Impressionism and the Nation in France and Beyond: Painting and Photography 1860-1920

3 units

We will consider Impressionism as a dominant style of the Parisian art world, first undertaken as an extension of Barbizon naturalism, but expanded into an avant-garde style that objectified sensation and emotion in the name of truth in representation. Our central question will be the relationship of individual perception, the physiology of sight, and theories of the natural in relation to the importance of place-both region and nation -- in the political imagination of the era. We also address the relationship of the Impressionist landscape to the development of modernist abstraction, and the aesthetic and nationalist motivations of its adaptation as a modernist style around the globe. Prerequisite: senior major in art history, or graduate student standing and permission of instructor.