Black Portrait

4 units · Undergraduate upper division (100-199)

Lecture, three hours. Black portraiture is everywhere—gallery walls; Capitol Hill; the cover of Vanity Fair, Time, and Vogue; public and private collections; and the UCLA campus. Examination of the evolution and popularity of the Black portrait across mediums, geographies, and time. Consideration of enduring debates concerning Black figuration while also investigating how artists of African descent have changed the conventions of portraiture and ideas about picturing the self. Consideration of the expectations of portraits, what is Black about the Black portrait, and other questions. Concurrently scheduled with course C236D. P/NP or letter grading.