Art and its histories
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| 6 Tutor-marked assignments (TMAs) | |
| Examination | No residential school |
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Summary
This introduction to art history will interest you if you are new to the discipline or have already studied in this area. The course is structured round six books, each exploring issues or themes central to the discipline. They provide rich and vivid material for study, selected from a broad chronological period from the Renaissance to the late twentieth century. Through detailed study of individual works, movements and institutions of art, you will explore varying approaches that have characterised recent art history and discover different techniques of analysing art works – including painting, architecture, sculpture, photography, textiles, graphic and applied art.
Course content
Central to this course is the notion of the canon: the body of works of art considered at any one time to represent ‘great art’. The course examines the changing intellectual traditions, institutions, social practices and issues of taste governing the canon. By the end of the course you should have the skills to undertake visual analysis of art works and discuss their possible meanings; and you should be able to interpret evidence and understand different art-historical approaches through the study of individual works or movements. You will have a broad understanding of the history of art and the debates that inform it. This will help you undertake further study in this area (and others requiring visual skills) as well as providing further stimulation to look and learn.
The six books are:
Academies, Museums and Canons of Art
The Changing Status of the Artist
Gender and Art
The Challenge of the Avant-Garde
Views of Difference: Different Views of Art
Contemporary Cultures of Display.
Each includes essays by different authors, who explore the book’s theme by examining different sorts of artistic material. In Book 1, for example, the idea of a western ‘canon’ of art is analysed through the study of classical models in the works of Nicolas Poussin and in the Elgin marbles, the establishment of art academies in France and Britain in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and the history of national and regional museums in Britain in the nineteenth century.
Book 2 explores changing attitudes towards the status of the artist, primarily through the study of Northern European and Italian art and of writings on the role of the artist from the sixteenth century. The works of Vasari, Dürer, Breughel and Vermeer are among those included, with a final section on the changing status of the eighteenth-century French painter Watteau.
Book 3, concerned with how gender issues have affected the study of western art history, looks both at the work of women artists from the sixteenth to the twentieth centuries, and at the ways in which visual representation (by male or female artists) may be gendered. The topics include women artists working in the academies of France and Britain during the eighteenth century; the role of gender in British architecture and design; and the role of psychoanalysis in the study of modern art.
Book 4 explores the concept of the avant-garde in the history of nineteenth- and early twentieth-century western art. It includes studies of the effects of nineteenth-century political events on the work of artists such as Courbet, Manet, Monet and Gauguin. The book also investigates a concept of ‘modernity’ in relation to nineteenth-century photography and architectural design, and charts the development of early twentieth-century notions of avant-gardism in the work of the Russian Constructivists and the Italian Futurists, among others.
The fifth book is concerned primarily with non-European art from, for example, China, India and Africa, and some of the ways in which it has been represented both within its original culture and in western art history. There are essays on how non-European artists have negotiated Western artistic conventions and how some European writers have interpreted non-western sources.
The last book is about the ways in which art is displayed and ‘consumed’ in western societies today. It examines the roles of museums (including the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the National Gallery, London), the fashion for ‘blockbuster’ exhibitions and the heritage industry, opening up questions about how and why we absorb and learn about art in our culture.
All six books are illustrated in colour and in black and white, and each book is accompanied by a short study handbook which helps you to structure and develop your study. Eight DVD programmes develop and explore issues raised in the books, and a further six DVD programmes introduce the media of painting, sculpture, architecture and textiles, and artists evidence.
Associated residential school course
You may also be interested in The art history residential school (AXR272). This course develops the Open University art history curriculum, providing a balanced mix of classroom-based learning and first-hand experience of artworks. A key strength of AXR272 is the emphasis on looking at actual works of art; and the excellent opportunity to take part in guided visits to prominent London galleries and museums: the National Gallery; Tate Modern; and the British Museum.
The course covers topics ranging from the art of the Renaissance to contemporary art and ‘non-western’ art and artefacts. The themes of the residential school complement and support existing art history courses without repeating their content.
AXR272 is worth 15 points and would require you to complete an assessed, but ungraded, preparatory assignment, take part in an assessed (but once again, ungraded) group project presentation at the residential school and then complete an end of course assignment (ECA), which is designed to build on your learning at residential school.
The school will be hosted at Queen Mary College, University of London, at the Mile End campus and provides an all-inclusive package, including accommodation, meals and pre-booked coach travel for gallery and museum visits.
Entry
You need no specialised historical or practical knowledge of art, but you will be at an advantage if you have some awareness of the concepts of art history and some experience of undergraduate study. This is a Level 2 course and builds on the Level 1 course The arts past and present (AA100); if you have no academic or art-historical background at all, you are strongly advised to take AA100 before embarking on this course. Your regional or national centre will be able to tell you where you can see reference copies of AA100, or you can buy selected materials from Open University Worldwide Ltd. If you have any doubt about the suitability of the course, please contact our Student Registration & Enquiry Service.
Preparatory work
There are two set books. The first is a critical anthology of art-historical writings from the Renaissance to the present day and includes a general survey of different types of art history and a useful glossary. The second, the course anthology, is a selection of texts directly related to each of the six books. You may like to take a look at these books in advance, but bear in mind that many of the texts will be studied in more detail during the course. You might also like to look at A World History of Art by Hugh Honour and John Fleming (Laurence King Publishing), as it’s probably an easier starting point. Despite its formidable size, this is a very accessible book, and you will find reading some of it provides interesting background for the course. Make your selection from Chapter ten onwards, although if you are interested in non-western art, Chapter six also relates broadly to parts of the course.
Qualifications
A216 is an optional course in our
- BA (Honours) Humanities (B03)
- BA (Honours) Humanities (B03) (with Art History)
It can also count towards most of our other degrees at bachelors level, where it is suitable for a BA. We advise you to refer to the relevant qualification descriptions for information on the circumstances in which this course can count towards these qualifications because from time to time the structure and requirements may change.
If you have a disability or additional requirement
The printed course material is available in comb-bound format. The course materials are also available (except illustrative or figurative materials) on audio in DAISY Digital Talking Book format. The two set books are also available on audio CD. There are transcripts of the audio-visual material, the eight DVDs are subtitled and some diagrams are available in tactile format. One of the aims of the course is to enable you to make critical comparisons between the works of art and texts related to them. One of the learning outcomes for this course is for students to develop their ability to exercise powers of visual discrimination by direct engagement with works of art. Blind and severely partially sighted students will experience difficulty in achieving this learning outcome. However, students who have a background in art history gained whilst usefully sighted will be able to draw upon this experience. No textual descriptions or alternative formats of reproductions will be available and the use of a sighted assistant to interpret the works of art would conflict with the required learning outcome. Blind and partially sighted students are encouraged to contact the Student Registration and Enquiry Service for advice before registering for this course.
If you are a new student, or new to courses using a computer or the internet, you will need to inform us of your particular needs as soon as possible, as some of our support services may take several weeks to arrange. Details of how to do this and our range of support services are described in our booklet Meeting Your Needs which you can download or request from our Student Registration & Enquiry Service.
You can also find information about accessible course materials, financial support and the Disabled Students' Allowance, equipment and other services, on our Services for disabled students website. It also includes our contact details for advice and support both before you register and while you are studying.
Course materials
What's included
Course books, other printed materials, CDs, DVDs, course website.
You will need
CD and DVD player; television.
Computing requirements
This course includes online computer activities – you can access these using a web browser that can play Flash and Shockwave.
You will need internet access and a computer. If you have purchased a new computer since 2002 it should meet your course computing requirements. Check our Technical Requirements section if your computer is older than this or is otherwise unusual.
Materials to buy
Set books
- Fernie, Eric Art History and Its Methods, Phaidon Press £14.95 - ISBN 9780714829913
- Edwards, Steve (ed) Art and Its Histories, Yale University Press £12.95 - ISBN 9780300077445
Teaching and assessment
Support from your tutor
You will have a tutor who will help you with the course material and mark and comment on your written work, and whom you can ask for advice and guidance. We may also be able to offer group tutorials or day-schools that you are encouraged, but not obliged, to attend. Where your tutorials are held will depend on the distribution of students taking the course.
Contact our Student Registration & Enquiry Service if you want to know more about study with The Open University before you register.
Assessment
The assessment details for this course can be found in the facts box above.
You can choose whether to submit your tutor-marked assignments (TMAs) on paper or online through the eTMA system. You may want to use the eTMA system for some of your assignments but submit on paper for others. This is entirely your choice.
Assessment is an essential part of the teaching, so you are expected to complete it all. The substitution rule does not apply to this course.
Students also studied
Students who studied this course also studied at some time:
Future availability
The details given here are for the course that starts in January 2010. We expect it to be available once a year.
How to register
To register a place on this course return to the top of the page and use the Click to register button. For more information and advice about registration see OU Study Explained.
About this page
An undergraduate course in Arts and Humanities.
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Student Reviews
I have always been interested in looking at art in galleries and museums but felt I never knew enough about ...
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I found Art and it's Histories to be an enlightening exploration into the historical aspect of art. The Fernie reader ...
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