Apr 16, 2024  
2017-2018 Academic Catalog 
    
2017-2018 Academic Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

Art Courses


Art

Courses

ARH: History and Theory

  • ARH 103 - Introduction to Art History

    4 credits (Fall and Spring)
    A thematic and cross-cultural study of art and architecture as expressions of diverse social, intellectual, religious, and aesthetic values, primarily in Western societies since antiquity, with reference to certain East Asian and African traditions. Emphasis on developing critical skills. Use of Grinnell College Art Collection.

    Prerequisite: None.
    Instructor: Staff
  • ARH 210 - Women, Art, and History

    4 credits
    An introduction to the history of women’s involvement in the visual arts. Concerned with ways of analyzing changing relationships among gender, culture, and creativity. The focus is on a historical study of women as producers of art, with emphasis on the various ways women have responded to social conditions determining the production of art, and on defining the issues and methods of investigations, based on feminist critiques of conventional art historical approaches.

    Prerequisite: ARH 103  or GWS 111 .
    Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
    Instructor: Staff
  • ARH 214 - Monastery and Cathedral in Medieval Europe

    4 credits
    Study of major developments in architecture and art from the Carolingian through Gothic periods (9th–14th centuries). Primary focus on architectural design and structure (as at Durham, Canterbury, Lincoln, Cluny, Paris, Chartres, Amiens), including the roles of sculpture and manuscript painting within their social, political, religious, and intellectual climates. Option of executing projects in architectural design or doing reading in French, German, Italian, Latin, or Spanish.

    Prerequisite: ARH 103 .
    Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
    Instructor: Staff
  • ARH 221 - European Art 1789-1848: Figures & Ground

    4 credits
    Examination of 19th-century Romantic and Realist painting as critical responses to the period’s dramatic political, industrial, and cultural transformations and as the foundation of artistic “modernity.” Emphasis on issues of high and mass culture; art and political voice; representations of non-Europeans; relevance of the canon; tensions between the urban and natural worlds; and creation of the Avant-Garde. The French Revolution of 1789 marked the entrance on the world stage of a new concept of the modern, self-determining subject. During the first half of the nineteenth century, artists in France, England, Spain and Germany sought to discover an artistic language that would represent this new individual’s relationship to the natural and the built environment, a dialogue of figure and ground that this course studies in the mediums of painting, sculpture, printmaking, and photography.

    Prerequisite: ARH 103 .
    Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
    Instructor: Staff
  • ARH 222 - Impressionism and Post-Impressionism

    4 credits
    A study of major artists, works, and issues in European Impressionist and Post-Impressionist painting (ca. 1865–1900). Specific movements include Impressionism, Post-Impressionism, Symbolism, and Art Nouveau.

    Prerequisite: ARH 103 .
    Note: Not offered every year.
    +2 option available.
    Foreign language option available in French or German for course and +2.
    Instructor: Anger
  • ARH 225 - The Baroque Imaginary

    4 credits (Fall or Spring)
    The Baroque has fascinated - and incensed - artists, historians, cultural critics, and philosophers from Heinrich Wölfflin, Walter Benjamin, and Erwin Panofsky to Gilles Deleuze, Hubert Damisch, and Peter Greenaway. Often aligned with an artistic “Golden Age” exemplified by the works of Bernini, Rubens, Velázquez, and Vermeer, the Baroque is also associated with decadence, irrationality, and effeminacy. We will explore the stakes of these connotations for seventeenth-century Baroque icons as well as for later, (Neo)Baroque artists.

    Prerequisite: ARH 103 .
    Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
    Instructor: Staff
  • ARH 226 - Gender, Race and Fashion in Western Portraiture, 1500-1950

    4 credits (Fall or Spring)
    Explores race, gender, and fashionable dress as co-constitutive forces in portraiture from 1500 to 1950. We will investigate self-portraiture, group portraiture, historiated portraiture, and allegorical personification. If idealized white, female beauty is one of portraiture’s longstanding fetishes, how do notions of sexual difference, physiognomy, and skin-color, among other variables, inflect representation? Subjects range from Tudor England, Rubens, Van Dyck, Rembrandt, and Velázquez to Qing China, Viceregal Mexico, nineteenth-century Paris, and post-war New York.

    Prerequisite: ARH 103 .
    Note: Not offered every year.
    Instructor: Staff
  • ARH 231 - Modern Art in Europe, 1900–1940

    4 credits (Fall)
    An examination of major movements in European art from 1900–1940, including Fauvism, Expressionism, Cubism, Futurism, Dada, Surrealism, Constructivism, and Socialist Realism. Focus upon the historical contexts of art production and reception. Readings range from contemporary criticism to historical analysis. Investigation of recurrent problems such as primitivism, gender, authorship, and cultural politics.

    Prerequisite: ARH 103 .
    Note: Plus-2 option available.
    Foreign language option available in French or German for course and +2.
    Instructor: Anger
  • ARH 232 - Art Since 1945

    4 credits (Spring)
    An examination of developments primarily in American and European art since 1945, from Abstract Expressionism to current trends such as the globalized art market. Particular attention to art since 1960: Pop, Happenings, Black Art, Minimalism, Conceptualism, Earth Works, Feminist Art, Video, and Installation. Readings range from contemporary criticism to historical analysis from a variety of perspectives (e.g., formal, multicultural, deconstructive).

    Prerequisite: ARH 103 .
    Note: Plus-2 option available.
    Foreign language option available in French or German for course and +2.
    Instructor: Anger
  • ARH 233 - American Art

    4 credits
    A survey of American art within its cultural, philosophical, and social contexts. Topics include: colonial portraiture; history painting, landscape, and vernacular expressions in the 19th century; and the sources and development of modernism and postmodernism.

    Prerequisite: ARH 103 .
    Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
    Instructor: Anger
  • ARH 248 - Greek Archaeology and Art

    4 credits (Spring)
    See CLS 248 .

    Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
  • ARH 250 - Roman Archaeology and Art

    4 credits (Spring)
    See CLS 250 .

    Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
  • ARH 260 - Museum Studies: The Art Museum

    4 credits
    An examination of the history of museums, museum operations, funding, ethics, and the philosophical and intellectual issues raised by the contemporary museum. The course will focus on art museums, but many of the topics will pertain to history, ethnographic, science, and other types of museums.

    Prerequisite: ARH 103 .
    Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
    Instructor: Wright
  • ARH 360 - Exhibition Seminar

    4 credits (Fall)
    An exploration of the materials and methods of primary art historical research and museum practice through the organization and presentation of an exhibition. Students work directly with art objects, using works in the Grinnell College Art Collection and/or borrowed from lenders. Topic and instructor vary; see current Schedule of Courses. Course may be repeated once for credit.

    Prerequisite: One 200-level art history course.
    Note: Not offered every year.
    Fall 2017 only - This class includes course-embedded travel to Miami to visit Edouard Duval-Carríe’s studio for a weekend early in the semester, as well as travel during fall break to Davenport, Dubuque and Waterloo, Iowa to consult museum collections. Participation is required. Students will be required to pay a $250 participation fee (most other required travel expenses will be covered). This fee will be added to the student tuition bill and is due by the first day of classes. If payment of this fee causes you financial concern, please contact Gretchen Zimmermann in the Financial Aid Office to discuss options to cover this additional cost for attendance.
    Instructor: Staff
  • ARH 400 - Seminar in Art History

    4 credits (Spring)
    An intensive study of selected problems with emphasis on research, methodology, and critical evaluation of a special area. May be repeated for a maximum of 8 credits if different topics are taken each time. For current course content please see the variable topic course listing below or search the online live schedule of courses.

    Prerequisite: Junior or senior standing in art history major.
    Instructor: Staff
  • ARH 499 - Mentored Advanced Project — Art History

    4 credits (Fall or Spring)
    The preparation, writing, and public presentation of a piece of advanced art-historical research in any area of art history. Students must obtain approval of a department member as faculty director. The MAP application must be completed with the required project statement and with all faculty signatures before submission to the Office of the Registrar. All applications are subject to the approval of the associate dean of the College.

    Prerequisite: Senior standing.
    Instructor: Staff

Art: Studio

  • ART 111 - Introduction to the Studio

    4 credits (Fall and Spring)
    Introduction to the Studio is a beginning level studio course designed to introduce and ground students in core principles of art making in a rigorous, hands-on studio. These principles will be taught though a series of practical exercises using traditional and digital tools. Emphasis will be placed on developing skills, knowledge of materials, methods of observation and translation, collaboration, discussion, and creative discipline.

    Prerequisite: None.
    Instructor: Staff
  • ART 134 - Drawing

    4 credits (Fall or Spring)
    An introduction to observational drawing and contemporary drawing practice. Subjects will include architecture, objects, landscape, and the figure. Traditional and non-traditional media will be explored. Emphasis on technical skill, perceptual development, and critical skills.

    Prerequisite: None.
    Instructor: Staff
  • ART 236 - Print Media

    4 credits (Fall or Spring)
    This course involves an exploration of print processes. Emphasis is placed on the development of individual skills and an aesthetic appreciation of prints through creation, production, and study. This investigation includes historical and contemporary roles of multiples within the context of select media and broader artistic practices.

    Prerequisite: ART 111 .
    Instructor: Kluber
  • ART 237 - Chemistry of Artists’ Materials

    4 credits (Fall or Spring)
    Cross-listed as: SCI 237 . This team-taught course will examine the physical properties of various artists’ materials and will use these materials to generate new creative work. Examples of materials to be investigated may include, but not be limited to: paper, plaster, paint binders, pigments and dyes. The class will be a combination of in-class discussion, laboratory, and studio practice; it will be a rare opportunity for students to learn from two inquiry-based disciplines in two different locations on campus.

    Prerequisite: ART 111 .
    Note: Not offered every year.
    Instructor: Running, Trimmer
  • ART 238 - Painting

    4 credits (Fall or Spring)
    This course is an introduction to the materials, techniques, and practice of painting. Such a practice is concerned with issues, both technical and intellectual, that will give students the knowledge to transpose, construct, and execute using the medium of paint.

    Prerequisite: ART 111 .
    Instructor: Kaufman
  • ART 240 - Ceramics

    4 credits (Fall or Spring)
    An introduction to clay as a medium for visual expression with an emphasis on hand building, throwing, conceptual problem-solving, glazing, and firing. Students will construct both sculptural and functional forms, with particular attention paid to the development of technical skills, surface enrichment through texture, and creativity in the construction of three-dimensional forms.

    Prerequisite: ART 111 .
    Instructor: Schrift
  • ART 242 - Sculpture

    4 credits (Spring)
    This course will explore techniques and concepts employed by contemporary sculptors. Students will utilize materials from the ephemeral to the permanent to explore issues of space and construction through a series of creative projects.

    Prerequisite: ART 111 .
    Instructor: Running
  • ART 246 - Digital Media

    4 credits (Fall or Spring)
    This course explores contemporary digital media art practice. Students will work with a variety of software, hardware, and digital tools in addressing visual ideas. This course encourages students to employ the computer as a visual-thinking tool.

    Prerequisite: ART 111 .
    Instructor: Staff
  • ART 310 - Advanced Studio: Hybrid Media

    4 credits (Fall or Spring)
    This advanced studio course involves investigating and expanding a visual idea across a range of media. Students have an opportunity to work in an interdisciplinary, expansive approach to art making.

    Prerequisite: 12 credits of 200-level studio art.
    Instructor: Kluber
  • ART 315 - Advanced Studio: Contemporary Practices

    4 credits (Fall or Spring)
    An interdisciplinary studio course designed to introduce students to contemporary artistic practices and concepts. Emphasis is placed on ideation, concept, and form integration.

    Prerequisite: 12 credits of 200-level studio art.
    Instructor: Kaufman
  • ART 320 - Advanced Studio: Site Specific

    4 credits (Fall or Spring)
    An intensive practice based course in which the problem of place and location is examined in relation to the development of a student’s individual body of work.

    Prerequisite: 12 credits of 200-level studio art.
    Instructor: Running
  • ART 499 - Mentored Advanced Project — Studio

    4 credits (Fall or Spring)


    Senior Project: A concentrated focus within a specific medium in which the student has extensive experience. This course is aimed at establishing a personal direction in content and personal expression while developing a mature portfolio in preparation for an advanced degree. The project includes preparation, creation, and public presentation of a body of artwork. Seniors must obtain approval of a department member for the desired medium as supervisor of the project. The MAP application must be completed with the required project statement and with all faculty signatures before submission to the Office of the Registrar. All applications are subject to approval of the dean of the College.

    Prerequisite: 300-level studio course, senior standing, and departmental approval of official MAP proposal before the end of the preceding semester.

    See additional information on MAP’s. 
    Instructor: Staff

Special Topics-Fall

  • ARH 295-01 - Special Topic: Arts and Visual Cultures of China

    4 credits (Fall)
    This course explores the arts and visual cultures of China from the Neolithic period through the nineteenth century. We will consider diverse media including painting, prints, textiles, ceramics, metalwork, jade, and architecture, as well as works in the College Art Collection. A central theme will be the role that various (non-Han Chinese) ethnic groups played in shaping  the arts of the Chinese court, with special emphasis on cultural exchange with Central Asia and the Steppe.

    Prerequisite: None.
    Note: Not open to first-years
    Instructor: Shea
  • ARH 295-02 - Special Topic: Modern Architecture and Globalization

    4 credits (Fall)
    This course offers a survey of developments in modern architecture from the nineteenth century to the contemporary period, with a focus on globalization. In the course, we will discuss the aesthetic, political, and social contexts of architecture, including colonialism, urbanization, industrialization, semiotics, and consumerism. Reading texts by architects, critics, and scholars, students will examine local, regional, and national examples of modern architecture in conjunction with prominent global trends in the field.

    Prerequisite: None.
    Instructor: Rivera
  • ART 295-01 - Special Topic: Visualizing Freedom and Abolition in the New World - A Mixed Media Installation.

    2 credits (Fall)
    This course will explore ideas and images of freedom and abolition from the Caribbean to the Midwestern frontier, resulting in a permanent installation for the new HSSC building. Students will research images regarding the trans-Atlantic slave trade, plantation economies and the abolitionist movement, and will collaborate with artist Edouard Duval-Carrie in a mixed media artwork made from epoxy resin in molds. Each “block” will use images to tell a different history regarding freedom and abolition. 

    Prerequisite: Second-year standing.
    Note: Dates September 18 to September 27 and October 23 to November 1. Short course deadlines apply.
    Instructor: Duvall
  • ART 295-02 - Special topic: Sculpture: Multiples

    4 credits (Fall)
    In this course students will explore replication of form in sculpture. Using rigid and flexible moulds as well as direct casting we will work with a variety of materials including plaster, concrete, wax, paper, ceramic, fabric, latex, and rubber. Students will work with traditional and innovative practices to develop original creative work.

    Prerequisite: ART 111 .
    Instructor: Running

Special Topics-Spring

  • ARH 295-01 - Special Topic: The Global Mongol Century: In the Footsteps of Marco Polo

    4 credits (Spring)
    Cross-listed as: EAS 295-01 . In this class, we will explore the arts and visual cultures of Mongol-controlled lands in Eurasia ca. 1250-1400. Loosely following Marco Polo’s travels, we will ”travel” from Italy to China, recreating the visual landscape of particular urban centers. Using primary documents and visual material, including illuminated manuscripts, textiles, paintings, ceramics, and metalwork, we will come to a clearer understanding of the interwoven networks in Eurasia during this period.

    Prerequisite: ARH 103 
    Instructor: Shea
  • ARH 295-02 - Special Topic: Gender & Sexuality East Asian Art

    4.00 credits (Spring)
    Cross-listed as: EAS 295-02 . This class explores themes of gender and sexuality in the arts of China, Japan, and the East Asian Steppe, from the beginning of the Common Era to the present day. We will be looking at a variety of media, including paintings, prints, photographs, and ceramics, as well as the diverse cultural contexts in which this art was produced and consumed.

    Prerequisite: ARH 103 .
    Instructor: Shea
  • ARH 295-03 - Special Topic: Art, Media & the Built Environment in Cuba

    4 credits (Spring)
    In his famous 1961 speech to artists, writers, and intellectuals, Fidel Castro proclaimed: “Within the Revolution, everything…” Castro was indicating not only the terms of censorship for the new socialist government, but the ideological means of cultural production that would come to dominate the island nation in the following decades. This class analyzes art, media, and the built environment as they relate to concepts of revolution, utopia, and cubanidad, or “Cubanness.” Looking at material ranging from works by Cuba’s artistic vanguardia of the 1920s to contemporary debates regarding internet access and new media, we explore how the visual can be both symbolic of state interests and illustrative of subversions to the state.

    Prerequisite: ARH 103 .
    Note: This course includes required travel to Cuba over spring break. Students will be required to pay a $400 participation fee (most other required travel expenses will be covered). This fee will be added to the student tuition bill and is due by the first day of classes. If payment of this fee causes you financial concern, please contact Gretchen Zimmermann in the Financial Aid Office to discuss loan options to cover this additional cost for attendance.
    Instructor: Rivera
  • ARH 295-04 - Special Topic: Riverscaping: American Art and Ecology

    4 credits (Spring)
    This course will look at 19th to 21st century American art by examining the human domination of geographical territories and natural resources. We will use academic perspectives including science, literature, music, and film to address how race, class, and sexuality are bound within a framework of ecology in American art. Although largely based on reading and discussion, this class will also include field trips and guest presentations.

    Prerequisite: ARH 103 .
    Instructor: Sivert
  • ART 195-01 - Introductory Special Topic: Art/Biology Investigations through Drawing


    See BIO 195-01 .

  • ART 295-01 - Special Topic: Print Matters: History, Theory, Praxis

    4 credits (Spring)
    See GRM 295-01 .

    Instructor: Byrd, Chen
  • ART 295-02 - Special Topic: Just for You: Between Art and Performance

    2 credits (Spring)
    See THD 295-02 .