Prof. Jim Kohn, “What’s the Story! Narratives in Art”

OLLI at Dominican University, Winter, 2017

What’s The Story?  Narratives in Works from Bay Area Museums

We will discover lively stories from the Old Testament, the New Testament, classical legends, Italian and French poets, and American history and historical figures, such as the Donner party, John Brown, the Gold Rush, the social protests of the ‘Thirties, and even the Summer of Love.  We’ll view presentations of narratives seen in art works at the DeYoung, the Legion of Honor and other local museums of art.

Class website:  https://jimkohn.me/whats-the-story-narratives-in-art/

Week One:  Intro to the course.  Narratives from classical mythology and history; Assyrians, Greeks, Romans, Egyptians

Week Two: Meso-Americans:  Olmec, Maya, other Mexican cultures;

Week Three:  Stories from Africans, South-east Asians: Nigeria, West Africa, Central Africa, New Guinea, and Maori

Week Four: Stories from the Old Testament

Week Five:  Stories from the New Testament:  Jesus, Mary and John the Baptist

Week Six:  Stories of Archangels, Apostles and Saints

Week Seven:  Portraits: Narratives of people

Week Eight:  Stories from literary and historical sources

Reference works:

John Boardman, Greek Art, 4^th ed., London: Thames & Hudson, 1996.

Timothy Burgard, Masterworks of American Painting at the DeYoung, San Francisco: Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, 2005.

Mary Ann Miller, The Art of Mesoamerica, London: Thames and Hudson, 3^rd ed., 2001.

Stephen Nash, Lynn, Orr, Marian Stewart, Masterworks of European Painting in the California Palace of the Legion of Honor, New York; Hudson Hills, Press, 1999

Marilyn Skokstad, Art History, 2^nd ed., Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2005.

Nicholas Thomas, Oceanic Art, London: Thanks & Hudson, 1995.