19th-Century Art and Visual Culture

3 units

This course introduces students to 19th-century art and visual culture. The story of the long 19th century (1789-1914) has tended to be taught as a series of -isms: Neoclassicism, Romanticism, Realism and Naturalism, Impressionism, and Symbolism, ending in fauvism. This course studies canonical artists and artworks in tandem with counter- or alter-histories of art to paint a more nuanced picture of the approximately 100 years (1814-1914) under exploration. This course questions how current stories of 19th-century art have been produced and codified. It highlights the continued relevance of 19th-century art and visual culture to contemporary artists working today.