This seminar will examine Philadelphia’s golden age as an art center, from the time of Charles Willson Peale and William Rush in the late 18th century to that of Thomas Eakins and Cecilia Beaux in the early 20th. (The seminar will coincide with a major exhibition of Beaux’s work at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts.) Students will conduct research projects using the rich libraries, archives, and art collections housed in the city. Traditional fine arts and new mass visual media (lithography, photography, illustrated magazines) will be explored.