What you will study
This module is divided into four blocks, each providing a theoretical and methodological introduction to a key area of investigation and debate within art history. They also include two case studies exploring related themes and issues, the first with reference to an early modern topic and the second with reference to a modern or contemporary topic. In each block, you're required to engage with a range of artworks, textual sources and modern scholarship in order to develop your analytical and critical skills. You'll also be required to use online and other resources to identify and locate additional study materials to prepare you to undertake independent research on a topic you'll devise (in consultation with your tutor) in the dissertation module.
Block 1. Artists and Authorship
Individual artists have been the traditional focus of art history, but just how to evaluate the figure of the artist is now one of the most contested issues in the field. You'll explore past and current approaches to the artist in terms of authorship, identity, and subjectivity, considering issues such as the relationship between the artist's life and work, the enduring notion of 'genius', and the artist as a source of meaning. You'll examine artistic biography and its evolution from the early modern era to the present, reviewing Marxist, structuralist, and feminist approaches. The two case studies explore the life of Raphael through sixteenth-century sources and issues of artistic copyright and intellectual property in the modern period.
Block 2. Style and History
This block explores the different ways in which art historians have grouped and ordered works of art in order to construct historical narratives of artistic development. You'll examine the key role played by the concept of the period style in the formation of art history as a scholarly discipline and consider the critique of style-based approaches in more recent times. You'll also address formalist and contextual approaches to the history of art. The two case studies explore the type of stylistic analysis known as connoisseurship, with reference to Byzantine art, and how concepts of style and form have been used to construct histories of modern art.
Block 3. Interpretation and Reception
This block explores the relationship between the art object and its viewers and interpreters. You'll consider the art historian’s attempt to find meaning in the artwork through methods developed since the early twentieth century for purposes of interpretation (from iconography to the ‘pictorial turn’). You'll also explore issues of spectatorship and reception more generally, with reference to the concept of the gaze and the display of art. The two case studies focus on the experience of architectural space in eighteenth-century England and the viewing of contemporary art, especially installation art and the idea of ‘the every day’.
Block 4. Institutions and Geographies
This block follows the pattern of previous ones in this module by considering a coupling of terms: Institutions and Geographies. It explores institutional practices, whether in museums of art and ethnography or in a broader sense, in the interactions between people and material things, as well as the geographical dimension of such interactions on a more global scale. The two case studies address the role and the changing status of institutions through a focus on the collecting of objects, the emergence of The Studiolo in 15th-century Italy, and the circulation of artists and artworks in the Atlantic, linking Britain with the modern and contemporary English-speaking Caribbean.
Normally, you’ll need to have completed this module in order to progress to MA Art History part 2 (A844).
Vocational relevance
This module will be of particular relevance if you wish to pursue a career in art history, academic institutions, museums, galleries, heritage and the wider arts sector.
Entry
You must hold a UK honours degree (or equivalent), preferably with at least a 2:1 classification. Although your degree does not need to be in Art History or a closely related subject, you will need some knowledge of the subject and an understanding of relevant critical approaches, as this module assumes all candidates have the knowledge and skills usually acquired by pursuing the subject at undergraduate level.
If your degree or background is not in history or a closely related subject, you are strongly recommended to undertake the preparatory work indicated below prior to studying this module. If you’re in any doubt about the suitability of your qualifications or previous experience, please contact us before you enrol.
Preparatory work
If your degree or background is not in art history or a related subject, you could study one of our undergraduate art history modules first, Art and life before 1800 (A237), Art and visual cultures in the modern world (A236) or Art and its global histories (A344), which provide an introduction to critical debates in art history. Alternatively, we strongly recommend that you familiarise yourself with the current themes and issues in the discipline by reading up on the subject in advance. You'll find suggestions for preparatory reading on the MA in Art History website.
If you have a disability
One of the learning outcomes for this module is for you to develop the ability to exercise powers of visual discrimination by direct engagement with works of art. If you are blind or severely partially sighted, you will experience difficulty in achieving this learning outcome. However, if you have a background in art history gained whilst usefully sighted, you can draw upon this experience.
Reproductions of works of art will be available in electronic format. You will be able to magnify these reproductions within the limits of standard computer applications, but no textual descriptions or alternative formats of reproductions will be available, and the use of a sighted assistant to interpret the works of art would conflict with the required learning outcome. If you are blind or partially sighted, you should contact us for advice before registering for this module.
You will need to spend considerable amounts of time using a personal computer and the internet. Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) versions of printed material are available. Some Adobe PDF components may not be available or fully accessible using a screen reader. Alternative formats of the study materials may be available in the future.
To find out more about what kind of support and adjustments might be available, contact us or visit our disability support pages.