ART 470 Old Masters and Young Geniuses
Dr. Decker Associate Professor of Art History Georgetown College
Office: WAB 106 email: phone: 502.863.8173
Office hours: daily after class, until 4:00 pm* May18-29, 2009
Course Description:
“hate-filed, bigoted, anti-Christian, and obscene”[1]
against “general standards of decency and respect for the diverse beliefs and values of the American public”[2]
“sick” and “disgusting”[3]
North Carolina Senator Jesse Helms decreed in the summer of 1989 that Andres Serrano’s Piss Christ (1989) was sickening, abhorrent, and shocking -- a characterization that, in fact, bears witness to the senator’s misinterpretation of the photograph and the (Catholic) artist’s intention. Helms was not alone in his attack. The phrases above were used to describe the work that fell victim to one of many lambasts that have flooded the art world in the past two decades. This “world”, if you will, has unleashed its own attack in the form of self-critical debate among critics, theorists, and historians. In fact, two decades before Helms, art historian and theorist Michael Fried lambasted then-emergent Minimalist art, deeming it corrosive and problematic precisely because it blurred the distinctions between aesthetic experiences and the ordinary objects of daily life. Fried’s critique, “Art and Objecthood” (1967), offered six analyses of minimal art and questioned the authority of cognition and aesthetic realization -- points of view that have, forty years on, cemented the hold of Minimal art. More recently, “shock art” from Britain has contributed to the debate, perhaps most notably with Damien Hirst’s For the Love of God, a sculpture produced in 2007 consisting of a platinum cast of a human skull encrusted with 8, 601 diamonds. The work was on view at the White Cube Gallery in London and was rumored to have been sold for £50 million. Richard Dorment, art critic of the Daily Telegraph wrote that “For the Love of God questions something about the morality of art and money.”[4]
The relationship between art and economics is murky. Auction sales and fair market values contribute to our understanding of how much a work of art is “worth”, but what determines this worth? How is this relationship between economics and art qualified? Why were record prices achieved at auction in 2006 and 2007? This seminar will address the relationship between art and economics in broad terms by considering the work of artists deemed “old masters” and those considered “young geniuses”. By introducing key Old Master paintings as the standard, modern and contemporary artwork will be introduced and studied. Students will discuss these more recent works through the lenses of art history and economics. Consideration will be given to the diagnostic assessment (what makes it art?) and the eminence scale (what makes the work or the artist more important or less important?).
Prior knowledge of art history is suggested. If you have not had an art history course, please email the professor by May 1 for additional reading. All students are asked to complete Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner, Freakonomics before reporting to class on the first day.
Class Format & Attendance:
· The class will consist of lecture and discussion. Students are responsible for taking notes during both portions of the class in addition to notes on assigned readings for the day.
· Class attendance is mandatory. Students who miss class will receive a 10 point deduction per class hour or portion of hour missed (one day of class =40 point deduction). Art Department Policy requires students to attend 80% of the class meetings in order to earn credit for the course, however I strongly advise students to attend every lecture because our discussion will greatly enhance your learning. If a student misses two full days of class, or more, the student is advised to drop the course. Please see me for further clarification.
· Attendance on class trips is mandatory. If a student misses a field trip, the student is counted as absent for the day and must make up any work by visiting the gallery or space on his or her own, in order to make up the material discussed.
· The following class trips are scheduled for the course:
§ Studio 507, Loft 155, the Scott County Arts Consortium, and Fine Art Editions in Georgetown
§ Ann Tower Gallery, ArtsPlace, Downtown Arts Center, Loudoun House, Lexington, KY
§ The Speed Museum, Louisville, KY OR 21c in Louisville OR the Contemporary Art Center in Cincinnati
§ In addition, we will visit the galleries on campus, including Georgetown College’s Jacobs Gallery, Anne Wright Wilson Gallery, and Cochenour Gallery.
Course Requirements and Expectations: There will be six class meetings the first week and five the following. Each class will consist of time to view works of art, sharing of research, and discussion. It is vital that you attend all class meetings, take notes and participate in them. Please read the assignments in the texts and any assigned articles BEFORE the classes on that subject; reading assignments are meant to supplement the class meetings, and stimulate questions, not replace them.
Texts and Readings: Four textbooks, available at the campus bookstore (The Store), are required for this course:
*Dana Arnold. Art History: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004. 125 pages
*Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner, Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything, New York: William Morrow, 2006. 336 pages. [to be read before the 1st day]
*David W. Galenson, Old Masters and Young Geniuses: The Two Life Cycles of Artistic Creativity, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2007. 256 pages.
*Don Thompson, The $12 Million Stuffed Shark: The Curious Economics of Contemporary Art, Palgrave, 2008. 272 pages.
In addition, students will prepare an annotated notebook of sources related to a topic of their choice. Expect to spend up to $10 on photocopies during this term (estimated 3 to 10 pages per article: up to 100 pages total).
For Further Reading: If you are interested in any of the material we discuss in this course, I will gladly provide you with a list of sources to consult for further reading.
Grade Composition: I grade on a point system, which means that everyone in this course starts with no points. The good news is that each point that you earn adds up to give you the total number of points that you have earned in the semester. You have the opportunity to earn 1000 points in this class. The scale below shows the grade composition:
· responses to readings and question sets 300 points
· attendance/participation/online 100 points
· “for your consideration” 200 points
· research portfolio 200 points
· final exam 200 points
total 1000 points
Grade Scale: The total number of points that can be earned in this course is 1000. Therefore, the following scale refers to total points, over the course of the semester:
920-1000: A 880-919: A/B 820-879: B 780-819: B/C 700-779: C 600-699: D 599 and below: F
Special consideration in assigning a final grade will be given to those cases in which a student's performance either steadily improves or deteriorates during the course.
Quality Work: Please note that in order to receive a perfect score (for example, 10 out of 10 points) on a written assignment, your essay or paper must be as error-free as possible. This includes spelling and grammatical perfection as well as proper citation of sources and identification of images (artist, title, date, media, where you found the image).
See Art History Helper! For writing guidelines and remember to use footnotes -- not parenthetical citation.
Late Work: Late work of any kind, including presentations, will not be accepted unless I am informed 24 hours ahead of time of a problem or verification if there is a documented or otherwise verifiable emergency [e.g. illness with Doctor’s note or campus personnel who can vouch for you]. If you have not notified me of a problem ahead of time or if you are unable to provide some evidence of your emergency, you will receive a non-negotiable zero. In fairness to all students in this course, please respect this very important policy. A penalty will be assigned for items that are turned in later than the specified due date without prior permission: the grade will drop one full grade (for instance, from an A to a B) for each day late, including weekends. I do not accept email versions of papers or assignments left in my mailbox at the campus mailroom. You must bring the assignment to me and leave it with me or in my box outside of my office door.
Resource for written assignments: Assistance with writing is available through the Writing Center located in the lower level of the LRC. In addition, I expect students to be familiar with the new English Composition writing guide, A Writer’s Reference, sixth edition, which is used in all English 111 and 112 courses since Fall 2008. Additionally, copies are available on reserve in the LRC. See dianahacker.com/writersref or the reserve copy, pp. 460-488 which address the Chicago Manual of Style, particularly the sections related to documentation using footnotes.
Cell Phone and Other Electronic Devices: Cell phones and other electronic devices, including laptops, are a distraction during class lecture or discussion. Due to frequent classroom disruptions, I have a cell phone policy for all of my classes. Please turn off your cell phone and put iPods, laptops, and other electronic devices away at the beginning of class. If I suspect that a student is using a cell phone for a conversation or texting, I will ask the student to leave the class. The student will be counted absent for the day. If you have reason for having an electronic device for use in the classroom, please let me know as soon as possible and I will do my best to assist you.
Academic Misconduct: The Georgetown College Honor System defines infractions of the honor system as: cheating, plagiarism,stealing, lying (in
academic matters), forgery, double assignments (use of one assignment to fulfill the requirements of more than one course). College policies outlined
in the student handbook will be followed, should a case of suspected academic misconduct arise.
Disability Services: If any student needs assistance in the classroom due to a disability, please contact Disability Services at (863)-8004/7074/7956 in advance of the course or as soon as possible so that arrangements or accommodations may be made.
Grading Opportunities:
Assigned readings and lecture information
Students are responsible for all assigned readings. Students are required to read the material before class and be prepared to discuss the material in class. The readings will be divided into arrangements with author names and pages per class period.
Responses and Critiques of Readings -- 300 points -- due daily
These assignments require that you read material for the course. Each response should include three parts: a brief summary of the reading(s) OR answer to a prompt that I have given; a point that you thought was important (or, even, the thesis of the reading); and a question that you had about the reading or topic (i.e. something that you would like to know more about or an aspect of the reading that you did not understand). In order to earn a score in the upper range (A through B range), your entry must reference the author’s name as well as discussion points that have been made throughout the semester. Bring two copies of your response to class on each due date: submit one and keep the other in your notebook. These writings are intended to function as an ongoing discussion over the course of the semester.
Hang on to your responses and critiques and refer to them throughout the semester, as you are asked to go back to them and respond to them with thoughts and questions based upon our discussion and subsequent reading. We will discuss this further, as the semester progresses, and students will submit their original papers and the redux of these as part of their “notebook” for this course. To this end, keep all handouts, notes from readings, plus your notes from class, in one notebook. Ideally, your notebook would serve as a narrative of our course, from page one and our first day of class to the final page and your notes about your final project. In between these pages are the notes and comments about each of our four topics under discussion in this course.
Attendance and Participation/Online Responses: -- 100 points -- earned daily in class and online
Merely coming to class is not enough. Your grade consists of participation points. We will begin building a blog of comments related to our course discussion and students are asked to make comments on the blog as prescribed on the syllabus outline. Further directives will be given on the first day of class and we will post info to the blog together on day 1.
It is your responsibility to sign in each day at the beginning of class. If a student has on-time, perfect attendance each day, the student’s final grade will be increased by 1%.