Swigelsons History of Art Isnt it a mans name? Andy Warhol, responding to the question, What is art?

How to succeed in the unfamiliar territory of art history, with guidance from Bob Ross:

Im into classical sculpture you probably havent heard of.

Heres your bravery test! Art history seems rather dry, rather boring, rather snobby. But heres your bravery test: Art history is TOUGH. There are a lot of dates, a lot of names, and a lot of details and stories and anecdotes and terms and analyses. Sounds even worse, right? You wont believe how fun it can be, so be brave enough to be open to enjoying the fun that is the human story. Nothing tells it as well as art can. Clouds are very, very free. But you are not. It will be tempting to get to the end of the internets, to chat with that cute SJA girl, to snapchat, to Instagram, to Skyrim, to do anything but listen to what is going on in class. However, you are not as free as the clouds, and notes are essential. In fact, they are the basis of this course. You will not have any set book to run to if you didnt listen in class, you will rely on what you found important in the lecture, and you will take the time in class to write it down. Your notes are your book, your notes are test answers, your notes are your final. Make them great. Its as simple as that. Schwoop. Hehe. You have to make those little noises, or it just doesnt work. If you are painting, yes. If you are in this class, no. Success in this class is based on a few principles as it is VERY simply run. Notes, listening, thinking, and quiet. Any talking whatsoever that moves us away from what we are doing will not be accepted, you will leave the class, and you will be responsible for the consequences and for your notes. I cant go over 30 minutes, because we have a mean ol director with no sense of humor. Time is of the essence in this course. Since we meet only one term and will cover about 30,000 years of history, it is your responsibility to be on time. I will take attendance every day. You will miss much as we cover a lot of ground very quickly in this course. I am a mean ol director with no sense of humor.

 Oh, youd be in Agony City by now if you didnt study regularly. Study is best approached by reviewing my powerpoints (all available on Moodle), by reviewing/recopying/making flashcards or typed study guides of your notes that give you the chance to identify the painting or work of art or architecture along with the answers to the questions below. Due to the fact that this class has little or no homework (Waters like me, its laaaaazyit always looks for the easiest way to do things), you are responsible for pacing your own mastery of the material. My strong suggestion is to make notecards (physical or digital) of everything that we learn the same day that we learn it so that when you get to test time, you will not spend time preparing to prepare, for you can jump right in. You will be able to review constantly and in any free moments you have. The task is indeed Agony City if you leave weeks of detailed material to the night or even the week before a test or the comprehensive final. Trust me. Just scrape a few indications of sticks and twigs and other little things in there. People will think you spent hours doing this. A great time-saver and necessary part of this course is to immediately copy down what you see on the board upon entering the class. Even if class hasnt started yet, you will be ahead of the game and people will think you spend hours doing this if you have already copied the essential words and dates in your notes. Work smartly and efficiently. I strongly encourage writing them by hand as it will be more solidified in your mind and muscle memory. Use laptops with caution. We dont make mistakes, we just have happy accidents. Just enjoy the ride. This is a demanding course that gives back as much as it takes. It will take time to learn the terms, to understand how everything connects, and to think on some pretty high theoretical levels. But you are lovable and capable, and you will be rewarded for your hard work and diligence here. Anytime ya learn, ya gain. Here are some goals to get your mind in the right place and to know what to look for in your learning and gaining (ideas adapted from W.H. Auden, The Dyers Hand, 1963). Keep these ideas in mind as you sort through what you hear and read and determine for yourself what is significant: o Introduction to works of which I was hitherto unaware o Conviction that I have undervalued a work because I have not learned enough about the artist and the work o Show me relations between works of different ages and cultures which I could have never seen for myself because I do not know enough and never shall (8-9) o Give a reading of a work which increases my understanding of it (8-9) o Throw light upon the process of artistic Making (8-9) o Throw light upon the relation of art to life, to science, to economics, ethics, religion, et.c (8-9) If you did this with blue, and you went over it with yellow, you would end up with a nice green sky. And thats not the thing we are looking for. There is a certain way to think and to process information in a critical analysis of a work of art, and in this course we will (aside from longer, more

contextual/analytical essays) address the following questions in our discussions and in any test or exam: o What kind of object is it? Of what material is it made, or in what medium is it painted? o What is the title? o Who was the artist or architect (if known, full name)? o What is its date? o To what historical period or artistic style does it belong? By whom and for whom? What is the cultural context? o (if possible) Where would the work have originally been seen? What is its provenance? o Describe its appearance and explain its significance. We will distinguish in detail more specific questions for paintings/drawings, portraits, sculpture, and architecture as individual media.