Week 2: 29-23 July 2010

NEW COURSE

Course 12: Dr Matthias Vollmer

Competition as a Source of Creativity: The Idea of ‘Paragone’ from the Renaissance to Modern Times

£420

The Renaissance concept of ‘paragone’ describes the competition between different arts (architecture, sculpture, painting and poetry) and sometimes also between individual artists. Until the 20th century, this competition between the arts undoubtedly acted as a driving force for artistic creativity and innovation; not so, however, in the case of modern and contemporary art.

In the latter the art medium (painting or sculpture for instance) is no longer paramount; more important is the conceptual aspect of creation. While the term ‘paragone’ is still occasionally in use, in the context of a mere comparison of artists and of the quality of their ideas, the traditional boundaries between the arts have become obsolete.

The course explores how the force of the Renaissance ‘paragone’ debate from Leonardo da Vinci to Giorgio Vasari and Lodovico Dolce determined the image of the artist as divine creator (divino artista) and how it informed the understanding of the artwork itself for centuries.  We shall then investigate how the modern discourse about new media from photography to Dick Higgins´ Intermedia-(art) has since challenged this concept. These developments are evident in works of art by such diverse artists as Leonardo, Dürer, van Eyck, Rembrandt, Reynolds, Malevich, Gerhard Richter and Yvonne Rainer. Visits include the National Gallery, the V&A, Tate Britain and Tate Modern.


Week 3: 26-30 July 2010

NEW COURSE

Course 18: Dr Meri Arichi

Japanese Buddhist Art and its Contexts from the sixth to the 18th centuries: an Introduction

£420

THIS COURSE IS NOW FULL. PLEASE DO LET US KNOW IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO BE PLACED ON A WAITING LIST.

Buddhism was introduced to Japan in the sixth century from China via Korea. The Nihonshoki, the oldest surviving history of Japan, states that in the year 552 the King of Korea sent an envoy to Emperor Kinmei of Japan with gifts of Buddhist scripture, ritual paraphernalia, and a gilt bronze statue of the Buddha. This passage indicates that images played an important role in propagating the faith from the earliest stage. The adoption of Buddhism by the ruling class encouraged the building of temples, the creation of images, and encouraged the study of Buddhist doctrine in Japan. The establishment of new sects during the medieval period resulted in the diversification of Buddhist teaching. The styles of architecture, sculpture and paintings reflect the different emphasis placed by each school. Over the centuries Buddhism exerted a profound influence on the formation of Japanese culture, and the rich heritage of Buddhist art surviving in many temples and museums today provide valuable glimpse into the history and society in Japan. This course will examine works of art dating from the sixth to the 18th century, and consider the doctrinal, philosophical, and social contexts in which Buddhist art functioned in Japan.  


Week 3: 26-30 July 2010

NEW COURSE

Course 21: Sarah Hyde and Dr Joanna Selborne

Six Centuries of European Prints: The Making and Meaning of Multiple Images

£445

Some of the most admired images in the history of European art have been prints: Dürer’s woodcuts, Rembrandt’s etchings, Hogarth’s engravings and Toulouse-Lautrec’s lithographs. This course will introduce students to the major printmaking techniques used from the 15th to the early 20th century, and consider some of the issues raised in the study of printmaking history such as the uses of prints, the business of buying and selling prints, deciphering inscriptions, their role as illustration, as well as such contentious issues as the concepts of ‘original’ and ‘reproductive’ prints.  Printmaking has always been a collaborative process, involving a range of specialists from engravers and etchers to artists, printers and publishers. We will look at the changing significance of these roles and the way reproductive prints have been such a vital means of circulating visual information across Europe and through all sections of society in the pre-photographic age. Students will have the chance to study prints in the Courtauld Gallery’s distinguished collection in close detail, as well as visiting the British Museum print room and a printmaking studio. The course will involve hands-on study of printmaking materials and tools, and a discussion of how these techniques affected the appearance, function and circulation of prints.

Week 3: 26-30 July 2010

NEW COURSE

Course 24: Gail Turner

Art in Spain: El Greco to Goya

£420

THIS COURSE IS NOW FULL. PLEASE DO LET US KNOW IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO BE PLACED ON A WAITING LIST.

This course introduces the rich variety of Spanish art - from the Habsburg 16th century to the early 19th-century Napoleonic period.  One of the questions we raise is how Spanish is Spanish Art? In the 16th century, Spain’s wealthy empire attracted talented artists, architects and sculptors from all over Europe.  Italian and Flemish prints were often the initial inspiration for many Spanish artists in the 17th century.  Spain was a leader of the Counter Reformation and the Spanish church commissioned vast numbers of religious images during the late 16th and 17th centuries. Realism was considered most effective in communicating the Catholic cause. This is reflected in the paintings of Velázquez, Zurbarán, and Murillo, and in contemporary sculptures, some of which even incorporated ivory teeth and glass eyes.  This period saw the origins of the enduring tradition of popular processions, during which life-size images of Christ and the Virgin were paraded round the streets.  Meanwhile the court in Madrid commissioned grand-style portraiture and decorative schemes, demonstrating the formality and the power of the Habsburg Empire while seemingly ignoring the realities of the impending political and economic melt-down. When the Bourbons succeeded in 1700 a new mood engaged Spain.  Spanish art was again dominated by foreigners who in turn trained native Spaniards, such as Goya.  London has a wealth of Spanish paintings, and visits will include the National Gallery and the Victoria and Albert Museum.

Week 4: 2-6 August 2010

NEW COURSE

Course 27: Dr Elena Kashina

‘Faith and Power’: Icon-painting, Spirituality and National Identity in 11th–18th-century Russia

£420

Icon-painting remains one of the less easily interpreted art- and devotional forms outside of the regions where icons are a part of historical tradition. They tend to be regarded as ‘naïve art’, ‘primitivism’, or as downright poor painting. This course intends to look at graven images in the context of a particular culture. Russian icon-painting will be considered as an heir to the great Byzantine tradition of ecclesiastical expression, and at the same time as an encapsulation of Russia’s spirituality and morality.

We intend to explore how the Byzantine concept of ‘faith and power’ - of secular authority underpinned by religious terminology -  was transformed in Russia in different epochs and under different rulers. One way of doing this will be to focus on the way historic circumstances were reflected within seemingly rigid boundaries of devotional expression.  Our ultimate aim will be to understand the otherworldly appearance of the holy personages in icons as a deliberate antithesis to a naturalistic recreation of visible reality, intended to allude to the transcendent, and to induce reflection. It also seems correct to suggest that icons were a universally understood tool of communication within their countries of origin, and as such fulfilled a great unifying function.

Week 4: 2-6 August 2010

Course 30:   Clare Richardson

Artists’ Materials: Invention and Innovation

The fee for this course is £485 as the group will be limited to 10 students; this also includes the cost of course materials

THIS COURSE IS NOW FULL. PLEASE DO LET US KNOW IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO BE PLACED ON A WAITING LIST.

This course will consider artists' materials from the medieval to modern periods, exploring the aesthetic consequences of the availability of materials, new inventions, and new methods of preparing and applying materials. All aspects of the painter’s craft will be considered, from pigments and binding media to the canvas or panel support.  In exploring these themes we shall refer to historic documents as well as technical examination of paintings – including x-radiography and pigment analysis. We shall reflect upon the methods and materials used in the Renaissance on a visit to the collections of the National Gallery, London, and compare them to the cornucopia of artistic means provided by the Victorian colourmen on a visit to Cornellisen, established in 1855. Guest lecturer Dr. Maria Kokkori, who specialises in the painters of the Russian avant-garde, will bring the course up to the 20th century, exploring the materials and techniques of modernity.

The course will also offer students the opportunity to explore historic materials in a practical manner, through testing of alchemical methods to prepare pigments, experimenting with gilding techniques, grinding their own paints and comparing the handling properties and painting qualities of different pigments and media.

Week 4: 2-6 August 2010

Course 33: Dr Rose Kerr

The Development and World Influence of Chinese Porcelain

£420

Thin-bodied, white, translucent porcelain was first made in China around AD600, more than one thousand years before its fabrication in the West.  How was this sophisticated material discovered, and how did it develop?  This course looks at geological and technical issues affecting manufacture, as well as economic, social and historical factors that influenced the growth and spread of kilns.  Porcelain in China was used at court, and certain forms and designs were reserved for imperial use.  By contrast, mass-produced items were shipped around the world starting in the ninth century AD, and had a significant effect across Asia, in the Middle East and Europe. The course includes visits to the ceramic galleries at the Victoria & Albert Museum, and the Percival David Collection Gallery in the British Museum.