Art History

Tuesdays 10.00 – 11.30

The first 2 lectures will finish off the fascinating series of Nordic Art, on Zoom.

11 January 2022 – Nordic avant-garde artists

18 January 2022 – Scandinavian Design

Then, we will start a new theme: Forgotten Masters of the 19th century

Following the same format as last term, the first lecture of the month will take place ‘in house’ at The Avenue Club with all other lectures on Zoom.

Ingres, Bouguereau, Bastien Lepage, Carpeau, Tissot, Puvis de Chavannes, Gustave Moreau: these artists were successful and influential during the 19th century. Yet, the public today has more or less completely forgotten their names and remembers the likes of Courbet, Manet, Monet and Van Gogh. In this course, we will set out to understand why that is. We will study the career of some of these artists, and their most significant works. We will consider how they were perceived then, and how there are valued now. This will allow us to discover 19th-Century art from a different perspective. In the process, we will look at the structure of the art world, and study its different elements, from the Academy and Salon, to the art dealers and critics.

25 January – Setting the Stage: David, the Académie and the Louvre

>>>> 1 February – Laura Knight (in-house at The Avenue Club)

8 February – Ingres: neo-classical master with a modern streak?

15 February – Bouguereau and “les Pompiers”: Academic painting

22 February – Camille Corot and the Barbizon School: Landscape painting in a new light

>>>> 1 March – John Singer Sargent (in-house at The Avenue Club)

8 March – Jongkind, Boudin and Monticelli: Precursors of Impressionism

15 March – James Tissot and Bréraud: Painting modern life

22 March — No session

29 March – Jules Bastien-Lepage: the success of French naturalism

About the lecturer