Spr08 Ah451 Landscape Syll

AH 451-01

LOOKING AT THE LANDSCAPE SYLLABUS

Daphne Lange Rosenzweig, Instructor E-mail: [email protected] Office hours: By appointment Class semester: Spring, 2008 Class credit: 3

1.

Class time: Thursday, 8:30 – 11:15 am Class room: Goldstein 6

COURSE DESCRIPTION AND GOALS: a. Course Prerequisite: This course is open to any student, from any department, who has taken AH 191 and AH 192 or the equivalent. b. Course Description and Content: This upper-level course examines when, why and where landscape art has been a major focus of aesthetic effort. Diverse definitions of “landscape” will be explored through discussions of specific themes, schools and styles. We will draw on examples varied in date, from ancient to contemporary times, and from sources reflecting many visual art traditions. Works of landscape art will be placed in context through a study of the influences which led to their creation at a certain place and time. As well as regular classwork, the course will include guest speakers, a visit to the Ringling Museum of Art and the Selby Gallery, and an introduction to the Kimbrough Library’s special collection of artists’ books focused on landscape. c. Course Goals: Ringling art history courses are designed to address issues of artistic context and artistic discernment. There are two course goals for “Looking at the Landscape.” The first goal is to introduce you to various expressions of landscape globally and throughout time. You will learn to identify and discuss some of the most famous works of landscape art. The second goal is that of appropriation; in future years, long after the dates and names might have faded from memory, your visual vocabulary will retain concepts and formats that can be helpful and inspirational in your career as an artist. d. Course Competencies: The competencies to be achieved in all Liberal Arts art history courses are addressed in both the conceptual and the practical framework of this course. Participation in art history courses will enable students to develop skills in critical thinking about issues of artistic context and discernment. Writing competencies will be addressed through the required course work.

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2. WRITING AT RINGLING: a. In Liberal Arts Program courses at the Ringling College of Art and Design, all writing assignments (reports, quizzes, response papers, essays, essay questions on exams, research papers, etc.) are expected to be appropriately organized and coherent, and demonstrate a command of Standard English. Research should be consistently and appropriately documented in accordance with a prescribed format. For clarification of Standard English issues, and documentation formats, see Keys for Writers (Fourth Edition), by Ann Raimes. b. Plagiarism Policy: The intentional and/or unintentional use of another writer’s words, ideas, intellectual property or research, without showing proper credit (documentation of the source), is called plagiarism. Plagiarism is dishonest and illegal. Plagiarized assignments receive an F, and the guilty student could receive an F for the course. Writing Studio will cover the proper ways to document your work, giving credit where it is required, so you can avoid the crime (inadvertent or otherwise) of plagiarism. 3.

COURSE CAUTIONS AND ACCOMMODATIONS: a. Course Cautions: During the semester, there may be material discussed and/or illustrated which might be considered by some to have controversial, adult, or otherwise “politically incorrect” content. Art and ideas perceived as containing such content, however, are presented for their educational value, not for reasons of exploitation or confrontation. b. Policy on Laptops and Other Equipment During Class Time: The use of laptops, cell phones, and other mechanical/digital devices during the class period is not permitted. All electronic devices (notebooks, MP3s, cell phones, etc.) are to be turned OFF during art history classes. The only exception will be for the student/notetaker entering the current class lecture notes into his/her computer. For this purpose only, designated seating will be assigned by the instructor at the beginning of the semester. If you are anticipating an emergency phone call, please alert the instructor at the beginning of the class and turn your cell phone to the vibration mode. Otherwise, all cell phones must be turned OFF. Text messaging during class is not permitted for any reason. c. Course Accommodations: The Ringling College of Art and Design makes reasonable accommodations for qualified people with documented disabilities. If you have a learning disability, a chronic illness, or a physical or psychiatric disability that may have some impact on your work for this class and for which you may need accommodations, please notify the Director of Academic Resource Center (Virginia DeMers; second floor, Ulla Searing Student Center, room 227; 359-7627), preferably before the end of the drop/add period, so that appropriate adjustments can be made. The specific document guidelines essential to complete this process appear at www.arc.rsad.edu. Ms. DeMers will examine the documentation provided and, as indicated therein, write a letter listing the accommodation(s) needed, for you to give your instructors.

4. HEALTH AND SAFETY: Ringling College of Art and Design is committed to providing students, faculty, and staff with a safe and healthful learning and work environment and to comply with all applicable safety laws and regulations and safe work practices.

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5. COURSE TEXT AND MATERIALS: a. The required text is in paperback and available in the campus bookstore. Please bring the text to each class. Malcolm Andrews, Landscape and Western Art, (New York, Oxford University Press, 1999) A copy of the required text is on reserve in the Library. b. The text only covers Western landscape traditions. Other landscape traditions, including those of China and Japan, will be introduced via other resources including several assigned readings in books placed on Open Reserve in the Library, on websites, and selected DVD/videos to view. 6.

COURSE WORK AND GRADING POLICY: a. Attendance: Regular and timely class attendance is MANDATORY. Continual lateness will affect grade. Class absences, for reasons other than health, family emergencies or legal requirements are disallowed, and a note from a doctor or the office of the Dean of Students is required to gain excused absences. There is only ONE unexcused absence allowed in this advanced class. Each unexcused absence lowers your final grade by one-half of a letter grade. b. Required Work: 1. 2. 3. 4.

Completion of all required readings, and regular and relevant class participation based on the readings and on websites which will be introduced in certain classes. Completion of all assigned work for each class in advance of that class. Mid-term quiz based on material and images in your textbook. Production of two course papers. See “e” below.

c. Course Grade: 1. 2. 3.

Regular, timely, and active class attendance and participation evidencing that you have read the assigned work for that week and thought about it (10% of grade). Mid-term quiz (30% of grade). Course papers (30% each, 60% of grade).

d. Mid-term Quiz (2/21/08): The in-class mid-term will include names, terms, concepts and works of art from chapters assigned in your Andrews text book. Specific required information will be announced well in advance of the quiz.

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e.

Course Papers: Each student is responsible for producing two course papers. Hand in on or before the date indicated; no late papers will be accepted. Each paper should include suitable illustrations and references, including full citation of any material borrowed from other writers. For a citation from a book, list author, title of book, place of publication, publisher, date of publication, page cited. For a citation from a periodical, list author, title of article, title of magazine, volume number, date, page cited (i.e. appropriate MLA format). For a citation from a website, give the full address. Each paper must be typed or computer generated, with regular double spacing and typeface. Correct spelling and punctuation are expected (see Syllabus #2). Each should have a minimum of four (4) pages and a maximum of seven (7) pages, not counting illustrations. Each should be literate, thoughtful, and well-organized. Course Paper One: Ringling Museum of Art Permanent Collection Compare two (2) works in the Ringling Museum permanent collection exhibition. First, identify each by artist/title/date/country/cultural context/school name. Then compare and contrast the two works. Include a discussion of the following factors:    

Concept – which type of landscape is represented, and what non-visual forces (poetic, musical, political, other) have contributed to its creation? Style of presentation, including perspective, composition, features included, colors, other. What would be considered timeless qualities and which are more specifically time-placespace related? Which work of art speaks to you more as viewer or participant? Why?

Course Paper One due week of 3/13/08.

Course Paper Two: choose one of the following: 1. Prepare a landscape of your own, based on technical vocabulary established in your major. In an accompanying paper, thoroughly analyze your concept, your approach, and your outcome. 2.

Choose one artist (any period, any country) whose work you admire and examine the artist’s intent, context, content, methodology, and style; then determine why you find this voice so potent, through exploration of one specific work by this artist.

3. Comparison studies: a.

Visit the collection of George Inness Jr. paintings located at the Unitarian Universalist Church in Tarpon Springs (727-937-4682; open from 1-4 p.m. [except Mondays and holidays], Nov. 1-April 30; discuss one of the paintings in depth and compare it with one of his father’s works (George Inness Sr.).

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b.

Visit the Ringling Museum of Art’s exhibition “Grandma Moses: Grandmother to the Nation” (Jan. 26-April 13); analyze one of the works in a coherent essay, placing it within the context of the artist’s biography, and discussing the artist’s style/s. Then compare her rural views with the Pennsylvania landscapes of Edward Hicks or Andrew Wyeth.

c.

Examine the connections between writings of the American Transcendentalists and the paintings of Church or Cole of the Hudson River School.

d.

Compare the patrons, purpose, and approaches in the Western landscapes of Albert Bierstadt and Ansel Adams.

e.

Analyze the “Great Wave” by Hokusai and explore its influence on later art and advertising.

Course Paper Two due week of 4/17/07.

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6.

COURSE SCHEDULE [Tentative]: TOPICS AND READING ASSIGNMENTS This is only a TENTATIVE schedule. There will be changes due to scheduling of guest speakers and a class trip to the Ringling Museum. The quiz and course paper due dates, however, are fixed.

WEEK

DATE

TEXTBOOK CHAPTER

TOPIC

1

1/10/08 Defining “Landscape”

2

1/17/08 The Early European Landscape Experience

3

1/24/08 Landscape Comes of Age: Northern Visualizations of the Sublime

4

1/31/08

Across the Atlantic, up the Hudson: American Landscape as Science, Religion, and Grand View

5

2/7/08

The Western Experience: American Landscape as Poetry and Politics

6

2/14/08 The Pacific Frontier (or field trip, to be determined)

7

2/21/08

MID-TERM QUIZ After Quiz: 10:00 am, Selby Gallery, Brenda Brown presentation

8

2/28/08

Chinese Landscape Painting Reading: to be announced

9

3/13/08

Artist Books - Kimbrough Library, Susan Carter presentation HAND IN COURSE PAPER ONE THIS WEEK

10

3/20/08

Impressionist and Post-Impressionist Landscapes Reading: to be announced

11

3/27/08 The Art of Gardens and Rocks

12

4/3/08

13

4/10/08

14

4/17/08

15

4/24/08 Course Papers Returned

1, 2, 3 4, 5, 6 7 8

Parks and Mazes Site and Environmental Sculpture

9

Environmental Art HAND IN COURSE PAPER TWO THIS WEEK

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Books Placed on Open Reserve in the Library (not complete list) Library Shelf No.

Title

Author

SB 470.5.J44 1995

The Landscape of Man

Geoffry & Susan Jellicoe

SB 470.53.J64 1991

Modern Landscape Architecture: Redefining the Garden

Felice Frankel & Jory Johnson

SB 472.S685 1998

The Language of Landscape

Anne Wheston Spirn

ND 212.G47 1991 (v.1, 2, 3)

Art Across America (vols. 1-3)

William Gerdts

ND 210.5.I4 G476 2001

American Impressionism

William Gerdts

TR 654.M667 1986

The Most Beautiful Places in the World

Jay Maisel

TR 647.P67 P67 1987

Photographs and Their Text

Eliot Porter

N 6494.E27 B64 2002

Earthworks: Art and the Landscape of the Sixties

Suzann Boettger

ND 1942.T8 A4 2000

The Great Watercolors

Eric Shayne

ND 1351.5.W55 2002

American Sublime: Landscape Painting in the United Andrew Wilton, et.al. States 1820-1880

ND 497.W8 D36 1999

Joseph Wright

Stephen Daniels

N7650.G66 2002b

Artists, Land, Nature

Mel Gooding

NB497.G64 G64 1999

Midsummer Snowballs

Andy Goldsworthy

SB 458.O373 2000

Japanese Gardens of the Modern Era

Haruzo Ohashi

SB 458.M5813 1992 (v.1)

Masterpieces of Japanese Garden Art (v.1 Western Kyoto)

Mizuno Katsuhiko

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Videos and DVDs Placed on Reserve in the Library (not complete list) Library Shelf No.

Title

Minutes

BL 325.L3 L333 1996

Labyrinth: The History of the Maze

50

N 8214.5.U5 L34 1996

Land and Landscape: Views of America's History and Culture

27

N 8214.5.W4 A78 1986

Art of the American West: Before the White Man (v.1)

22 / 65

N 8214.5.W4 A78 1986

Art of the American West: Westward Expansion (v.2)

22 / 65

NB 497.G64 A4 2004

Rivers and Tides: Andy Goldsworthy Working with Time

90

PR 5883.L34 1998

Wordsworth and Coleridge

30

PS 614.V65 1995 (v.3, pt. 5)

Robert Frost

60

TR 647.W44 R45 1992

Remembering Edward Weston

30

ND 237.R75 C52 1993

A Portrait of Charles M. Russell

60

ND 1340.L36 2002

Landscape as Backdrop

27

ND 497.C7 C7 1991

Constable: The Changing Face of Nature

25

ND 653.G7 A4 1984

In a Brilliant Light: Van Gogh in Arles

57

ND 681.R87 2002 (v.2)

Russian Painters: The Impressionist Years

50

ND 588.F75 C37 1991

The Boundaries of Our Time: Casper David Friedrich

39

ND 553.M7 M66 1995

Monet: Legacy of Light

28

ND 237.H7 W56 1986

Winslow Homer: The Nature of the Artist

29

ND 1351.5.H82 1987

The Hudson River and its Painters

57

ND497.T87 T87 1987

Turner at the Tate

55

SB 481.6.O55 F7 1990

Frederick Law Olmstead & the Public Park in America

58

SB 458.D74 1992

Dream Window: Reflections on the Japanese Garden

57

GARDENS:

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