Art Appreciation: Art in the United States from Colonial Portraiture to Pop Art.

This 10-week course explores nearly two centuries of American art, tracing its evolution to colonial portraiture and early history painting (John Singleton Copley, Benjamin West) to the mid-century modernism of Abstract Expressionism and Pop Art.

We will examine how American artists engaged in a dynamic dialogue with European traditions while also responding to native traditions. We will address the unique cultural identities shaping the U.S., considering how Native American, Latino, and African American artists navigated and challenged dominant artistic narratives.

We will also explore the interplay between fine art and mass culture, from cinema to advertising and see how artists sometimes blended the artistic and commercial.

We will proceed in a chronological order and study the following groups and movements:

- Hudson River School

- American Impressionism (Childe Hassam)

- The Ashcan School (John Sloan)

- Precisionism

- The Harlem Renaissance

- The Taos Society of Artists

- Abstract Expressionism (Jackson Pollock)

- Neo-Dada and Pop Art

Join us on this online course and expand your knowledge of American Art.