Sotheby's institute of art
Art History Intensive: 1860 to Today
This 8-week intensive course offers an introduction to the histories of Modern and contemporary art and provides a foundation in the knowledge and skills of art history.| Length | 1 to 3 months |
| Price | $ 1860 |
| Subject | Art, Design |
| Level | Beginner |
| Languages | English |
| Video Transcripts | None |
How does a work of art become an integral part of art history? This 8-week intensive course offers an introduction to the histories of Modern and contemporary art and provides a foundation in the knowledge and skills of art history.
Focusing on critical figures including Manet, Picasso, Duchamp, and Koons, as well as essential styles and movements such as Cubism, Surrealism, Pop Art, and Minimalism, this course moves from charting the rise of Impressionism in modern 19th century Paris to examining the impact of globalization on art practice in the 21st century. Illuminating the fundamentals of art historical method and scholarly research, each week’s online discussions and activities lead you through the relevant themes of a particular period while also introducing skills such as formal analysis, bibliographic research, argumentation, and application of theory.
What you'll learn
What you will learn:
The essential terminology used in art historical practice and scholarly research.
How to recognize and describe styles and periods in modern Western art history, from the 1860s to the present day.
The oral and written skills to more effectively and confidently communicate about art and artists.
How to analyze, synthesize, and develop an argument on artworks and artists.
The tools needed to evaluate evidence from a range of scholarly sources relating to art.
Course syllabus
Week 2: From Curves to Cubes: Art Nouveau to Cubism
Week 3: The Heroic Avant-Garde
Week 4: Moderates and Extremists
Week 5: The Post-War World
Week 6: The Birth of Contemporary Art
Week 7: The 1980’s
Week 8: The Global Contemporary
Meet the instructors
Ph.D., University College London; M.A., Courtauld Institute of Art; B.A., University of Leeds
Morgan Falconer is a critic and art historian. He has written about contemporary art for publications including The Times(London), The Economist, Frieze, The Village Voice, and Art in America. His recent books include Painting Beyond Pollock (Phaidon, 2015), a history of painting after 1945, and The Art Lovers’ Guide to New York, a guide to the city’s art collections (Rizzoli/ Thames & Hudson, 2011).