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Tsinghua University

Western and Chinese Art: Masters and Classics

Tsinghua University via XuetangX

Overview

Throughout human history, art has served as a window into current events, traditions, societies and culture. And, Chinese and Western civilizations have produced some of the most famous artworks by world-renowned artists.

This course will examine Western and Chinese art, artists and history. Through exploring immortal works of art, this course will help learners gain insight into our shared history and better understand culture, both past and present.

From an interdisciplinary perspective of art history, aesthetics, intellectual history and cultural history, we will explore spiritual and cultural questions such as “where are we from” and “what is humanity.” The course will present a general overview of Chinese art and Western art, focusing on major works with special attention paid to the comparison between China and the West and between tradition and modernity.

In this course, learners will develop a systematic knowledge of Western and Chinese art history, its artists and aesthetic theories. Students will develop aesthetic judgment, appreciation and a knowledge of humanities, and cultivate their artistic tastes.

Join us as we survey renowned Chinese and Western artists and deepen our understanding and appreciation of art, history and culture.

 

Syllabus

  • 1.A Survey of Art: Subjects and Methodology
    • 1.1Factual impairment between image and message
    • 1.2Relationship between Fact and Truth
    • 1.3The image revelry in the information age
    • 1.4 Nature, animal and human body art
    • 1.5 Art: from concrete bodies to metaphorical constructions
    • 1.6 On defining art
    • 1.7 Globalization and Consumerism
    • 1.8 Art and Anti-art
    • 1.9The value classics hold to the modern time
  • 2. The Dawn of Icon: Masterpieces by Unknown Artists
    • 2.1 The occurrence of prehistoric art
    • 2.2 Mysterious cave mural paintings
    • 2.3 Symbolism of rock engravings
    • 2.4 Expressive functions about prehistoric painting
    • 2.5 Aesthetic characters of prehistoric art
    • 2.6 The tribal art of bodily operation
    • 2.7 The construction to reach the heaven
    • 2.8 Immortal art in ancient Egyptian
  • 3.Mythological creation of beauty: From Homer to Phidias
    • 3.1 The relationship between mythology and Greek culture
    • 3.2 The marks of the epics written by Homer
    • 3.3 Three greatest tragedy drammatists in Greece
    • 3.4 The aesthetics woven into ancient Greek architecture
    • 3.5 The ancient Greek sculpture
    • 3.6 The Greek sculpture of the classic age
    • 3.7 Works of Phidias
    • 3.8 The essence and verve of ancient Greek classical art
  • 4.Majesty and Divinity: From Bronze Ware to Han Stone Rrelief
    • 4.1The beginning of Chinese painting and Calligraphy
    • 4.2 Majesty and divinity from bronze ware
    • 4.3 The Duke Mao Tripod and eternal characters
    • 4.4The Philosophy of Chuang Tzu
    • 4.5Qin Shi Huang’s Terracotta Warriors
    • 4.6The painting in the Han Dynasty
    • 4.7 The sculpture in the Han Dynasty
  • 5.Grief and Transcendence: Wang Xizhi and Gu Kaizhi
    • 5.1Master Chuang Tzu's impact on the Wei and Jin Dynasties
    • 5.2Talking about Ji Kang
    • 5.3 The general spirit of the Wei and Jin Dynasties
    • 5.4 Wang Xizhi and his unrivalled attainment in calligraphy
    • 5.5 A Preface to the Orchid Pavilion
    • 5.6 The penmanship of two famous calligraphers surnamed Wang
    • 5.7Gu Kaizhi and his painting
    • 5.8 Great poet Tao Yuanming
  • 6.Unrestrained-ness and unconventional-ness: Zhang Xu and Wu Daozi
    • 6.1The Chan School in the Tang dynasty
    • 6.2“Cursive King”: Zhang Xu
    • 6.3《Four Calligraphy Works of Ancient Poems》
    • 6.4Zhang Xu and Huai Su
    • 6.5Wu Daozi and his paintings
    • 6.6Wang Wei and Chinese landscape painting
    • 6.7The relation of painting and poetry
  • 7. Earthliness and Holiness: Giotto and Jan Van Eyck
    • 7.1 The beginning of Renaissance: Giotto
    • 7.2 Giotto’s naturalism
    • 7.3 The frescoes in the Arenal Chapel
    • 7.4 The Renaissance artist in north Europe: Robert Campin
    • 7.5 The Ghent Altarpiece
    • 7.6 Jan Van Eyck’s secular paintings
  • 8. The Blossoming of Holiness: From Da Vinci to Titian
    • 8.1 The beauty of dawn during Renaissance
    • 8.2 The reproducer of nature: Da Vinci
    • 8.3 The immortal work Mona Lisa
    • 8.4 The classicism of Raphael
    • 8.5 The Sistine Chapel ceiling
    • 8.6 The mythology and sculpture of Moses
    • 8.7 Michelangelo's struggle between life and death
    • 8.8 The perceptual Titian and Venice
  • 9.Nature and Human Nature: Rubens, Poussin and Rembrandt
    • 9.1Rubens and the Baroque Art
    • 9.2Poussin and his classical spirit
    • 9.3Rembrandt and his aptitude of wielding light and shadow
    • 9.4 Rembrandt in his self-portrait
    • 9.5 Vermeer and his painting
  • 10.Verve and Character: From Wang Wei to Ni Zan
    • 10.1Landscape painting from the Five Dynasties period to the Northern Song Dynasty
    • 10.2 Creating painting out of poetry by Emperor Huizong of Song
    • 10.3 Viewing the small through the large
    • 10.4 Combining the tangible with the intangible
    • 10.5 The atmosphere of freedom, detachedness and ease of landscape painting
    • 10.6 Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains
    • 10.7 Friendliness in Ni Zan’s painting
    • 10.8 A pristine and boundless world in Ni Zan’s painting
  • 11.Personality and Love for Ridicule: Xu Wei the Lunatic
    • 11.1The origin and expression of the madman culture
    • 11.2 The madman Li Zhi
    • 11.3 Xu Wei: from gifted scholar to mad man
    • 11.4 The aesthetic ideology of Xu Wei
    • 11.5 Xu Wei’s notions and theories on painting practise
    • 11.6 Miscellaneous Plants and Flowers
    • 11.7 Drunkenness in Xu Wei's art
  • 12.The Transition of Classicism: From David to Courbet
    • 12.1 Winckelmann
    • 12.2 Neoclassical master: David
    • 12.3 The Death of Marat
    • 12.4 The Intervention of the Sabine Women
    • 12.5 The aestheticism works by Ingres
    • 12.6 The contrast between photography and paintings
    • 12.7 Courbet and realism
  • 13.The Philosophy and Painting of Romanticism
    • 13.1 Rousseau and emotionalism
    • 13.2 Kant's view about the beautiful and the sublime
    • 13.3 Goethe, from Werther to Faust
    • 13.4 Byron, romantic hero
    • 13.5 The painting laws of Romanticism
    • 13.6 John Constable
    • 13.7 The world of Turner
  • 14.Experience and Contemplation: Van Gogh and Cézanne
    • 14.1 Western modernism and Rodin
    • 14.2 The Gates of Hell
    • 14.3 Painting conception of Manet
    • 14.4 Impressionism of Monet
    • 14.5 Cezanne:the Father of the art of modernism
    • 14.6 Van Gogh:painting and life
    • 14.7 The art value of Van Gogh
  • 15.Boundless Art: From Marcel Duchamp to Andy Warhol
    • 15.1 art modernism
    • 15.2 porcelain urinal of Marcel Duchamp
    • 15.3 This is not a pipe
    • 15.4 The great innovation artist: Picasso
    • 15.5 the infinity of art
    • 15.6 the art after Andy Warhol
  • Final exam

    Taught by

    Ying Xiao and Jing Sun

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