Course Details

INSTITUTIONS OF HISTORY OF CONTEMPORARY ART

L0769

Course
INSTITUTIONS OF HISTORY OF CONTEMPORARY ART
Code
L0769
Academic Year
2025/2026
Curriculum Year
2024/2025
Degree Programme
MODERN FOREIGN LANGUAGES
Curriculum
000 - CORSO GENERICO
Course coordinator
Lecturers
Credits
6
Lecture Hours
30
Scientific Disciplinary Sector (SSD)
L-ART/03 - History of Contemporary Art
Course Type
Single-subject learning activity
Course Delivery
OPZ - Opzionale
Year
2
Teaching period
Primo Semestre
Campus
VERCELLI
Teaching language
Italian
Course Contents
ART IN ITALY AND EUROPE FROM NEOCLASSICISM TO 1850
Reference Texts
Giulio Carlo Argan, L’arte moderna 1770-1970, Florence 1970 or later editions, pages from the beginning to Realism and Courbet included; Hugh Honour, Neoclassicism, Harmondsworth 1977; Hugh Honour, Romanticism, Harmondsworth 1979. Furthermore: Eugénie de Keyser, L'Occidente romantico 1789-1850, Geneva and Milan 1965; Robert Rosenblum, Trasformations in Late Eighteenth Century Art, Princeton 1970; Kenneth Clark, The Romantic Rebellion, London and New York 1973; Francis Haskell, Rediscoveries in Art. Some Aspects of Taste, Fashion and Collecting in England and France, Cornell U.P. 1976; Giuliano Briganti, I pittori dell'immaginario. Arte e rivoluzione psicologica, Milan 1977; Liliana Barroero, Le arti e i lumi. Pittura e scultura da Piranesi a Canova, Turin 2011. Besides: Storia dell'arte italiana. Dal Medioevo al Novecento. Settecento e Ottocento, Turin 1982; Enrico Castelnuovo, ed., La pittura in Italia. L’Ottocento, Milan 1990; Paola Barocchi, ed., Storia moderna dell'arte in Italia. Dai neoclassici ai puristi 1780-1861, Turin 1998; Keith Andrews, The Nazarenes. A Bortherhood of German Painters in Rome, Oxford 1964; Gianna Piantoni, ed., I Nazareni a Roma, exhibition catalogue, Rome 1981; Liliana Barroero, Fernando Mazzocca and Sandra Pinto, eds., Maestà di Roma. Da Napoleone all'Unità d'Italia. Universale ed Eterna Capitale delle Arti, Milan 2003; Carlo Sisi, ed., L’Ottocento in Italia. Le arti sorelle. Il Romanticismo 1815-1848, Milan 2006; José Luis Díez and Javier Barón, El siglo XIX en el Prado, exhibition catalogue, Madrid 2007; Giovanna Capitelli and Carla Mazzarelli, eds., La pittura di storia in Italia 1785-1870. Ricerche, quesiti, proposte, Cinisello Balsamo 2008; Fernando Mazzocca, ed., Francesco Hayez, exhibition catalogue, Milan 2015; Fernando Mazzocca, ed., Romanticismo, exhibition catalogue, Cinisello Balsamo 2018. For further consultation, the monographs on artists working from the late XVIII century to c. 1870, from the Classici dell'arte Rizzoli series, Milan 1966-1981. More literature will be given during the lessons. An additional text to read will be suggested to non-attending students.
Learning Outcomes
Educational objective A: Knowledge • Knowledge and understanding: at a basic level, a general knowledge of the main artists, styles and art movements between the end of the eighteenth century and the central decades of the 19th century. At an advanced level, a good knowledge also of the work and personalities of non-prominent artists, as well as of the fundamental relationships between the visual arts and contemporary culture, considering the motivations which lay behind artistic creation. Educational objective B: Skills • 1. Ability to apply knowledge and understanding: at a basic level, to place single works of art in time, placing place them in the context of an artistic and cultural movement; • 2. Autonomy of judgement: at an advanced level, to evaluate the role and importance, within European culture of the nineteenth century, of a single work of art, of the general production of a given artist and of an artistic movement as a whole, independently making connections with their geographical and cultural contexts; • 3. Learning skills: at a transversal level, to elaborate critically the notions and essential concepts learnt, in order to cope with in-depth study of any further personalities and artistic movements characterising the nineteenth century. Educational objective C: Communication • Communication skills: at a basic level, to describe the personality of a given artist in general and the fundamental characteristics of art works with essential properties of language; at an advanced level, to be able to explain, with clarity and full mastery of terminology, the style and the various levels of interpretation of a single work of art or of an entire movement.
Prerequisites
A basic knowledge of European political and cultural history between the French Revolution and 1848.
Teaching Methods
Oral lessons and, if possible, one or more visits to museums, for instance, the Modern Art Gallery and the Monumental Cemetery of Milan, and/or temporary exhibitions. Some time will be devoted to innovative teaching methods, including search of visual, documentary and literary materials on the internet and an introduction to the use of most common databases.
Additional Information
Students with physical disabilities, learning disabilities (DSA) or special education needs (BES) can request specific services and tools via reference office consulting the University webpage: https://www.uniupo.it/en/services/services-students-physical-or-learning-disabilities. Students with disabilities, learning disabilities or special education needs, once they have contacted the University Staff, can refer to the tutor in charge of the course to define the examination modalities, concerning academic aspects. Those who cannot attend are invited to contact the teacher at least one month before the exam, in order to establish personally the texts to study and possibly receive more didactic materials. In case of failure to register for exams electronically, will be eligible to take the test ONLY those who have, at least three days in advance, contacted the teacher personally or sent a message to his email address. No exceptions will be allowed.
Assessment Methods
Oral exam, c. 20/30’ long, consisting of four questions, at least one of which will be a general one on the course contents and at least two will concern the analysis and commentary of single works of art, through the observation of digital images on the computer or transmitted via whatsapp on the mobile phone. For the purposes of the learning objectives, the following will be assessed in particular: Educational objective A: Knowledge • Knowledge and understanding: to know basically the most important painters, sculptors and architects from the Neoclassical period to mid-nineteenth-century Realism, also in relation to other cultural expressions of the time and, more generally, to contemporary thought (this aspect will be awarded 40% of the overall assessment). Educational objective B: Skills • 1. Ability to apply knowledge and understanding: to recognise and relate a work of art to a specific author and cultural context (20% of the overall assessment); • 2. Autonomy of judgement: to analyse and evaluate critically art works of the studied period, making independent critical observations (20% of the overall assessment). Educational objective C: Communication • Communication skills: being able to use a clear, appropriate and correct terminology (20% of the overall assessment). An exam demonstrating a knowledge of the programme limited to a brief exposition of the main topics, without personal critical evaluations and using essential and only partially appropriate and correct terminology, will be considered sufficient. The exam will be judged excellent if it demonstrates an articulate, detailed and precise knowledge of the programme and the topics discussed along the course, excellent judgement and synthesis skills, a full command of terms and fluency of language.
Detailed Syllabus
Teaching Units: Unit 1: Neoclassicism. Architecture and painting. Unit 2: Neoclassicism. Sculpture. Unit 3: Romanticism in France and Italy Unit 4: Romanticism in England and Germany. Unit 5: Realism and the Macchiaioli. Within the course, a lesson will be devoted to gender integration, considering the role of women artists in the frame of Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-century art.
Expected Learning Outcomes
Educational objective A: Knowledge • Knowledge and understanding: at a basic level, to know the main artists and movements of the last two centuries; at an advanced level, to navigate with ease in the relationships between the figurative arts and general contemporary culture, grasping in depth the motivations underlying artistic creation. Educational objective B: Skills • 1. Ability to apply knowledge and understanding: at a basic level, to place individual works of art in time, placing them in the context of an artistic and cultural movement; • 2. Autonomy of judgement: at an advanced level, to elaborate critically the learned concepts connecting them to the age in which they were expressed, in order to consider how the interpretation of works and events of the past evolved with the passing of time, thus acquiring a deeper critical awareness of European history and culture of the nineteenth century. • 3. Learning skills: at a transversal level, to acquire the critical and methodological tools needed to pursue studies on the period not only in art history, but also in any other field relating to cultural history. Educational objective C: Communication • Communication skills: at a basic level, to acquire a minimum mastery of art-historical terminology in relation to 19th-century art; at an advanced level, to apply with autonomy and ease the technical language of the discipline, modulating it appropriately according to the different movements and kinds of the artistic production of the period in question.
Last update:09-09-2026 00:14:31