ART216-01: Art History Survey II: From the Renaissance to the 21 Century

Part two of the art history survey spans a period of extraordinary developments and changes in art. These changes include the nature and role of the artist, reasons for making art, the public’s responses to art, the materials and media used, and the subject matter of the art work. One of the most amazing changes, which may be hard to believe today, is that artists during the Renaissance did not make art as a means of personal expression – art was a business long before it became a form of personal expression. Guiding questions for this survey therefore include the changing nature of patronage (who commissions the artwork and pays the artist to make it) and its effect on art; the role of gender in terms of who makes the art work, what it looks like, and who uses it; and the growth of national and/or regional issues and their reflection in art. Finally, as your textbook title indicates, this class focuses on the western tradition of art (Europe and North America).