The 19th Century was the Age of Pictures, when imagery of all types multiplied and entered everyday life. A key agent was the new medium of lithography. Lithographic printing was seen in postcards and letterheads, labels and wrappers, and tickets and show bills. Framed lithographic prints hung in parlors, lobbies, and offices. The marvelous world of American lithography reached its apex through the wave of Europeans who immigrated after the Revolution of 1848 and brought advances in technique and art.
Archives
“Let Us Now Praise Famous Men: Walker Evans and James Agee in the American South”
In 1936, Fortune magazine hired photographer Walker Evans and writer James Agee to do an article on the conditions among sharecropper families during the “Dustbowl.” Spending weeks living with three different sharecropping families, Agee and Evans captured more than just a standard documentary; the final photographs and paired language became poetry. Though the article was never printed, a final book was published in 1941 that was simmering with anger, beauty, and mystery. This lecture will explore the creation of this profound work of literature and its influence on artists as diverse as Arron Copeland and William Christianberry.
Location Digital Portrait Photography
This hands-on workshop teaches students the basic strategies of shooting street portraits (portraits outside). As a professional photographer himself, Glen McClure will share his own street portraits and ideas of how to help subjects relax in front of the camera. Students should bring a digital camera to class and be familiar with it.
The Bold and the Beautiful: A Survey of the Neoclassic and Romantic Movements
18th- and 19th-century Europe were captivated by two competing artistic movements: Neoclassicism and Romanticism. Neoclassic art inspired by the ancient world was undeniably en vogue for the majority of the 18th century, dominating every salon and private home throughout Europe. At the close of the century, Neoclassicism was met with a reactionary artistic movement: Romanticism. With shocking imagery and an emotionality previously unexamined, Romanticism was the polar opposite of Neoclassicism. Join Elizabeth Cruickshanks as she examines these two artistic movements and the fascinating hold they had on the European public.
Watchmen and The Dark Knight Returns
1986 was a pivotal year for comic books when DC Comics published Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, along with Batman: The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller. Never before had mainstream superhero comic books taken a novelistic approach to the genre. Both reinvented the superhero comic book for a more mature audience–and reinvented popular culture as we know it. This talk goes through both series in an in-depth nature to evaluate the changes that influenced the superhero world.
The Comic Book Film
This talk reveals the origins of comic books and how they have translated into film and TV over the decades. It showcases everything from the 1940s movie serials to the current blockbuster movies out today and how both media have helped change one another. Featured are the classic Adventures of Superman TV show, Batman with Adam West from the 1960s, the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and the current DC Comics shows on network television.
THE NATIVITY IN ART
Christian art includes a great many representations of the Virgin Mary and the Christ Child. Such works are generally referred to as the “Madonna and Child” or “Virgin and Child”. They are not usually representations of the Nativity specifically, but are often devotional objects representing a particular aspect or attribute of the Virgin Mary, or Jesus. Nativity pictures, on the other hand, are specifically illustrative, and include many narrative details; they are a normal component of the sequences illustrating both the Life of Christ and the Life of the Virgin.
Significant among the narrative, symbolic images of the life of Christ are scenes concerning the birth of Jesus, and hence the birth of the Church. This lecture looks at the Nativity cycle – the Annunciation, the Visitation, the Nativity, the Annunciation to and Adoration of the Shepherds, and the Adoration of the Magi – from the earliest days of the Christian church through the Renaissance.
ART GOES TO WAR: THE TRAGEDIES OF FRANZ MARC AND AUGUST MACKE
The artists associated with early 20th century German Expressionism sought to make a radically new kind of art that conveyed transcendent, essential truths about the world. They hoped their work, which incorporated current theories about the transformative power of abstraction, would reinvigorate the viewing public, whose senses had been deadened by the excessive materialism of the age. When World War I broke out in August 1914, many German Expressionists initially believed it could be the apocalyptic event that would at last overthrow the self-satisfied materialism of the nation’s monarch and bourgeoisie. Many German artists enlisted for active duty or were drafted. This lecture examines the lives and work of German Expressionists who, when confronted with the harrowing experiences of war, suffered physical wounds, “shell shock,” and mental breakdowns. Most tragic are the cases of Franz Marc and Auguste Macke, both killed in battle, only to be deemed “degenerate” in the coming years.
Tools of the Manga and Animation Artist: From the pencil to the Cintiq
Have you ever wonder what a tablet is and what it is used for, what the differences and when you should use Photoshop vs. Illustrator, or what tools or software do Animators use to create their animations? This workshop will introduce you to the traditional to the modern tools and software used by Mangaka and Animators.
It’s a matter of Perspective
Do you have a hard time with incorporating perspective into your artwork convincingly, or you do not fully comprehend perspective? This workshop will introduce you to basic principles of perspective and how to incorporate it into your Manga Drawings, Illustration, and general drawings in a convincing manner.