ARHT2613 - The Art of France (2006)

Undergraduate - Senior

 

Department: Art History and Theory School: School of Letters, Art and Media Semester(s): Semester 2 Credit Points: 6 Co-ordinator: Dr Jennifer Milam Email: jennifer.milam@arts.usyd.edu.au Telephone: 9351 4210

UoS Description

This Unit of Study explores the development of a national tradition of art and architecture in France from the beginnings of absolutism to the eve of the Revolution. Topics of lectures and tutorials include the circumstances leading to the foundation of Academies and the development of academic discourse; the commitment to an official system for educating young artists, both in France and in Rome; the alliance between art and absolutism; the artist and the courtier; the public display of art and the creation of new audiences; the emergence of art criticism and architectural theory; the portrayal of daily life, landscape and erotic subjects in relation to major currents of Enlightenment thought.

This unit is available as a designated 'Advanced' unit to students enrolled in the BA (Advanced) degree program.

UoS Objectives:

This UoS provides an focused consideration of art, architecture and garden design in France during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Drawing on recent methods in historical and theoretical approaches to the period, it builds analytical skills for understanding and interpreting the visual cultures of Paris and Versailles

UoS Outcomes:

By the end of this UoS, students will be able to identify and interpret the painting, sculpture, garden design, architecture and decorative arts of France from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. They will understand systems of academic practice and art patronage under the Bourbon kings and the rise of a public exhibition space for art during the Enlightenment. Students will identify period styles (Classicism, Grand Manner, Rococo and Neo-Classicism) and genres (portraiture, historical narratives, scenes of daily life, the fête galante, ornament). They will have acquired interpretive strategies for interpretations of meanings in response to the relationship between form and subject.

UoS Learning Situations:

Lectures, Tutorials ,  2hr lecture & 1 tutorial/wk
2hr lecture & 1 tutorial/wk

UoS Assessment:

essay 2000 words and visual test 2000 words

UoS Readings/References:

Recommended Readings:
Andre Chastel, 'French Art. The Ancien Regime 1620-1775' (Paris and New York:Flammarion, 1996);
Thomas Crow, 'Painters and public life in eighteenth-century Paris', (New Haven:Yale University Press, 1985).

Prerequisites:

ARHT 1001and ARHT 1002 or permission of course coordinator

Prohibition:

ARHT2013

Online Components:

Online components may include:
A listing of Lecture and Tutorial topics
Additional reading references
Assessment topics and assessment criteria

How the Online Components work with the rest of the UoS:

The on line component of this unit is optional. It provides a supplementary guide to information supplied in classes.

Minimum Requirements for Hardware/Software:

WEB BROWSERS:

* for Windows users( Microsoft IE 5.0 or higher, Netscape 6.2 or higher)

* for Macintosh users ( Microsoft IE 5.1 or higher, Netscape 6.2 or higher, Safari 1.2 or higher)

INTERNET CONNECTION: 56k modem