ARTH 585: 19th Century Art: Gender & Orientalism
Professor Sidlauskas
Course Description
This course will consider paintings, sculptures, photographs, and expositions--primarily
European, but also America, that illuminate the difficult issues at stake
in the construction of "Orientalism." Most of the images/objects
will span the years 1750-1920. Orientalism is a theme that seems
at once over-discussed and elusive. Edward Said's influential book
on the subject provided the beginnings of a model with which to address
the historical phenomenon, but it did not provide a satisfactory method
to confront the complexities of representation. In addition to studying
the western responses to, and constructions of, Orientalism, we will also
consider the art made in the "East." We will make a trip
to the Brooklyn Museum;s new exhibition of 19th century Qajar painting
to confront the reciprocity of exchange. A consideration of gender
will
inform many of our investigations, but will not limit them.