AHST 3317: Pioneers of Modern Art

Professor Britten LaRue

Spring 2010
Email: larue@utdallas.edu (preferred), Phone: 214.478.1921 (no calls after 7 p.m.)
Office Hours: 2:30-3:30 p.m. Tuesdays in JO 5.109 or by appointment

Course Description
The lecture covers the general artistic movements from the late eighteenth century through
the early twentieth century, with emphasis on late nineteenth-century French painting. The
lecture will underline the artist's contribution to the discourse of ideas and the crisis of
meaning during this period and discuss the relationship of modernist trends to parallel
developments in politics, philosophy, theater, literature, and mass culture.

Required Texts
Petra ten Doessate Chu, Nineteenth-Century European Art, Prentice Hall
Richard Brettell, Modern Art, 1851-1929: Capitalism and Representation, Oxford University
Press
Emile Zola, The Masterpiece, University of Michigan Press
Readings online and through library course reserves

Objectives
1. To acquire a knowledge of the history of nineteenth-century European art.
2. To acquire the basic vocabulary and skills essential to visual analysis.
3. To learn the different critical practices involved in reading primary and secondary
sources.
4. To distinguish between the ways a work of art communicated at the time it was
created and the ways it communicates to us now.
5. To be more observant of life and to be more careful lookers at all the images
around us in the world, and to enhance our analytical skills generally.

Grading
Two exams 50% (20% for the first, 30% for the second)
Discussion participation 10%
Reading responses 10%
Reading quiz 10%
Looking paper 20%

Looking Paper: For the looking paper, due February 16, you need to pick a European painting
from the DMA, the Kimbell in Ft. Worth, or the Meadows Museum at SMU that was
executed between 1860-1915. To give students the appropriate time for quality looking, there
will be no class before the paper is due.

A “looking paper” is another term for a formal analysis. A formal analysis is a physical
description of the various elements that constitute your art object, and together contribute to
the overall effect it creates. This is not a paper that deals with subject matter or
interpretation. It is solely about visual description. Looking, not researching. I will
automatically deduct points if it is evident that you have done research for this paper.

Begin with a heading that includes the artist’s name, birth and death dates, title of the work,
its date and dimensions. Then imagine how you would describe this work to someone who
cannot see. Determine how the composition has been organized and how it can most lucidly
be characterized. Among the elements you will consider are scale, composition, attitude
toward the human body, if relevant (idealized, distorted, etc.), depiction of space, color,
surface texture and brushwork, light and shadow, patterns of repeated color and shape,
subject type, and the relationship between the work and its viewer. The point of the exercise
is to learn to use your own eyeballs, to learn to look.

In terms of writing style, please avoid hyperbole and cliché, like “this is a masterpiece,” “the
painting is beautiful,” and “the artist is a genius.” Your organization should be logical, and
your language should be specific rather than general. There should be no typos, spelling
errors, or grammatically awkward phrases. The best essays are those written and rewritten
several times. If you wish to submit a rough draft of your looking paper for review, I need to
receive a hard copy by February 2.

The paper must meet the following requirements:

- Title-page with two headings: one that includes your name, the course title, my
name, and the date for the paper, and another heading that includes the artist’s
name, the title of the work and date of production, the medium, and dimensions
- double-spaced,12 pt font, 1” margins, no extra spaces between paragraphs
- 600-700 words (no more or less) – approximately 2 pages
- attach a color reproduction (print or photograph) of the work with the paper

The paper will be turned in at the beginning of class and will be considered late after lecture.
If you do not have your paper on the due date, you may turn it in electronically. For each 24-
hour period the paper is late, 10 points will be deducted. That 24-hour period begins at 4:00
p.m. from the start of class. So a paper turned in electronically at 4:01 on the due date is
LATE. No exceptions.

Please note that the Writing Lab offers one-to-one assistance with writing assignments and
general writing skills.

Discussion participation: On March 2 we will have an in-depth discussion of five essays on

Impressionism. Students will be responsible for reading ALL essays and preparing 8-10
discussion questions for ONE of the essays (a copy of these questions must be turned into me
at the beginning of class). An excellent discussion participant will make sure to do the
following: a) prepare questions that will bring out interesting ideas and arguments in relation
to the essay, b) underline and bring up quotes from the essays that best emphasize the
structure and main points of the author’s thesis, c) identify how the author uses primary
sources and images to further his or her arguments, d) discuss how the essays relate to artists
and ideas from lecture, and e) offer resistance to or confirmation of the ideas presented by the
authors.

Reading Responses: Students will write a 2-page response to 5 of the readings on course
reserves (not including readings for March 2). The responses need to do the following: a)
identify the author’s thesis in quotes, b) examine how the author’s structures his or her
argument, using examples such as quotes and images, and c) respond to the reading by taking
a stance supporting or refuting the author’s case. If there is more than one reading assigned
for a class, you only need to respond to one of them. Each of your responses is due as a hard
copy at the beginning of the class for which it is assigned. Electronic and/or late responses
will not be accepted. No exceptions.

Exams: There will be two exams during the semester, each with several sections:
A. Slide Identifications: Students will identify each image by the artist’s name, full title
of the work, date (within five years on either side), and medium.
B. Short answer and multiple choice using images
C. Short answer and multiple choice without images
We will discuss each of these sections in depth before the first exam.

Reading quiz: There will be a quiz on the day we discuss The Masterpiece designed to test
that you have a) read the book, and b) understand how it applies to the class. Anyone who
has read the book should receive 100% credit and can think of this as a bonus 10 points
towards one’s overall grade. After the quiz, we will have a discussion about the book as a
class. I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

Extra Credit: For each satisfactory 2-page response to the readings on the syllabus that you
submit beyond the five needed to fulfill that portion of your final grade, you can receive a ½ -
point to a whole point more on your final exam. Each of these is due on the last day of class as
a hard copy.

Dropping Policy: Remember that the deadline to drop the course without a “W” is January
27. Please refer to the university drop policy.

Attendance, Lateness, and Policy on Make-Ups

Roll will be taken every lecture. In this way, I can learn your names and track your
involvement in the class. If you are late, the only way for me to note your attendance is for
you to see me after class. Students are given three excused absences over the course of the
semester. These absences are for illness, court dates, family obligations, and other exceptional
and/or understandable circumstances. Students who miss more than three classes will be
asked to meet with me in my office to discuss the problem (or be dropped from the class).
There is no formal penalty for attendance and lateness issues. However, know that your
grades will suffer indirectly.
The quiz and exams will begin promptly at the beginning of class. Students who are late will
NOT be given the opportunity to make up lost time. No exceptions!

There are no make-up quizzes or exams unless you are a student participating in an officially
sanctioned, scheduled University extracurricular activity, for which I will need
documentation. In such instances, it is the responsibility of the student to make arrangements
with the instructor prior to any missed scheduled examination or other missed assignment for
making up the work.

Religiously observant students wishing to be absent on holidays that require missing class
should notify me in writing by January 26, and should discuss with me, in advance,
acceptable ways of making up any work missed because of the absence.

Students with Disabilities

Students needing academic accommodations for a disability must first contact the Disability
Services Coordinator, Kerry Tate at 972-883-2098. If you will need extended time for the
exams, you must provide the appropriate documentation by January 26.

Academic Integrity
It is the philosophy of UTD that academic dishonesty is a completely unacceptable mode of
conduct and will not be tolerated in any form. Please study the information on scholastic
dishonesty on the UTD website: http://www.utdallas.edu/judicialaffairs/UTDJudicialAffairs-
HOPV.html.

Student Grievances
Students with grievances should first contact the faculty member in writing (not email) to set
up a meeting. The department can help with this step. If after the meeting the problem is not
resolved, both faculty and student can attend a meeting with the department chair together
to resolve the issue. Please consult the catalog online to review policies and procedures.
http://www.utdallas.edu/judicialaffairs/UTDJudicialAffairs-Grievances.html.

E-Culture Policy
Students are responsible for checking email regularly. Please know that I may need to contact
you via your utdallas.edu email for this class.
Due to the high volume of email our faculty and the art history office receive an important
message may be missed or response to your email may take time. If your email has not been
responded to within two days please contact me or stop by the office in person. In addition,
weekend email messages may not be received until Monday or Tuesday.

Classroom Etiquette
We all agree to respect one another’s ability to focus, learn and participate. Toward that end:
we will not bring laptops to class; we will turn and leave off our cell phones; and we will
refrain from walking in and out of the room during class unless it is an emergency .
I ask that students refrain from eating during class-time.
Upcoming Schedule
January 12 Introduction
Ways of Seeing

January 19 From Rococo to the Classical Paradigm

Chu 1-2, 4-5
Barbara E. Savedoff, “Looking at Art through Photographs” (JSTOR)
and Walter Benjamin, “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical
Reproduction”

January 26 Classicism in Crisis and the Rise of Landscape Painting

Chu 6, 8-10
Linda Nochlin, “The Imaginary Orient” and Charles Rosen and Henri
Zerner, “The Reproductive Image and Photography”

February 2 Baudelaire, Realism and Myths of Progress and Modernity

Chu 11-12 and Brettell pages 1-14, 51-78, 131-137
Charles Baudelaire, “The Painter of Modern Life” and Meyer
Schapiro, “Courbet and Popular Imagery”

February 9 No class

February 16 Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and the Great Expositions

Chu 14 and 15
T. J. Clark, “The View from Notre-Dame” and David Park Curry,
"Total Control: Whistler at an Exhibition"
LOOKING PAPER DUE

February 23 Impressionists and their Exhibitions

Chu 16 and Brettell 15-19, 83-97, 141-147, 181-190
Robert Herbert, “Method and Meaning in Monet” and Linda Nochlin,
“Morisot’s Wet Nurse”

March 2 DISCUSSION OF IMPRESSIONISM

Meyer Schapiro, “The Aesthetic and Method of Impressionism,” Hollis
Clayson, “Suspicious Professions,” Nicholas Green, “Dealing in
Temperaments: Economic Transformations of the Artistic Field in
France during the Second Half of the Nineteenth Century,” Griselda
Pollock, “Modernity and the Spaces of Femininity,” and Stephen
Eisenman, “The Intransigent Artist, or How the Impressionists Got
Their Name”

March 9 MIDTERM EXAM

March 16 Spring Break

March 23 French Avant-Garde in the 1880s

Chu 17 and Brettell 19-26, 138-141, 155-178
John House, “Reading the Grande Jatte” (JSTOR) and Paul Tucker,
“Monet and the Challenges to Impressionism in the 1880s”

March 30 QUIZ AND DISCUSSION of Emile Zola’s The Masterpiece

Richard Shiff, “Corot, Monet, Cézanne, and the Technique of
Originality”

April 6 Vincent van Vogh and Paul Gauguin

Chu 19 and Brettell 26-29, 105-120, 147-150
Debora Silverman, “At the Threshold of Symbolism: Van Gogh’s
Sower and Gauguin’s Vision after the Sermon” and Abigail Solomon-
Godeau, “Going Native”

April 13 France during the Belle Époque

Chu 18
Zeynep Çelik and Leila Kinney, “Ethnography and Exhibitionism at
the Expositions Universelles” (JSTOR), Udo Kultermann, “The ‘Dance
of the Seven Veils’: Salome and Erotic Culture around 1900” (JSTOR),
and Susan Sidlauskas, “Contesting Femininity: Vuillard's Family
Pictures” (JSTOR)

April 20 Art Nouveau and International Trends around 1900

Chu 20
David Loshak, “Space, Time and Edvard Munch” (JSTOR), Bridget J.
Elliott, “Covent Garden Follies: Beardsley's Masquerade Images of
Posers and Voyeurs” (JSTOR) and Carl Schorske, "Gustav Klimt:
Painting and the Crisis of the Liberal Ego"

April 27 A New Century: Expressionism and Early Picasso

Brettell 29-32, 190-209
Roger Harold Benjamin, “The Decorative Landscape, Fauvism and the
Arabesque of Observation” (JSTOR), Charles W. Haxthausen, “’A New
Beauty’: Ernst Ludwig Kirchner's Images of Berlin” and Patricia
Leighton, “The White Peril and l’Art nègre: Picasso, Primitivism and
Anti-colonialism” (JSTOR)

May 4 No Class - Reading Day

May 11 FINAL EXAM 4 p.m.

 Course Awareness Form
AHST 3317
Prof. LaRue
Spring 2010

I have read and understand the syllabus for this class. Any questions I have
regarding this syllabus have been presented to and answered by the professor
teaching this course. I understand that the Department of Art History adheres
to university policies and I have read and understand university policies. It is
the responsibility of the student to obtain and read this information.

Name (print): _________________________________________

Signature: ___________________________________________

Date: ___________________________________