ARTH3022: Impressionism in Paris

Following on the heels of the 150th anniversary of the first Impressionist exhibition in Paris, this study-abroad course concerns the origins, evolution, and legacies of one of the most well-researched and revered movements in modern art history. Beginning with the landmark 1874 exhibition, which gave the ragtag group of avant-garde artists its name, it will follow the development of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist art through the late nineteenth century before exploring twentieth- and twenty-first-century counterpoints to the now-canonical artworks of Manet, Degas, Monet, Morisot, Caillebotte, Renoir, Gauguin, Van Gogh, and others. Through a mixture of lectures, readings, class discussion, walking tours, and the close, careful study of original artworks at the Louvre, Mus?e d?Orsay, Mus?e Marmottan, and other lesser known Parisian museums, students will learn about the connection between Impressionism and the city where it first emerged; art-market, collecting and curatorial practices; the reception of Impressionism abroad; and, finally, how scholarly interpretations of Impressionist artworks have changed over time. From formal analysis to more recent art historical approaches, informed by gender and sexuality studies and postcolonial theory, the course will bring students to consider the merits and limitations of studying the ??canon?? and what, if anything, remains to be said about Impressionism today.

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