ML2302 Visual Arts 2: Genres and Movements

Terms 1 and 2

Convenor: Dr Arantza Mayo

Assessment:

Formative commentary (800-1,000 words) (0%)

Coursework Essay (1,500 – 2,000 words) (30%)

Moodle test (10%)

Exam (2 hours) (60%)

Overview

What characterises genres such as Portraiture, History Painting, Religious Art, Satire and Caricature, or Abstraction? By studying a selection of particular genres and movements, students explore key phases in the development of the visual culture of Europe and Latin America and analyse the artists’ principal stylistic and theoretical concerns, their interaction and development, and their significance within a variety of cultural contexts. Example topics may include 'Art and Devotion in Early Modern Spain', 'Abstract Art', 'German Expressionism', and 'Portraying rulers in Renaissance Italy'. Four separate areas will be covered and compared, depending on staff availability.

Key bibliography: general reading and reference

This course is taught by a number of members of staff and specialist reading lists will be supplied for each of the four main topic areas. Useful overviews on Art History include:

Art in Theory. An Anthology of Changing Ideas, ed. by C. Harrison and P. Wood (Oxford: Blackwell, 2002)

Art theory. A very short introduction, Cynthia Freeland (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013)

Art and its Histories. A Reader, Steve Edwards (New Haven: Yale University Press in association with the Open University, 1999)