grigg
Lecture--3 hours; discussion--1 hour. Christian, Barbarian, Moslem, and Classical traditions in European Art from the fourth through the sixteenth centuries. GE credit: ArtHum.
1C. Baroque and Modern Art (4) III. The Staff
Lecture--3 hours; discussion--1 hour. Major styles and masters of the Western world after the Counter Reformation. GE credit: ArtHum, Div.
1D. Asian Art (4) II. The Staff
Lecture--3 hours; discussion--1 hour. Introduction to the arts of Asia through a study of Oriental ink painting and architecture, Buddhist sculpture, Indian temples, Chinese ceramics, Japanese prints, and art in Mao's China. GE credit: ArtHum, Div.
*25. Introduction to Architectural History (4) II. The Staff
Lecture--3 hours; discussion--1 hour. Formal and social history of architecture, examining design principles, major traditions, and concepts of architectural history with a focus on issues in Western architecture. Emphasis on nineteenth and twentieth centuries. GE credit: ArtHum.
*25G. Writing: Introduction to Architectural History (1) II. The Staff
Discussion--1 hour. Prerequisite: course 25 concurrently. Small group discussions and preparation of short papers for course 25. GE credit with concurrent enrollment in course 25: Wrt.
98. Directed Group Study (1-5) I, II, III. The Staff (Program Director in charge)
Prerequisite: consent of instructor. Restricted to lower division students. (P/NP grading only.)
99. Special Study for Undergraduates (1-5) I, II, III. The Staff (Program Director in charge)
Prerequisite: consent of instructor. (P/NP grading only.)
*150. Arts of Subsaharan Africa (4) III. The Staff
Lecture--3 hours; term paper or gallery studies and review. Traditional arts and crafts of subsaharan Africa; particular attention to the relationships between sculpture and culture in West and Central Africa. GE credit: ArtHum, Div.
*151. Arts of the Indians of the Americas (4) III. The Staff
Lecture--3 hours; term paper or gallery studies and review. Development of art in North America, emphasizing ancient Mexico. South American relationships and parallels. Recent and contemporary Indian arts and crafts from Alaska to Chile. GE credit: ArtHum, Div.
*152. Arts of Oceania and Prehistoric Europe (4) III. The Staff
Lecture--3 hours; term paper. Traditional arts of aboriginal Australia, Melanesia, Polynesia, and Micronesia, as seen in their cultural contexts. Prehistoric art of Europe and the Near East. GE credit: ArtHum, Div.
153. Art, Storytelling and Cultural Identity in the Pacific (4) II. Flavell
Lecture/discussion--3 hours; term paper. Representation of the cultural identities of indigenous and migrant groups of the Pacific in visual arts and storytelling. Offered in alternate years. GE credit: ArtHum, Div, Wrt.
*154A. Early Greek Art and Architecture (4) II. Roller
Lecture--3 hours; gallery study and term paper. Prerequisite: upper division standing. Examination of history and significance of major monuments in Greek art and architecture from the Homeric, Geometric Age to the Golden Age and the death of Socrates. GE credit: ArtHum, Wrt.
154B. Later Greek Art and Architecture (4) II. Roller
Lecture--3 hours; gallery studies and term paper. Prerequisite: upper division standing. Examination of the history and significance of monuments in Greek art and architecture from the Silver Age of Aristotle to Alexander to the end of the Hellenistic Age and the death of Cleopatra. GE credit: ArtHum, Wrt.
*155. Roman Art (4) III. Roller
Lecture--3 hours; term paper or gallery studies and review. The art of Republican and Imperial Rome. GE credit: ArtHum, Wrt.
163A. Chinese Art (4) I. The Staff
Lecture--3 hours; term paper or gallery studies and review. A survey from the beginning to the twelfth century focusing on the major art forms that are traditionally known as well as newly discovered through archaeology in China. GE credit: ArtHum, Div, Wrt.
163B. Chinese Painting (4) II. The Staff
Lecture--3 hours; term paper or gallery studies and review. The unique form of ink painting, with or without colors, depicting human and animal figures, flowers-and-birds, and landscape--the favorite and enduring theme of the Chinese scholar-painter. GE credit: ArtHum, Div, Wrt.
163C. Painting in the People's Republic of China (4) III. The Staff
Lecture--3 hours; term paper. Prerequisite: course 1D or upper division standing. Analysis of the interaction between art and politics in the emergence of China into the modern world. Integration of Western influence, implementation of Mao Zedong's thought on art, and the formation of contemporary Chinese painting. GE credit: ArtHum, Div, Wrt.
*164. The Arts of Japan (4) III. The Staff
Lecture--3 hours; term paper and/or gallery studies and review (determined by instructor each quarter course offered). Study of the significant achievements in architecture, painting, sculpture, and decorative arts from prehistoric age to nineteenth century. GE credit: ArtHum, Div, Wrt.
*168. Great Cities (4) I. The Staff
Lecture--3 hours; term paper. Transformation in architecture and urban form in Paris, London, and Vienna in the context of varying social, political, and economic systems as well as very different cultural traditions, concentrating on the years 1830-1914. Offered in alternate years. GE credit: ArtHum, Wrt.
*176A. Art of the Middle Ages: Early Christian and Byzantine Art (4) I. The Staff
Lecture--3 hours; term paper or gallery studies and review. Painting, sculpture and architecture of the early Christian era and Byzantine Empire: through the later Roman Empire in the West and to the final capture of Constantinople in the East. GE credit: ArtHum, Wrt.
*176B. Art of the Middle Ages: Early Medieval and Romanesque Art (4) I. The Staff
Lecture--3 hours; term paper or gallery studies and review. Painting, sculpture and architecture of western Europe in the early medieval era: from the rise of the barbarian kingdoms through the twelfth century. GE credit: ArtHum, Wrt.
*176C. Art of the Middle Ages: Gothic (4) I.
Lecture--3 hours; term paper or gallery studies and review. Painting, sculpture and architecture in northern Europe from the twelfth through the fifteenth centuries.
*177A. Northern European Art (4) III. The Staff
Lecture--3 hours; term paper or gallery studies and review. Painting and sculpture of the fifteenth century in Austria, Germany, France and the Lowlands, including such artists as Jan van Eyck and Hieronymus Bosch. GE credit: ArtHum, Wrt.
*177B. Northern European Art (4) I. The Staff
Lecture--3 hours; term paper or gallery studies and review. Painting and sculpture of the sixteenth century in Germany, France and the Lowlands, including such artists as Albrecht Dürer and Pieter Bruegel. GE credit: ArtHum, Wrt.
178A. Italian Renaissance Art (4) II. Ruda
Lecture--3 hours; term paper or gallery studies and review. Giotto and the origins of the Renaissance; painting and sculpture in Italy from Nicola Pisano through Lorenzo Monaco, with emphasis on Duccio, Giotto, and other leading artists of the early fourteenth century. GE credit: ArtHum, Wrt.
*178B. Italian Renaissance Art (4) II. Ruda
Lecture--3 hours; term paper or gallery studies and review. Early Renaissance in Florence; fifteenth-century artists from Donatello and Masaccio through Botticelli, in their artistic and cultural setting. GE credit: ArtHum, Wrt.
178C. Italian Renaissance Art (4) III. Ruda
Lecture--3 hours; term paper or gallery studies and review. The High Renaissance: Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael, and Titian in their artistic and cultural settings--Florence, Rome, and Venice in the early sixteenth century. GE credit: ArtHum, Wrt.
179B. Baroque Art (4) I. Ruda
Lecture--3 hours; term paper or gallery studies and review. Seventeenth-century painting, including such artists as Caravaggio, Rubens, Rembrandt, and Velázquez. Offered in alternate years. GE credit: ArtHum, Wrt.
*182. British Art (1750-1914) (4) III. Macleod
Lecture--3 hours; discussion--1 hour. Prerequisite: course 1C. Analysis of the place of art in British culture--1750 to 1914. Topics include influence of class and gender on art education, patronage, and exhibition societies. Artists: Hogarth, Turner, Pre-Raphaelites, and lesser-known advocates of military, social realist, and colonial themes. GE credit: ArtHum, Div, Wrt.
183A. Art in the Age of Revolution (4) I. Macleod
Lecture--3 hours; discussion--1 hour. Prerequisite: at least one course in art or consent of instructor. Analysis of political and stylistic implications of European painting from 1750 to 1860. Artists studied include Goya, David, Delacroix, Constable, Turner, the Pre-Raphaelites, and Courbet. GE credit: ArtHum, Wrt.
183B. Impressionism and Post-Impressionism (4) II. Macleod
Lecture--3 hours; discussion--1 hour. Prerequisite: at least one course in art or consent of instructor. Social and cultural study of major European art movements between 1860 and 1900, including an examination of the paintings of Manet, Monet, Renoir, Whistler, Gauguin, van Gogh, Cezanne, and Redon. GE credit: ArtHum, Wrt.
183C. Modern Art: 1900-1945 (4) I. The Staff
Lecture--3 hours; discussion--1 hour. Prerequisite: at least one course in art or consent of instructor. Examination of modern movement in European art from Fauvism and Cubism to Surrealism and Abstract Expressionism (1900-1945). Artists studied include Picasso, Matisse, Kandinsky, Malevich, and Pollock. GE credit: ArtHum, Wrt.
*183D. Modern Sculpture (4) III. The Staff
Lecture--3 hours; term paper or gallery studies and review. Sculpture from Neo-Classicism to the present.
183E. Contemporary Art: 1945 to the Present (4) III. The Staff
Lecture--3 hours; discussion--1 hour. Prerequisite: at least one course in art or consent of instructor. Painting and sculpture in Europe and America from 1945 to the present, with emphasis on the New York school, Pop art, Op art, Earthworks, and Feminist art. GE credit: ArtHum, Div, Wrt.
*184. Twentieth Century Architecture (4) I. The Staff
Lecture--3 hours; term paper. Prerequisite: course 25 recommended. Major movements in architecture of the twentieth century in Europe and America. Formal innovations are examined within the social, political, and economic circumstances in which they emerged. GE credit: ArtHum, Wrt.
188A. The American Home (4) III. Strazdes
Lecture/discussion--3 hours; term paper. Prerequisite: course 188B or any lower division course in Art History or Design; not open to freshmen. American domestic architecture and its responsiveness to changes in daily life from Colonial times to the present. Vernacular developments, effects of different socioeconomic conditions, and women's role in shaping the home receive special attention. GE credit: ArtHum, Div, Wrt.
188B. Architecture of the United States (4) II. Strazdes
Lecture--3 hours; term paper. Prerequisite: course 25 recommended. American architecture from the first European settlers to Postmodernism. Technological and formal developments will be examined within the social, political, and economic context in which they emerged. Issues include ideals of domesticity and the development of the architectural profession. GE credit: ArtHum, Wrt.
*188C. Painting of the United States (4) I. The Staff
Lecture--3 hours; discussion--1 hour; term paper or gallery studies and review. American pictorial development from 1650 to the present, with emphasis on twentieth-century developments. GE credit: ArtHum, Wrt.
188D. American Painting and Sculpture to the Civil War (4) I. Strazdes
Lecture/discussion--3 hours; term paper. Prerequisite: one lower division Art History course or junior standing. Major movements in American painting and sculpture to 1865. Colonial portraiture, development of history painting, rise of genre painting, and the Hudson River School of landscape painting. Emphasis on European cultural currents and their effects. GE credit: ArtHum, Wrt.
188E. American Painting and Sculpture from the Civil War to World War II (4) III. Strazdes
Lecture/discussion--3 hours; term paper. Prerequisite: one lower division course in Art History or junior standing. Major developments in American painting and sculpture from 1865 to 1940. The American adaptations of Barbizon painting, French Impressionism, late 19th-century American Realism, the Ashcan School, Modernist Ideologies, Regionalism. GE credit: ArtHum, Wrt.
*190. Undergraduate Seminar (4) II. The Staff (Program Director in charge)
Lecture--3 hours; term paper. Prerequisite: consent of instructor. Intended primarily for senior and junior students in the history of art. Assigned readings, discussions, and a substantial paper in a particular area of art history will introduce the student to methodology and techniques of art historical research. May be repeated once for credit. Limited enrollment.
192. Internship (212) I, II, III. The Staff (Program Director in charge)
Internship--term paper or catalogue. Supervised program of internships at professional art institutions such as museums, galleries, and art archives including collections of slides and photographs. May be repeated once for credit. (P/NP grading only.)
194H. Special Study for Honor Students (4) I, II, III. The Staff
Independent study--12 hours. Prerequisite: course 190 or the equivalent, as determined by the major adviser. Open only to students in the Art History Honors Program. Independent study of an art historical problem culminating in the writing of an honors thesis under the supervision of a faculty guidance committee.
198. Directed Group Study (1-5) I, II, III. The Staff (Program Director in charge)
(P/NP grading only.)
199. Special Study for Advanced Undergraduates (1-5) I, II, III. The Staff (Program Director in charge)
(P/NP grading only.)
200. Introduction to Art Historical Research (4) I. Macleod
Seminar--4 hours. Introductory sampling of major writings, methods, and sources used for research in the discipline of art history.
250. Problems in Art Historical Research (4) I, II. Strazdes and staff
Seminar--3 hours; term paper. Major topics in art historical research, emphasizing special methods of investigation, and of historical and critical analysis. May be repeated for credit.
*251. Seminar in Tribal Arts (4) II. The Staff
Seminar--3 hours; term paper. Selected topics in the art and aesthetics of small scale societies. May be repeated for credit when topic differs and with consent of instructor.
*254. Seminar in Classical Art (4) III. The Staff
Seminar--3 hours; term paper. Selected areas of special study in classical art of the Greek and Roman tradition. Course may be repeated for credit with consent of instructor.
263. Seminar in Chinese Art (4) III. The Staff
Seminar--3 hours; paper. Selected areas of special study in Chinese Art. May be repeated for credit with consent of instructor.
*276. Seminar in Medieval Art (4) III. Grigg
Seminar--3 hours; term paper. Selected areas of special study in medieval art from Early Christian to late Gothic. May be repeated for credit with consent of instructor.
278. Seminar in Italian Renaissance Art (4) III. Ruda
Seminar--3 hours; term paper. Selected areas of special study in Italian art from the fourteenth to the sixteenth century. May be repeated for credit with consent of instructor.
283. Seminar in Modern European Art (4) II. Macleod
Seminar--3 hours; term paper. Selected areas of special study in art since 1800 in Europe. May be repeated for credit with consent of instructor.
*288. Seminar in European and American Architecture (4) II. The Staff
Seminar--3 hours; term paper. Exploration of selected topics in European and American architectural history with concentration on the Modern Period. May be repeated for credit with consent of instructor.
299. Individual Study (1-6) I, II, III. The Staff (Program Director in charge)
(S/U grading only.)
*390. Introduction to Teaching Art History for Teaching Assistants (1) I, II, III. The Staff
Discussion--1 hour. Designed for teaching assistants with emphasis on problems and procedures encountered by teachers of undergraduate art history. (S/U grading only.)
396. Teaching Assistant Training Practicum (1-4) I, II, III. The Staff (Chairperson in charge)
Prerequisite: graduate standing. May be repeated for credit. (S/U grading only.)
401. Museum Training: Curatorial Principles (4) II. Amerson
Seminar--3 hours. Approved for graduate degree credit. Study of private and public collections. Museum personalities. Appraisal of works of art; ethics of appraisal. Auction and sales: methods and catalogues. Registration. Technical problems of the museum. Connoisseurship. Collateral reading. Visits to museums. Seminar with assigned papers.
*402. Museum Training: Exhibition Methods (4) II. Amerson
Seminar--3 hours; exhibition. Approved for graduate degree credit. History of exhibition methods in private and public collections. Comparisons of different types of museums and their exhibition problems. Lighting and techniques of display with emphasis on actual design. Experimentation with unusual presentation forms.
Note: Various of the above courses are not offered each year; please check the quarterly Class Schedule and Room Directory.
UC Davis 1998-99 Online General Catalog. Posted July 31, 1998.
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Keitha Hunter and Barbara Anderson, Editors
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