Academics

Department of Art > Course Descriptions

110 Introduction to the Visual Arts
This course introduces students to the subjects of art history and the questions and methods used in the discipline; the course considers basic issues, such as how one sees and interprets a work of art, but also explores how art is defined and how it works in culture. A principal aim of the course is to give students the opportunity to analyze and write about works of art. This is the recommended first course in art history and is required of majors.

112 Introduction to Visual Communication
This course examines forms of visual communication outside the traditional fine arts of painting and sculpture. It will concentrate primarily on the history and theory of graphic design, advertising, and propaganda, with consideration of both static and moving images.

130 Studio Art: Elements of Design
Introduction to basic design problems in various two- and three-dimensional techniques and media. A prerequisite for most other courses in studio art.

131 Studio Art: Drawing
This introductory course exposes the student to a variety of drawing tools and techniques. The course focuses on the development of observational skill and on hand-eye coordination. Students learn the basics of value, line, and composition. The course stresses the development of a visual vocabulary and critical skills to express ideas in extended drawings. All drawing will be done through observation of the real three-dimensional world. Emphasis will be on developing a drawing. Students will participate in group critiques and will be exposed to ideas and techniques through slide lectures.

132 Studio Art: Creative Photography
An introductory course in the techniques and aesthetics of photography, dealing with the fundamentals of camera and darkroom procedures and study of the expressive possibilities of the medium. (Not open to students who have taken Art 232.)

202 Greece in the Bronze Age
See Program in Greece and Turkey under Undergraduate Curriculum for course description. Offered only in Greece and Turkey. (Cross-listed as Classical Studies 202, Greek Civilizations 202, and Sociology and Anthropology 202. Meets GEC Cultural Diversity Requirement.)

203 Greece in the Classical-Roman Ages
See Program in Greece and Turkey under Undergraduate Curriculum for course description. Offered only in Greece and Turkey. (Cross-listed as Classical Studies 203, Greek Civilizations 203, and Sociology and Anthropology 203. Meets GEC Cultural Diversity Requirement.)

204 Greece in the Byzantine-Medieval Ages
See Program in Greece and Turkey under Undergraduate Curriculum for course description. Offered only in Greece and Turkey. (Cross-listed as Classical Studies 204, Greek Civilizations 204, and Sociology and Anthropology 204. Meets GEC Cultural Diversity Requirement.)

205 Japanese Art and Culture
The course focuses on the history of Japanese art from neolithic to modern times, with emphasis on the art forms of the major periods and their relationship to social, political, and religious developments. (Cross-listed as Asian Studies 205. Meets GEC Cultural Diversity Requirement.)

206 Chinese Art and Culture
This course examines the history of Chinese art from the Bronze Age to the present with emphasis on the major art forms and their relationship to contemporary social, political, and religious development. (Cross-listed as Asian Studies 206. Meets GEC Cultural Diversity Requirement.)

210 Ancient Art
Painting, sculpture, and architecture of ancient civilizations of Egypt, Mesopotamia, Greece, and Rome.

211 Medieval Art and Architecture
A survey of European art from the era of Constantine (ca. 400) through the Gothic period, about 1300.

212 Italian Renaissance Art
An introduction to Italian art from the late Gothic period until the Reformation, ca.  1300 to 1600.

215 European Art, 1600-1750
An introduction to European art during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

217 Nineteenth-Century Art
Introduction to art and architecture in Europe and America from the neoclassicism associated with the French and American revolutions to the Impressionist and Post-Impressionist avant-gardes. Course readings emphasize the relationship of art to other social movements. Students tie classroom study to the collections of area museums.

218 Twentieth-Century Art
Introduction to European and American art from Post-Impressionism to Postmodernism. Course readings reveal competing constructions of this history that is still in the making. Students tie classroom study to the collections of area museums.

219 American Art
The visual arts in North America, covering painting, sculpture, architecture, and the applied domestic arts, from the Colonial period to the present. (Cross-listed as American Studies 219.)

220 History of Architecture
Evolution of architectural style and thought from antiquity to the present.

221 Modern Architecture
This class examines the history of architecture from the late nineteenth century to the late twentieth century. Students will be introduced to architectural terminology and techniques for analyzing architecture. They will also study the major trends in architectural design in the twentieth century, the issues faced by architects, and the social and functional problems that architecture is designed to solve.

223 Northern Renaissance Art
Arts of the Netherlands, France, Germany, and Spain from ca. 1350 to ca. 1550.

224 The History of Prints
The graphic arts of the Western tradition, from about 1400 to the twentieth century.

225 American Architecture
The course will survey American architecture from the seventeenth century to the present.  Topics will include early colonial architecture, architecture of the new republic, nineteenth century eclecticism and domestic revival, the Chicago School and the skyscraper style, and the development of modern architecture in the twentieth century.   Other themes to be discussed include changes in domestic demographic and population patterns, post-war housing, issues in American historic preservation and new urbanism. 

226 Colonial Latin American Art
This course will consider the arts of Central and South America from the conquest to independence (ca. 1500-1850) and will explore the intersections among art, culture, and power in the specific conditions of Colonial Latin America. (Cross-listed as Latin American Studies 226. Meets GEC Cultural Diversity Requirement)

230 Studio Art: Painting
This course is designed for the beginning student in oil painting. The emphasis in this course is on the description and analysis of the world around us. Students will learn the basics of color theory, color mixing, how to prepare and stretch a canvas, how to use and mix paint, and different techniques for various effects using brushes, rags, and palette knives. Emphasis will be on value and depth and their relationship to color. Students must have experience in drawing with value. Students will participate in group critiques and will be exposed to ideas and techniques through slide lectures. Prerequisite: Art 131.

231 Studio Art: Figure Drawing
This course is designed to give advanced students an opportunity to develop their ability to draw and interpret the human form. Working from the model, students will explore a variety of techniques including gesture drawing, studies of volume and mass, and contour and cross-contour drawing. Prerequisite: Art 131 or permission of the instructor.

232 Studio Art: Photography
Intended for majors and students with background in design, this course introduces the aesthetics and techniques specific to photography, including fundamentals of camera and darkroom procedure and the study of the expressive possibilities of the medium. Prerequisite: Art 130 (not open to students who have taken Art 132).

233 Studio Art: Sculpture
This course will familiarize students with the basic language and art-historical background of sculpture as both a narrative medium and a contemplative objectification of some of humankind’s deepest desires.  Reading key texts in the theory and history of modern and contemporary sculpture along with the creation of sketches, models and 3-dimensional artworks students will explore how sculpture functions in various contexts to convey meaning and to pose questions of reality and perception, identity, originality, psychology, society and space.  Prerequisite:  Art 130.

234 Studio Art: Landscape Painting  (Offered Less Frequently)
An outdoor, landscape/nature course involving the student in the observation of nature, transcribed through perceptual data, and resulting in painting and drawing. Prerequisite: Art 131 or consent of instructor.

236 Studio Art: Ceramics I
This course offers an introduction to ceramic art, including wheel-work, hand-building, and glazing, on a college level. In addition to  developing practical skills in ceramics, students will explore the history of the medium and the relationship of concept to visual form. Because this course is sited near the campus, students scheduling their courses must allow time between classes for transport. Cost of materials is not included in tuition; it will be billed upon enrollment and is not refundable. Prerequisite: Art 130.

237 Performance Art
This course will provide students with an understanding of performance art as a constantly evolving and flexible medium.  The class will trace the emergence and development of performance art as a form of expression both distinct from and yet dependent upon traditional and experimental forms of theater and other contemporary manifestations of theatricality.  Students will negotiate, through reading, research, discussion and planning and practical application, the blurred boundaries between performing and living, entertainment and art.  (Cross-listed as Theater 237 and English 233.)

242 Introduction to Computer Imaging
This course will survey and explore the basic concepts of two-dimensional image making in the electronic realm. Applications used include Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, and QuarkXpress. An important theme will be the use of computer technology to generate visual points of view and to use this technology to express precise thoughts through image and text. Prerequisite: Art 130 and computer literacy.

315 Japonisme/Occidentalism
“Japonisme” is the term given by the French to the fashion for Japanese aesthetics in the West following the opening of Japan to trade with Europe in the 1860s; “Occidentalism” signifies the reciprocal fascination of Japanese artists and writers for Western art and literature. This course examines the interaction between these phenomena from the 1860s to the 1960s. (Cross-listed as Asian Studies 315. Meets GEC Cultural Diversity Requirement.)

320 Landscape and Representation
This course explores the many moments in human history when landscape is a subject for representation. Drawing from a wide range of chronological periods and cultures, the course will examine how the natural environment is depicted, for which audiences it is depicted, the artistic strategies by which landscapes are achieved, and the many meanings and associations that accompany the production of landscape imagery. Prerequisite: one art history course or permission of the instructor. (Cross-listed as Environmental Studies 320.)

322 Site, Sight, Insight
This course will explore the concept of the  natural in the history of art and in contemporary art making. Students in the course will look at a variety of sites and analyze both verbal and visual responses to them. Topics will include landscape painting, earth art, urban design, landscape architecture, Native American land use, and many other issues having to do with landscape and human interactions with nature. The class will combine art making with evaluating texts and writing about the natural world. Short field trips to local sites and a long field trip over mid-semester break to the Southwest required. Prerequisite: one art course.

325 Women, Art, and Society
This course considers the contributions of women artists to the Western tradition of art making and examines the way art in the Western world has used the figure of woman to carry meaning and express notions of femininity in different periods. Prerequisite: one art history course. (Cross-listed as Women’s and Gender Studies 325.  Meets GEC Cultural Diversity Requirement.)

326 Gender, Identity, and Modern Art
From the Victorian Age to the current day, communities of artists and critics have defined themselves in opposition to the dominant norms of maleness and heterosexuality. This course examines two identities invented by the Victorians—“feminist” and “homosexual”—and traces their development in and influence on the visual arts. Prerequisite: one art history course. (Cross-listed as Women’s and Gender Studies 326.  Meets GEC Cultural Diversity Requirement.)

330 Studio Art: Painting
Advanced work in painted media.  Prerequisite: Art 230.

331 Studio Art: Advanced Drawing
Advanced drawing is designed for the student with previous studio drawing background.  The course will explore abstraction and non-objective drawing techniques and ideas.  Students will, working from known sources, develop abstract imagery and explore new and varied media and materials.  Non-objective compositions will be stressed in the later half of the semester.  Color will also be an integral aspect of the drawing process.  Slides, lectures and field trips will be included in the course work.  Prerequisite: Art 131.

332 Studio Art: Advanced Photography
Advanced work with camera and darkroom. Prerequisite: Art 130 and Art 132 or 232 or permission of the instructor.

333 Studio Art: Sculpture
Advanced work in sculptural media. Prerequisite: Art 233.

335 Mixed Media/Materials and Techniques
This class will focus on the interaction of various media and their application in both two and three dimensions. The class will emphasize a variety of materials and techniques; students will use collage and various other techniques such as monoprinting, transfer techniques, and work with found objects. Emphasis will be on unorthodox methods. Students will work with a variety of materials while developing ideas and exploring visual methods to create formally and conceptually coherent works of art. Critiques and slide lectures will be included. Prerequisite: Art 131.

342 Advanced Computer Imaging
This course explores the computer as a tool to enhance the image-making process. While Art 341 focuses on issues of construction and representation in two-dimensional image manipulation, this course will allow students who are interested in a wide range of media to learn new approaches to art-making using time-based media. Utilizing applications such as Dreamweaver and Final Cut Pro, the class will consider the ways artists can manipulate images and craft projects in video and web formats. Students will design and produce videos that will be burned onto tape or DVD as well as active Web sites. Prerequisite: Art 242 and one other studio course.

343 Digital Media: Video, Photography,  and Sound
This class will explore an array of approaches to making videos. Students in this class will be trained in the use of the video camera, and, using Final Cut Pro editing software, will make video narratives and constructions using multi-media as well as camera sources. They will use digital technology to combine video, still images, and sound into time-based artwork. They will scrutinize the relationship between imagery, music, and sound as illustrated in selected examples from video and film history, and investigate the potential for expression inherent in this relationship. They will survey the difference between documentary and fictional film and video, and navigate the expressive potential of both in their individual productions. Prerequisite: Art 130.

344 Digital Color Photography
Digital Color Photography will explore the use of digital and analog cameras to create color photographs that will range from small and medium to large scale format (9” x 12” through 24” x 36”).  Working in response to specific challenges from photographic history, as well as contemporary color photographic work, students will use the basic elements of the camera – the lens, the shutter and the aperture – as well as the inventive use of artificial and natural lighting, setting and backdrop, to create images that will be processed through the digital environment of the computer lab rather than in the darkroom.  Processing of images will include learning to control scale, color and file size while moving from digital image to printed document.  Students will be exposed to the unique expressive qualities of the color image while exploring the conceptual possibilities of this versatile medium in collaborative as well as individual projects, realizing specific ideas in concrete visual form.  Prerequisite: Art 130.

349 The Lake Forest College Campus as Cultural Landscape
The look of the Lake Forest College campus offers a case study in the relationship between the history of architecture and the history of higher education in the United States. This course will begin by examining our College’s campus in relationship to other institutions of higher  education, and culminate in the production of  a guidebook to the campus appropriate for visitors and tours. (Cross-listed as History 349.)

350 Museum/Gallery Practicum
This course combines study of the history and theory of art exhibition with field trips to Chicago-area museums and galleries, and culminates with the practical experience of planning and installing an exhibition in the Sonnenschein Gallery. Prerequisite: Art 110.

360 Contemporary Art
Focuses on the art of the late twentieth century, from about 1950 until the present day, to trace the development of contemporary artistic movements and expression.

481 Senior Seminar in Studio Art
The aim of this course is to provide a “capstone” experience for students majoring in studio art. The course allows students to reflect on why one makes art and to develop their own conceptual basis for making art. The course will stress issues that confront the studio artist, including professional practices. Students will divide their time between off-campus visits to Chicago-area museums, galleries, and artists’ studios and the classroom. Classroom work will focus on readings and discussions of art practices and issues confronting the contemporary artist as well as on making connections between visits to sites in Chicago and the readings. Students will devise artwork that reflects some of these concerns. Prerequisite: senior standing in the major or permission of the instructor.

485 Seminar: Means and Methods of Art Historians
In-depth consideration of special issues, fields, or topics with careful attention given to questions of methods of investigation and the reporting of research. An exploration of some of the principal methods used by art historians in their investigations of the visual arts including historiography, style and connoisseurship, iconography and iconology, social history, and other means of interpretation. Prerequisite: senior standing in the major or permission of the instructor.

490 Internship

492 Senior Thesis in Studio Art
A well-documented and well-executed visual project completed in the senior year may count as a senior thesis.  (See Academic Regulations in the Student Handbook for details.)  As with other theses, the final project will be reviewed by a thesis-examining committee consisting of three faculty, at least one from outside the Art Department.  Students are encouraged to consult with members of this committee during the planning and execution of the project.

494 Senior Thesis in Art History