Any art history lovers here? What's your favorite time period? Favorite event that or particular movement?

...ever taken a university-level art history course? Pure and utter bed-wetting insanity.

Posted by KublaKhan ...ever taken a university-level art history course? Pure and utter bed-wetting insanity.

QFT.

I like the idea of art history, but the dry, soulless memorization and subsequent regurgitation of "Name Artist Date Style Name Date Artist Style" is almost, but not quite, exactly the opposite of what art is about for me.

I'll spend hours clicking through wikipedia links, reading about Art Nouveau and its influences, but in every one of my art history classes, I've been about ready to poke myself in the eye out of boredom.

Posted by Avius QFT. I like the idea of art history, but the dry, soulless memorization and subsequent regurgitation of "Name Artist Date Style Name Date Artist Style" is almost, but not quite, exactly the opposite of what art is about for me. I'll spend hours clicking through wikipedia links, reading about Art Nouveau and its influences, but in every one of my art history classes, I've been about ready to poke myself in the eye out of boredom.

THIS. I absolutely adore art history minus the memorization. I could tell you the influences and meaning behind a specific painting and all the symbolism, possibly who did it, but the exact year and what it was painted on? Fuck if I know.

I took AP art history in my senior year in high school a while back. I'm going to be taking it when I start college next fall. I'm thinking of minoring in it actually.

Posted by Oryx THIS. I absolutely adore art history minus the memorization. I could tell you the influences and meaning behind a specific painting and all the symbolism, possibly who did it, but the exact year and what it was painted on? Fuck if I know. I took AP art history in my senior year in high school a while back. I'm going to be taking it when I start college next fall. I'm thinking of minoring in it actually.

Um...yeah. High school 'art history' might be a nice introduction to the subject, but really...seriously...university-level Art History is a whole other ball of wax. Why? You're PAYING serious money to learn about contrapposto in Roman statuary viz. a viz. Greek influence circa 140 B.C.E.

I could go on, but I suddenly feel light-headed and woozy, and the flashbacks are starting again, and the voice of my old A/H prof. is summoning a response to her questions, re: name/cite etc. etc.

i am currently taking a course called "contemporary visual culture". although it deals with art from the past five years or so to the present, mostly, it's technically considered an art history course by the university. it's fantastic!

i find that traditional art history courses can sometimes be sort of dry, but it also really depends on the professor you get. if you get a really lively prof who is really passionate about art history, it makes the memorizing a lot easier, because the class becomes more animated and interesting, in my opinion.

Posted by estherella i am currently taking a course called "contemporary visual culture". although it deals with art from the past five years or so to the present, mostly, it's technically considered an art history course by the university. it's fantastic! i find that traditional art history courses can sometimes be sort of dry, but it also really depends on the professor you get. if you get a really lively prof who is really passionate about art history, it makes the memorizing a lot easier, because the class becomes more animated and interesting, in my opinion.

The last 5 years...? That's SOOOO cute. But that ain't art history, sister.

Go back to when we (species-wise) first started scratching lines on the cave walls, and move forward from that point.

Posted by KublaKhan The last 5 years...? That's SOOOO cute. But that ain't art history, sister. Go back to when we (species-wise) first started scratching lines on the cave walls, and move forward from that point.

yes, i've taken those courses too. i'm saying that the course i'm taking is classified under "art history" by the university. we also discuss, in said class, how past art and design has influenced the contemporary images we see now/have seen in the past five years.
in the second part of my last post i refer to the "traditional" (read: NOT CONTEMPORARY) art history courses...like the ones where we, as a species, started scratching on walls...

Posted by estherella yes, i've taken those courses too. i'm saying that the course i'm taking is classified under "art history" by the university. we also discuss, in said class, how past art and design has influenced the contemporary images we see now/have seen in the past five years. in the second part of my last post i refer to the "traditional" (read: NOT CONTEMPORARY) art history courses...like the ones where we, as a species, started scratching on walls...

sounds like someone is "Pussy-Whipped"...
SuCkEr!
i hope you watch "What no to Wear" with you controlling...
i mean wife!


Tiger UpperCutt!

honestly, I liked the art history classes I had to take. yeah, if you have a crap teacher then of course it'll bore you to ritual suicide. That holds true with and subject (Fr. Murphy...freshman algebra...I'm talking to you.) I was lucky in college and had great art history teachers. they had a very progressive method of teaching. they focused on the main players AND the progression from one period to another. It is one of the reasons that Piet Mondrian is one of my favorite artists. In his work you can watch the progression from direct post impressionism to modern art. he really is a transitional artist whose body of work clearly illustrates that transitory period.

I'm taking an actual college level Art History class now. Ancient - 1400. Next semester I'm taking (hopefully honors) 1400-1900. I love it just as much as I did in high school. It's different in a few ways. One being we have to do a lot of the reading on our own (fine with me since I would do it for pleasure anyway). Another new thing is we're actually required to go to a museum and study different objects in person. I got a wonderful professor too. She's extremely happy and excited about what she teaches. She likes pointing out all the fake pieces in our book and encourages us to be skeptical of ancient art - especially if it's a painting.

A side project:

This is a Minoan (fresco?) of a landscape. It's obviously very trippy.



I found that Mandragora autumnalis (Mandrake) is very common in Crete. It's root contains a powerful hallucinogenic. My theory is that it was used by the Minoans, thus the trippiness.

So anyways, if I knew I would be able to get an actual job with an art history degree, I would definitely go for it. That doesn't seem at all likely though.

Love love love Italian and Dutch Baroque painting.

As for Design, Art Nouveau and Bauhaus were the coolest.