FA 451 Symbolism and Art Nouveau Jeffery Howe Spring 2001 Boston College

Syllabus -- under construction; click here

Course Description:

The arts in Europe at the end of the last century were permeated with symbolic images of mystery and beauty, and there was a widespread fascination with themes of cultural decadence. This seminar will be an exploration of the parallels between the visual arts and literature of this era. The course will involve study of some of the most intriguing artists of the period, such as Gustave Moreau, Gauguin, Redon, Fernand Khnopff, Edvard Munch and Gustav Klimt.  Corresponding themes in Symbolist literature will be examined to enlarge the context of the inquiry. Readings will include works by Baudelaire, Mallarme, Maeterlinck, J.-K Huysmans and Oscar Wilde.  As Symbolism was truly a multidisciplinary movement, the sculpture of Rodin and Art Nouveau architecture and decorative arts will also be included.

This spring Boston College will host a major exhibition of the works of Edvard Munch, and this seminar will particularly focus on his art.

Required Texts:

Symbolist Art Theories : A Critical Anthology, by Henri Dorra (Editor)
University of California Press, 1995.   ISBN: 0520077687

Against Nature, by Joris-Karl Huysmans, Robert Baldick (Translator)
Viking Press, 1959.  ISBN: 0140440860

Symbolist Art (World of Art), by Edward Lucie-Smith
Thames & Hudson, 1985.  ISBN: 0500201250

Idols of Perversity : Fantasies of Feminine Evil in Fin-De-Siecle Culture, by Bram Dijkstra.
Oxford Univ Press, 1989.  ISBN: 0195056523

Edvard Munch (World of Art), by Josef Paul Hodin
Thames & Hudson, 1985.

Art Nouveau: 1890-1914. by Paul Greenhalgh (Editor)
Washington, DC, National Gallery of Art, 2000
 

The Symbolist Prints of Edvard Munch : The Vivian and David Campbell Collection,
by Elizabeth Prelinger, Michael Parke-Taylor (Contributor), Peter Schjeldahl, Michael Park-Taylor
Yale Univ Press, 1996.

Decadent Style, by John R. Reed.
Ohio University Press, 1985.

Additional Online Course Materials:

Online archive of art digitized images of sculpture and paintings from Boston College; check this often - frequently updated  Also -- a short list of styles before the 19th century

If you are a Boston College student or faculty member, you may also use the AMICO (Art Museum Image Consortium) digital library. This is a library of 50,000+ scanned images of works of art in North American museums.