Course Overview

From domestic scenes to sweeping landscapes, artists have reflected on the complexities of their cultures with portrayals of people, places, and objects. Join art historian Dr. Hannah Wong and her wonderful learning community as they consider three artistic genres with profound insights on the human condition. This live, Zoom course with interactive lectures also includes two in-person events at the Blanton Museum of Art and an online art history skills workshop. Additionally, it serves as the introduction to a limited-enrollment art history trip—likely to San Antonio—this summer 2022!

Check out the course’s 30-minute preview (“Boring?!: The Case for Landscape, Portraiture & Still Life from a Convert”)
HERE.

(NOTE: Due to unforeseen circumstances, the Landscapes of Life course start date has changed to Wednesday, April 27, 2022.
Please see below for the updated schedule!)

Part One:
Western Traditions

Dates: Wednesdays, 12:00 pm-1:30 pm, 4/27/22, 5/4/22, 5/11/22; Saturday, 10:00 am-11:30 am, 5/14/22.

Juan Sánchez Cotán, Quince, Cabbage, and Cucumber, 1602, oil on canvas, 68.9 cm x 84.5 cm, San Diego Museum of Art.

Part Two:
Modern Global Explorations

Dates: Wednesdays, 12:00 pm-1:30 pm, 5/25/22, 6/1/22, 6/8/22, 6/15/22. (Bonus: Saturday, 10:00 am-11:00 am, 6/18/22.)

Ori Gersht, Pomegranate, 2006, HD film for framed LCD (color, sound), The Jewish Museum, New York. © Ori Gersht.

Course Schedule

*SPECIFIC SUBJECT MATTER FOCUS, ARTWORK, AND ARTISTS SUBJECT TO CHANGE

Due to unforeseen circumstances, the Landscapes of Life course start date has changed to Wednesday, April 27, 2022.
Please see below for the updated schedule!

PART ONE
Hidden In Plain Sight:
Mysteries & Double Meanings in Traditional Western Art

Explore portrait, still life, and landscape traditions of the Western world with a particular focus on the Northern European Renaissance and Baroque (vs. the Italian Renaissance and Baroque), which had a profound effect on the three genres thereafter.

#1 PORTRAITURE: Recording Realities and/or Remaking Them?

Weds., 4/27/22, 12:00-1:30 pm (Central) on Zoom

Selection of possible artists/artwork considered: Jan Van Eyck’s Arnolfini Portrait (1434), Albrecht Dürer’s Self-Portrait (1500); Rembrandt’s The Night Watch (1642)

#2 LANDSCAPE: Wide Expanses and Second Glances

Weds., 5/4/22, 12:00-1:30 pm (Central) on Zoom

Selection of possible artists/artwork considered: Pieter Bruegel’s Labors of the Months series (1565), Jacob van Ruisdael’s View of Haarlem with Bleaching Grounds (c. 1670-1675), American Hudson River School painters.

#3 STILL LIFE: From Everyday to Extravagance

Weds., 5/11/22, 12:00-1:30 pm (Central) on Zoom

Selection of possible artwork considered: Clara Peeters’s A Bouquet of Flowers (c. 1612), Juan Sánchez Cotán’s Quince, Cabbage, and Cucumber (1602), game still life

#4 In-Person Art Experience: The Role of the Viewer in Modern & Past Portraiture

Sat., 5/14/22, 10:00-11:30 Am (Central) In-Person, Blanton Museum of Art

Beginning with the Blanton’s Baroque portrait collection, we’ll compare the role of the viewer in the seventeenth century with the contemporary world, specifically the boundary-breaking portraits currently on exhibit in Oscar Muñoz: Invisibilia at the Blanton. Among the central questions for discussion: How does (or doesn’t) the artist take the viewer’s body into account vis-a-vis the portrait? What is expected of the portrait’s viewer and of the artist? How does the portrait’s medium reflect the culture of the artist and sitter? (Museum admission cost not included.)

PART TWO
Expanding Horizons:
Modern Global Perspectives in Portraiture, Landscape and Still Life Art

To expand our understanding of portraiture, landscape and still life, we’ll explore works that play with and/or challenge the boundaries of each genre, focusing particularly on art created from the late-nineteenth century to present day.

*SPECIFIC SUBJECT MATTER FOCUS, ARTWORK, AND ARTISTS SUBJECT TO CHANGE;
imagery may include nudity and/or be Graphic in nature

#5 Playing with PORTRAITURE

WEDS., 5/25/22, 12:00-1:30 PM (CENTRAL) ON ZOOM

At least as early as the 19th century, artists began questioning traditional choices in portrait sitters, and in the 20th century, explored their own bodies as an artistic medium, perhaps most notably, feminist and performance artists of the 1970s. These explorations pushed the boundaries of portraiture, both the definition of what constituted a portrait and its purpose. (Please note: Due to the particular content of this class, there will likely be images of a graphic nature.)

Selection of possible artists/artwork considered: Cindy Sherman, Ana Mendieta, Carolee Schneeman, Judy Chicago, Kehinde Wiley

#6 LANDSCAPE: From the Canvas to Wrapped in Canvas: Environmental Art as Landscape Art

WEDS., 6/1/22, 12:00-1:30 PM (CENTRAL) ON ZOOM

Selection of possible artists/artwork considered: Christo and Jeanne-Claude, Robert Smithson

#7 STILL LIFE: Shifting Perspectives and Exploding Fruit

WEDS., 6/8/22, 12:00-1:30 PM (CENTRAL) ON ZOOM

Selection of possible artists/artwork considered: Ori Gersht, Ai Weiwei, Vincent Van Gogh

#8 Online Zoom Art Experience (Option #1)
A Window Into the Work: Writing Museum Labels 101

Weds. 6/15/22, 12:00-1:30 PM (CENTRAL) ON ZOOM

Dive deeper into art analysis with an art historical assignment that has sharpened museum professionals’ minds (and eyes) for decades! After a short introductory lecture on the museum label (also known as an “object label”), participants will draft the first sentence as well as an overall outline for their own 150-word label on a painting from the Blanton Museum’s collection. Educational materials will be provided ahead of time to guide this process.

Part-two-only subscribers may choose either this option or the in-person (6/18/22) option below.

#9 In-Person Art Experience & Course Wrap-Up (Option #2)

WEds., 6/18/22, 10:00-11:00 AM (CENTRAL) at Blanton Museum of Art

As a hands-on way to use what we’ve learned, we’ll visit and discuss several of the Blanton’s works in person, including the painting we wrote about in our workshop! (Museum admission cost not included.)

Part-two-only subscribers may choose either this option or the 6/15/22 Zoom workshop option above.

Course Details, Format & Pricing

Course Details

Classes are 1.5 hrs. each and held over Zoom on Wednesdays from 12:00-1:30 pm (Central).
Exception: Two Blanton visits on Saturday, 5/14/22 and 6/18/22, starting at 10:00 am (Central).

• PART ONE: Hidden In Plain Sight: Mysteries & Double Meanings in Traditional Western Art

  Three, live Zoom Lectures: Wednesdays, 12:00 pm-1:30 pm (Central), 4/27/22, 5/4/22, 5/11/22.

  In addition, Part-One-only subscribers may choose either one of the following Art Experience options:

  1) IN-PERSON: Saturday, 5/14/22 from 10:00 am-11:30 am (Central). Indoor at the Blanton Museum of Art. Admission fee not included.
  OR
  2) ONLINE: Museum Label Writing Workshop, Wednesday, 6/15/22. 12:00 pm-1:30 pm (Central). Zoom. (Note: This is class #8, which takes place during Part Two of the course.)

  
  

• PART TWO: Expanding Horizons: Modern Global Perspectives in Portraiture, Landscape and Still Life Art

  Three, live Zoom Lectures: Wednesdays, 12:00-1:30 pm (Central), 5/25/22, 6/1/22, 6/822

  In addition, Part-Two-only subscribers may choose either one of the following Art Experience options along with the three Zoom lectures:

  1) ONLINE: Museum Label Writing Workshop, Wednesday, 6/15/22. 12-1:30 pm (Central). Zoom.
  OR
  2) IN-PERSON: Saturday, 6/18/22 from 10:00 am-11:00 am (Central). In-Person/indoor at the Blanton Museum of Art. Admission fee not included.

  
  

  Full course subscribers are entitled to attend the Two In-Person blanton Art Experiences (5/14/22 + 6/18/22) AND the online Museum Label workshop (6/15/22).

  
  

Format

Primarily an interactive lecture course with small group discussions used to enhance content retention and to create a lively, participatory learning environment. Also includes primarily experiential or hands-on events—Art Experiences—designed to cultivate students’ visual interpretive skills and encourage students’ independence around art. With the exception of the In-Person Art Experience at the Blanton, all classes will be conducted online via Zoom. Video recordings of the live classes will be posted weekly on the course’s private web page and only made available to students. (The 5/14/22 and 6/18/22 in-person visits to the Blanton Museum of Art will not be recorded.)

Pricing

• Any single course unit = 3 lectures + 1 Art Experience = 6 hrs. total = $179

• Full course = 6 lectures + 2 Art Experiences (5/14/22 and 6/18/22 in-person Blanton visits) + Museum Label Writing Workshop (6/15/22) = 13 hrs. total = $349

Benefits Specific to this course

• Great value: College-level content & teaching for much less than the cost of a college course.

• Engaging & In Real Time: Live, interactive lectures that are not pre-recorded, plus in-person and experiential learning components.

• Community of Thoughtful Fellow Participants: Many of the students are curious, life-long learners just like you!

• Convenient & Accessible: Designed to fit into your workday over a long lunch; video recordings posted after each live lecture and only available to students for the duration of the semester.