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Art480.

02 TR 11:10-12:30 in PCAC A218


Art480.03 TR 3:40-5:00 in PCAC A218
Spring 2015
Prof. Rebecca Karo
r.karo@unh.edu
Mailbox: Professor Karos mailbox is in PCAC A201 (the arts office)
this is where
you may hand in early/late assignments, letters for me, etc.
Office: PCAC A205F (beyond the stairwell) graded work will be in
cubbies outside
my office
Office hours: MW 10-11; TR 2-3 or by appointment and you can always
email me your questions

Please check your UNH email DAILY as I will communicate important


course information through it (i.e. updated quiz information or snow
day assignments).
Textbook: Stokstad & Cothren, Art. A Brief History, Prentice-Hall, any
edition (3rd, 4th, or 5th)
If essay format tests might present issues for you then please
contact the Office of Disability Services 862-2607 for an
Accommodation Letter.
The University is committed to providing students with
Documented disabilities equal access to all University
Programs and facilities. If you think you have a disability

Requiring accommodations, you must register with Disability


Services
For students (DSS). Contact DSS at (603) 862-2607 or
disability.
office@unh.edu. If you have received Accommodation Letters for
this course from DSS, please provide me with that information
privately so that we can review those accommodations.
(Deans Office)
UNH also takes a dim view of cheating and if you are caught the
penalties are severe. Plagiarism, which is copying any outside source
word for word without acknowledging the source (using quotations
marks and giving the reference), is also cheating and subject to
punishment (Its like illegal downloading on the internet.).
THE COURSE:
Grade Breakdown
10%- Attendance/Participation/Assignments made in class/office visit
50% - Quizzes (5 Quizzes worth 10% each)
20%- Object paper
10%- Museum Visit/Write-up
10%- Looking Assignment

Art480 Spring Term Schedule of Papers, Quizzes


bring a pen and I provide the paper. Put your name
and section number in the upper right hand corner of
the paper.
Quiz 1 : Section 2 &3 Tues., Feb.3
At the beginning of the class period
Quiz2: Section 2 & 3 Tues., Feb.24
At the beginning of the class period
Quiz3: Section 2 & 3 Thurs., March 12
At the beginning of the class period
Quiz 4: Section 2 & 3 Tues., April 14
At the beginning of the class period
Quiz 5: At the designated Final Exam Slot (which you
can locate on the UNH website)
Papers (Please download and include the checklist
from this document with your paper):

Looking Assignment Paper on a work of art in the


UNH Museum
Due: Tues., Feb. 17
Museum Visit/Writeup:
Due Thursday, March 31 at the latest.
(You have to visit the MFA in Boston for this paper
feel free to do this asap and write it up and hand it in
as early as you like.)
Object Paper: Topic and bibliography due Thurs.,
April 2. the paper itself is due at the last class on
Thursday, April 30.
Please feel free to have me look over your paper draft
at any point.
(See my office hours). I will not do this electronically
however.
The OBJECT PAPER is due at the last class.
Extra Sources:
Extra Sources in addition to the UNH Library and the
Art History textbooks available for you to consult in
the Media Resources Center (PCAC A205E):
Art History Unstuffed. Excellent podcasts on various
topics we will be covering in class.
http://www.arthistoryunstuffed.com/table-of-contents/
Jeremy Normans From Cave Paintings to the
Internet. Arranged by an array of topics (technology
of art) and by images. Look up almost any object here
to learn more about it.
http://www.historyofinformation.com/
Khan Academy. Smarthistory. Essays and Youtube
videos on selected works of art. We will be seeing

some of these during the term. Good source of


information.
http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org/
British Museum, History of the World in 100 Objects,
text and podcasts on representative objects in the
BMs collection. Really excellent summaries of art
from all periods and places.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/ahistoryoftheworld/
Use the internet often. Go to the website of the
museum of historic site where a work of art is to be
found. Check the news for stories about art.
Attendance Policy
Attendance is taken in this class as frequently as I deem necessary.
Your attendance factors strongly into the Attendance/Participation
category that comprises 10% of your grade. Multiple absences pose a
problem. Please contact me asap (before or during an extended
absence rather than after, if at all possible) if you will be missing
multiple classes. I give important information in class like the study list
of objects for quizzes. If you miss class, you must retrieve any class
information from a classmate. Make friends! Share emails, phone
numbers, etc.!!
Classroom Rules
1) Please stay seated once class begins and try not to pop in and out of
the room unless its a necessity. Obviously nature may call, but plan
ahead if at all possible. In a class of this size and format it can become
quite the distraction.
2) Be respectful and dont distract your classmates with cell phones,
tablets, music playing devices, computers, gossip, piano playing cats,
jokes, etc. Share the wealth later If you must use your laptop to take
notes, please sit at the back. Bright screens make it hard to see the art
projected on the big screen at the front.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS:
10% Attendance/Participation: These are discretionary points that
take into account your class participation, how well you comply with
the directions for quizzes and papers, getting your work in on time,

coming to see me in office hours, improvement in your work through


the term, etc. This 10% almost always helps grades, particularly
of those who communicate with me.
50% Five (5) Quizzes (10% each): There is no midterm and no
comprehensive final exam. Quiz 5 will be a regular length quiz given
during our assigned final exam time. There are no retakes (trends are
taken into account though, so if you do badly on the first quiz, do not
despair). If you miss a quiz or know you will miss one please
contact me asap.
Quiz format: A quiz will consist of brief ID questions. I will show an
image on the screen and you will give its name, artist (if known), what
its made of, and its culture. You will then write a paragraph detailing
what you know about the object.
Three Sample Quiz Answers:
1.Imhotep (architect/designer), Step pyramid at Saqqara, Egypt,
sandstone, Ancient Egyptian, Old Kingdom.
(leave a space to separate the ID and the paragraph)
This pyramid is a series of mastabas, burial slabs, stacked to form a
step pyramid.
It is the tomb of the pharaoh Djoser and is designed to house his
mummy along with various grave goods for his successful afterlife. It is
the first such pyramid tomb with the last ones being the 3 large
pyramids at Giza with smooth sides and more elaborate tomb
passages. Next to this step pyramid are structures with false fronts to
imitate the city Djoser inhabited in life and for his spirit to visit. Other
royal family members and dignitaries would be buried near this
pyramid to form an Old Kingdom necropolis or city of the dead.

2. Hieronymus Bosch, Garden of Earthly Delights, triptych, oil on panel,


Early Northern Renaissance
This work is in the format of an altarpiece but it certainly is not an
altarpiece because the subject matter is largely made up of examples
of sinful beings in a
Surreal setting. The left hand panel begins the narrative with God and
Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. The landscape rises sharply in all
three panels and there is light blue to show atmospheric perspective.
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The large middle panel is a theme park of sin with nude figures
enjoying the sins of the flesh. The figures in all three panels are
allegories and examples of old sayings about sin. The colors of the first
two panels are soft greens, blues, and pinks. The right hand panel is
about hell and the penalty humans will pay for sins. The landscape of
hell influenced the later Surrealist painters like Salvadore Dali.
3. Venus de Milo, marble, Hellenistic Greek sculpture
This famous nude female sculpture combines the serene look of the
goddess of beauty combined with the twisted elongated torso of later
Hellenistic art. Traditionally females mortals and goddesses were
not shown nude, but Hellenistic artists wanted to show their mastery of
the body and their skill in manipulating it in more exciting forms. The
drapery of her lower body falls in expressive folds that reveal the body
beneath. There is a sense of motion throughout as well as beauty. The
arms have long been missing but incompleteness is not crucial in
Greek sculpture as it is so rare and beautiful.
20% Object paper: This is a research paper on a subject chosen by
you and approved by me. We will discuss this paper at length in class
closer to the due date. THERE IS A SAMPLE OBJECT PAPER ABOUT
MONET AT THE END OF THIS SYLLABUS
Format: 6 pages not including a title page (your first counted page
will begin at the top with a full sentence), Times New Roman,12 point
font, one inch margins, double spaced.
Sources: You must have at least 3 sources (may include articles
retrieved from JSTOR) in addition to Wiki and general internet
articles. Try the UNH library for books and go to the Grove Dictionary of
Art and JSTOR (both available on blackboard under Library and
Electronic Databases.)
Content: Your paper should include a careful visual analysis of your
chosen work, an account of the cultural and artistic background of the
work, and hopefully a comparison with a related work.

10% Looking Assignment: Go to the UNH Museum of Art (next door


to the classroom) and select a work of art on display to write about and
describe.

Format: 2-1/2 (two and a half) page minimum length not including
separate titlepage, Times New Roman,12 point font, one inch margins, double
spaced.
Content: Identify the work with information found on the wall label.
Write a careful visual analysis of the sort we will have done in class.
What is the most important feature of the image and where does it
appear? How does the artist set up the composition and use color to
convey his/her content? Line? How does your eye move around the
image? Does the artist succeed in creating a compelling work of art?
What is your response? If its a sculpture then talk about negative and
positive space and how the sculpture fills its space. What surface
qualities does it have and how does the light play with it? What about
scale? Line? How are you supposed to approach it and navigate it?
Does it work successfully?
10% Museum Visit and Paper: You have to visit the Museum of Fine
Arts in Boston. Admission is free with your UNH ID and the
cheapest way to get there is via public transportation via C&J bus(ends
at South Station) or the train from the UNH Durham train station (to
North Station). From either Station you take the T ($3 or so for a pass)
to Park Street and then a train that runs past Northeastern U. and then
the next stop is the MFA. There is parking at the MFA but you get no
break in the fee so take the T! This trip should run you about $30. I
considered this fee when planning the book list for this class. I know
budgets can be tight! Please plan in advance. You can be assured that
your schedules will become very hectic later in the semester and this is
not an excuse for not going.
I PLAN TO CHARTER A BUS FOR US DURING THE TERM. PLEASE TAKE
ADVANTAGE OF THIS OPPORTUNITY AS IT WILL BE THE CHEAPEST AND
EASIEST WAY TO SEE THE BOSTON MFA!
You need to attach your admission ticket to your paper. Please also
bring along your camera/phone as you MUST include a photo of you
standing beside your four chosen objects, one from each designated
category. I dont care how quirky the photos are. No pictures outside
the museum required. DO NOT RELY ON IMAGES DOWNLOADED FROM
THE MFA WEBSITE. Try to have a good time. Get food! Visit the gift
shop! Go elsewhere in Boston and send recommendations to the class
to improve your classmates trips. There are other museums in the
area which you could visit and write up for extra credit. See me about
this.
Paper Details
Format: 5 pages of text not including title page and images, Times
New Roman,12 point font, one inch margins, double spaced.
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Content:
Choose your favorite object and one comparison object from each of
these categories:
CATEGORY 1: Ancient Egypt and the Ancient Near East.
CATEGORY 2: Classical Greek and Roman.
CATEGORY 3: Asiatic art
CATEGORY 4: European and American.
Use the information on the label near your chosen object and your
comparison object to identify each object. Give the basic information
as you would for a quiz answer: artist if known, name of object,
material, culture it represents. Carefully describe your chosen object
and how it represents its culture and compare and contrast it with
another object from the same category. INCLUDE A SELFIE of you and
your chosen objects from each of the four categories: 8 selfies in all.
Print them up, label them, and put them in your paper.
GENERAL DIRECTIONS FOR ALL PAPERS:
Paper Basics: I accept hard copy only. Be sure to save your papers on
your computer in case my dog eats your homework (any of my four
dogs is capable of doing this! )! Staple your paper before you come
to class to hand it in.
Handing in Papers: Bring your papers to class and hand them in at
the end of the class. If your paper is late, your grade will suffer as time
lapses.
Late Papers: Hand in late papers in my mailbox in PCAC A201 The
Arts Office where I have a mailbox. Have some person at a desk
initial it and give the date and time so that I can give you
appropriate credit for handing it in when you did (i.e. if you hand
in your paper on a Friday and I do not check my mail until Monday you
will get credit for Friday assuming that you ran it past the front desk for
the appropriate documentation).
Layout: Every paper must have a separate title page hopefully with
your name, course section, and date in the upper right hand corner.
This is to avoid the phenomenon where a heading manages to take up
half of the first page of a paper. Do your work justice!
Format: Use Times New Roman font (or an equivalent), 12 point type,
one inch margins, and double space. Please no not fiddle with spacing
and font to make your paper seem longer than it is.
A paper with appropriate formatting that is too short will be
graded more
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favorably than a paper of the appropriate length with margins


that are too big and use a funky font.
Citations: Use frequent references in the MLA format, (author, title,
page number where possible) with a more complete bibliographic
citation at the end of your paper. The bibliography does not count as a
page of text.

If this all seems too much:


Note to all: Please ask me questions as often as you like. I respond
quickly to email and I do have office hours. If this feels too
overwhelming please come talk to me! I promise that it is all very
manageable and I am happy to offer guidance and field questions for
those of you with worries and concerns.

Rebecca Karo
Art480.0
August 14,
2013
Object Paper

Claude Monet, Impression Sunrise, 1872

SAMPLE OBJECT PAPER


(This is the title page for a paper. You can see it does not require
much. In your paper it would be unnumbered and the page numbering
would begin at 1 on the following page.)

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In 1872, Claude Monet (1840-1926) painted


Impression:Sunrise, (oil on canvas, 49.5 x 65 cm., Musee
Marmottan, Paris) (figure 1), the painting whose title gave
rise to the art movement known as Impressionism
(Engelmann, p.46). In 1872, Monet painted a number of
seascapes of the busy commercial harbor at Le Havre in
Normandy where he was born and lived his early life. Monet
gave the title Impression :Sunrise to this painting in which he
depicted the momentary impression of the sun rising on a
foggy, steamy, smoky industrial harbor.
The composition is simple, peaceful, and undramatic. In
the bottom left corner is the artists signature Claude
Monet.72 in small dark letters. The foreground of the
picture shows the calm water with visible brushstrokes of
different shades of blue, the dark blue parallel strokes
create the sense of surface movement. In the middle of the
picture about a third of the way up, is a small dinghy with
two figures in it. The boat is totally made of a stroke or two
black paint with the figures also being black paint strokes.
Further back to the left of this dinghy is another similar craft
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made of slightly fainter dark brushstrokes. These small


boats and their occupants make the scene more personal
and intimate and less coldly industrial.
To the left and right about two thirds up, one can detect
dark vertical brush strokes denoting masts of ships and and
at the left further back, tall smokestacks belching blue puffs
of smoke. The reflections of these masts and smokestacks
are seen in the water but in the same muted blue as the
masts and smokestacks themselves. Its as though they were
made of the same substance and in fact they are all clearly
paint strokes. Nothing looks very substantial as everything
is bathed in a blue mist. There are many shades of blue from
the bottom to the top of the scene and blue gives it all a
sense of unity just as morning fog would.
In the upper right above the farthest point on the horizon
is the orange circle that is the rising sun. It is clearly made of
paint as if squeezed from the paint tube in a swirl directly
onto the canvas. You can see its thick texture, the thickest
paint on this canvas. This orange sun has an orange
reflection on the water from the edge of the docks down to
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the right edge of the larger dinghy. This reflection is thick


parallel orange paint strokes that liven the blue paint of the
rest of the water. The sky immediately surrounding the sun
is soft smudged blue but above that and totally across the
top part of the canvas, the brilliant orange glow illumines the
sky behind the masts, smokestacks belching smoke, and the
docks. The orange light and blue mist are a beautiful duet of
complementary colors. The scene looks so real that you can
feel the motion of the water and yet it is so clearly made of
paint in visible mostly unblended strokes.

Monet exhibited Impression:Sunrise in the first


Impressionist Exhibition in 1874 where it caused a stir
among art critics. Louis LeRoy in the popular journal Le
Charivari wrote an article entitled The Exhibition of the
Impressionists in which he said:
ImpressionismI was certain of it. I was just telling
myself
that, since I was impressed, there had to be some
impression
in itand what freedom, what ease of workmanship!
Wall-

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paper in its embryonic state is more finished than that


seascape. (Wiki, Monet, Impression Sunrise)
Monets painting with its visible unblended brushwork and
unmodulated orange sun and reflection looked to LeRoy and
others like a rough oil sketch rather than a properly finished
painting. If this was an impression, then he wanted none of
it. Indeed Monets chosen title Impression: Sunrise was like
a red flag. A proper painting should not be just a momentary
impression but rather a more idealized work of art that
hides its workmanship in a smoothly varnished surface.
Furthermore, a modern industrial harbor is hardly a poetic
site for viewing the sunrise over the water. Jules Dupres
Seascape at Cayeux, of 1870, (figure 2) for example, was a
far more acceptable traditional seascape. The sky, the
sailboats, and the wave are far more picturesque and the
painting is more properly finished with some texture in the
highlights but no unblended brushstrokes.
Interestingly enough Monets real rivals in depicting Le
Havre s modern harbor and the seacoast were the
photographers. Photography was invented around 1839 by
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Louis Daguerre in France and within a decade photography


was a challenge to painting in imaging the world.
Photography was a democratic medium in that it appealed to
the general public and it was easily accessible and cheaper
than paintings.
Louis LeGray (1820-1884) was an outstanding photographer
of coastal Normandy in the 1850s. His Brigs Leaving the
HarborLe Havre, and
Brig on the Water both from 1856 (Figures 3 and 4) were
masterful realist images of the harbor and sea. Photography
by its very nature captured images of reality and was the
best medium for documentary purposes. It could also be
artistic in skillful hands. LeRoy very much wanted his
photography to be considered an art form. He wrote:
It is my deepest wish that photography, instead of
falling
within the domain of industry, of commerce, will be
included among the arts. (Wiki, Louis LeGray)
Certainly Le Roy and others created photographs with such
a sensitive and sophisticated artistic skill that indeed their
photographs are now considered museum quality art.

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It was Monets challenge to do in his painting what


photography could not, which is to depict the visual
sensation of light on an ever changing scene. He was a
master of painting water with its perpetual motion and its
play of light . He used his unblended colors and textured
parallel brushstrokes to convey the impression of early
morning sunlight on the water in the harbor as seen in one
fleeting moment. It is the beholders eye that will interpret
those colors and brush strokes as the equivalent of light on
the surface of the scene. To its first audience, Impression:
Sunrise and other Impressionist paintings were very close to
painted chaos on the canvas. Compared with traditional
academic painting Monets work may indeed have looked
like wallpaper, merely a brightly colored pattern of
brushwork . Within a very few years, though, Monet found
his public and his market. American collectors particularly
loved his landscapes that carried no hint of history or
mythology. Eventually he left the industrial seacoast and
modern Paris for the countryside at Giverny where he
planted a wonderful garden that was his model for the rest of
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his life. The Japanese bridge and the waterlilies at Giverny


have become some of the worlds favorite paintings.
Exhibitions of Monets paintings are by definition
blockbusters with thousands of admirers waiting in line to
catch a glimpse of beautiful light and color. Ironically
Monets paintings have also become if not LeRoys
wallpaper, then certainly posters, mousepads, mugs, and
teatowels in museum shops around the world.

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Figure 1: Claude Monet, Impression: Sunrise, 1872

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Figure 2: Jules Dupre, Seascape at Cayeux, 1870

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Figure 3: Gustave LeGray, Brigs Leaving the Harbor (Le


Havre), 1856

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Figure 4: Gustave LeGray, Brig on the Water, 1856


Bibliography:

Engelmann, Ines Janet, Impressionism. Fifty Paintings You


Should Know,
Prestel, New York, n.d.
Gordon, Robert, and Forge, Andrew, Monet, Harry N. Abrams,
New York,
1983
Stokstad, Marilyn, and Cothren, Michael, Art: A Brief History,
third edition, 2010
Thompson, Belinda, Impressionism. Origins, Practice,
Reception,
Thames & Hudson World of Art, n.d.
Wiki, Gustave Le Gray; Impression:Sunrise; Monet

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