Undergraduate Course: The Death and Life of Painting (HIAR10097)
Course Outline
| School | Edinburgh College of Art |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Course type | Standard |
Availability | Available to all students |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) |
Credits | 20 |
| Home subject area | History of Art |
Other subject area | None |
| Course website |
None |
Taught in Gaelic? | No |
| Course description | In the early 1980s, painting, which had come to represent a diminished presence at the cutting edge of the international art scene, was finally declared dead by a number of influential American art critics. The death of painting however, turned out to be a curious affair. While those who had come to bury the medium attempted, in their critical writings, to dispose of the aesthetic remains, others began to claim that, far from being dead, painting was actually showing vital signs of life.
These seminars will examine the crisis which brought about painting's premature burial and explore the reasons behind its cultural resurrection.
Through a critical analysis of texts by writers such as Archille Bonito Oliva, Thomas Lawson, Donald Kuspit and Douglas Crimp together with an exploration of painting by a wide range of artists including Ryman, Guston, Twombly, Schnabel, Baselitz, Kiefer and Richter, we will scrutinize the claim that painting represented a stagnant bastion of a redundant modernist tradition and consider its capacity to remain a relevant cultural force.
Along the way we will examine a variety of ideas relating to the nature of the avant garde and the meanings of Postmodernism.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
| Additional Costs | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | Visiting students should have at least 3 History of Art courses at grade B or above (or be predicted to obtain this). We will only consider University/College level courses.
** as numbers are limited, visiting students should contact the Visiting Student Office directly for admission to this course **
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| Displayed in Visiting Students Prospectus? | Yes |
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes
| By the end of the course students will be able to identify the factors involved in the, so-called, 'death of painting' and be able to formulate their own opinions on both the nature of the debate and on the continued viability of painting itself. Students will also be able to use textual and visual material to analyse how cultural attitudes and political agendas influenced the responses to an medium long considered to be a crucial vehicle of artistic expression. |
Assessment Information
1 x 2 hour exam (50%) and 1 x 2,000 word essay (50%)
Visiting student varient assessment - 2 x 2000 word essays |
Special Arrangements
| None |
Additional Information
| Academic description |
Not entered |
| Syllabus |
Not entered |
| Transferable skills |
Not entered |
| Reading list |
Not entered |
| Study Abroad |
Not entered |
| Study Pattern |
Not entered |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Mr Peter Rimmer
Tel: 0131 651 1460
Email: primmer@staffmail.ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Mrs Sue Cavanagh
Tel: (0131 6)51 1460
Email: Sue.Cavanagh@ed.ac.uk |
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