The Politics of Portraiture  OART-UT 826.001

Syllabus  Calendar

Summer Session 1

May 21- June 29

Tuesday & Thursday, 2 pm – 5 pm

Room 017, 721 Broadway

Instructor: DONNA CAMERON

Email: dnacameron@gmail.com

Office Hours: 665 Broadway, Room 629, 1-2 pm Tuesday & Thursday. All other times, by appointment.

Reading List

Required:

Man and His Symbols, 1964, Carl Jung, Aldus Books, London

The Hero Within, 1989, Carol Pearson, Harper-Collins Publishers, NY

Portraits, 1998, Michael Kimmelman, Random House, NY (Excerpted text, only at NYU Bookstore.)

The Power of Myth, 1988, Joseph Campbell, Doubleday

The Wisdom of Eve, 1944, Mary Orr, Charles Scribner & Sons, NY

The Picture of Dorian Gray, 1897, Oscar Wilde, Lippincott, Philadelphia

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, 1916, James Joyce, Penguin Classics

Selections from Ralph Waldo Emerson, An Organic Anthology, 1957, Stephen E. Whichler, Riverside Editions, HMCo.

Reference:

Portraiture, 1991, Richard Brilliant, Reaktion Books, Ltd, London

African Masks, 1998, Hahner-Herzog, Kecskesi, Vajda, Prestel Verlag, Munich

Matisse on Art, 1994, Jack Flam, University of California Press, Berkeley

Divine Horsemen: The Living Gods of Haiti, 1953, Maya Deren, McPherson & Company, Kingston, NY

Course Overview:

This class explores the legacy of the portrait through lectures, media presentations, and field trips to

museums and galleries. Readings, discussions and in-class projects will prepare students to convey their

own concepts of the relevance of the portrait to the individual and to society. With essays and collage,

students will learn to analyze and re-invent archetypes and icons, some new and some familiar, visible

in popular culture as well as art history. Ritual expressions of the portrait, such as the tribal mask and

the cult photograph will be examined. Guest speakers will present work and discuss how to make a portrait. 

There will be projects, essays and a final exam. Students will be expected to keep a personal Class Journal.

Class Journal

The Class Journal must be kept as a journal of assignments appropriate to class lectures and readings.

The completed Class Journal will be handed in and graded at the end of the term. It must include all

essays and The Hero Within collages assigned for this class. (See Session 12, Summer 2012 Calendar).

Grading

Students will be evaluated by the following: 1/3 grade class attendance and participation in class;

1/3 grade homework assignments (includes Journal); 1/3 grade mid-term exam and final exam.

Extra credit

1. “Frankenstein”, 1816, Mary Shelley, Signet Classics, Penguin Books, NY

2.  "A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man”, 1916, James Joyce, Penguin Classics

Select one of these works. Write a 500-word essay about it. Discuss its effectiveness as a portrait

and its relevance to your semester in Politics of Portraiture.

Note

Syllabus may be subject to change by the instructor.

_________________________________________________

The Politics of Portraiture                            Summer 2012 CALENDAR _

Homework assignment here! Bring to First Class: A VIEWPOINT COLLAGE:

Go to: http://culturalpolitics.net/popular_culture/  for reference.

Find a portrait in a popular culture paper publication- like a magazine or newspaper- which

you think displays subliminal messages of class, race, gender, or is a ‘fishhook' for attitude,

influencing the way one might ‘read’ the picture. Physically change the picture or its caption

to alter the original message. Bring this collage to Session 1 to present and discuss in class.

Keep a copy in your class Journal. (Please see info about the Class Journal above).

May 22

Session 1: Intro: Contemporary Media Portrait vs. Ancient Ritual Imaging

Overview of the Portrait in Western Art History, Lecture

Student Viewpoint Collage Presentations

Film, TBA

Location: Classroom

May 24

Session 2:  Portraits of Andy Warhol and Robert Indiana

Before They Were Famous, by William John Kennedy:

Prototype, Archetype & Stereotype, p. 1

Media, Lecture and Discussion,

Location: NYC Gallery Field Trip, TBA 

May 29

Session 3: Masks and Identity

Mask Projects, Student Presentations

Film: Divine Horsemen by Maya Deren

Location: Classroom

May 31

Session 4: The Portrait and Ancient Perspectives on Eternity

Field trip: Metropolitan Museum of Art: Egyptian Wing

Location: The MET

June 5

Session 5: Richard Avedon Portraits: Prototype, Archetype & Stereotype, p. 2

 Media, Lecture and Discussion,

Location: Gallery Field Trip TBA 

June 7

Session 6: Compassion and Selfhood

Guest Speakers: Films and Discussion

Location: Classroom

June 12

Session 7: Murder is My Business: The Tabloid Portrait

Weegee's Birthday Celebration; the birth of the Tabloid portrait.

Location: The ICP 

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June 14

Session 8: Eve, Animus and Archetype

Film: All About Eve, 1950, directed by Joseph Mankiewicz

Location: Classroom

June 19

Session 9: Adam, Anima and Archetype

Film: The Picture of Dorian Gray, 1945, directed by Albert Llewin

Location: Classroom

June 21

Session 10: American Portraits

Field trip: Metropolitan Museum of Art, American Wing

Location: The MET

June 26

Session 11: Native American Voices

Field trip: National Museum of the American Indian

Location: The NMAI

June 28

Session 12:  Final CLASS EXAM & Presentation, TBA

Location: Classroom

Your JOURNALS ARE Due today. YOUR COMPLETE JOURNAL includes:

                                   1. Viewpoints Collage

                                   2. Mask Essay  

                                   3. Mid-Term Project (TBA)                                                 

                                   4. Painting American Essay

                                   5. Orphan Collage.

                                   6. Wanderer Collage

                                   7. Warrior Collage

                                   8. Altruist Collage

                                   9. Innocent Collage

                                   10. Magician Collage

                                   11. Exercise E. Exercise G. Exercise A.

                                   12. Final Project (TBA)