Start Date
4 October, 2024
There will be 8 weekly meetings on Friday, 1 - 3pm, starting from 4 October.
Overview
Throughout history, artists have employed geometry to create an illusion of space and to create a stage or setting for scenes. It has also been used to impose order on a composition and in constructing sculptural works and installations. In modernism, lines and grids became a means of expression in their own right, in the abstract works of artists such as Kandinsky and Mondrian, Constructivists and Minimalists.
This course will explore the work of a wide range of artists, from the Renaissance to present day, looking at representations of physical structures such as architecture, sculpture and abstract art, examining the various strategies used to create, suggest and even deny space in their art. Classroom sessions will be combined with site visits to galleries in the city in order to experience art and architecture first hand.
Syllabus
Session One: 4 October
An introduction to Perspective
Theories of fixed-point perspective revolutionised the way that Renaissance artists depicted figures in naturalistic settings. We will examine a range of artists, including Piero della Francesca, Paolo Uccello and Leonardo da Vinci.
Session Two: 11 October
Windows
The window has been used in art as a means of illuminating a scene, a framing device and as a motif with symbolic associations. Artists featured will include Vermeer, Delaunay and Matisse.
Session Three: 18 October
Doors
Doors have been a vehicle for expression as physical objects eg Giberti’s Baptistry doors in Florence and Rodin’s Gates of Hell. In surrealist works, doors can evoke mystery and the unknown. Featured artists include Rene Magritte, Leonora Fini and Marcel Duchamp.
Session Four: 25 October
Site Visit: RIBA North/Tate Liverpool
This session will take place at RIBA/Tate and the Waterfront area (possibly an architectural walk)
Meet in the café /foyer at RIBA, Mann Island
Session Five: 1 November
Walls and Bridges
This session will focus on architectural structures in art history, including works by Joseph Stella, Claude Monet and Gustave Caillebotte. We will also discuss murals and street art.
Session Six: 8 November
Abstraction. Artist in Focus: Piet Mondrian
Mondrian rejected the idea of a painting as a window to an external world by creating ‘pure forms’ with vertical and horizontal lines and flat primary colours. We will study the development of his work in depth and also discuss his studio spaces.
Session Seven: 15 November
Alternative views: Cubism and After
Picasso and Braque invented new ways of representing three dimensional objects on a flat surface by combining different viewpoints. This session will examine the impact of cubism on 20th century art and its continuing influence on contemporary practice.
Session Eight: 22 November
Site Visit: Walker Art Gallery
This session will take place at the Walker with discussion and gallery workshops.
Meet in the café /foyer at the Walker
Please note that the ‘last date available to book’ date is only a guide. We reserve the right to close bookings earlier if courses are over- or under-subscribed. In order to avoid disappointment, please be sure enrol as soon as possible. Registrations will not be processed until the following day if received after 3pm.
Course Lecturer: Julie Robson
Since completing her Masters Degree in Contemporary art at the University of Liverpool, Julie Robson has been contributing to short courses for both the University of Liverpool's Continuing Education Department, and its International Summer School. Julie has also carried out freelance work as a writer, lecturer and gallery educator at many galleries and museums in Merseyside and North Wales.
Courses fees: Full fee £125/Concession £65.
Back to: Continuing Education