Six Week Course – Inspiration and Meaning: the history and development of Western art

Description

Explore the history and development of Western art and culture to understand how artwork derives its meaning and value. Trace a journey into the cultural DNA of Western art.

Creativity and innovation arise through understanding the past. Connecting and responding to a great legacy is the way artists throughout history have found creative autonomy and achieved striking, bold and innovative art. This six-week course offers you the opportunity to transform artistically and find immeasurable empowerment by understanding the historical development of artistic ideas and what makes specific artworks so profound. We will discover how the history of art intersects with cultural and intellectual history in a way that illuminates creative paths for you to take in your own work while drawing from a specific artwork each week with step by step tuition and guidance.

The course is a series of lectures followed by classical drawing. Each session lasts two hours and personal guidance and support is provided. The classes will be delivered live on Zoom every Saturday at 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and each week a worksheet will be provided and homework set.

Structure:

Week 1 – Hellenism in Antiquity: visual culture in the ancient world         

Week 2 – The Christian and the Hellenic: rupture and continuity

Week 3 – Transcendence and Wonder: the art of the Medieval World

Week 4 – The Renaissance: revival of Hellenism in the workshop

Week 5 – The Renaissance: cultural transformations in Early Modernity

Week 6 – Old Masters and the Zenith of Painting: art of the seventeenth century