An investigation of the visual art culture of Philadelphia from the late 17th century to World War II, based on the work of the primary artists and collecting institutions in the city. From early portraiture and the Peale family's many artistic enterprises, the course will emphasize the academic, historicizing, and scientific "realist" tradition in Philadelphia, perhaps best represented by Thomas Eakins, perpetuated through the period of the Pennsylvania Impressionists and the early moderns. Class sessions will include gallery and storage visits at the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts; seminar readings and discussion will investigate the continuities and shifts in the taste of the city, expressed in many forms of art and material culture, and explore a range of methodological strategies that can link individual and public culture. Hands-on sessions at the museum will focus on problems of materials, techniques, condition, and exhibition; students will be encouraged to undertake original research on objects in the collections of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.