Process and experimentation lie at the heart of modern and contemporary painting practice. It has been underpinned by key innovations in paint technology since 1945, leading to an unprecedented explosion of new forms of expression. The materials and techniques of painters inevitably reflect the epoch in which they live, and painting, more than any other medium, has transformed itself in relation to pressures from developments in other media, including photography and performance art, as well as technological and sociopolitical changes more generally. It is painting’s unique adaptability that is both the basis of its continuous renewal and the focus of this worldwide unique MA special option.
In Technical Art History, we view the artwork and its materiality as the starting point for research questions. You will be introduced to the interdisciplinary tools for a holistic study of painting through immersion in individual artists’ œuvres, historical periods, theoretical discourses, as well as introductions to basic material properties and artists’ interviewing techniques.
Close looking is a key skill that we will hone through the careful examination of painting’s surfaces and material constituents. London with its world-famous galleries is the ideal European city for us to engage with both established and emerging global artistic practices, and you will gain a practical understanding of the objecthood of paintings through an object-handling seminar, visits to galleries, museums and artists’ studios, as well as a scientific examination seminar in The Courtauld’s conservation science suite.
The course is structured both chronologically and thematically. In the first semester, we will consider the role that specific painting supports, pigments and binders have on the final appearance of a work. Building on this understanding, we will discuss specific artists’ practices, beginning with the Abstract Expressionist Jackson Pollock, whose radical decisions to work to work on the floor, with household paint and often without a brush have had a powerful impact on painters ever since. We will also explore how the discrimination against artists because of their gender, race, age, sexuality and/or place of work, for instance, transformed their own understanding of materiality, such as in the work of Helen Frankenthaler, Yuko Nasaka, Jack Whitten, and Peruvian Indigenous women collectives.
In semester two, the impact of unconventional tools in the development of new visual languages will come into focus, from spray-painting and stencilling (Howardena Pindell, Jacqueline Humpries), printing equipment (Andy Warhol, Albert Oehlen), the human body (Yves Klein, Kazuo Shiraga) and a practically endless variety of custom-made and ready-made tools employed by artists worldwide. Other topics we will consider are “the brushstroke” as a contested site of identity, to what ends artists have manipulated the gravity of paint, and what skill sets post-digital practices encompass. Students will be encouraged to pursue their own research interests for the written assignments and oral presentations.
This course is well-suited for students with degrees in art history, curation, or museology. No prior scientific knowledge or practical experience is necessary.
In the event that a course leader is on sabbatical, takes up a fellowship, or otherwise is not able to teach the course, they will be replaced by another experienced course leader either for a semester or, in some cases, the academic year.
Course Leader
