Paris - AH275/HY200 - Art & Revolution in 19th Century Paris

AH275/HY200: Art & Revolution in 19th Century Paris

Paris, France

Last Offered: 2023-2024

This course focuses on the evolution of art in Paris during the long nineteenth century. We consider the relationship of a series of revolutionary movements in art (Neoclassicism, Romanticism, Realism, Impressionism, Post Impressionism) to their context of revolutionary uprisings and social instability. The class investigates the persistent tensions between radical and conservative trends in art, along with the emergence of the concepts of modernism and the avant-garde, and the academic reaction against these. Particular attention will be paid to issues of orientalism, colonialism, racism, anti-Semitism, sexism, and primitivism in art that is usually venerated for its progressive and anti-conventional attitudes. Students will focus on representative artists, such as David, Delacroix, Courbet, Manet, Monet, Gauguin, Van Gogh, and Toulouse-Lautrec.

Course led by Prof. Gale Murray and Prof. Tip Ragan