- Department: History of Art
- Module co-ordinator: Dr. Luke Uglow
- Credit value: 20 credits
- Credit level: M
- Academic year of delivery: 2021-22
This course analyses the writers and institutions which have shaped our understanding of the history of art, and analyses the development of the discipline of Art History in Britain over the past 300 years.
Occurrence | Teaching period |
---|---|
A | Autumn Term 2021-22 |
The study of Art History is a relatively new discipline in the Western world, only truly emerging in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. It is also often considered a continental European subject, the early pioneers being primarily Italian, French and especially German. However, in Britain, the subject has been taught and written and practiced since the early eighteenth century, and the History of Art History in this country has its own unique development and tradition.
This course analyses the writers and institutions which have shaped our understanding of the history of art, and analyses the development of the discipline of Art History in Britain over the past 300 years. From early painter-historians such as Jonathan Richardson and the emergence of the Royal Academy in the eighteenth century, to the establishment of the National Gallery and the influential criticism of writers such as John Ruskin in the nineteenth century. It will consider the importance of formalist critics such as Roger Fry or Adrian Stokes in the early twentieth century, and the impact of Émigré Art Historians from Germany after 1933 such as Nikolaus Pevsner and Ernst Gombrich. It will investigate contexts for the emergence of the so-called “New Art History” in the 1970s and 1980s, before reflecting on the state of the discipline today, particularly the new importance of global perspectives and decolonisation and the way this reflects back on Britain’s own imperial history and ideology. It is essential we discuss the history of our discipline so as to fundamentally question the practice of writing art history and evaluate the significance of art historiography for contemporary art historical discourse.
Subject content
Academic and graduate skills
Task | Length | % of module mark |
---|---|---|
Essay/coursework 4000 Word Essay |
N/A | 100 |
None
Task | Length | % of module mark |
---|---|---|
Essay/coursework 4000 Word Essay |
N/A | 100 |
Feedback on summative assessment within 20 working days.