Exhibition Explorer

Introduction to the History of Art

Venues

*This installation, organized by Harvard faculty in the History of Art and Architecture, accompanies the course Introduction to the History of Art (HAA 10).*What is art? Why does it matter? What does art have to do with power or with desire? How has it helped people build individual or collective identities? Is it a form of knowledge, an instrument for knowing the world? Or is it a way of world-making? These and other questions are addressed in the course Introduction to the History of Art (HAA 10). Taught by six members of the faculty in the History of Art and Architecture—Patricio del Real, Cécile Fromont, Jeffrey F. Hamburger, Felipe Pereda, Jennifer L. Roberts, and Eugene Wang—the course explores major works of art and architecture from around the world.Each week, the students immerse themselves in the cultural and imaginary world of a single artwork. Following an expansive lecture on the work, the students gather in small groups for “looking labs,” in which they develop skills of close observation, description, and visual analysis. Looking labs occur throughout the Harvard Art Museums and other locations on campus. The objects in this gallery support the labs for four of the course units:Andy Warhol: Repetition and CelebrityTime, Motion, and Memory: Eadweard Muybridge and the Origins of Cinema Integration of the Arts: From Harvard to the BauhausWorld-Making contra Empire: The Case of the Aztec PalaceThe University Teaching Gallery serves faculty and students affiliated with Harvard’s Department of History of Art and Architecture. Small-scale, semester-long installations are mounted here in conjunction with undergraduate and graduate courses, supporting instruction in the critical analysis of art and making unique selections from the museums’ collections available to all visitors.This installation is made possible in part by funding from the Gurel Student Exhibition Fund. Modern and contemporary art programs at the Harvard Art Museums are made possible in part by generous support from the Emily Rauh Pulitzer and Joseph Pulitzer, Jr., Fund for Modern and Contemporary Art.

Images

Andy Warhol, “Marilyn Monroe,” 1967. Screenprint. Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Gift of Michael F. Marmor, AB '62, MD '66 and Jane B. Marmor, MD '66, 2015.45.4. © Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

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Objects

24 objects are associated with the exhibition. They are viewable on Harvard Art Museums website.

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