Hi! Welcome to the exciting world of Art History! While the course is challenging, it will also be an amazing experience. You are soooo lucky to be embarking upon this journey that will stay with you for a lifetime, and I am looking forward to experiencing it with you! Have a great summer and get ready for an exciting, passionate, and life-changing year! If you have questions or find something interesting, contact me at:
For this class, you will need the following:
A three-ringed binder
3 packs of 5 x 8 lined index cards (you’ll need about 300 total)
glue sticks, four different high lighter colors
Summer Assignment: attached
Donations needed for class: GLUE STICKS, 5x8 index cards, dry erase colorful markers, Kleenex, Clorox wipes .
The Course, Student Preparation
The AP Art History course is equivalent to a two-semester college survey course exploring the nature of art, art making, and responses to art. By investigating specific course content of 250 works of art characterized by diverse artistic traditions from prehistory to the present, students develop in-depth, holistic understanding of the history of art from a global perspective. Students become active participants in the global art world, engaging with its forms and content. They experience, research, discuss, read, and write about art, artists, art making, responses to, and interpretations of art.
Resources:
1) https://student.collegeboard.org/
2) join FaceBook: Dershimer’s Art History
3) The MET’s AH timeline: http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/worldregions/#/06/World-Map;
You will be required to use the following throughout the year:
eCampuS
Khan Academy, https://www.khanacademy.org/test-prep/ap-art-history
*Pick up the required textbook at Orientation, put name in it and LEAVE at home: Gardner’s Art Through the Ages, 14th edition
While I respect your personal time this summer, I do feel it’s important for you to do a little bit of learning and a little bit of reflection prior to walking into class for the first time.
Be prepared the first day of school and stay organized because this course moves horizontally (chronologically), vertically (thematically), globally, and QUICKLY throughout the year. My goal is for you to fall in love with the world of art as you LEARN, not to simply memorize facts and images, or cram for tests. So NO SHORT CUTS!
IF YOU WANT INFORMATION ON THE 2017 SPRING BREAK TRIP TO ITALY, COME SEE ME NOW! IF YOU REGISTER BY JULY 1ST, THE PRICE IS LOCKED IN.
Summer Assignment, DUE: 2nd day of class NAME: ______period: ______
Go to Khan Academy online. We will MOSTLY use Art History under the Test Prep section
https://www.khanacademy.org/test-prep/ap-art-history
Introduction to Art History
A. “Common Questions about Dates” –
1. The Gregorian Calendar, which we use today, was developed by
______in the year ______.
2. B.C. stands for “Before Christ” and A.D. (Anno Domini) is Latin for “______
______. A system developed by the monk, ______
______. These are acceptable ways of referencing dates, but a more global reference, B.C.E. and C. E. (“before common era and common era”) have no religious reference are used in textbooks today.
3. Draw a timeline, 1000BCE on one end, 0 in the middle, and 1000CE on the other end. Explain how “centuries” are referenced.
4. Circa - ______
5. Calendar used prior to the 16th century: ______(Who is
this calendar credited to? ______)
B. “A Brief History of Western Culture” – sometimes we will use Art History under the Humanities section
https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/art-history-basics/beginners-art-history/a/a-brief-history-of-western-culture
6. Prehistoric, before ______BCE
7. Ancient, circa ______to ______BCE and includes the
Near East, Ancient Egypt, ______, ______, and
______. (Everything that comes after the invention of writing and before the Fall of Rome.
8. This time in Ancient Greece is considered the Birth of Western philosophy,
mathematics, ______, science, and ______.
9. Remember there obviously is an overlap of cultures. Jesus Christ and his
followers were ______, living in (today’s) ______,
which, at the time, was a part of the ______.
10. Middle Ages, circa ______BCE to ______CE. The Roman
Emperor, ______established Constantinople (present day
______) as the new capital in the East in ______CE. This
was the Byzantine Empire, and the ______Church dominated in both the East and the West.
11. Shortly after the Prophet ______died in 632CE, Islam grew to be a powerful culture. The great Islamic Center of science and technology was in
______, Spain.
12. Who described the Middle Ages as the “Dark Ages”? ______
13. Why?
14. Why did the Renaissance historians call it the “Middle Ages”?
15. The Middle Ages are broken down into the following periods: Early
Christian, ______, ______, ______,
______, and Gothic.
16. Renaissance, circa ______CE to ______CE. This period is defined as
a rebirth of INTEREST in ______and ______culture.
Major concepts and attributes: Humanism; Economic prosperity on the rise; Printing press – 15th century; Martin Luther, 1517; Protestant Reformation –
challenged ______; asserted authority of
______conscience.
17. Scientific Revolution – observation replaced ______doctrine as
a source of understanding.
18. Early Modern, circa ______to ______CE
Time of Scientific, political, and economic revolutions. Baroque (regional) styles of the 17th century.
19. Conflict between ______and Protestants. Monarchies and colonization – European powers divided and exploited the world’s people and natural resources for their own benefit.
20. Enlightenment, circa ______. Interest in the individual; asserted our
ability to reason for ______.
21. In art, Rococo and ______styles.
22. American and ______Revolutions. Middle (and working)
23. emerged and campaigned to gain political power, challenging the control of
24. ______and ______. Reform movements abounded.
25. Modern, circa, after ______. ______dominated economic system.
26. 1900’s were the most violent times. Examples:
(If you have trouble finding any of these titles on Khan Academy under Art History, just type the title in the search bar)
C. (Just) Watch on Khan Academy: “SmartHistory: Art History on Khan Academy”
D. REACTION – for the rest of the assignment, you will be watching videos that will (hopefully) provoke questions, change preconceived ideas, and push you to think . . .then you will react.
EXPECTATIONS for reactions: a) respond in an informal, conversational way to any comments, images, questions, quotes, etc. posed in the video. b) make at least two points tied to specifics from the video, state the specific reference as well; c)don’t forget to consider the topic (title of video) and what it implies, the q/a below the video, and any outside experiences or connections you care to make; d) don’t be afraid to ask questions too!
Example:
I love how Sal Khan honestly says, White on White, would look over my couch, but there’s not quite that same superficial appreciation.” He’s honest to a point. When I first look at paintings like White on White I don’t get why it’s in a museum. And I love Monet’s paintings. Even before I knew his study of light on subjects. It’s true how when Beth Harris says, “we go into a world very different than ours” when looking at Malevich’s painting. To know that Malevich was responding to the Russian Revolution gives me pause. WOW – he tried to create an art that supported the idea of Utopia. There’s so much to know! I love the insight – (but not necessarily the painting). I’ll still take a Monet over a Malevich.
This is all part of your learning log, your discovery, your growth. Let it be honest, naïve, ignorant, academic, whatever it is, it is. Take time . . .
Watch (or read) in this order:
i. “Why Look at Art?” (1 minute and 56 seconds) Answer that title question and this one: Where is art?
ii. Art historical analysis (video)
iii. Is there a difference between art and craft?
iv. How art can help you analyze
v. “The Skill of Describing” (3:43) Write down what you see in the painting. (Starry Night)
vi. “Why is that Important?: Looking at Jackson Pollock” (12:18) We need context, historical movement, artist’s life to understand. Choose a few lines from the video, copy each down, and react to each letting your thoughts, questions, and insights guide you,
vii. “Hirst, The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living?” (7:49). Discuss the