History and Theory of Art Criticism (20042)
Degree/study: Degree in Humanities
Year: 3rd
Term: 3rd
Number of ECTS credits: 5 credits
Hours of studi dedication:
Teaching language or languages: Spanish
Teaching Staff: Isabel Valverde
1. Presentation of the subject
Critics, artists, public and exhibitions. Functions of art criticism in the 19th century:
This is an elective subject of the second cycle of the Degree in Humanities (Art profile) that will study the artistic production of the 19th century through art criticism. Art criticism will be understood as an essential element for the public life of the works of art and therefore of their sense and value. It won't be understood as an artistic genre or a "textual recreation" of the work of art. Criticism and the work of art are inserted in modernity's new historical context and they are connected to the emergence of a new bourgeois public and new experiences and artistic practices. Artists, critics and their audiences are constantly connected in a dialectic way to social, ideological and political conditions which are constantly changing.
The subject is meant to be a theoretical and historical rapprochement to art criticism. It will focus on its development during the 19th century, its second half in particular. Criticism has a special importance in French artistic life because of its connection with institutions and art market as well as with material and symbolic places to be consumed (from museums and galleries to specialized press). The emergence of modern art in France will be studied through this network - from Courbet to Monet, from Realism to Impressionism and Naturalism-, as well as the tension between the incipient avant-garde and the official institutions, and the different orientations its public and private reception has.
There is a particular case to study this emergence of modernity among artists, critics, directors of an art gallery and collectors: Émile Zola, who was both novelist and art critic. His artist novel The Masterpiece (L´œuvre), 1886, will be the basis for the concepts developed in lectures.
The subject will not offer an encyclopaedic itinerary through the history of art criticism from its emergence in the 18th century. Certain constituent topics of art criticism will be used as a means of studying artistic modernity in the early period of the second half of the 19th century.
Prerequisites:
Having passed the compulsory subjects of history and art theory from the First cycle of the Degree will be required, especially Art from the 18th and 19th centuries which is the most closely related to this one. "Contemporary Art" will have also been taken by certain students. The basics about 18th and 19th century's art will be taken for granted (styles, artists, motifs...). It will also be presumed the student has some knowledge about great historical and cultural questions of the period, especially those connected to aesthetics, literature and political history.
All the other elective subjects connected to 19th and 18th century's art and Art Theory from the Art profile will complement the subject.
From a theoretical and methodological viewpoint, this subject is based on social history of art's assumptions and conceives the work of art from its material base and its aesthetic entity. As in a complex system, all artistic creations interact with the society that has produced them and this society gives them sense and visibility. Art criticism is a privileged mechanism in these dialectical processes.
Reading skills in English are essential. Translations into Spanish or, if this is not possible, into English of French texts will be offered as far as possible. However, it is recommended to know the basics to read French.
2. Competences to be attained
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General competences |
Specific competences |
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1. Analysis and synthesis skills for complex texts 2. Collection and proper management of information 3. Ability to interrelate particular and theoretical knowledge 4. Reasoned approach of research topics 5. Oral and written skills to explain the acquired concepts in a proper tone, vocabulary and form according to university academic level 6. Analytical interpretation of diverse data (textual, iconic...) 7. Independent learning when researching and reaching conclusions 8. Teamwork skills 9. Oral and written skills to defend and justify a position 10. Having an analytical mind 11. Being independent when learning and managing knowledge 12. Being independent when researching and expanding knowledge
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1. Recognizing, locating and analysing works of art from the second half of the 19th century 2. Knowing the basics about style, iconography and theory of Realism, Impressionism and Naturalism 3. Knowing the theoretical bases of Realism, Impressionism and Naturalism, the main texts and the outstanding authors 4. Analysing a historical, critical, theoretical or biographical text connecting it to its context, the reader to whom it is addressed and the medium in which it appeared 5. Analyzing works of art from this period from a formal and iconographic viewpoint as well as taking the artist's intention, the social function and the ideological and cultural context in which they were created into account 6. Ability to connect the artistic image to the literary or critical text and to distinguish the different ways to link text and image (description, interpretation, assessment...) 7. Using different work and text interpretive records, especially those from recent historiography
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3. Contents
- Theory, criticism and art history: differences and connections
- Criticism and art institutions in the 19th century: the Academy, Salons, museums and Art Schools
- The work of art in the public sphere. The modern public, the art market and criticism. The role of the critic: authentication and mediation.
- Art critics and artists: agreements and disagreements throughout the 19th century. Artist's career and art criticism.
- Official art versus independent art: confrontation as a strategy, scandal and the role of art critics. Exhibitions, counter-exhibitions and private galleries. The art of the artistic manifesto.
- Art and literature: men of letters' criticism. Salons and other writings on art from Stendhal to Émile Zola. Critics and novelists facing careers' dilemmas.
- Art criticism and the advent of a modern art: Manet between Baudelaire and Zola. Impressionists challenging the official artistic system.
*The full version with the sections 4. Assessment, 5. Bibliography and teaching resources, 6. Methodology and 7. Planning of activities is available in the original version.
4. Assessment
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5. Bibliography and teaching resources
5.1. Basic bibliography
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5.2. Complementary bibliography
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5.3. Teaching resources
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6. Metodology
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7. Planning of activities
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