September 1, 2020
Part 1: Public Sculptures Then and Now
Frank Rizzo Statue :Made by Zenos Frudakis In Philadelphia 1998 The sculpture is stepping forward with one hand in the air, looking heroic It's heroic because of its scale Similar style to Augustus of Prima Porta o They are posed the same, both appearing heroic o They both radiate power Robert E. Lee Statue - Made by henry martin shandy and leo lentelli -He appears heroic because he is lifted high off of the ground Public Sculptures Then and Now : Equestrian statues were very common back then :People have cared about sculptures for thousands of years Statues cause people to react Statues represent something different now then they did when they were first made o Confederate soldiers Statues aren't always what they seem Statues appeal to different people People often identify with statues (Rocky) Putting together elements of local culture (dinosaur skeleton on bike) o Mike the headless chicken : Sculptures are related to people's identities/cultures
Part 2: Terms and Concepts
What is Art History? -"Art" is not so simple a term as often assumed, nor is it nso easily defined o For our purposes we will be using "art" in a more generic and original sense to denote anything made skillfully, and in this course referring to visual and material objects produced by human culture. For our purpose and in this period it is perfectly legitimate to speak of the matters of objects as "artists" even though we often do not know their names "History" is also not such a simple term as assumed, nor so easily defined. The search to define "what happened" in the past is the project, perhaps the hope of historians but in practice "history" means the search to present "what happened" to contemporary audiences o History is not "what happened" but "what we say about what happened'
History is what we remember and tell about the past
Art history is the story we tell about the skillfully made visual and material objects produced by human culture that we remember and from which we can learn about other people, and about ourselves. Work of Art
o Sometimes shortened to "work" - it did not just appear, someone made it, which means work "Work" is also known as "object" o There is no such thing as "just a chair." if one looks closely, and looking closely can enrich your life everyday and even be fun Identification: o Artist, title, place of origin, date of origin, current location These terms are often problematic :Artist: an artist rarely works entirely alone Title: artists did not give titles to their works until the modern period (and often "untitled'). Now having a title has become a habit and expectation, driven in large part by the enormous numbers of works produced and known -- and often by the art marker, dealers and buyers. The title should be the subject matter - Place of origin: a designer can be germa