Velasquez Victory
Junior seminar is a required class offered every semester by a different professor. It usually focuses on one artist, any artist from any period, and lining up a good artist to match your concentration basically depends on luck with your credits/schedule. Given the overwhelming amount of modern art focus in the program, I could have ended up with someone *really* lame and stupidly famous like Jackson Pollock, but I got WAAAAAAAY lucky and ended up with Velasquez. SCORE. He's perfect! A transitional figure and Spanish, which is juuuuuust right for me because Spanish art is something that's always covered in a class or two but not in depth, because the bigger picture is usually biased toward the Italian and French. So it will be challenging but with enough relatable material that I won't be frazzled. I am SO happy.
Albrecht Dürer and the German Renaissance - This is my main course this semester, and it's going to suck. I love how there are three sections of Art Since 1945, some other boring classes with names like The Invisible Seventies, and then all that's left for my concentration is Dürer. Which basically means... an entire semester of woodblock prints. UGH. But this class is taught by my advisor who is awesome and hilarious, so I'm hoping it might pick up.
Dante and Medieval Culture - This is a lit requirement that is cool because the textbook is a side-by-side Italian/English translation of the Commedia, and I am the only person who is taking Italian so the prof likes me. He is this white-haired, soft spoken old dude, but he wears black turtlenecks, a studded belt with matching bracelets and high black boots; like, I think this is what happens when badasses get really old. I am sooooo sure this guy was on the front lines of every major free protest and rally of the 20th century. Which is really awesome, in addition to all the inherent SPN in the Commedia.
Photography I - The second of my two studio requirements (yeeeeck). Last spring I took Drawing I and it was absolutely gruelling, so I'm not looking forward to the work, but the class feels less obnoxious at least, and there are lots of Art History/Arts Management/MSA kids there for a required studio. Plus one of my best friends is a Photo major, so I have support (thank God). I'm also looking forward to developing a better eye for analyzing photography, since mine is woefully inadequate. The professor is really cool and she looks like a redheaded Jo Harvelle! We looked at some professional work and she showed us this photo by Mark Steinmetz:
The class said it looked like a hitchhiking alien, but all I saw was I GRIPPED YOU TIGHT AND RAISED YOU FROM PERDITION.
Albrecht Dürer and the German Renaissance - This is my main course this semester, and it's going to suck. I love how there are three sections of Art Since 1945, some other boring classes with names like The Invisible Seventies, and then all that's left for my concentration is Dürer. Which basically means... an entire semester of woodblock prints. UGH. But this class is taught by my advisor who is awesome and hilarious, so I'm hoping it might pick up.
Dante and Medieval Culture - This is a lit requirement that is cool because the textbook is a side-by-side Italian/English translation of the Commedia, and I am the only person who is taking Italian so the prof likes me. He is this white-haired, soft spoken old dude, but he wears black turtlenecks, a studded belt with matching bracelets and high black boots; like, I think this is what happens when badasses get really old. I am sooooo sure this guy was on the front lines of every major free protest and rally of the 20th century. Which is really awesome, in addition to all the inherent SPN in the Commedia.
Photography I - The second of my two studio requirements (yeeeeck). Last spring I took Drawing I and it was absolutely gruelling, so I'm not looking forward to the work, but the class feels less obnoxious at least, and there are lots of Art History/Arts Management/MSA kids there for a required studio. Plus one of my best friends is a Photo major, so I have support (thank God). I'm also looking forward to developing a better eye for analyzing photography, since mine is woefully inadequate. The professor is really cool and she looks like a redheaded Jo Harvelle! We looked at some professional work and she showed us this photo by Mark Steinmetz:
The class said it looked like a hitchhiking alien, but all I saw was I GRIPPED YOU TIGHT AND RAISED YOU FROM PERDITION.