Impressionism: Art, Leisure, Society
European Painting and Sculpture: 848-1910
ARTH 285/685
Prof. Susan Sidlauskas TA s &
WATU Fellows:
Jaffe Building/208 Maria (Luly) Feliciano &
e-mail: sidlausk@sas Micaela Woodbridge
Office Hours: Tues 3-5 pm e-mail:
mariafel@sas
Note: Last appointment at
4:45 woodbrid@sas
COURSE SYNOPSIS
The "misogyny" of Degas; the "obsessiveness" of Cezanne; the"primitivism"
of Gauguin; the "feminine spaces" of Mary Cassattand Berthe Morisot; and,
of course, the "madness" of Van Goghwill be just some of the notions--or
myths--that we will explorein this survey of mid-nineteenth-century to
earlytwentieth-century art. We will examine the historical statureof
these artists, their reputations, and their contemporaryrelevance.
We will consider paintings--and some sculptures--by French, Dutchand
Scandinavian artists. The city of Paris is the center
ofnineteenth-century painting (nearly all the artists we shallstudy spent
significant time there, including Vincent Van Gogh).In addition to
analyzing the works themselves, we shall considerthe social, economic and
political changes in and around Paristhat affected the shape and
reception of the art produced there. Some background in the art of the
late 18th and early 19thcenturies will be helpful to understanding the
richness, as wellas the controversial nature, of the art we will discuss.
"Nineteenth-Century Art" by Robert Rosenblum, "The Painting of Modern
Life by T.J. Clark, and "Impressionism. Art,Leisure and Parisian Society"
by Robert Herbert (all on reserve in the Fine Arts Library) can be
consulted for general background and for illustrations. All these
authors, in varying degrees,situate their analyses of nineteenth-century
within a larger cultural and historical framework.
Whenever possible, we shall consider a relatively small number of key
works by each artist, rather than attempt to master an exhaustive
survey. Even within this lecture format, discussionis expected and
encouraged. The required readings represent diverse views within the
field of art history, and are taken from two texts (required for
purchase, titles below) and a selection of critical essays on reserve in
folders at the Fine ArtsLibrary. The original sources for all readings
are listed at the end of your syllabus. If you get frustrated with the
inevitably mediocre quality of the xeroxed pictures in your articles, you
can consult the original in the library.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS
LECTURES AND SECTIONS:
This course will consist of lectures conducted by Prof.Sidlauskas and
section meetings led by Ms. Feliciano and Ms.Woodbridge. Faithful
attendance at both is required. There areseven section meetings during
the course of the semester, and tworeview sessions prior to each exam.
These sections willgenerally take place every other week and will replace
ascheduled Tuesday lecture. Times for sections will be scheduledas close
to the start of the semester as possible. Participation in section
discussions is required and factored into your final grade. Three of the
sections will be held at local museums; the other four will be focused
around discussion of one or more critical texts and a small group of
thought-provoking works of art. Graduate students will meet in section
with Prof.Sidlauskas and will be assigned additional readings, as noted
below.
EXAMS AND PAPERS
Two papers, a mid-term examination, and a final examination are
required. The first paper (of 4-5 pages) will be a comparative visual
analysis of two works at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. You will choose
one pair of images from a list of five or six possibilities which will be
handed out in class. The second paper will be a more sustained visual
analysis on a topic of your choosing, which will be substantiated by some
research (of 8-10pages). Graduate students will do two pairs of
comparisons (one from the list distributed in class, another of their own
choosing) and an 18-20 page research paper. A one-page summary of the
final topic, research plan, and bibliography will be required of both
undergraduates and graduate students before embarking on research.
Unless a student makes a prior arrangement with the professor or teaching
assistants, a paper will be marked down by half a grade for every day it
is late. The first paper is due in section on February 18, unless
otherwise advised; the second paper is due on the last day of class April
24 (for non-WATU students) and for WATU students, ona date during reading
period, to be determined. Ms. Feliciano and Ms. Woodbridge will conduct
review sessions prior to both the mid-term and final.
This is a WATU-affiliated course. WATU students will do one extra paper
assignment, and will also hand in a draft of each writing assignment to
Ms. Feliciano and Ms. Woodbridge. Dates for WATU and all other papers are
noted below. Graduate students will do more extended papers, to be
discussed with the instructor.
READINGS:
Readings will be drawn primarily from one of two books that are required
texts for the course: Stephen Eisenman's "Nineteenth-Century Art. A
Critical History" and Francis Frascina et al., "Modernity and Modernism",
here after referred to as "Eisenman" and "Frascina." Both are available
at the Penn Book Center. See Achilles there if you have any questions or
problems. Critical articles, which can be found on reserve at the
Circulation Desk of the Fine Arts Library, are assigned periodically.
Questions about readings will be included on both exams, so it is
imperative that you keep up with the reading.
IMAGES--THE WEB
All the images you are responsible for in this course will be available
on the web shortly after each class lecture. Images(and details of
images) are accompanied by information on the artist, title, date,
medium--all of which can be downloaded and printed out. The web site
address is:http://www.arthistory.upenn.edu/285/index.html or
http://www.library.upenn.edu/finearts/slide/285.html. You can always
access the site through the homepage for this course,which is, in turn,
available through the art history department's homepage. The syllabus
will be available through the homepage shortly after the semester
begins. For students unfamiliar with the web, orientation sessions will
be offered at the beginning of the semester by Mrs. Micheline Nilsson,
the head of the slidelibrary. Times will be announced in class.
NECESSARY INFORMATION
Announcements about the course--any change in an assignment,scheduling,
cancellations, etc.--will be posted on the listserv for our course,
available on e-mail. The address is:arth285-001-97a@lists.upenn.edu.
This is a way for you to post messages to the entire course. (Remember:
if you use this address intending to send a message to one person,
everyone will read it.) Please get into the habit of checking for
messages the morning of class or section, to be sure there hasn't been
achange of plans.
CAUTIONARY WORDS
Attendance is mandatory at both lectures and sections. If you attend
both, the exams, paper assignments and readings will seemmuch more
manageable. There will be NO MAKE UPS for either exam, unless there is a
death in the immediate family, or a student has a very serious illness
(proof is required in eithercase). Papers will be marked down for every
day they are late,unless a prior arrangement is made (for a worthy
reason} with either the teaching assistant or the instructor. Plagiarism
will result in a failing grade.
TENTATIVE COURSE SCHEDULE
January 14: Introduction and the early Gustave Courbet. {Readings for
next class:} Eisenman, pp 206-224, 238-254 and Frascina, pp 80-103.
January 16: Courbet and early realism. {Readings for nextclass:}
Frascina pp 3-49 and 103-111; and Michael Fried,"Representing
Representation," (on reserve). Graduate students read also: Michael
Fried, "The Structure of Beholding in Courbet's "Burial at Ornans," and
T.J. Clark's discussion ofCourbet's "Burial at Ornans"--in Ornans and in
Paris--in his book, {Image of the People} (on reserve).
January 21: NO LECTURE. Section meetings on Courbet and Realism.
January 23: Edouard Manet. {Reading for next class:} T.J.Clark, "The Bar
at the Folies Bergeres," (on reserve)
January 28: Manet and Modernity. {Readings for next class:}Linda Nochlin,
"A House is not a Home. Degas and the Subversion of the Family," (on
reserve).
January 30: Degas and the Urban Physiognomy. {Readings for next class:}
Susan Sidlauskas, "Resisting Narrative: The Problem of Degas's
Interior'," (on reserve). Graduate students also read Carol Armstrong,
"Edgar Degas and the Representation of the Female Body," (on reserve).
February 4: NO LECTURE. Section meetings on Degas at the Philadelphia
Museum of Art. {Readings for next class:}Frascina, pp 111-140 and
141-185, and Robert Herbert, "Method andMeaning in Monet," (on reserve).
WATU STUDENTS: Draft of firstpaper due in class.
February 6: Early Monet and Renoir: The Modern Landscape.{Readings for
next class:} Frascina pp 131-138, pp 201-213, and Roger Shikes,
"Pissarro's Political Philosophy and his Art," (On reserve).
February 11: Pissarro and Early Cezanne: The Meaning of Landscape.
{Readings for next class:} Richard Shiff, "Corot,Monet, Cezanne and the
Technique of Originality," (on reserve). Graduate students read also:
essay by Lawrence Gowing in Gowing, {Cezanne. The Early Years}, exh.
cat., London (on reserve).
February 13: TO BE ANNOUNCED
February 18: NO LECTURE. Section Meetings on Early Impressionist
Landscape. {Reading for next class:} Tamar Garb, "Renoir and the Natural
Woman," (on reserve). FIRST PAPER DUE IN SECTION.
February 20: Renoir. Biography and Voyeurism. {Readings fornext class:}
Frascina, and 183-192, and Tamar Garb, "Gender and Representation," in
Eisenman, 219-289 (The reading is long, but you will be using it over
three successive classes).
February 25: Morisot and Cassatt: The Woman Artist as Subject andMaker.
{Prepare for Mid-Term Exam}. EXAM REVIEW SESSION TO BE ANNOUNCED.
February 27: MIDTERM EXAMINATION. {Readings for next class:}Continue with
Garb in Eisenman. Graduate students also read Griselda Pollock,
"Modernity and the Spaces of Femininity," (onreserve).
March 4: NO LECTURE: Section Meetings on Issues of Body and Gender in
Representation. {Readings for next class:} Linda Nochlin, "Body Politics.
Seurat's {Poseuses}," and Leila Kinney, "Fashion and Figuration in Modern
Life Painting," (both are on reserve)
March 6: Seurat and Popular Culture. {Readings for next class:}Eisenman,
pp 274-291, and review Nochlin and Kinney, as above.
SPRING BREAK: MARCH 7-17
March 18: Seurat II. {Readings for next class:} Albert Elsen,"A Tour of
the Gates of Hell," and Anne Higonnet, "Camille Claudel and Auguste
Rodin," (both on reserve). TOPIC SUGGESTIONSFOR FINAL PAPER DISTRIBUTED
IN CLASS.
March 20: Rodin, Claudel and the Modern Figure. {Readings for next
class:} Eisenman, pp 331-334 and continue with Elsen and Higonnet, as
above. Graduate students also read: Anne Wagner,"Rodin's Reputation,"
(on reserve). WATU STUDENTS: Draft for special WATU paper due in class.
March 25: NO LECTURE: Section Meeting at the Rodin Museum. {Readings for
next class:} Eisenman, pp 288-305, and Ron Johnson, "Vincent Van Gogh and
the Vernacular: His Southern Accent," (on reserve). ONE PAGE SUMMARY OF
PLAN FOR FINAL PAPER TO SS.
March 27: Van Gogh and the Mythology of Modernism. {Readingsfor next
class:} Ron Johnson, "Vincent Van Gogh and the Vernacular: The Poet's
Garden," (on reserve). WATU STUDENTS:Special WATU assignment due in
class.
April 1: Van Gogh. {Readings for next class:} Eisenman, pp304-313, and
326-336.
April 3: Gauguin and the Making of Paradise. {Readings for next class}:
Abigail Solomon-Godeau, "Going Native," (on reserve). Graduate students
read also, Peter Brooks, "Gauguin'sTahitian Body," (on reserve).
SUMMARIES RETURNED IN CLASS.
April 8: NO LECTURE. Section Meeting on Gauguin and"primitivism."
{Readings for next class:} Excerpt from Elizabeth Easton, {Vuillard's
Intimate Interiors}, (both theexcerpt and the catalogue are on reserve).
April 10: The Intimistes: Vuillard and Bonnard. {Readings fornext class:}
Patricia Berman, "Edvard Munch's {Self-Portrait with Cigarette}," (on
reserve) and Eisenman, pp 317-327.
April 15: Munch. Prints and Paintings. {Readings for nextclass:} Richard
Thomson, "Re-Thinking Toulouse-Lautrec," (on reserve).
April 17: Toulouse-Lautrec and Graphic Design. {Readings fornext class:}
Eisenman, pp 337-350 and Frascina, pp 201-217. Graduate students read
also Theodore Reff, "Painting and Theory in the Final Decade," in William
Rubin, ed. {The Late Cezanne}, (on reserve). WATU STUDENTS: Draft of
Final Paper due in Class.
April 22: NO LECTURE. Section meeting at the Philadelphia Museum of Art
on Paul Cezanne. {Readings for next class:} Continue with Eisenman and
Frascina, as above, and finish papers.
April 24: Late Cezanne. FINAL PAPER DUE IN CLASS
{READINGS ON RESERVE IN THE FINE ARTS LIBRARY}
{Armstrong, Carol}, {Odd Man Out. Readings of the Work and
Reputation of Edgar Degas}, Chicago, 1991.
{Armstrong, Carol,} "Edgar Degas and the Representation of
the Female Body," in Suleiman, Susan, ed. {The Female
Body in Western Culture}, Cambridge, MA, 1986.
{Athanassaglou-Kallmyer}, Nina, "An Artistic and Political
Manifesto for Cezanne," {The Art Bulletin}, Sept.
1990.
{Bareau, Juliet Wilson}, {Manet. The Execution of
Maximilian}, Princeton, 1992.
{Berman, Patricia}, "Edvard Munch's {Self-Portrait with
Cigarette,} {The Art Bulletin}, Dec. 1993.
{Boggs, Jean et al.} {Edgar Degas}, exh. cat., 1988
{Brettell, R. et al.}, eds. {The Art of Paul Gauguin},
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. 1988.
{Brooks, Peter,} "Gauguin's Tahitian Body," in Norma Broude
and Mary Garrard, eds. @Ux{The Expanding Discourse},
New York, 1993.
{Broude, Norma,} {Impressionism. A Feminist Reading}, New
York, 1991.
{Broude, Norma, and Mary Garrard, eds.} {Feminism and Art
History}, New York, 1992.
{Clark, T.J.,} "The Bar at the Folies Bergere," in {Paris in
the Art of Manet and his Followers}, New York, 1984.
{Clark, T.J.,} {The Painting of Modern Life. Paris in the
Art of Manet and his Followers}, New York, 1984.
{Clark, T.J.,} {The Image of the People}, Princeton, 1979.
{Easton, Elizabeth,} {The Intimate Interiors of
Edouard Vuillard}, Houston and Brooklyn, 1990.
{Easton, Elizabeth}, excerpt from {The Intimate Interiors
of Edouard Vuillard}, as above.
{Elsen, Albert,} {The Drawings of Rodin}, New York, 1972.
{Elsen, Albert,} "A Tour of the Gates of Hell," from {The
Gates of Hell by Rodin}, New York, 1985.
{Faunce, Sarah}, {Courbet Reconsidered}, Brooklyn, 1988.
{Fried, Michael,} {Courbet's Realism}, Chicago, 1990.
{Fried, Michael,} "Representing Representation," @ux{Art in
America}, Sept. 1981.
{Fried, Michael}, "The Structure of Beholding in Courbet's
{Burial at Ornans}," {Critical Inquiry}, 9,
June 1983.
{Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais}, Metropolitan Museum of
Art, {Degas}, New York, 1988.
{Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais,} Metropolitan Museum of
Art, {Manet, 1832-1883}, New York, 1983.
{Garb, Tamar,} "Renoir and the Natural Woman," in Broude and
Garrard, eds., {The Expanding Discourse}, NY, 1993.
{Gowing, Lawrence}, {Cezanne. The Early Years}, London.
{Hayward Gallery}, London, {Renoir}, London, 1985.
{Hayward Gallery}, London, South Bank Centre,
{Toulouse-Lautrec}, 1992.
{Herbert, Robert}, @Ux{Impressionism: Art, Leisure and Parisian
Society}, New Haven, 1988.
{Herbert, Robert}, {Georges Seurat, 1858-1891}, New York,
1991.
{Herbert, Robert}, "Method and Meaning in Monet," {Art in
America}, {Art in America}, Sept. 1979.
{Higonnet, Anne}, {Berthe Morisot. Images of Women}
Cambridge, 1992.
{Higonnet, Anne}, "Camille Claudel and Auguste Rodin," in
Whitney Chadwick, ed. {Significant Others:
Creativity and Intimate Partnership}, London 1993.
{House, John}, {Monet. Nature into Art}, New Haven, 1986.
{House, John}, "Degas's Tableaux de Genre," in R. Kendall
and Griselda Pollock, {Dealing with Degas}, NY, 1992
{Johnson, Ron}, "Vincent Van Gogh and the Southern Vernacular:"
{Arts Magazine}, June 1978.
{Johnson, Ron,} "Vincent Van Gogh and the Vernacular: The
Poet's Garden," {Arts Magazine}, Feb. 1979.
{Kendall, R. and G. Pollock,} eds. {Dealing with Degas},
New York, 1992.
{Kinney, Leila,} "Fashion and Figuration in Modern Life
Painting," in Fausch et al, eds., {Architecture in
Fashion}, Princeton, 1994.
{Levine, Steven}, {Monet and his Critics}, New York, 1978.
{Levine, Steven}, {Monet, Narcissus and Self-Reflection},
Chicago, 1994.
{Lloyd, Christopher}, {Pissarro}, New York, London, 1979
{McMullen, Roy}, {Degas. His Life, Times and Work}, Boston
1984.
{Moffett, Charles}, {The New Painting. Impressionism,
1874-1888}, San Francisco, 1988.
{Nochlin, Linda}, "Body Politics: Seurat's
{Poseuses}, {Art in America}., March, 1994.
{Nochlin, Linda}, "Degas and the Dreyfus Affair," The Jewish
Museum, exh. cat., {The Dreyfus Affair}.
{Nochlin, Linda}, "A House is Not a Home: Degas and the
Subversion of the Family," in Kendall and Pollock,
eds., {Dealing with Degas}.
{Nochlin, Linda}, {Impressionism and Post-Impressionism
1974-1904}, Englewood Cliffs, N.J., 1966
{Nochlin, Linda}, "Morisot's {Wet Nurse}," in Broude and
Garrard, {The Expanding Discourse}, NY, 1993.
{Pickvance, Ronald}, {Van Gogh in Arles}, New York, 1984.
{Pickvance, Ronald,} {Van Gogh in Saint-Remy and Auvers},
New York, 1988.
{Pointon, Marcia}, {Naked Authority. The Body in Western
Painting 1830-1908}, Cambridge, 1990.
{Pointon, Marcia}, "Biography and the Body in the Late Renoir,"
in {Naked Authority}, as above.
{Pollock, Griselda}, "Modernity and the Spaces of Femininity,"
in Broude and Garrard, eds. {The Expanding Discourse},
NY, 1993.
{Reff, Theodore}, {Degas. The Artist's Mind}, New York,
1978.
{Reff, Theodore}, {Manet and Modern Paris}, Washington,
1982.
{Rewald, John}, {The History of Impressionism}, New York,
1973.
{Rewald, John and Frances Weitzenhoffer}, eds., {Aspects of
Monet}, New York, 1984.
{Rosenblum, Robert}, {Nineteenth-Century Art}, Englewood
Cliffs, N.J. 1984.
{Rubin, William}, {Cezanne. The Late Work}, New York, 1977.
{Salus, Carol}, "Degas's Young Spartans Exercising," {The
Art Bulletin}, Sept. 1985.
{Schapiro, Meyer}, {Paul Cezanne}, New York, 1988.
{Shackelford, George}, {Degas. The Dancers}, Washington,
D.C., 1984.
{Shiff, Richard,} {Cezanne and the End of Impressionism},
Chicago, 1984.
{Shikes, Roger,} "Pissarro's Political Philosophy and his Art,"
in Christopher Lloyd, {Pissarro}.
{Sidlauskas, Susan}, "Resisting Narrative: The Problem of Edgar
Degas's {Interior}," {The Art Bulletin}, Dec. 1993.
{Solomon-Godeau, Abigail}, "Going Native," Broude and Garrard,
eds., {The Expanding Discourse}, NY, 1993.
{Stuckey, Charles}, {Berthe Morisot. Impressionist}, New
York, 1987.
{Thomson, Belinda}, {Gauguin}, 1987.
{Thomson, Belinda}, {Vuillard}, New York, 1988.
{Thomson, Richard}, "Re-Thinking Toulouse-Lautrec," from
{Toulouse-Lautrec}, New Haven and London.
{Tucker, Paul}, {Monet at Argenteuil}, New Haven, 1982.
{Tucker, Paul}, {Monet in the 90's: The Series Paintings},
New Haven, 1989.
{Varnedoe, Kirk}, "The Artifice of Candor: Impressionism and
Photography," {Art in America}, Jan. 1980.
{Varnedoe, Kirk}, {Gustave Caillebotte}, New Haven, 1987.
{Varnedoe, Kirk}, {Gustave Caillebotte. A Retrospective
Exhibition}, Houston, 1978.
{Varnedoe, Kirk}, "The Ideology of Time: Degas and Photograph,"
{Art in America}, June 1980.
{Wagner, Anne}, "Rodin's Reputation," in Lynn Hunt, ed.
{Eroticism and the Body Politic}.
{Wechsler, Judith}, {Cezanne in Perspective}, Englewood
Cliffs, N.J., 1974.