Art History

The course covers both the historically specific concept of The Total Work of Art (Gesamtkunstwerk), with Richard Wagner's opera aesthetics in focus, as well as other forms of compound medial artistic expressions of our times such as film, music videos, and architecture. Special attention is paid to concepts such as form/content, art, intermediality, border crossings, art, aesthetics, and ideology.

This course covers two aspects of Chinese art and cultural heritage—ancient gardening and painting. Guided by classic literature such as Yuanye and Linquan Gaozhi, the course will vividly display the beauty and wisdom contained in Chinese cultural heritage in the form of classic reading, cultural relic appreciation, and image observation.

This course introduces contemporary management models for commercial and non-commercial practices through theory, case study, and practical work. As with Foundations of The Global Art Market, there are two strong teaching and learning strands that provide students with art marketing and branding knowledge, and with in-depth knowledge relative to key established art markets sectors, including photography, Old Masters, impressionist, and 19th century works. Further, the course examines essential art market professional roles, such as the curator, gallerist, collector, journalist, and art fund manager, and innovative new art business models such as online art operators.

This course is an in-depth study of art production in the Classical world, providing a history of making from Graeco-Roman techniques to their reception in the Renaissance and use until the present day. Students engage with the materials, tools, and processes involved in the production of sculpture, pottery, painting, glass, textiles, and jewelry among other art forms. Students study the complex sequence of actions involved in their production, following the artist as maker as well as investigating the client behind these commissions.