HA2B8-15 Art in an Age of Revolution
Introductory description
Framed by two revolutions, this module aims to encourage students to understand the complex relationship between art and politics in France.
Module aims
By studying the work of artists such as Jacques-Louis David, Anne-Louis Girodet-Trioson, L.L. Boilly, Antoine-Jean Gros, Théodore Géricault, J.A.D. Ingres, Eugène Delacroix, and Paul Delaroche, students will gain an understanding of the complex interplay between aesthetics and public life. The module begins by examining the response of artists to calls for a serious, socially engaged art. Having examined the art of the French Revolution in the first half of the module, the second half looks at the role of the newly expanded, more socially diverse public of this period. This new audience was understood to have been created by the Revolution, but its preferences and behaviour were not always easy to predict. While public life continued to play a part in artistic discourses, we also look at the role of new technologies and new ideas in this period. We consider how new media such as lithography shaped the representation of the ‘July’ Revolution of 1830 and how new conceptions of the self changed the way that the emotions were portrayed in painting. The main focus will be on France, but a session on Géricault’s activities in England in the 1820s will highlight economic and cultural differences between the two nations.
Outline syllabus
This is an indicative module outline only to give an indication of the sort of topics that may be covered. Actual sessions held may differ.
Week 1: Introduction. Painting and public life, the Salon, calls for reform
Week 2: The French Revolution. Jacques-Louis David
Week 3: New identities. David, Jean Broc, Antoine-Jean Gros, Girodet, L.L. Boilly
Week 4: Art for Napoleon
Week 5: Revolutionary vandalism and the birth of the heritage industry
Week 6: Field Trip
Week 7: Géricault’s Raft of the Medusa; Gericault in England
Week 8: The ‘battle’ between Classiques and Romantiques: Ingres, Delacroix, and the role of the critics
Week 9: The Revolution of 1830: Delacroix’s Liberty Leading the People
Week 10: The new public: Paul Delaroche
Learning outcomes
By the end of the module, students should be able to:
- Display a comprehensive knowledge of painting in France during this period
- Understand the complex relationship between aesthetics and politics during this period
- Present an argument, initiate and sustain group discussion through intelligent questioning and debate at an appropriate level
- Ability to undertake research and to write up the results in the form of a well-structured argument at an appropriate level
- Show understanding of diverse viewpoints
- Ability to collaborate effectively with others
- Ability to find, select, organize and synthesize evidence
- Ability to formulate a sustained argument
- Think conceptually and independently at an appropriate level
- Sophisticated visual analysis
- Bibliographical skills at an appropriate level
- Critical analysis of cultural artefacts in their context
Indicative reading list
Peter Popkin, A Short History of the French Revolution (London: Routledge, 2020)
Norman Bryson, Word and Image: French Painting and the Ancien Régime (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1981)
Thomas Crow, Restoration: The Fall of Napoleon in the Course of European Art, 1812-20 (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2023)
Thomas Crow: Emulation: Making Artists for Revolutionary France (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1995)
Richard Clay, Iconoclasm in Revolutionary Paris: The Transformation of Signs (Oxford: Voltaire Foundation, 2012)
Darcy Grimaldo Grigsby, Extremities: Painting Empire in Post-Revolutionary France (New Haven and London: Yale, 2002).
Michael Levey, Rococo to Revolution: Major Trends in Eighteenth-Century Painting (London: Thames & Hudson, 1966).
Patricia Smyth, Paul Delaroche: Painting and Popular Spectacle (Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 2022)
Warren Roberts, Jacques-Louis David, Revolutionary Artist: Art, Politics and the French Revolution (University of North Carolina Press, c1989)
Subject specific skills
- Display a comprehensive knowledge of painting in England and France and elsewhere in Europe during this period.
- Understand the aesthetic and political complexity of works of art.
- sophisticated visual analysis
- critical analysis of cultural artefacts in their context
Transferable skills
- present an argument, initiate and sustain group discussion through intelligent questioning and debate at an appropriate level
- ability to undertake research and to write up the results in the form of a well-structured argument at an appropriate level
- familiarity with essential ICT skills
- ability to collaborate effectively with others
- show understanding of diverse viewpoints
- ability to find, select, organize and synthesize evidence
- ability to formulate a sustained argument
- think conceptually and independently at an appropriate level
- bibliographical skills at an appropriate level
Study time
| Type | Required |
|---|---|
| Seminars | 10 sessions of 2 hours (13%) |
| External visits | 1 session of 2 hours (1%) |
| Private study | 128 hours (85%) |
| Total | 150 hours |
Private study description
Required and recommended reading for seminar preparation, research for written assessments and revision for examinations.
Costs
No further costs have been identified for this module.
You do not need to pass all assessment components to pass the module.
Assessment group C2
| Weighting | Study time | Eligible for self-certification | |
|---|---|---|---|
Assessment component |
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| Assessed Essay | 40% | No | |
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2000 word essay |
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Reassessment component is the same |
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Assessment component |
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| Engagement | 10% | No | |
Reassessment component is the same |
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Assessment component |
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| Examination | 50% | No | |
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~Platforms - WAS
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Reassessment component is the same |
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Feedback on assessment
Written feedback and dedicated feedback tutorials.
Courses
This module is Option list A for:
- Year 2 of UHAA-V401 Undergraduate History of Art
This module is Option list C for:
- Year 1 of THAA-V4P3 History of Art (Diploma)
- Year 2 of UHAA-V401 Undergraduate History of Art
- Year 2 of UHAA-V3R3 Undergraduate History of Art with Italian
This module is Option list D for:
- Year 1 of UHAA-V41P Undergraduate History of Art
This module is Option list F for:
- Year 2 of UHAA-V3R1 Undergraduate History of Art and French
This module is Option list G for:
- Year 3 of UITA-R3V3 Undergraduate Taught Italian and History of Art