Making Sculpture Into Fine Art
PREREQUISITES: The course is a seminar for advanced undergraduate and graduate students. Permission of the instructor is required for enrollment.
The seminar will consider how sculpture was moved from its original context, function, and meaning into the category of Fine Art as we understand it today. How, for example, were figures of Christ or the Virgin Mary taken from the altars of churches to be re-installed in art museums? Why were certain objects made into objects of art while others became religious artifacts, ethnographic specimens, or folk art? What was the role of the rise of modernism or anti-modernism for the creation of new categories of collecting and appreciation? How did institutions such as the museum or academic disciplines such as art history contribute to new ways of understanding sculpture? The instructor is conducting research on the case of how Chinese Buddhist sculpture became Fine Art at the turn of the twentieth century; but students interested in other cases—that of Classical, African, or Medieval sculpture—for example, are welcome. Archival and historical research will be emphasized. We will also consider the role of modern academic disciplines such as art history and religious studies in the transformation of religious sculpture into Fine Art. |
