Course Catalog

Uses the unsurpassed richness of the art museums of Paris as the principal teaching resource. The history of Western Art is studied through the close examination of a limited selection of major works in a variety of media. The works chosen illuminate the political, social and religious contexts of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, the Baroque and Rococo periods, and the modern epoch. The course has an extra course fee of 35 euros.

Continues the study of the most significant monuments of Western painting, sculpture, and architecture, from the Renaissance to the 20th-century. Emphasizes historical context, continuity, and critical analysis. Includes direct contact with works of art in Parisian museums.

Les Jeunes ont la parole is a program organized by the Louvre Museum, in cooperation with a dozen Parisian educational institutions including The American University of Paris, to attract the younger generation into its venerable walls. As part of the Louvre’s Les Nocturnes du vendredi, participating students dialogue with peers and other museum visitors around a work of art that he or she has studied in depth. A unique hands-on opportunity, the one-credit course involves preparatory meetings, preliminary research, Friday-evening presentations, and a final write-up. May be taken twice for credit.

Investigates the growth patterns of Paris from Roman times through the Second Empire. Studies major monuments, pivotal points of urban design, and vernacular architecture on site. Presents the general vocabulary of architecture, the history of French architecture and urban planning, as well as a basic knowledge of French history to provide a framework for understanding the development of Paris.

Introduces first the specific contributions of Greek art to the Western tradition. Then presents the diversification of these achievements in the Etruscan civilization and in the Hellenistic age. Examines how the Romans absorbed, continued, and creatively transformed Greek and Etruscan art and passed the ancient heritage on to medieval and early modern Europe. AH 1000 is strongly recommended as a prerequisite.

Explores the adaptation of ancient art by the Christian religious establishment and the interaction of early medieval artists with the Graeco-Roman tradition. Follows the development of medieval art in the West to the Gothic period by analyzing its spiritual dimensions and diversity as well as the impact on artistic creation of the changing centers of power and influences. AH 1000 is strongly recommended as a prerequisite.

Surveys notable developments in painting, sculpture, and architecture in Italy and in Northern Europe (late 13th-16th centuries). Emphasizes the origins of the Renaissance and the basic stylistic evolution from Early to High Renaissance and Mannerism. Explores the ramifications of the Italian Renaissance mode as it came into contact with other historical and cultural traditions in Northern Europe. AH 1000 and AH 1020 are strongly recommended as prerequisites.

Examines the dynamic and often militant Baroque style in Counter-Reformation Italy and its national variants in France, Spain, and Flanders. Traces the development of new and different modes of expression in the emerging Protestant Netherlands. Explores the evolution from Baroque to Rococo as well as the arts of the 18th-Century in France and England. AH 1020 is strongly recommended as a prerequisite.

Introduces the principal arts and aesthetic issues of the 19th and 20th centuries from the French Revolution to World War II. Studies artists such as David, Turner, Monet, and Picasso, as well as movements such as Romanticism, Impressionism, and Surrealism, stressing continuities beneath apparent differences of approach. Regular museum sessions at the Louvre, the Musee d'Orsay, and the Centre Pompidou. AH 1020 is strongly recommended as a prerequisite.

Investigates economic and financial aspects of art over several historical periods. Examines painting, sculpture, drawing, and decorative arts as marketable products, analyzing them from the perspective of patrons, collectors, investors, and speculators. Studies artists as entrepreneurs. Assesses diverse functions and forms of influence exercised by art market specialists: critics, journalists, public officials, auctioneers, museum professionals, experts, and dealers.