Gwybodaeth Modiwlau

What does 'Impressionism' mean to you? Perhaps it conjures an impression of prismatic landscapes, dynamic cityscapes, intimate family portraits, scenes of boating and ballet? Maybe you think of blockbuster exhibitions and record-breaking auction results, or water lilies printed on iPhone cases and handbags? For those who attended the first Impressionist exhibition in Paris in 1874, 'Impressionism' had rather different meanings: it was a manifesto of a new art founded on subjective, visual experience; it was an anarchist plot to destroy French culture; it was a balancing of art and science to achieve objective, visual truth. None of these interpretations are 'right' or 'wrong'; each reflects aspects of its author's period and perspective.

This module examines how the meanings of Impressionism have shifted and evolved since its public debut, culminating in the cutting-edge research being undertaken right now. It aims to, first, introduce you to the concept of 'historiography' and, second, help you develop the critical and analytical skills necessary to engage with art historical scholarship in a nuanced, historiographically informed way. Art history has its own history; the way that art historians explain the art of the past reflects the historian's own time. Understanding the consequences of this idea will forever change the way you read art history.

Taking a 'flipped learning' approach, students will read essential texts and watch pre-recorded lectures (1 hour per week) as guided independent study. Classroom time will be divided between four 2-hour seminars (in which students discuss and practice historiographically informed readings of past scholarship) and four 1-hour seminars centred on student-led Q&A and discussion of the lectures.

In lectures, I will introduce the main strands of research currently being undertaken into Impressionism, including my own. The topics covered will evolve over time in response to the latest developments in the field. As an indication we will examine how the Impressionists' materials adulterated art with industry; how the Impressionists' spontaneous technique manifested uniquely modern experiences of time and memory; how Impressionism participated in globalisation and how the meanings of Impressionism shifted as it travelled around the globe; how contemporary perspectives on race are revealing previously-overlooked aspects of the Impressionists' world; and what Impressionist images reveal about the somatic, affective experiences of their creators and viewers.

In seminars we will explore the concept of 'historiography' and the three most influential ways of understanding Impressionism in the twentieth-century: formalism, the social history of art, and feminism.