syllabus

Advanced Placement Art History
2007-2008

Ms. Sergonis
asergonis@rtnj.org
asergonis.tripod.com
sergiesapah.blogspot.com

Course Description
AP Art History, a challenging, college-level course open to juniors and seniors, traces the historical and formal development if art from the ancient period to the 21st Century. This course involves critical thinking and will develop an understanding of diverse historical and cultural contexts of architecture, sculpture, painting, and other media. Throughout the year, you will examine and critically analyze major forms of artistic expression from the past and the present from a variety of cultures. While visual analysis is a fundamental tool of the art historian, art history emphasizes understanding how and why works of art function in historical context, considering such issues as patronage, gender, and the functions and effects of works of art. You may apply for advanced placement in art history on the college level at the completion of this course.

Required Texts
Stokstad, Marilyn. Art History, 2nd ed., 2002.

Recommended Texts
Adams, Laurie Schneider. A History of Western Art, 1997.
Kleiner, Fred S. Gardner's Art through the Ages: Non-Western Perspectives, 12th Ed., 2006.
Tansey, Richard G. and Fred S. Kleiner. Gardner's Art Through the Ages, 12th ed., 2004
Fineberg, Jonathan. Art Since 1940: Strategies of Being, 2nd ed., 2000.
Barnet, Sylvan. A Short Guide to Writing about Art, 9th ed., 2007
Pierce, James Smith. From Abacus to Zeus: A Handbook of Art History, 7th ed., 2003.

Course Requirements
Attendance
Your success in this course is highly dependent on your attendance, punctuality and participation in class discussions. You are responsible for any and all missed notes and work.
Textbook
The textbook we will be using is Marilyn Stokstad's Art History. You will receive a copy in the beginning of the year and you are to take it home and it is to remain at home. You will have assigned readings to complete at home based on this text, as well as from other sources that I will be providing.
Reading Quizzes
There will be assigned readings every night and you will be assessed on comprehension of those readings with a Reading Quiz every day. Reading quizzes can not be made up, however if you have a planned absence (field trip, doctors appt, etc) you may schedule a time to take the RQ in advance of your absence, and you may drop your lowest RQ grade for every review session you attend for at least 45 minutes.
In Class Essays
Practice in-class essays in preparation for the AP exam. The 1st Semester will be 30 minute essays, the 2nd semester will focus on the shorter 5 and 10 minute essays. These will be graded as the essays are graded on the AP exam, on a scale from 0-9 for the 30 minute and 0-4 for the 5 and 10 minute essays (rubric follows). Questions and dates will not be announced and if you are absent you will receive a new question and must make up by the next Tuesday After School Review Session.
Notebook
You are required to keep a 3 ring binder with 5 sections and plenty of looseleaf paper. Your notebook will be graded at the end of each marking period and must include all necessary information. The sections are as follows: syllabus, notes, readings, quizzes, essays.
Bulletin Board
You are required to make 3 intelligent, informative, inquisitive posts on our online bulletin board every week. This will be part of your class participation grade. Questions that delve further than what we are able to cover in class, look for clarification on the reading, pose new ideas, share articles or museum experiences are all welcome and relevant. The website address is sergiesapah.blogspot.com and please be sure to include your name when making these posts.
Major Tests
There will be 4 major tests for each marking period. These will be multiple choice tests in a similar format as the AP exam, with 2 short essay questions. If, for some reason, you are absent on the day of a test, you are responsible for scheduling a time to take the test and you must make it up by the next Tuesday After School Review Session.
Surveys
You will be asked to complete online surveys after tests, field trips, and other experiences. Your participation in these surveys is anonymous, but required and much appreciated. This will help me mold the course and presentation of materials in a way that is individualized and beneficial for all of you.
Exams
Midterm and Final Exam, both presented in the AP exam format, including multiple choice and essays. The midterm is on Jan. 29 and the final is on June 11. "Any student in an AP course receiving an "A" grade for marking periods three and four or a "B" grade in marking period three and an "A" grade in marking period four and took the AP exam in May, will be exempt from taking the final exam. Please note that double "A" grade students will receive an "A" grade for the course and those students with a "B" grade and an "A" grade will receive a "B" grade for the course."
Field Trips
As art historians, you need to experience the art work first hand. Various trips to museums are an integral part of studying art history. We will be planning trips to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Montclair Art Museum and Montclair State University, Grounds for Sculpture or Storm King, the Zimmerli Art Museum, and possibly gallery tours of New York or Philadelphia. All of the afore mentioned trips are obviously tentative at this point and more details will follow. If you visit a museum or gallery, you may bring in evidence of your visit (ticket, brochures, etc.) and complete a brief class presentation of your experience for extra credit.
Papers/Projects
Various assignments based on field trips and other research experiences, tba.
Museum Teach
While visiting the Montclair Art Museum, you will have the opportunity to play "curator"! You will be working with a partner and will be responsible for teaching your class about a chosen piece of art work. This will count as a test a grade.
You will chose a piece that you feel identifies a specific period and that can teach the viewer about the period in which it was created. As curator, you will need to creatively reveal those relevant characteristics and historical contexts to your audience. You and your partner have 10 minutes to present your work of art, its historical context, and how it exemplifies the characteristics of the period in which it was created.

Review Sessions
Extra help will be offered every Tuesday after school until 3:30pm. This is also a time to make up any missed essays or tests.

Evaluation Criteria
You are encouraged to retake or rewrite any tests or essays on which you receive a C or lower. It is your responsibility to speak to me and to schedule a time for a retake or rewrite, and it must be completed within 1 week of the original test.
All grades will be posted on TeacherEase as soon as possible and it is your responsibility to keep track of your own progress and make any needed changes or improvements to ensure your success in this course, well before the conclusion of a marking period.

Tests - 30%
Reading Quizzes - 30%
Essays - 25%
Papers/Projects/Notebook/Class Participation - 15%

Honor Code
Plagiarism, copying, or any other form of dishonesty will not be tolerated.

Course Content

1.Ancient through Medieval - 30% (40 days)
-Greece and Rome - 10-15% (14 days)
-Early Christian, Byzantine, Early Medieval - 5-10% (7 days)
-Romanesque - 3-7% (7 days)
-Gothic - 7-10% (10 days)


2.Beyond European Artistic Traditions - 20% (26 days)
-Africa (incl. Egypt); the Americas; Asia; Near East; Oceania; and global Islamic tradition


3. Renaissance to Present - 50% (65 days)
-14th through 16th Centuries - 12-17% (20 days)
-17th and 18th Centuries - 10-15% (14 days)
-19th Century - 10-15% (14 days)
-20th and 21st Centuries - 10-15% (14 days)

Issues in Art History

Issues to explore in class discussions and written assignments for Non Western to Ancient Rome (weeks 1 through 13):
Who are the patrons of religious art and architecture, and what impact do they have on its content and form? Does religious art look different in theocratic societies from non-theocratic ones?
How do artists communicate religious beliefs and concepts? How do they differentiate between the natural and the supernatural?
Is there universality in the ways human beings have expressed their spiritual beliefs through art? Are there any features that art of all religions share? Are there universal images permeating human religions like archetypes in mythology?
How can we recognize the art and architecture of a particular religion?
Why are art and religion intimately connected throughout human history? How does art serve the needs of religion?
What does the comparison of non-Western and Western art reveal about artistic patronage, practice, purpose, meaning, and style?
What sorts of things emerge as universals and which are more culturally specific?
Do artistic styles seem to follow the same kind of development in Asia as in Europe?
Are the historical forces that shape African, Mesoamerican, and Asian artistic evolution markedly different from those affecting European art?
Which artistic innovations do both the Western and non-Western worlds seem to have discovered independently and which did each have to learn from the other?

Issues to explore in class discussion and written assignments in Early Christian to 16th Century (weeks 14 - 24):
What impact did major historical events such as the Crusades, the Black Death, the spread of Islam, and the expansion of navigation have on the European mindset and resulting art?
Why did the Renaissance happen? Why did it begin in Italy? Why was the epicenter in Florence? Why do we hear so much about the Medici family?
What is HUMANISM and what caused its emergence? How can we see evidence of humanism in European art and architecture produced during the 14th and 15th centuries? What impact does it have on formal elements? How is it reflected in subject matter? Is this a cause of convergence between European and non-Western art?
What impact does the emergence of art academies have on the history of art?
Why do we see so few female artists in this period?
What effect does the emergence of strong, centralized monarchies have on art and architectural production?
How do artists depict secular power and authority? How are these images different from those portraying religious power and authority?
What impact did Popes Innocent VIII, Alexander VI, Julius II, and Leo X have on contemporary art and architecture?
Why did Rome emerge as the center of European art in the 16th century?
In what ways is it accurate to call Michelangelo the first of the Mannerists?
What impact did the beginning of the Protestant Reformation and the sack of Rome in 1527 have on the development of Mannerism?
Why did distinctly disproportionate body parts appeal to the Mannerists?
In what ways were the Mannerists attempting to distinguish themselves from the artists active from 1500 to 1520?
Why are the artists of Florence and Rome so much better known by the general public than those of Venice? Is the work of Leonardo, Michelangelo, and Raphael inherently superior to that of Giorgione and Titian?
What exactly distinguishes Mannerism from the Venetian style from Florentine and Roman art of the same period?

Issues to explore in class discussion and written assignments during Baroque to 18th Century (weeks 25 - 27):
What is the impact of the Protestant Reformation and the Catholic Counter Reformation on European art and architecture? How do they influence artistic patronage? How do they shape attitudes of the general public toward art? What impact do they have on both the content and form of the works artists produce?
What impact does the Scientific Revolution have on the art of Europe in the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries?
Gardner's discusses 17th century art in the context of fascination with "matter in motion through time, space, and light." How do we see evidence of that fascination in the art and architecture of the Baroque period?
How is art affected by the growing popularity of theater and opera? How do artists incorporate theatricality into painting, sculpture, and architecture?
How can we account for the artistic explosion in the Dutch Netherlands during the 17th century?
Why does the center of artistic influence begin to shift from Rome toward Western Europe and eventually Paris?
What is the effect on artistic production of the rise of absolute monarchs, such as Louis XIV?
How do the works of Baroque artists reflect influences from the Italian Renaissance or the Northern Renaissance?
Who are the rebels, the artistic ground breakers, and what was their motivation?

Issues to explore in class discussion and written assignments during 18th to 19th century (weeks 26 - 28):
How does Rococo art reflect the lives of the aristocratic class?
How do the rising bourgeoisie react to Rococo images?
What impact does Enlightenment thought have on artistic content and form?
What is the impact of the French Academy and the Salon Exhibitions on art production and reception?
To what extent do works by 18th century artists reflect the rise of the middle class?
How do the purposes of art change as the eighteenth century progresses?
What does Diderot mean when he calls for art that ennobles? How do artists respond?
Exactly what does Romanticism mean?
In what ways are Romantic artists reacting against the Enlightenment's intellectual climate?
How does Romantic art reflect a break from deep-seated artistic rules inherited from the Renaissance? Why does this occur?
To what extent do Romantic visual artists reflect developments in contemporary literature and music?
Stylistically and thematically, how do artists express the same kinds of notions found in Romantic music and literature?
What is the impact of the Industrial Revolution on artistic patronage, production, and interpretation?
By what process does photography come to be considered art? Do early photographers define their work in that way? What functions does photography serve that both link it with and distinguish it from the other visual arts?
What impact does photography have on painting and vice versa? How do painters emulate photographers and how do photographers emulate painters?
Technically speaking, what is the range of artistic expression inherent to photography? How do photographers manipulate their medium for their desired effects?
What exactly is Realism? Does it mean the same things for writers and for visual artists? What subjects do artists choose to depict realistically? Why?
In what ways do the socioeconomic changes accompanying the Industrial Revolution affect the birth of Realism?
To what extent was Realist art used as propaganda for social change? To what extent can we see big issues such as evolution, nationalism, liberalism, and Social Darwinism in 19th century art?
How does Sullivans dictum of Form follows function an extension of Realism?
To what extent is Realism a reaction against Romanticism?
Is optical realism what is most real? If not, what techniques can artists use to portray their understanding of what is real?
Do the Pre-Raphaelites represent a reaction against Realism?
Why are architects so tied to the past when painters are anxious to create “modern” art?
How do the Impressionists represent perhaps the most dramatic break from the Renaissance tradition up to their time?
How does their work reflect radical change stylistically, in their concepts of art's purpose, and in their ideas of themselves as artists?
Who were their greatest influences and why?
What impact does the opening of European-Japanese trade relations have on the art world? Why are European artists so taken with Japanese woodblock prints? How do they emulate those prints in their own paintings and prints?
Why have the Impressionists enjoyed such popularity among the general population in the past several decades, and why have the Pre-Raphaelites experienced a notable rise in popularity?
What initially attracted Post-Impressionist artists to Impressionism, and why did each become dissatisfied with it?
What was each Post-Impressionist artist trying to accomplish artistically and what in their work made them influential for other artists?
How do the Post-Impressionists reflect the changing role of the artist in Western society?

Issues to explore in class discussion and written assignments in Modern and Contemporary (weeks 29 - 31):
How do new scientific discoveries such as x-ray technology influence the work of 20th century artists?
Why does African sculpture have a radicalizing effect on many early 20th century European artists? How do European artists incorporate formal elements of African art?
How do we account for the proliferation of styles in the 20th century?
To what extent do these artists reflect what is happening in society? To what extent do they reflect a growing gulf between society and its artists?
How important is it, if at all, that the work of these artists is more inaccessible to today's general viewing public than work done in earlier times?
What is the significance of the emergence of non-figurative art?
Does the definition of art change during the 20th century?
In what ways do these artists explore issues raised by contemporary events and by thinkers such as Nietzsche, Bergson, Freud, and Jung?
What formal devices do 20th century artists develop in order to achieve their goals?
How are major world events, particularly the World Wars, reflected in the art of the century?
How can we learn to appreciate works of art that don't appeal to us aesthetically?
When artists intend to shock and anger us, what techniques do they use? How much further can shock artgo?
What is the best way to TEACH non-objective art to people who know nothing about it?
What impact have the Civil Rights and feminist movements had on art? How effective have artistic images created by members of these movements, as well as members of other marginalized groups, been in bringing about social change?
What exactly is Post Modernism? What has been the impact of Post Modern theory on artistic patronage and production?
Where do we go from here? What artistic frontiers remain?

Society takes what it wants. The artist himself does not count, because there is no actual existence for the work of art. The work of art is always based on the two poles of the onlooker and the maker, and the spark that comes from the bipolar action gives birth to something - like electricity. But the onlooker has the last word, and it is always posterity that makes the masterpiece. The artist should not concern himself with this, because it has nothing to do with him.

- Marcel Duchamp