Royalty, Rogues and Revolution in Eighteenth-Century Art

Catalog description

Once thought of as only a transitional period between the great art of the Counter-Reformation of the 17 th century and the dynamic modernization of the better known art of the 19 th century, recent scholarship has shown how the art of the 18 th century speaks to a changing world in terms of gender, class, travel, and leisure with the rise of secular rationalism and a new idea, “Might it be that things are not what they might seem to be?” These changes seem to be reflected in our current concerns which deal with the challenges of equally virtual realities. Beneath the frills of paint and flirtations of fashionable young people, lie the very serious dreams of autonomy, collective identity and freedom. Can the painting of the personal freedom have anything to do with political liberty? The answer just might be found in this course. (Formerly ART 214 - Eighteenth-Century Art) Satisfies the Visual and Performing Arts requirement.