Undergraduate Art History 2016-2017

This introductory course will trace major developments in the history of art in the western world from Classical art and architecture in ancient Greece to the beginnings of photography in the nineteenth century. Aspects of European art to be explored, through painting, prints, sculpture and architecture, will begin with Stone-Age cave painting and then range from the Classicism of Greece and Rome to the rise of the Medieval Gothic cathedrals, the rebirth of Classicism in the Renaissance to the grandeur of the Baroque, the ornament of the Rococo, and the revolutionary order of Neo-Classicism. Download course guide.

 

 

Beginning with the Romantic period, and the art and architecture of mid-Victorian Britain, this course will trace major developments in Western art through to the late twentieth century. Nineteenth-century modernism and modernity in France will be explored through Realism, Impressionism, Post-Impressionism and the art of fin-de-siècle Paris. Twentieth-century modernist movements will include the primitivism of German Expressionism, the wildness of Fauvism, the analytical eye of Cubism and Futurism, the anarchy and dreams of Dada and Surrealism, and the rise of American painting with Abstract Expressionism. The move to postmodernism will be traced through Pop Art and beyond.

This course will survey western European art from circa 1100 to 1600. It will cover the styles known as Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance, Mannerism and Baroque. It will examine media including architecture, sculpture, metalwork and painting. The iconography of the Christian church forms the basis much of this art, but classical mythology and vernacular themes are also significant. Major themes include those of pilgrimage and church reform, the Reformation and Counter-Reformation. It provides a fundamental understanding of the cultural world in which Aberdeen University began. Download course guide.

This course focuses on six major artistic masterpieces considered in their original and critical contexts. All the works considered have achieved fame or notoriety and have had a major impact on the history of art and culture. Works discussed may include the Bayeux Tapestry, Leonardo's Mona Lisa, Caravaggio's Calling of St Matthew, Courbet's Stonebreakers and Duchamp's Fountain. Download Course Guide.

This course is organised around a series of tutor-led class visits to sites of special art historical significance. The class will visit key locations in and around Aberdeen, and there is also a trip to Edinburgh. A range of important works of art and architecture will be studied in situ, and this study will be supported by staff lectures on related topics. The material on the course will be organised in relation to broad themes that will introduce students to major issues in the discipline of art history.

This course focuses on English art across the eighteenth century, and addresses developments across a range of genres, from portraiture and historical narratives to sporting art and political satires. Artists studied include William Hogarth, Thomas Gainsborough, Joshua Reynolds and Joseph Wright of Derby. This course also considers the broader impact on the visual arts of a burgeoning exhibition culture, the collecting ethos of the Grand Tour and greater European travel, and the intellectual reforms of the Enlightenment age. Download course guide.

Unlike most other art history courses, this is a text‐based course, which will focus on a number of selected ‘key texts’ by a range of authors from the history of art.  In most classes, the chosen texts, which you will read in advance, will be examined in relation to a small number of pre‐chosen images.  Discussion will focus on the way in which the issues raised in a prescribed text can usefully illuminate (or otherwise!) the given images. Download course guide.

Throughout the honours programme, you will be encouraged to reflect on your developing skills and knowledge as an art historian.  Through tutor-led and self-directed visits to various locations, the Fieldwork course will foster a wide appreciation of past and current issues in the art world, beyond the classroom.  The course will include not only a study of art and architecture but also a consideration of their context, display, function and interpretation. Download course guide.

The course provides an introduction to painting in the politically and religiously divided Netherlands during its so-called ‘Golden Age’. Drawing and printmaking are also touched upon. Its main focus is on the predominantly Protestant Northern Netherlands (Dutch Republic/United Provinces) but a significant number of classes are devoted to the influential Peter Paul Rubens, from the Spanish-ruled, Catholic south (now Belgium). Major Dutch artists covered include Hals, Rembrandt, Vermeer and Ruisdael. Themes range from the growing number of genres that distinguished Dutch art (landscape; still-life; portraiture; genre painting itself) to the reflection in art of the social, political, and religious climate. Download course guide.

This course will analyse how French art of the latter nineteenth century and the first half of the twentieth century relates to social and cultural evolution and characterises the changing artistic relationship between artists and the public in the period.  From the Symbolists’ fascination with dream-like states of being to the Surrealists’ Freudian-based dream imagery, students on the course will also encounter the colour and form of Post-Impressionists van Gogh, Gauguin, Seurat and Cézanne, the decadence of Toulouse-Lautrec’s fin-de-siècle Paris and the new visual language of Cubism.

Manuscript studies are based on close and detailed observation. Focusing on only two major artistic products of the 12th century, students will become familiar with the particular skills required for working with such original sources. Manuscripts contain many levels of information from the physical codicology and paleography to the text, illumination, patrons and readers. These choice examples demonstrate humour and drama, in addition to the basically theological texts. Although written in Latin, all the texts are translated into English and are universally available on the web.

This course focuses on English art across the eighteenth century, and addresses developments across a range of genres, from portraiture and historical narratives to sporting art and political satires. Artists studied include William Hogarth, Thomas Gainsborough, Joshua Reynolds and Joseph Wright of Derby. This course also considers the broader impact on the visual arts of a burgeoning exhibition culture, the collecting ethos of the Grand Tour and greater European travel, and the intellectual reforms of the Enlightenment age. Download course guide.

In Part 2 of the course, you will continue your study of works of art and architecture in situ by undertaking a final fieldtrip. This can be as part of a tutor-led group visit, to Paris for example, or as a planned and agreed independent trip. You will complete your Flog with reflections on summer activities and then begin selecting the material for your Fieldwork ePortfolio.  Unlike the Flog, this must be written in an academic style and will give you the opportunity to show how your thoughts and ideas as an art historian have been developing throughout the course. Download course guide.

The course provides an introduction to painting in the politically and religiously divided Netherlands during its so-called ‘Golden Age’. Drawing and printmaking are also touched upon. Its main focus is on the predominantly Protestant Northern Netherlands (Dutch Republic/United Provinces) but a number of classes are devoted to the influential Peter Paul Rubens, from the Spanish-ruled, Catholic south (now Belgium). Major Dutch artists covered include Hals, Rembrandt, Vermeer and Ruisdael. Themes range from a number of genres that distinguished Dutch art (landscape; still-life; portraiture; genre painting) to the reflection in art of the social, political, and religious climate. Download course guide.

This course will analyse how French art of the latter nineteenth century and the first half of the twentieth century relates to social and cultural evolution and characterises the changing artistic relationship between artists and the public in the period.  From the Symbolists’ fascination with dream-like states of being to the Surrealists’ Freudian-based dream imagery, students on the course will also encounter the colour and form of Post-Impressionists van Gogh, Gauguin, Seurat and Cézanne, the decadence of Toulouse-Lautrec’s fin-de-siècle Paris and the new visual language of Cubism.

Your dissertation is intended to give you the opportunity to carry out a piece of sustained research on a topic of your own choice and to demonstrate to the examiners your ability to present the results of such research in a proper, scholarly manner. Your research may be of various kinds.  It may address works of art (or a single work of art) directly, through first-hand study in galleries, museums, or private collections, or it may be of a more literary kind, addressing critical or theoretical problems. Or it might involve both. Download course guide.

Manuscript studies are based on close and detailed observation. Focusing on only two major artistic products of the 12th century, students will become familiar with the particular skills required for working with such original sources. Manuscripts contain many levels of information from the physical codicology and paleography to the text, illumination, patrons and readers. These choice examples demonstrate humour and drama, in addition to the basically theological texts. Although written in Latin, all the texts are translated into English and are universally available on the web.