Syllabus_ART-HIST310-1

ART-HIST 310-1 ART AND ARCHITECTURE OF GREECE FROM THE PREHISTORIC AEGEAN TO THE HELLENISTIC PERIOD NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY FALL 2015 Why are the first naturalistic statues nude? Why are they made of bronze rather than stone or wood? What was the culture of citizenship, competition and athleticism in daily life, and its impact on the representation of the human figure? This course is a survey of ancient Greek art from its beginnings in the Mycenaean and Minoan kingdoms of the second millennium BCE through the democratic architecture of the Classical Greek city to the art of Alexander the Great’s empire and his successors from Macedonia to Egypt and Central Asia. The course covers both the sculptural and architectural experiments in fifth century Athens and in other Greek cities across the Mediterranean. At the same time it emphasizes the culture of curating Classical art in American Museums and alternative interpretations of the classical tradition. Course assignments will focus on working on the collections of the Art Institute of Chicago and artifacts in a touring exhibit at the Field Museum. COURSE DESCRIPTION MEETING Mondays & Wednesdays 11:00-12:20 p.m. at Annenberg Hall G31 INSTRUCTOR Peri Johnson by appointment only (available Mondays & Wednesdays 12:20-2 p.m., generally Plaza Café in the main library) OFFICE HOURS MAILBOX EMAIL Department of Art History, 1800 Sherman Ave, Suite 4400 peri.johnson@gmail.com TEXTBOOK Pedley, John Griffiths. 2012. Greek art and archaeology, 5th ed. Pearson. COURSE OBJECTIVES The course is designed to introduce students to the study of Greek art and architecture from the Early Bronze Age in the Aegean through the Hellenistic period (c. 3000-30 BCE). The changes in, and contexts of, Greek art and archaeology are coupled in the course with various subjects that provide in depth understanding of concepts such as gender, aesthetics, and the art market. At the same time, the course acknowledges that Greek art and architecture is a highly contested and politicized academic field of study by touching on theories of nationalism, violence, and colonialism. 1 ART-HIST 310-1 ART AND ARCHITECTURE OF GREECE FROM THE PREHISTORIC AEGEAN TO THE HELLENISTIC PERIOD NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY FALL 2015 GRADING 20% attendance and participation in the discussions 15% each for gallery & vase projects 25% midterm 25% Field Museum project DISCUSSIONS Each lecture will be followed by a 25 minute discussion of an assigned reading that is led by 2 students. All students are expected to read the assigned text and post questions to the course’s Canvas website. The leaders will use these questions and their own to guide the discussion. Each student should expect to lead discussion several times during the term. Students will be asked to volunteer to lead the discussion for specific weeks. Discussion readings in pdf format will be uploaded to Canvas. PROJECTS The course has three projects that will involve visiting the Art Institute of Chicago (for the gallery & vase projects) and the Field Museum (last project). A visiting exhibit at the Field Museum titled “the Greeks – Agamemnon to Alexander the Great” closely matches the content of the course. Due to the late opening of the the exhibit, the course has no final exam or final research project. Instead students will be expected to apply the knowledge acquired in the course in writing an essay on an object, group of objects, or an aspect of the exhibit’s design. MIDTERM EXAM The midterm exam will consist of a series of image comparisons that should elicit short essays on Greek art and architecture as well as various subjects and theories. Lecture presentations in pdf format will be uploaded to Canvas for students to review. ACCOMMODATIONS Students with disabilities should have AccessibleNU send the relevant documentation to the instructor. ACADEMIC INTEGRITY Any student thought to have engaged in a violation of academic integrity such as cheating, plagiarism, fabrication, or obtaining an unfair advantage can expect to be referred to the dean of academic integrity’s office. Please request clarification from the instructor if you are unclear what constitutes a violation of academic integrity or consult the handbook: 2 ART-HIST 310-1 ART AND ARCHITECTURE OF GREECE FROM THE PREHISTORIC AEGEAN TO THE HELLENISTIC PERIOD NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY FALL 2015 http://www.northwestern.edu/provost/policies/academic-integrity/full-policy.pdf Monday 21 September Introduction to course & review of syllabus Wednesday 23 September “Better than Brancusi, nobody has ever made an object stripped that bare” (Picasso): CYCLADIC EARLY BRONZE AGE, art market & museums Reading: Pedley 30-40 (skim 40-43 “GREECE”) Discussion reading: art in antiquity Bahrani, Zainab. 2014. “Ancient art: the aesthetic dimension,” in The infinite image; art, time and the aesthetic dimension in antiquity. Reaktion Books, 14-48. Monday 28 September Blue monkeys: MINOAN LATE BRONZE AGE: Crete, Akrotiri & Mediterranean connectivity Reading: Pedley 60-86 (skim 44-59 “THE MIDDLE BRONZE AGE”) Discussion reading: landscape representation & elite art Chapin, Anne P. 2004. “Power, privilege, and landscape in Minoan art,” in ΧΑΡΙΣ; essays in honor of Sara A. Immerwahr. Princeton: The American School of Classical Studies at Athens, 47-64. Wednesday 30 September From Homer’s Ilion to Hittite Wilusa: MYCENAEAN & HITTITE LATE BRONZE AGE: the end of Romanticism & the beginning of Greek archaeology Reading: Pedley 10-29, 86-101 Discussion reading: imagining Greece Shanks, Michael. 1997. “Greek myths and metanarratives from Winckelmann to Bernal,” in Classical archaeology of Greece; experiences of the discipline. Routledge, 52-58, 64-73, 78-90. Gallery project distributed Monday 5 October Dark & light ages: GEOMETRIC PERIOD: Athens & Lefkandi Reading: Pedley 102-118 Discussion reading: the tyranny of poetry 3 ART-HIST 310-1 ART AND ARCHITECTURE OF GREECE FROM THE PREHISTORIC AEGEAN TO THE HELLENISTIC PERIOD NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY FALL 2015 Snodgrass, Anthony. 1998. “Learning to read in the dark,” in Homer and the artists; text and picture in early Greek art. Cambridge University Press, 12-39. Wednesday 7 October Orientalism, colonialism, imperialism & nationalism: 7TH CENTURY MEDITERRANEAN: Greeks & Phoenicians Reading: Pedley 118-9, 120-145 Discussion reading: alternatives to typologies of Greeks and others (Phoenicians, Phrygians, Etruscans, etc.) Hodos, Tamar. 2014. “Colonisations and cultural developments in the central Mediterranean,” in The Cambridge prehistory of the Bronze and Iron Age Mediterranean, ed. A.B. Knapp and P. van Dommelen. Cambridge University Press, 215-229. Gallery project due in class or at 4 pm in mailbox Monday 12 October Panhellenic & nonurban sanctuaries: 6TH CENTURY TEMPLES: Doric & Ionic architecture Reading: Pedley 146-164, 170-171 (“Athens”) Discussion reading: garlands & bucrania on sacred trees: Roman Vitruvius or modern archaeology? Hersey, George. 1988. “Troping ornament” & “Architecture and sacrifice,” in The lost meaning of classical architecture; speculations on ornament from Vitruvius to Venturi. MIT Press, 1-10, 1145. Wednesday 14 October Drinking in life & in death: CLASSICAL BLACK FIGURE VASES & RED FIGURE VASES: symposium culture and funerary feasts Reading: Pedley 189-205, 242-247; review 125 “DRINKING AND DINING” Discussion reading: Stansbury-O’Donnell, Mark D. 2011. “Meaning,” in Looking at Greek art. Cambridge University Press, 57-79. Greek vase project distributed 4 ART-HIST 310-1 ART AND ARCHITECTURE OF GREECE FROM THE PREHISTORIC AEGEAN TO THE HELLENISTIC PERIOD NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY FALL 2015 Monday 19 October Bright colors, white marble & gilt bronze: CLASSICAL SCULPTURE & POLYCHROMY: Athens & Aegina Reading: Pedley 171-189, 206-214, 227-241 Discussion reading: nakedness & nudity Hurwit, Jeffrey M. 2007. “The problem with Dexileos: heroic and other nudities in Greek art,” American Journal of Archaeology 111:35-60. Wednesday 21 October Herakles & conflict: GREEK SANCTUARIES AND GAMES: Olympia & competition Reading: Pedley 214-227 Discussion reading: myth & narrative in temple sculpture Osborne, R. 1994. “Framing the centaur: reading fifth-century architectural sculpture,” in Art and text in ancient Greek culture, ed. S. Goldhill and R. Osborne. Cambridge University Press, 52-84. Greek vase project due in class or at 4 pm in mailbox Monday 26 October Scouring the bedrock clean: PERIKLEAN ACROPOLIS: Athenian imperialism and the Persian Empire Reading: Pedley 248-274 Discussion reading: 20th century Greek politics & the Athenian acropolis Hamilakis, Yannis. 2002. “The other ‘Parthenon:’ antiquity and national memory at Makronisos,” Journal of Modern Greek Studies 20:307-338. Wednesday 28 October Innovation as process: PERIKLEAN PARTHENON: Panathenaic frieze Reading: same as 26 October (Pedley 248-274) Discussion reading: repatriation & the Parthenon marbles Hamilakis, Yannis. 1999. “Stories from exile: fragments from the cultural biography of the Parthenon (or ‘Elgin’) marbles,” World Archaeology 31:303-320. Monday 2 November Midterm examination 5 ART-HIST 310-1 ART AND ARCHITECTURE OF GREECE FROM THE PREHISTORIC AEGEAN TO THE HELLENISTIC PERIOD NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY FALL 2015 Wednesday 4 November Organic & planned: CLASSICAL CITIES: the newly founded cities of Olynthos & Priene Reading: Pedley 299-302, 281-5 Discussion reading: ‘excavating’ houses, domestic spaces & women Lewis, Sian. 2013. “The women’s room,” in The Athenian woman; an iconographic handbook. Routledge, 130-171. Monday 9 November Architecture in the round: 4TH CENTURY THOLOI, THEATERS & SCULPTURE: Aphrodite of Knidos Reading: Pedley 276-281, 288-299, 304-312 Discussion reading: philosophy and theatricality Stewart, Andrew. 2008. “The fourth century: an age of the individual?” in Classical Greece and the birth of western art. Cambridge University Press, 228-272. Wednesday 11 November Empire: ALEXANDER THE GREAT: Lysippos , Ai Khanoum & Alexandria Reading: Pedley 312-324 Discussion reading: representation & likeness Stewart, Andrew. 1993. “Masks of youth,” in Faces of power; Alexander’s image and Hellenistic politics. University of California Press, 105-122. Monday 16 November Wall painting: CLASSICAL PALACES & TOMBS: Macedonia Reading: Pedley 322-337 Discussion reading: myths, violence & metaphor Cohen, Ada. 1996. “Portrayals of abduction in Greek art: rape or metaphor?” in Sexuality in ancient art; Near East, Egypt, Greece, and Italty, ed. N.B. Kampen. Cambridge University Press, 117-135. Wednesday 18 November Baroque: PERGAMENE SCULPTURE: Athena temple & Zeus altar Reading: Pedley 338-362 6 ART-HIST 310-1 ART AND ARCHITECTURE OF GREECE FROM THE PREHISTORIC AEGEAN TO THE HELLENISTIC PERIOD NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY FALL 2015 Discussion reading: vibrant gods & wounded soldiers Pollitt, J.J. 2006. “The sculpture of Pergamon,” in Art in the Hellenistic age. Cambridge University Press, 79-110. Monday 23 November Roman patronage: 2ND CENTURY: Pergamon & Athens Reading: Pedley 386-387 Discussion reading: scholasticism Pollitt, J.J. 1986. “Hellenistic architecture theatrical and scholarly forms,” in Art in the Hellenistic age. Cambridge, 230-249. Wednesday 25 November Field Museum (?) Field Museum project distributed Monday 30 November Reading period begins Friday 11 December Field Museum project due at 4 p.m. in mailbox 7