women in art syllabus

Click here for Slide List
Click here for Reading Assignments/Project Description
Click here for Midterm Exam

TEXTS: Primary text (everybody buys this) Wendy Slatkin, Women Artists in History.

On the first day of class you will choose one of the three following books to purchase. Writing assignments, your term paper and/or your journal will relate to this second text.

A) Elaine Fantham et. al., Women in the Classical World

B) Laurinda Dixon, Perilous Chastity: Women and Illness in Pre-enlightenment Art and Medicine

C) Natalie Zemon David, Women on the Margins: Three Seventeenth-Century Lives

SUPPLEMENTAL PACKET OF "STUFF": There is a packet containing a slide list, lecture outline and other important "stuff" available at the bookstore. The packet will help organize your class notes and prepare you for the tests. It also contains templates for your writing assignments.

MATERIALS ON RESERVE AT THE LIBRARY: Readings for the reading response assignments are on reserve, as is a copy of the course text and other books for supplementary readings and reproductions of images studied in this course that are not in the textbooks.

NOTE ON PURCHASING TEXTBOOKS AND PACKETS: Please either buy the textbooks before the first exam or make arrangements to "share" books with others in the class. The bookstore will return books that are not purchased after about a month. I will not be able to lend you copies of the books or excuse poor test performances on the basis that you do not have the textbook.

OBJECTIVES: This course aims to provide an in-depth study of the art created by women and an introduction to a variety of methods by which art is customarily understood. It is also designed to explore the relationship between art history and history, between art objects and key episodes in political, social, and intellectual history.

NOTE ON CULTURAL DIVERSITY. This is an equal opportunity classroom in the presentation of ideas and issues raised by artists. It is important for you to understand that artists create works that become either personal or societal documents of a certain moment in their lives. Some of these issues may make you feel uncomfortable because of their unfamiliarity. Some works may make you challenge your belief systems. (This, by the way, is a characteristic that good art and a good college education have in common.) I recommend that you maintain an open mind and avoid rash judgments based on an artist's race, gender or sexual orientation.

NOTE ON STUDENT RESPONSIBILITY: Your success in this course will be directly proportional to your "ownership" of the material. I am here to guide you in your study of this material and in your development of abilities (like written and oral communication). Please take responsibility for your education, if for no other reason than the fact that you're paying for it. When you come to my office to discuss a grade on a test or assignment, bring the notes that you've been taking in class and on the reading assignments. This will help me diagnose potential problems more quickly and ultimately help me to help you to achieve in this course.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS ***students enrolled for grad credit must do a 10 page term paper or project and must consult with me on the topic***

• Midterm Exam: 100 points
• Reading responses: 60 points (3 at 20 points each)
• Term Paper/Project: 75 points
• In Class Writing Assignment (open book): 25 points
• Final Exam: 100 points

***Your attendance in class (or lack of attendance) may affect your final grade one half step in either direction.***

***You will generally have your assignments/tests returned one week from the date they are turned in***

POINT SCALE CUTOFFS:

• A 334 pts.
• B 298 pts.
• C 262 pts.
• D 226 pts.
• F < 205 pts.

READING/TEST/ASSIGNMENT SCHEDULE: This schedule will be followed as closely as possible. If changes need to be made, they will be announced in class. See slide list/lecture outline for more specifics on reading assignments in the texts.

Sept. 18 Introduction to the Course, Catarina van Hemessen, Sofonisba Anguissola, Lucia Anguissola, Lavinia Fontana. Read Slatkin pp. 1-63.

Sept. 23 Artemisia Gentileschi, Judith Leyster, Giovanna Garzoni, Elisabetta Sirani, Maria Sibylla Merian Rosalba Carriera. Read Slatkin pp. 63-91.

Sept. 25 Anne Vallayer-Coster, Adelaide Labille-Guiard, Elisabeth Vigée-Lebrun, Angelica Kauffmann, Marie Benoist, Constance Mayer, Constance Charpentier. Read Slatkin pp. 92-108.

Sept. 30 Henrietta Johnston, Sarah Peale, Margaretta Peale, Lilly Martin Spencer Harriet Hosmer, Edmonia Lewis, Anna Hyatt Huntington, Abstenia St. Leger Eberle, Meta Warrick Fuller, Mary Alcott. Read Slatkin pp. 108-129.

Oct. 2 In Class Writing Assignment -- open book. .

Oct. 7 Rosa Bonheur, Eva Gonzales, Marie Bashkirtseff, Berthe Morisot, Mary Cassatt, Lila Cabot Perry, Enid Yandell, Janet Scudder, Cecilia Beaux. Read Slatkin pp. 130-144.

Oct. 9 Sophie Anderson, Anna Mary Howitt, Louise Jopling, Elizabeth Butler, Anna Lea Merritt, Marie Godefroid, Emily Osborn, Evelyn de Morgan.

Oct. 14 Camille Claudel, Suzanne Valadon, Romaine Brooks, Malvina Hoffman, Emily Carr, Lois Jones, Käthe Kollwitz, Paula Modersohn-Becker, Gabrielle Münter. Read Slatkin pp. 145-167.

Oct. 16 Sonia Delaunay, Natalia Goncharov, Lyubov Popova, Olga Rozanova, Elexandra Exter, Hilma Klimt. Read Slatkin pp. 168-179.

Oct. 21 Midterm Exam

Oct. 23 Ithell Colquhoun, Dorothea Tanning, Remedios Varo, Kay Sage, Eileen Agar, Toyen, Leonora Carrington, Leonor Fini, Meret Oppenheim, Hannah Höch, Frida Kahlo

Oct. 28 Dorothea Lange, Imogen Cunningham, Barbara Morgan Nina Leen, Gertrude Kasebier, Margaret Bourke-White

Oct. 30 Georgia O'Keeffe, Helen Frankenthaler, Elaine de Kooning, Lee Krasner Grace Hartigan, Melissa Miller, Gladys Nilsson, Susan Rothenberg, Bridget Riley, Elizabeth Murray, Joan Snyder. Read Slatkin pp. 179-201.

Nov. 4 Barbara Hepworth, Louise Nevelson, Eva Hesse, Judy Chicago, Mary Kelly Eleanor Antin, Anne Truitt.

Nov. 6 Chryssa, Barbara Chase-Riboud, Nancy Graves, Lynda Benglis, Anne Arnold, Joan Brown, Louise Bourgeois, Nikki St. Phalle.

Nov. 11 No Classes -- Veteran's Day

Nov. 13 Peggy Smith, Marisol, Beverly Pepper, Alice Aycock, Judy Pfaff, Magdalena Abakanowicz, Lee Bontecou, Jana Stirbach, Deborah Butterfield, Judy Onofrio, Maya Lin, Jackie Ferrara, Nancy Holt, Anne Truitt, Ursula, Rene Stout.

Nov. 18 Alice Neel, Audrey Flack, Janet Fish, Jennifer Bartlett, Florine Stettheimer, Catherine Murphy, Rosamund Purcell, Rachel Bliss, Paula Rego. Read Slatkin pp. 202-212.

Nov. 20 Faith Ringgold, Betye Saar, Miriam Schapiro, Joyce Kozloff,

Nov. 25 Laurie Anderson, Rebecca Horn, Barbara Kasten, Christina Patowski. Read Slatkin pp. 213-240.

Nov. 27 Jenny Holzer, Barbara Kruger, Alexis Smith, Ellen Brooks, Cindy Sherman, Sandy Skoglund

Dec. 2 FINAL EXAM