being golden: the life and afterlife of the spanish ...€¦ · being golden: the life and...

Being Golden: The Life and Afterlife of the Spanish Masters

fist 126 :: First-Year Seminar Wesleyan University — Fall 2015

rev. 5.ix.15

Professor: Class Meetings: Office Hours: Melissa R. Katz Tu/Th 2:40 pm to 4:00 pm 41 Wyllys, rm. 306, x 2733 [email protected] 41 Wyllys Ave, rm. 110 Wednesdays 2:00-‐4:00 pm

or by appointment Course Description:

The achievements of Spanish painters and sculptors reached unprecedented heights in the 17th century that justly made them protagonists of a Golden Age. Centuries later, their works took on new roles as later artists found their own inspiration in works of the past: Manet copied Velázquez, Picasso copied El Greco, and (famously on Project Runway) Christian Siriano copied Murillo. What allowed these complex works to resonate so strongly in another era? Is such influence automatically a sign of success? Can works of art fully function once separated from the context for which they were created? Students will be introduced to the reading of visual art for stylistic, historical, and political content, and develop a critical understanding of the religious, social, and cultural context of that gave rise to the great artists of Golden Age Spain, as well as insights into the role of art as cultural currency.

Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, Two Women at a Window, ca. 1655-‐60, Washington, DC: National Gallery of Art

Course Summary 1 Tues Sept 8th Introductions and Course Overview 2 Thurs Sept 10th Blended Cultures: Muslim, Jewish, Christian Roots of Spanish Art 3 Tues Sept 15th Painting the Monarchy: Life in the Royal Court • Part I 4 Thurs Sept 17th El Greco or El Escorial: Two Pathways to Success 5 Tues Sept 22nd Naturalism in Painting and Sculpture 6 Thurs Sept 24th Early Velázquez, the Dawn of a Golden Age 7 Tues Sept 29th Ribera, Ribalta, and Visionary Experience Formal Analysis Due 8 Thurs Oct 1st Research Training Session 9 Tues Oct 6th Diego Velázquez at Court: the Royal Painter Reading Response Due 10 Thurs Oct 8th Murillo and Zurbarán: the School of Sevile 11 Tues Oct 13th Goya in and Out of Context 12 Thurs Oct 15th Field trip to Davison Art Center: Goya and post-‐Goya Meet at DAC 13 Tues Oct 20th MIDTERM EXAM Exam 14 Thurs Oct 22nd Goya and the Golden Age • Part II Sat tbd New York City bus trip to Metropolitan Museum of Art NYC Tues Oct 27th Fall Break, NO CLASS MEETING 15 Thurs Oct 29th Raphael Replaced: French Art Finds New Heroes 16 Tues Nov 3rd Manet and Velázquez: the Roots of Modernism Comparative Essay Due 17 Thurs Nov 5th El Greco and Picasso: “Golden Age Cubism”? 18 Tues Nov 10th Picasso and El Greco: Alternative Perspectives 19 Thurs Nov 12th Research Day at Olin LIBRARY, Develin Room, 2nd floor East Peer Response Due/Library trip 20 Tues Nov 17th Golden Age Spain and German Expressionism • Part III 21 Thurs Nov 19th Art for the American Empire 22 Tues Nov 24th Nueva York: Spanish Influences on Urban Architecture Essay Revisions Due Thurs Nov 26th THANKSGIVING 23 Tues Dec 1st Research Presentations • Part IV 24 Thurs Dec 3rd Research Presentations 25 Tues Dec 8th Research Presentations 26 Thurs Dec 10th Being Golden vs. Being Derivative: a Seminar Round-‐up Dec 12th-‐15th Reading Period Tues Dec 15th Research Papers Due by end of day (6:00 pm) Final Papers Due

FIST 126 syllabus 2 Prof. Katz

Required Reading & Textbooks:

Used and new copies of these books are available at Broad Street Books: • Brown, Jonathan. Painting in Spain, 1500-‐1700. Yale University Press, 1998. • Stoichiță, Victor I. Visionary Experience in the Golden Age of Spanish Art. Reaktion Books, 1995

Additional readings will be posted on the library’s E-‐Res site for our course. All readings are required and are to be completed before class. Recommended: the latest edition has been placed on reserve for our course (FIST 126) at the Olin Library.

• Sylvan Barnet, A Short Guide to Writing About Art (various editions 1985-‐2015) Copies are also available to borrow from the library, on the Olin reference shelves, and for sale at the bookstore. Images:

Key images shown in class will be made available to you for study and review on our course Moodle site. Your textbooks are also a valuable image reference, as is ARTstor (see pg. 8). Art Librarian Susanne Javorski, can help you find images and/or train you on optimized web search strategies (see her contact info on pg. 3). Assignments & Grading:

Your grade will be determined by your careful and thorough reading of assigned texts, active participation in class discussions, full attention and engaged response to your fellow class members, and the completion of a variety of written and oral assignments. The breakdown is as follows:

30% Brief writing assignments 15% Midterm (Tuesday, 20 Oct 2015) 15% Participation and Attendance 20% Oral presentation of your research, and discussions of classmates’ research 20% Research Paper (6-‐8 pages text, plus notes, bibliography, figures) 100%

Individual descriptions with details of all assignments and due dates will be provided. Brief assignments will include a formal analysis of a single work of art, a reading response to an assigned text, a bibliography exercise, and a 3-‐4 page thematic essay in response to several works of art. Student Responsibilities:

Attendance is essential to successfully complete the course and be able to perform well on all assignments. Students should come prepared to discuss the assigned readings, ask questions and engage in respectful dialogue. If you must miss a class or leave early, please notify Prof. Katz in advance and arrange with a fellow student to share notes. You will still be responsible for material covered and assignments due. Technology Guidelines:

Because of the emphasis on visual learning in this class, you are requested not to use laptops in class. If you are looking at your computer screen, then you are looking at the wrong screen. Under certain circumstances, students can be exempted from this rule, but ask first. Naturally, cell phone ringers are to be silenced before class begins and texting is verboten (no sending or checking).. Special Accommodations:

If you have a medical condition or learning disability that requires academic accommodations, please chat with the professor during office hours at the start of the semester so that we can make appropriate arrangements with the Office of Student Affairs. For details on Disabilities Resources, see www.wesleyan.edu/studentaffairs/disabilities/studentguide.html. Here is our policy:


“Wesleyan University is committed to ensuring that all qualified students with disabilities are afforded an equal opportunity to participate in and benefit from its programs and services. To receive accommodations, a student must have a documented disability as defined by Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the ADA Amendments Act of 2008, and provide documentation of the disability. Since accommodations may require early planning and generally are not provided retroactively, please contact Disability Resources as soon as possible. If you believe you need accommodations for a disability, please contact Dean Patey in Disability Resources, located in North College, Room 021, or call (860) 685-‐5581 for an appointment to discuss your needs and the process for requesting accommodations.” Academic Integrity:

Students are expected to observe the policies outlined in Wesleyan’s honor code, which can be found at www.wesleyan.edu/studentaffairs/honorboard/honorcode.html. Please make sure you fully understand the section on plagiarism, and the requirements for citing, quoting, and crediting the work of others. To guarantee this, please scroll down and read in its entirety the section on Plagiarism and definition of plagiarism by Harold C. Martin. All violations of the Honor Code are serious and all violators will be reported to the Honor Board. Students are encouraged to consult the college librarians for academic assistance and help with research and study skills. Use of the Writing Workshop, Peer Tutoring Program and other Wesleyan services must be disclosed but will not count against you. Assistance from your parents or relatives (writing, editing, and/or preparation of any assignments) must also be disclosed, or you will be in violation of the honor code. Footnote & Bibliographical Citations:

Thanks to technology, it is easier than ever to prepare consistent and accurate footnotes and bibliography citations. Please use Sylvan Barnet’s A Short Guide to Writing About Art and the Chicago Manual of Style (http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/home.html) as your style guides. Incomplete or incorrect footnotes and/or bibliographies will be considered a violation of the Honor Code. PLUS huge hint: your syllabus is also a style sheet. Class readings by date are in proper footnote style; page 7 listings are in proper bibliographic style. Don’t forget that for footnotes, repeat citations differ in style from the first citation. Museum Visits:

As a class, we will visit the Davison Art Center at Wesleyan University and have a field trip to the Metropolitan Museum in New York City (Saturday to be announced). Attendance is required; free transportation and museum admission will be provided. Students are also strongly encouraged to visit the excellent nearby collections of the Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford; the Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven; the Hispanic Society, New York; the RISD Museum of Art, Providence; the Worcester Art Museum, and Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Your student ID entitles you to discounted admission. All are open on weekends, including Thanksgiving. Library Guides

Specialist librarian: Susanne Javorski, 2nd floor Olin Library, (860) 685-‐3326, [email protected] As a class we will meet with the art history and romance languages librarian, Susanne Javorski, to discuss research practices and tips for using the library’s collection and electronic resources effectively. In addition, you are strongly encouraged to schedule personal research sessions with the Art Librarian once you have selected your paper topic. Susanne Javorski can help you find scholarly sources, assess the accuracy of online sites you consult, and guide you to reliable websites suited for university-‐level research projects. Sign up for your consultation here: http://www.wesleyan.edu/library/howdoi/makeanappointment.html Library Research Guide: Art http://libguides.wesleyan.edu/art Finding and Using Images http://libguides.wesleyan.edu/content.php?pid=14652&sid=296106


Detailed Class Schedule Week 1, Class 1 Tues Sept 8th

Welcome, introductions, and course overview homework: set up an ARTstor account, if you don’t already have one (see info, pg. 8)

Week 1, Class 2 Thurs Sept 10th

Blended Cultures: the Muslim, Jewish, Christian Roots of Spanish Art reading: Jonathan Brown, Painting in Spain: 1500-‐1700 (New Haven, CT: Yale University

Press, 1998), chap. 1, pp. 6-‐28. PART I: PAINTING & SCULPTURE IN EARLY MODERN SPAIN (1500-‐1800) Week 2, Class 3 Tues Sept 15th

Painting the Monarchy: Life in the Royal Court reading: Brown, Painting in Spain, chaps. 2-‐3, pp. 29-‐61.

Week 2, Class 4 Thurs Sept 17th

El Greco or El Escorial: Two Pathways to Success reading: Brown, Painting in Spain, chap. 4, pp. 62-‐78.

Week 3, Class 5 Tues Sept 22nd

Naturalism in Painting and Sculpture reading: Brown, Painting in Spain, chaps. 5 and 6, pp. 79-‐110. begin: Victor I. Stoichiță, Visionary Experience in the Golden Age of Spanish Art (London:

Reaktion Books, 1995), pp. 7-‐44 and pp. 198-‐99. Week 3, Class 6 Thurs Sept 24th

Early Velázquez: the Dawn of a Golden Age reading: Brown, Painting in Spain, chap. 7, pp. 111-‐30.

and: Stoichiță, Visionary Experience, pp. 45-‐77. Week 4, Class 7 Tues Sept 29th

Ribera, Ribalta, and Visionary Experience reading: Stoichiță, Visionary Experience, pp. 78-‐120.

and: Brown, Painting in Spain, chaps. 8-‐10, pp. 131-‐78. * DUE: Brief Writing Assignment #1: Formal Analysis of a Work of Art (2-‐4 pages)

Week 4, Class 8 Thurs Oct 1st Research Training Session reading: Stoichiță, Visionary Experience, pp. 121-‐61.

Week 5, Class 9 Tues Oct 6th

Diego Velázquez at Court: the Royal Painter reading: Brown, Painting in Spain, chaps. 11 & 14, pp. 179-‐99 and 233-‐53.

and: Stoichiță, Visionary Experience, pp. 162-‐99. * DUE: Brief Writing Assignment #2: Reading Response to Stoichita (1-‐3 pgs., set question)

Week 5, Class 10 Thurs Oct 8th

Murillo and Zurbarán: the School of Seville


reading: Brown, Painting in Spain, chaps. 12-‐13, pp. 200-‐32.

Week 6, Class 11 Tues Oct 13th Goya In and Out of Context reading: Edward J. Olszewski, “Exorcising Goya's ‘The Family of Charles IV’,” Artibus et

Historiae vol. 20, no. 40 (1999), pp. 169-‐85. and: Ilse Hempel Lipschutz, “Goya and the French Romantics,” Manet/Velázquez: the

French Taste for Spanish Painting, ed. Gary Tinterow and Geneviève Lacambre (New York: Metropolitan Museum, 2003), pp. 160-‐73.

Week 6, Class 12 Thurs Oct 15th

NOTE: THIS CLASS MEETS IN THE DAVISON ART CENTER Goya, Romanticism, and Printmaking reading: Sarah Kirk Hanley, “The Recurrence of Caprice: Chagoya’s Goyas,” Art in Print vol. 3,

no. 2 (July/August 2013), pp. 11-‐18. Week 7, Class 13 Tues Oct 20th

MIDTERM EXAM Please be on time, as we will begin promptly with the slide identifications.

PART II: MODERN ART AND GOLDEN AGE SPAIN: CULTURAL BORROWINGS Week 7, Class 14 Thurs Oct 22nd

Goya, the Golden Age, and France reading: Janis Tomlinson, “Evolving Concepts: Spain, Painting, and Authentic Goyas in

Nineteenth-‐Century France,” Metropolitan Museum Journal 31 (1996), pp. 189-‐202. Sat To be announced NYC Bus Trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art (required) depart Usdan 8:30 am, depart Met (Fifth Ave. & 83rd St) 4:00 pm, arrive Usdan ~ 6:30 pm Week 8 Tues Oct 27th

FALL BREAK No meeting for our class. Instead, rest, relax, and visit an art museum

Week 8, Class 15 Thurs Oct 29th Raphael Replaced: French Art Finds New Heroes reading: Gary Tinterow, “Raphael Replaced: the Triumph of Spanish Painting in France,”

Manet/Velázquez, pp. 2-‐65.

Week 9, Class 16 Tues Nov 3rd Manet and Velázquez: the Roots of Modernism reading: Juliet Wilson-‐Bareau, “Manet and Spain,” Manet/Velázquez, pp. 202-‐57. * DUE: Brief Writing Assignment #3: Comparative essay (3-‐5 pages, choice of topics)

Week 9, Class 17 Thurs Nov 5th

El Greco and Picasso: “Golden Age Cubism”? reading: John Richardson, “Picasso’s Apocalyptic Whorehouse,” New York Review of Books

vol. 34, no. 7 (23 April 1987), pp. 40-‐47. Week 10, Class 18 Tues Nov 10th


Picasso and El Greco: Alternative Perspectives reading: Robert S. Lubar, “Narrating the Nation: Picasso and the Myth of El Greco,” Picasso

and the Spanish Tradition, ed. Jonathan Brown (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press), pp. 26-‐60, footnotes pp. 164-‐73.


Library Visit & Research Training Session with Susanne Javorski MEET IN THE OLIN LIBRARY, Develin Room, 2nd floor East * DUE: Brief Writing Assignment #4: Peer Responses to Writing Asst #3 essays

PART III: SPAIN’S GOLDEN AGE AND AMERICA’S GILDED AGE Week 11, Class 20 Tues Nov 17th

Golden Age Spain and German Expressionism reading: Veronika Schroeder, “‘We can only understand forms as long as we need them’: El

Greco and the Young Expressionists,” El Greco and Modernism, ed. Beat Wismer and Michael Scholz-‐Hänsel (Ostfildern: Hatje Cantz Verlag, 2012), pp. 220-‐49.


Art for the American Empire reading: Richard L. Kagan, ‘’The Spanish turn’: the discovery of Spanish art in the United

States, 1887-‐1920,” Collecting Spanish Art: Spain's Golden Age and America's Gilded Age, ed. Inge Reist and José Luis Colomer (New York: Frick Collection/Centro de Estudios Europa Hispánica, Madrid/Center for Spain in America, New York, 2012), pp. 20-‐41.

Week 12, Class 22 Tues Nov 24th

Nueva York: Spanish Influences on Urban Architecture reading: Kagan, Richard L. “Blame it on Washington Irving: New York’s Discovery of the Art

and Architecture of Spain.” In Nueva York, 1613-‐1945, ed. Edward J. Sullivan. New York: New York Historical Society, 2010, pp. 154-‐71.

and: Suzanne L. Stratton-‐Pruitt, “An Early Appreciation of Murillo,” Collecting Spanish Art, pp. 278-‐95.

* DUE: Brief Writing Assignment #5: Revisions of comparative essay (assignment #3) Week 12 Thurs Nov 26th THANKSGIVING BREAK — No meeting for our class

Fun fact to know and tell: the Friday after Thanksgiving is the busiest day at American museums Weeks 13 and 14, Classes 23-‐25 Tues/Thurs Dec 1st, 3rd, and 8th

Research Presentations Week 14, Class 26 Thurs Dec 10th

Being Golden vs. Being Derivative: a Seminar Roundup Reading Period Sat-‐Tues Dec 12th-‐15th Prof. Katz will be available for consultation Tues Dec 15th

Research Papers Due. 6-‐8 pages of text, plus footnotes, bibliography, figures/illustrations. Please send an electronic copy to <mrkatz @ wesleyan.edu>, or leave a hard copy in my mailbox in

the Art History Department office (Wyllys 318) before 5 pm.


Bibliography Barnet, Sylvan. A Short Guide to Writing about Art. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, 2015. Brown, Jonathan. Painting in Spain, 1500-‐1700. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1998. Hanley, Sarah Kirk. “The Recurrence of Caprice: Chagoya’s Goyas.” Art in Print vol. 3, no. 2 (July, August

2013), pp. 11-‐18. Lipschutz, Ilse Hempel. “Goya and the French Romantics,” Manet/Velázquez: the French Taste for Spanish

Painting, ed. Gary Tinterow and Geneviève Lacambre. Catalogue of an exhibition held at the Musée d’Orsay, Paris and Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 2002-‐03. New York: Metropolitan Museum, 2003, pp. 160-‐73.

Kagan, Richard L. “Blame it on Washington Irving: New York’s Discovery of the Art and Architecture of

Spain.” In Nueva York, 1613-‐1945, ed. Edward J. Sullivan. New York: New York Historical Society, 2010, pp. 154-‐71.

Kagan, Richard L. ‘’The Spanish turn’: the discovery of Spanish art in the United States, 1887-‐1920.” In

Collecting Spanish Art: Spain's Golden Age and America's Gilded Age, ed. Inge Reist and José Luis Colomer. New York: Frick Collection/Centro de Estudios Europa Hispánica, Madrid/Center for Spain in America, New York, 2012, pp. 20-‐41.

Lubar, Robert S. “Narrating the Nation: Picasso and the Myth of El Greco.” In Picasso and the Spanish

Tradition, ed. Jonathan Brown. New Haven: Yale Univ. Press, 1996, pp. 26-‐60, footnotes pp. 164-‐73. Olszewski, Edward J. “Exorcising Goya's ‘The Family of Charles IV’.” Artibus et Historiae vol. 20, no. 40 (1999),

pp. 169-‐85. Richardson, John. “Picasso’s Apocalyptic Whorehouse.” New York Review of Books vol. 34, no. 7 (23 April

1987), pp. 40-‐47. Schroeder, Veronika. “‘We can only understand forms as long as we need them’: El Greco and the Young

Expressionists.” In El Greco and Modernism, ed. Beat Wismer and Michael Scholz-‐Hänsel. Catalog of an exhibition held at Museum Kunstpalast, Düsseldorf, 2012. Ostfildern: Hatje Cantz Verlag, 2012, pp. 220-‐49.

Stoichiță, Victor I. Visionary Experience in the Golden Age of Spanish Art. London: Reaktion Books, 1995. Stratton-‐Pruitt, Suzanne L. “An Early Appreciation of Murillo.” In Collecting Spanish Art: Spain's Golden Age

and America's Gilded Age, ed. Inge Reist and José Luis Colomer. New York: Frick Collection/Centro de Estudios Europa Hispánica, Madrid/Center for Spain in America, New York, 2012, pp. 278-‐95.

Tinterow, Gary. “Raphael Replaced: the Triumph of Spanish Painting in France.” In Manet/Velázquez: the

French Taste for Spanish Painting, ed. Gary Tinterow and Geneviève Lacambre. Catalogue of an exhibition held at the Musée d’Orsay, Paris and Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 2002-‐03. New York: Metropolitan Museum, 2003, pp. 2-‐65.

Tomlinson, Janis. “Evolving Concepts: Spain, Painting, and Authentic Goyas in Nineteenth-‐Century France.”

Metropolitan Museum Journal vol. 31 (1996), pp. 189-‐202. Wilson-‐Bareau, Juliet. “Manet and Spain.” In Manet/Velázquez : the French Taste for Spanish Painting, ed. Gary

Tinterow and Geneviève Lacambre. Catalogue of an exhibition held at the Musée d’Orsay, Paris and Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 2002-‐03. New York: Metropolitan Museum, 2003, pp. 202-‐57.


Recommended web sites: Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History The Metropolitan Museum’s detailed timeline, with abundant essays and suggestions for further research. This is a one-‐stop shop for art history students and a great starting place for research papers.

• URL: http://www.metmuseum.org/toah Individual Art Museum collection pages Museums are at the forefront of the digital revolution. Many have made their entire collection databases (along with images, gallery label text, provenance information, and exhibition histories) available on-‐line. When researching any work in a US or European museum collection, always visit the collection database. ARTstor A scholarly non-‐profit digital image library designed for universities, where you can find high-‐quality images and zoom in on hard-‐to-‐see details. Register (for free) via a computer on the Wesleyan network to download images to your computer (click on a thumbnail, then click on the diskette symbol on the full-‐sized image).

• URL: http://www.artstor.org OR enter through the Wesleyan Art Library page

Camio: Catalogue of Art Museum Images Online It’s hit or miss whether the work of art you want will be included among the twenty-‐five museum collections aggregated at this site, but if it is, there will be handy access to up-‐to-‐date cataloguing information and a good quality downloadable reproduction. (You’ll still find more info on the individual museum collection pages.)

• URL: http://camio.oclc.org/ Web Gallery of Art A hidden gem, the Hungarian Web Gallery of Art is a meta-‐site that has grouped together images of (almost) all of the paintings in the major European and American museum collections, along with artist’s biographies and information about the artwork coming from museum curators. Images are zoomable, and downloadable.

• URL: http://www.wga.hu Grove Art Online Available as an electronic resource through Oxford Art Online. Access is through the Wesleyan Library catalogue as an electronic resource; then check “Search only ☑ Grove Art.”

• URL: http://www.oxfordartonline.com/subscriber/;jsessionid=ABBFBB1D1986F1915A8829A8CBA11939 Art Full Text Art Full Text (H.W. Wilson Co.) indexes books and periodicals related to art, architecture, archaeology, museums, film, humanities, marketing, motion pictures and photography from 1984 to the present. Access is through the Wesleyan Library catalogue as an electronic resource (enter via a proxy if searching off-‐campus). Scroll down to see if full text is provided; otherwise use the citation to access material via Olin, CTW, or ILL.

• URL: enter through the Wes Library OneSearch or Caleb, search title: Art Full Text. BHA, and IBA The Bibliography of the History of Art (BHA) indexes major art historical journals from 1975 to 2007. The International Bibliography of Art (IBA) indexes articles from 2007 on. You can search online for citations related to your research, then use the information to retrieve articles from jStor, Olin, CTW, and ILL.

• for BHA: use URL http://www.getty.edu/research/tools/bha/ • for IBA: enter via the Wes library page for full access; search title: International Bibliography of Art.

smArthistory This site bills itself a free multi-‐media web-‐book designed to enhance the traditional art history textbook. It is not the most sophisticated source out there, but it does have some great videos where you can see monuments and works of art in the round and in detail, and hear art historians whisper.

• URL: http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org/

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