Global Arc

Artistic invention refers to original concepts, new techniques, novel media and fresh approaches in the creation of art. This course examines invention in European art from around 1400 to 1650, a period that (unlike contemporary ideas about unprecedented originality) considered imitation as a paradigmatic mode of innovation. As well as exploring historical modes of creative imitation, we examine theories of imagination, the intersection of new technologies and materials with artistic ingenuity, the marketing of authenticity through signatures, copyrights and novel technique, concepts of authorship and collaboration, and the rise of fakes.

Introduction to art made in Western Europe since 1945, with a dual focus: How do works of art come to terms with the history of modernity? How do they reckon with changing circumstances in the present? How have painting and sculpture in certain moments succeeded or failed in remaining aesthetically and culturally vital? What happens when artists turn to "new media" (television, video, digital technologies)? What roles do museums and international exhibitions play in shaping artistic practice? How has art responded to and produced knowledge about the Holocaust, decolonization, migration, nuclear warfare, political violence, climate emergency?

The most fascinating art objects from Africa primarily depict supernatural beings and were often used for religious and ritual activity. This course returns these objects to their original contexts; it helps us develop fuller appreciation of these art works now in collections around the world, and the different ways African societies used art and religion to enrich their experience of life and the afterlife. We examine how Africans imagined their world through religion, and how art - objects, images, and performances - were/are used to articulate and make sense of the encounter of humans with a complex, exciting, and bewildering world.

Provenance -the origin and ownership history of an artwork or cultural heritage object-increasingly informs the ethical stewardship of heritage today. Drawing on Princeton University Art Museum's collections, this course introduces the methods of researching provenance. Students will examine legal and ethical debates, including repatriation of African and indigenous heritage; restitution of Nazi-looted art; heritage in conflict zones; and questions of authenticity in light of provenance. Students will gain familiarity with international resources for specialist research, as well as processes of due diligence on the art market.

The tombs of Sufi saints have long been nodes of contact in South Asian cities, gathering devotees from across social classes and religious groups. These monuments are constantly transforming -- pilgrims seek to be buried in the shadow of saintly sepulchres, shrines become complexes with ancillary structures, additional monuments, courtyards, and other open spaces. As they expand, they become significant public spaces, places of sociability and of communal gathering. Through close architectural analysis and literary study, this seminar explores funerary landscapes and their connection with urban spaces in the subcontinent.

Hundreds of Tlingit belongings journeyed from Alaska to Princeton in the 19th century. Now in the Princeton University Art Museum, they reflect an ongoing condition of broken knowledge and asymmetrical relationships. This course reflects on the place of these items within and beyond the Princeton community; explores the question of epistemology through multiple ways of seeing and knowing Alaska and its histories; and considers Alaskan colonization in relation to Tlingit cosmology, ecology, oral tradition, and kinship. The course includes collaboration with Tlingit artists and scholars and a break trip to University of Alaska, Southeast.

What does it mean to make art about the contemporary world? What does it mean for a work of art to make that world? This course traces contemporary artistic practice to key moments of internationalism and globalization, from decolonial movements and Cold War realignments to the watershed events of 1989, current considerations of ecological crisis, and the rise of new nationalisms. Mobilizing interdisciplinary theoretical frameworks and foregrounding first-hand engagement with art on campus, it introduces contemporary art as a vital means to comprehend and reimagine our disputed, but incontrovertibly shared globality today.

This course explores the art and archaeology of the later Bronze Age (2000-1100 BCE) in the Middle East and Eastern Mediterranean. Through weekly readings and seminar discussions students will examine the material culture of the major powers of this first age of globalization, as well as the rise of an international stylistic koine facilitating diplomatic and commercial exchange between Syria, Egypt, Mesopotamia, the Aegean, and Iran. Class lectures and discussions will be supplemented by visits to the PUAM, the University's department of Geology, and a guest class lead by an eminent scholar of the period.

Junior Independent Work requires students to complete a substantial piece of research and scholarship under the supervision and advisement of a Princeton faculty member. The work requires sustained investment and attention throughout the semester. See below for details on works-in-progress submissions and due dates.

This course covers the history of printmaking in the Western world from c. 1400 to today, considering its significance, techniques, uses, and landmarks in print history. With an emphasis on 15th-18th century Europe, we will examine the mass media implications of print: its use in news, politics, and propaganda; in the creation and dissemination of art and science; and in entertainment. The course will include frequent Museum study room sessions with artworks, and hands-on workshops and printing demos. Artists covered include Mantegna, Dürer, Goltzius, Callot, Rembrandt, Goya, Daumier, Posada, Kollwitz, Catlett, Rauschenberg, and Amos.