Courses

ARTH 115 (3)
Survey of Art History I
An historical and analytical introduction to the history of art covering the period from prehistory to ca. 1350 CE, that considers representative objects and monuments in their context and proposes ways of understanding visual evidence. V1, V6

ARTH 116 (3)
Survey of Art History II
An historical and analytical introduction to the history of art covering the period from ca. 1350 CE to the present, that considers representative objects and monuments in context and proposes ways of understanding visual evidence. V1, V6

ARTH 117 (3)
The Visual Experience: Understanding Art and Everyday Images
An introduction to how we look at, analyze and understand both art and "non-art" images encountered in everyday experience. V6a

ARTH 204 (3)
The Art of Northern Europe, 1400-1600
Area II, Renaissance and Baroque. An introduction to the art of Northern Europe. Examples of painting, sculpture, architecture, and printmaking produced in the Netherlands, France, and Germany between 1400 and 1600 will be examined. Offered alternate years. Prerequisite: First-year students with permission. V1, V6

ARTH 211 (3)
European Art c. 1700-1850
Area III, 19th Century to the Present. A study of developments in European painting and sculpture within trends called the Rococo, Sensibility, Neo-classicism, and Romanticism. Material will be considered within cultural and historical contexts. Offered alternate years. V1

ARTH 213 (3)
Early Renaissance Art in Italy
Area II, Renaissance and Baroque. An introduction to the art of the Early Renaissance in Italy. Examples of painting, sculpture, architecture, and printmaking produced in Italy between 1200 and 1500 will be examined. Offered every third semester. Prerequisite: First-year students with permission. V1, V6

ARTH 214 (3)
High Renaissance and Mannerist Art in Italy
Area II, Renaissance and Baroque. an introduction to the art of the High Renaissance and Mannerist period in Italy. Examples of painting, sculpture, architecture, and printmaking produced in Italy between 1500 and 1600 will be examined. Offered every third semester. Prerequisite: First-year students with permission. V1, V6

ARTH 217 (3)
European Art in the 17th Century
Area II, Renaissance and Baroque. An introduction to the art of Western Europe in the 17th century. Examples of painting, sculpture, architecture, and printmaking produced in Italy, France, Germany, Britain, Spain, and the Netherlands between 1600 and 1700 will be examined in detail. Offered every third semester. Prerequisite: First-year students with permission. V1, V6

ARTH 221 (3)
American Arts I
Area III, 18th Century to the Present. A study of the artistic development of the United States from the Colonial period through the early nineteenth century. Paintings, architecture, and the decorative arts will all be considered with an emphasis on major artists, architects, and artisans, and the ways in which these groups influenced and responded to artistic and stylistic trends in America and from Europe. Offered alternate years. IIIO, V6

ARTH 222 (3)
American Arts II
Area III, 18th Century to the Present. A study of the artistic development of the United States from the early nineteenth century through the early twentieth century. Paintings, architecture, and the decorative arts will all be considered with an emphasis on major artists, architects, and artisans, and the ways in which these groups influenced and responded to artistic and stylistic trends in America and from an increasingly international perspective. Offered alternate years. IIIO, V6

ARTH 227 (3)
History of the Interior
This course presents the history of the domestic interior from classical antiquity through the Renaissance and into the modern era, covering styles such as Rococo, Neoclassicism, Romanticism, Reform and Aestheticism, Art Nouveau and Art Deco, and Modernism. The focus will be an exploration of the ways in which furniture, decorative arts, and interior architecture function as a domestic expression of historical developments. Offered alternate years. Prerequisite: Permission of instructor. IIIW, V6

ARTH 232 (3)
Greek Art and Archaeology
Area I, Ancient and Medieval. This course will examine the art of ancient Greece from the Bronze Age to the Hellenistic period. It will also study important archeological sites and reflect on the role played by archaeologists and art historians in the reconstruction of the past and the ways in which Greek art has been interpreted and explained in the modern era. Students will also have the opportunity to examine objects in Sweet Briar's collection of classical antiquities. V1, V6

ARTH 234 (3)
Roman Art and Archaeology
This course will cover Roman material culture (art and architecture) including its roots in Etruscan architecture and sculpture (8th-6th century B.C.), the development of portraiture during the Republic, the art and architecture of the Roman Empire (including Pompeii), and the art and architecture of the Constantinian period (4th c. A.D.). Included will be readings and discussions regarding the problems of chronology and dating of ancient artifacts, as well as the use of ancient literary sources to place artifacts in their context. Students will do a project utilizing Sweet Briar's classical antiquities collection. Offered alternate years. May be counted toward the majors and minors in archaeology and classical civilization.

ARTH 235 (3)
Early Medieval Art
Area I, Ancient and Medieval. The art and culture of Europe from the late Roman Empire to the "Year 1000." Will include an examination of Islamic art and the art of the Byzantine Empire as well as that of Western Europe. Offered alternate years. Prerequisite: ARTH 115. V6a

ARTH 237 (3)
Asian Art: China
A survey of the arts of Asia, including architecture, sculpture, ceramics, metalwork, painting, printmaking, and calligraphy from the neolithic to the modern period. While this class will chart the course of technical and stylistic developments in these media, the primary focus will be on understanding the cultural and social contexts in which these arts developed. Offered alternate years. Prerequisite: First-year students with permission. V4, V6

ARTH 248 (3)
African Art
The course will cover the history of African art produced in various regions of the continent from prehistory to the present day. In addition, it will consider art created as the result of the African diaspora. The subject will be approached from a balanced viewpoint employing both art-historical and anthropological perspectives. V4, V6

ARTH 253 (3)
Early 20th-Century Art: Fauvism to Surrealism
Area III, 18th Century to the Present. Developments in European art from c. 1900-1940. Major modern movements will be studied in a cultural and historical context. Recent critical approaches to the material will be considered. May be counted as an auxiliary course toward the minor in gender studies. Prerequisite: ARTH 116. IIIW, V6

ARTH 255 (3)
Contemporary Art
Area III, 18th Century to the Present. The course will focus on visual culture from a global viewpoint beginning around 1970 and continuing through the present day. Traditional art forms, such as painting, sculpture, and architecture, as well as art that draws from a wide variety of media, including digital, environmental, and body art, will be covered. Particular emphasis will be placed on art that is being produced at present. V1, V6

ARTH 261 (1)
Directed Study
The study of introductory level material by an individual student or by a small group of students under the immediate supervision of a faculty member. Prerequisites: One ARTH course and permission of instructor.

ARTH 303 (3)
Seminar on Women Artists
Area III, 18th Century to the Present. A study of women artists in Europe and the Americas in which considerable attention is paid to the cultural conditions in which these artists worked and the obstacles they encountered in making their art. Artists of the periods preceding the eighteenth century will be briefly introduced, but emphasis will be on the eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth centuries. Articles by feminist art historians and critics comprise the major portion of the reading list. May be counted as a core course toward the minor in gender studies. Prerequisite: One ARTH course or one GNDR course. IIIO, V5,V6

ARTH 306 (3)
Theories of Art
The course focuses on philosophies of art in Western civilization, beginning with the Greeks and continuing until the present day. Particular emphasis is placed on twentieth- century art theory. While the relationship of visual art to theory will be studied, the primary focus is on the original theoretical texts. Offered alternate years. Prerequisites: ARTH 115 and ARTH 116. V1, V6

ARTH 320 (3)
Later 19th-Century Art
Area III, 18th Century to the Present. A study of such major trends as Impressionism, Post-Impressionism, and symbolism within a cultural and historical context. Their importance as foundations of 20th-century Modernism will be stressed. New critical approaches to the material will be considered. Prerequisite: ARTH 116; Recommended: ARTH 211. V6a

ARTH 322 (3)
Romanesque Art & Architecture
Area I, Ancient and Medieval. A study of the art and architecture of Byzantiam, Islamic cultures, and western Europe from the tenth through the twelfth centuries. Major themes we will consider are monastic life, growing urbanization, pilgrimage, the Crusades, and the role of women in society. Offered alternate years. Prerequisite: ARTH 115. IIIW, V1,V6

ARTH 336 (3)
Studies in Medieval Art and Architecture
Area I, Ancient and Medieval. Selected interdisciplinary topics in medieval art will be studied in depth. Course content will vary from year to year. Topic for Spring 2012: "Women's Patronage and Identity in the Middle Ages." We will analyze how women present themselves and a vision of their worlds through artistic commissions. Beginning in late antiquity, and extending to Byzantium and the late middle ages, we will study how religious and lay women used ritual, manuscript, sculpture, stained glass, and architecture to express their ideologies and agendas. May be counted as auxiliary course toward the minor in gender studies. Prerequisite: ARTH 115 IIIW, V1,V6

ARTH 338 (3)
Gothic Art and Architecture
Area I, Ancient and Medieval. This course will introduce students to the late medieval world where the arts of cathedral and court were influenced by urbanization, travel, rising levels of literacy, and changes in monarchy and religion. This course will include an examination of Islamic art and the art of the Byzantine Empire as well as that of Western Europe. Offered alternate years. Prerequisite: ARTH 115. IIIW, V1,V6

ARTH 340 (3)
Topics in Renaissance and Baroque Art
Area II, Renaissance and Baroque. Selected topics in renaissance and baroque art will be studied in depth. Course content will vary from year to year. V1, V6

ARTH 341 (3)
Seminar: Art and Theory in Renaissance Italy
Area II, Renaissance and Baroque. Using both primary and secondary sources, the seminar will examine Italian Renaissance art in relation to contemporary art theory in the 15th and 16th centuries. Offered alternate years. May be counted as an auxiliary course toward the minor in gender studies. Prerequisite: ARTH 116. V6a

ARTH 344 (3)
Seminar: Art and Theory in Baroque Europe
Area II, Renaissance and Baroque. Using both primary and secondary sources, the seminar will examine Baroque art in relation to contemporary art theory in the 17th and early 18th centuries. Offered alternate years. Prerequisite: ARTH 116. V6a

ARTH 354 (3)
Later 20th-Century Art: Post World War II to the Present
Area III, 18th Century to the Present. Post-war trends from Abstract Expressioinism to Post-Modernism will be considered in their historical, cultural, and critical context. Prerequisite: ARTH 116. IIIW, V6

ARTH 361 (1)
Special Study
The study of an intermediate topic by an individual student or by a small group of students under the immediate supervision of a faculty member. Prerequisites: One 100-level ARTH course and permission of instructor.

ARTH 377 (1)
Internship
This course is graded P/CR/NC only. Prerequisites: Three credits in ARTH and permission of instructor, department chair, and dean.

ARTH 452 (3)
Senior Seminar
An examination of selected topics in the history of art. Specific requirements of the course will be decided in consultation with the majors each year and may include papers, oral reports and written examinations. This course is designated as the culminating exercise in the major and is required of all majors. Prerequisite: Open only to senior ARTH majors. IIIO, IIIW,V6

ARTH 461 (1)
Independent Study
Pursuit of an upper level research project determined in advance by the student in consultation with a faculty member who will act as the sponsor. Prerequisites: One 100-level ARTH course, one 200-level ARTH course, and permission of instructor.

ARTH 470 (3)
Junior Honors Research

ARTH 472 (3)
Senior Honors Thesis