Brushstrokes of History
A look at paintings that depict important historical events or simply reveal fascinating aspects of contemporary society. This is a history course rather than an art history course but art is very much at its centre. Using examples including Van Eyck's Arnolfini Portrait, Rubens' Massacre of the Innocents, Goya's 3rd May 1808, Picasso's Guernica, and Manet's A Bar at the Folies Bergère we will examine the artists' motivation and the background to the events and scenarios portrayed. We will also focus on paintings by great women artists over the centuries from the Renaissance to the 20th century, when women were finally able to work on a level playing field with men. And we'll look at art in totalitarian regimes, particularly Stalin's Soviet Union, and how artists in those countries were put under considerable pressure to work within ideological constraints.