Intro - History of Art - Syllabus - Spring 2025
Intro - History of Art - Syllabus - Spring 2025
Hunter College
Syllabus
ARTH 111.01
Spring Semester 2025
Mondays 1:30-3:20pm
HW 615
COURSE PARAMETERS
Art History 111 lays the foundation and is a prerequisite for all other art
history courses offered by the Art & Art History Department. In addition, it
can be used in partial fulfillment of the Core Requirements (Stage 2D) and
fulfills the “Pluralism and Diversity” Requirement – Group D. It can also be
used in partial fulfillment of the “individual and society” section of the
Hunter/CUNY Common Core.
2
**First Draft of the Paper Due in section (see discussion section syllabus)
COURSE ORGANIZATION
The course includes two components: lecture and discussion section. Each
week students will have new material introduced in the lecture. These
lectures will be organized to follow the syllabus and the corresponding
image lists. This material will serve as the basis for the quiz and exams.
***It is ESSENTIAL you attend lecture. If you do not come, you will not get
the necessary material and information to pass the course.
DISUSSION SECTIONS
Discussion sections are led by a Teaching Assistant (TA) and are scheduled
on Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays (depending on the section you
signed up for). These sections will take place each week for 50 minutes.
CLASS MATERIALS
There is NO textbook assigned for the course. All readings can be accessed
digitally via the links below. Students should complete the readings
3
BEFORE lecture and familiarize themselves with the required objects on the
image list before lecture and discussion section.
The course Brightspace will include all relevant information: uploaded items
include the syllabus, and, on a weekly basis, the powerpoint presentations
and the corresponding image lists.
QUIZ
The quiz will take place in discussion section. Instructors will give you
specific information about its format. It will be helpful to begin reviewing
the image lists with their objects and terms each week in preparation for
the quiz (and exams) and it is essential that you keep up with the weekly
lectures, reading, and section discussions.
EXAMINATIONS
There are two exams over the course of the spring term. One will cover the
first half of the material and the other will cover the second half of the
material (see course schedule for the specific information). These exams
will be given during section. Your instructor will provide information on the
exam format.
**Exam reviews will be held on the Monday preceding the exam.
PAPER
The paper assignment will include close looking and discussion of a single
object. You will consider the object (e.g., painting, print, drawing, sculpture,
decorative object) in terms of its formal qualities and in relation to a specific
theme. The specifics of the assignment will be provided to you by your TA.
Communication Studio:
https://huntercollegeart.org/the-communication-studio/
4
COURSE SCHEDULE
Monday, January 27
Egypt and Greece
Readings:
The Metropolitan Museum of Art: The Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History
“Egypt in the Old Kingdom (ca. 2649-2130 B.C.)”
https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/oking/hd_oking.htm
“Kings and Queens of Egypt”
https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/kqae/hd_kqae.htm
“The Art of Classical Greece”
https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/tacg/hd_tacg.htm
“Architecture in Ancient Greece”
https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/grarc/hd_grarc.htm
Monday, February 3
Rome and Byzantium
Readings:
The Metropolitan Museum of Art: The Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History
“Augustan Rule (27 B.C.-14 A.D.)”
https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/augs/hd_augs.htm
“The Roman Empire (27 B.C.-393 A.D.)”
https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/roem/hd_roem.htm
“Roman Painting”
https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/ropt/hd_ropt.htm
“Byzantium (ca. 330-1453)”
https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/byza/hd_byza.htm
“Icons and Iconoclasm in Byzantium”
https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/icon/hd_icon.htm
“The Byzantine State under Justinian I (Justinian the Great)”
5
https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/just/hd_just.htm
Monday, February 10
***Quiz 1 (in section)
Medieval Europe
Readings:
The Metropolitan Museum of Art: The Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History
“Relics and Reliquaries in Medieval Christianity”
https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/relc/hd_relc.htm
“Pilgrimage in Medieval Europe”
https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/pilg/hd_pilg.htm
“Romanesque Art”
https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/rmsq/hd_rmsq.htm
“Gothic Art”
https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/mgot/hd_mgot.htm
Monday, February 17
***College Closed
**No lecture
Tuesday, February 18
***Classes Follow Monday Schedule
Monday, February 24
Ottoman Art and Architecture
Readings:
The Metropolitan Museum of Art: The Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History
“The Greater Ottoman Empire, 1600-1800”
https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/grot/hd_grot.htm
“The Age of Süleyman ‘the Magnificent’ (r. 1520-1566)”
https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/suly/hd_suly.htm
Monday, March 3
Exam Review at 1:30—3:20pm (on zoom)
Exam 1 Covers Material (Ancient Egypt—Ottoman Art)
Monday, March 10
The Renaissance in Europe
Readings:
The Metropolitan Museum of Art: The Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History
“Europe and the Age of Exploration”
https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/expl/hd_expl.htm
“The Rediscovery of Classical Antiquity”
https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/clan/hd_clan.htm
“Anatomy in the Renaissance”
https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/anat/hd_anat.htm
“Architecture in Renaissance Italy”
https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/itar/hd_itar.htm
“Titian (ca. 1485/90?-1576)
https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/tita/hd_tita.htm
“Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528)”
https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/durr/hd_durr.htm
Monday, March 17
Baroque Art in Europe and the Americas
Readings:
The Metropolitan Museum of Art: The Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History
“Baroque Rome”
https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/baro/hd_baro.htm
“Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598-1680)”
https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/bern/hd_bern.htm
“Furnishings During the Reign of Louis XIV (1654-1715)”
https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/lofu/hd_lofu.htm
“Velázquez (1599-1660)”
https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/vela/hd_vela.htm
Monday, March 24
Eighteenth-Century Art in Europe and the Americas
Readings:
The Metropolitan Museum of Art: The Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History
“German and Austrian Porcelain in the Eighteenth Century”
https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/porg/hd_porg.htm
8
Monday, March 31
**No Classes Scheduled
Monday, April 7
Nineteenth-Century Art (Neoclassicism—Impressionism)
Readings:
The Metropolitan Museum of Art: The Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History
“Neoclassicism”
https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/neoc_1/hd_neoc_1.htm
“Romanticism”
https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/roma/hd_roma.htm
The Metropolitan Museum of Art: The Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History
“Impressionism: Art and Modernity”
https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/imml/hd_imml.htm
https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/art-history/becoming-modern/
avant-garde-france/realism/a/a-beginners-guide-to-realism
“Courbet, The Stonebreakers”
https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/art-history/becoming-modern/
avant-garde-france/realism/a/courbet-the-stonebreakers
“A Beginner’s Guide to Impressionism”
https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/art-history/becoming-modern/
avant-garde-france/impressionism/a/a-beginners-guide-to-impressionism
“What does ‘Impressionism’ Mean?”
https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/art-history/becoming-modern/
avant-garde-france/impressionism/a/what-does-impressionism-mean
“Haussmann the Demolisher and the Creation of Modern Paris”
https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/art-history/becoming-modern/
avant-garde-france/second-empire/a/haussmann-the-demolisher-and-the-
creation-of-modern-paris
Monday, April 14
**No class: Spring Recess
Monday, April 21
**No lecture: catch up on Paper Project in discussion section
Monday, April 28
The Modern World: ca. 1900 to the World Wars: Europe, Mexico, and the
United States
Readings:
The Metropolitan Museum of Art: The Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History
“Post-Impressionism”
https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/poim/hd_poim.htm
“Surrealism”
https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/surr/hd_surr.htm
“Modern Storytellers: Romare Bearden, Jacob Lawrence, Faith Ringgold”
https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/most/hd_most.htm
Monday, May 5
***last class: Exam Review at 1:30—3:20pm (on zoom)
Exam 2 Covers Material (Renaissance—Modern Art)
Monday, May 12
***No lecture
***Final Paper Due to discussion section instructor
LEARNING OUTCOMES
Students will learn to:
the context of the society they belong to, their role in promoting,
questioning or challenging prevailing beliefs and customs, and the
responses art has provoked in its viewers and consumers: on the ways
in which popular consciousness and social, political and religious
discourse have evolved and changed in response to individual artists
and the art they produce.
7. Identify and engage with local, national, or global trends or
ideologies, and analyze their impact on individual or collective
decision-making by group discussions of artists whose work has
helped to direct popular discourse and even shape public policy and
responses to pressing world issues.
ADA Policy
In compliance with the American Disability Act of 1990 (ADA) and with
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Hunter College is committed
to ensuring educational parity and accommodations for all students with
documented disabilities and/or medical conditions. It is recommended that
all students with documented disabilities (Emotional, Medical, Physical,
and/or Learning) consult the Office of AccessABILITY, located in Room
E1214B, to secure necessary academic accommodations. For further
information and assistance, please go directly to Stephanie Pietropaolo in
E1235 or call (212) 650-3580. If you have a documentable disability or
condition that makes it impossible to complete an assignment as written,
please contact me immediately so an alternative can be arranged.