Impressionism and Post-Impressionism: Art in France 1848-1900

This course considers French art from 1848 to 1900, a time that saw radical advancements in technology, the abolition of slavery, the redesign of Paris, changes in class and gender dynamics, and the rise of a consumer economy. As sections of the city were leveled to make way for boulevards, cafés, parks, and department stores, some artists strove to represent the spectacle of urban life; others found inspiration in non-urban regions of France and its colonies. Centering the work of artists who embraced fresh approaches to visual representation—such as Manet, Degas, Monet, Morisot, Caillebotte, Cassatt, Seurat, Gauguin, Van Gogh, and Cézanne—we will explore their engagement with modern life and its attendant shifting terrains of race, gender, empire, class, and fashion. As we study the artists, texts, and historical circumstances that helped to shape concepts like modernity, impressionism, and post-impressionism, we will also problematize these categories, treating them as unstable constructs that are complex and not singularly definable.

Cross listings: HIST 389/WGSS 534
Major Breadths: Europe, post-1850