Iconic VS Avant-garde
Culture & Arts Management
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The iconic and avant-garde work of art in the visual culture of modernity
Art History Seminar with Thodoris Koutsogiannis.
Modern Culture, from the Renaissance onwards, has been characterized by the ever-increasing production and diffusion of images, making the modern period the age of the image. In this increasingly enriched visual culture –including today’s “abuse” of images, through multiple means of reproduction of visual derivatives – important works of art have been indicators of art’s imprint on human civilization and landmarks of our depository of images.
Certain exceptional works of art – for historical, artistic, cultural reasons – but also the entire artistic output of certain artists, have been seen to represent an entire cultural period, either as iconic or as avant-garde.
This seminar will explore works of art from the modern visual culture of the West, from the high Renaissance to the Interwar period, exploring their iconic and/or avant-garde nature.
Why is that Raffaello’s “School of Athens” at the Vatican, a work of the High Renaissance, and Picasso’s “Guernica” of 1937 artistically speak for their era, and not only visually? How does Raffaello’s body of work represent Renaissance perception and why does Michelangelo’s work prefigure Mannerism and Baroque? Why are the model image of the Parthenon, but also of the Caryatids of the Athenian Acropolis reproduced, and how do they continue to inspire and mutate in diverse ways, even in our postmodern era?
Focusing on the European South, especially Italian art history, , the works of Tiziano Vecellio, Andrea Palladio, Giuseppe Arcimboldo, El Greco (Domenikos Theotokopoulos), Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, Nicolas Poussin, Gianlorenzo Bernini, Francesco Borromini, Antonio Canova, J.M. William Turner, Eugène Delacroix, François Auguste René Rodin, Giorgio de Chirico, will be examined in their entirety, but also compared to each other, and within the context of visual perception, cultural tradition and the history of ideas.
Monumental works of architecture, painting, and sculpture, as iconic and avant-garde images of an “imaginary museum” of modern European culture, will be studied from both a purely techno-historical perspective and from a broader cultural point of view.
*The above text was translated by Hellenic American University MA in Translation student Tsaroucha Elena.
The lectures are held at the Hellenic American Union Theater (22 Massalias Str. - Athens).
Live, remote attendance option is given to those who wish to do so.
Live, remote attendance option is given to those who cannot be in the hall throughout the duration of the program, for objective reasons (e.g., reside outside Athens). For educational purposes and for a single educational experience, we recommend that interested parties choose one of the two attendance modalities, i.e., Online or onsite.
1st Lecture: INTRODUCTION
Modern visual culture and the dissemination of works of art.
Image reproduction and the creation of visual stock.
The “age of the image” and the “imaginary museum”.
The concepts of iconic and avant-garde artwork.
The phenomenon of Classicism and the versions of Modernism.
The anthropocentric culture in its southern European version and its visual expression.
2nd Lecture: RENAISSANCE of the 16th century
Iconic Raffaello Sanzio (1483-1520) and avant-garde Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564) in the era of homines illustres and High Renaissance.
The change of visual code with the painting by Tiziano Vecellio (1490-1576): from the linear to pictorial style.
The Renaissance architecture of Andrea Palladio (1508-1580) and the mannerism of “Palladianism”.
3rd Lecture: From MANNERISM to BAROQUE
The sui generis mannerism of Giuseppe Arcimboldo (1526-1593) and El Greco (1541-1614).
Baroque painting: the realism of Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571-1610) and the idealism of Nicolas Poussin (1594-1665).
Baroque sculpture and architecture: the imposing Gianlorenzo Bernini (1598-1680) and the heretical Francesco Borromini (1599-1667).
4th Lecture: From CLASSICISM to MODERNISM
The all’antica sculpture of Antonio Canova (1757-1822).
The breakthrough of Romanticism: the painting of Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775-1851) and Eugène Delacroix (1798-1863).
The tragic and “fragmented” sculpture of François Auguste René Rodin (1840-1917).
The prophetic, metaphysical imagery of Giorgio de Chirico (1888-1978).
5th Lecture: CLOSURE CLOSURE
Iconic artworks as visual manifestos of their time and their timeless impact:
- The Parthenon and the Caryatids of the classical Athens as a “canon” of the modern classical.
- Raffaello’s “School of Athens” (1509-11) as a Renaissance concentration.
- Picasso’s “Guernica” (1937) as a synopsis of 20th century Modernism.
- Expand your knowledge in art history and periods of modern civilization.
- Develop a deeper understanding and discernment between different artists, movements, techniques, and methods of experimentation.
- Enhance your ability to observe and analyze modern art, design, and develop museum-based educational programs inspired by them.
- Develop critical skills and recognition of the way artists responded to the socio-political context of their time.
- Acquire the ability to link and compare works and periods upon completion of the seminar.
- Become exposed to the work of great artists, museums, and cultural sites and professionals.
Thodoris Koutsogiannis
Art Historian and Chief Curator of the Hellenic Parliament Art Collection
Thodoris Koutsogiannis studied archaeology and art history at the University of Athens (BA 1996, MA 2000, PhD 2008). In the context of his post-graduate studies, he attended seminars and conducted stu ...
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