Russian, Soviet, and Central Asian Art Fall 2017 | Professor Allison Leigh Mondays, Wednesdays & Fridays 11:00-11:50Am – Fletcher Hall 211

University of Louisiana at Lafayette VIAR 422-001 Studies in Art History: Russian, Soviet, and Central Asian Art Fall 2017 | Professor Allison Leigh Mondays, Wednesdays & Fridays 11:00-11:50am – Fletcher Hall 211

Professor’s Office: Fletcher Hall 201A Office hours: Mondays 12-3pm and Tuesdays 12:30-3:30pm; and by appointment Email: [email protected]

COURSE DESCRIPTION This course will examine the development of Russian, Soviet, and Central Asian art from the time of Peter the Great (c. 1700) to the 1980s. From early secular portraiture and the development of critical realism to the formal experiments of the avant-garde, this course will trace the impact of Europe and Asia on Russian art and visual culture. It will treat Russian contributions within the context of international art history, and highlight the variations within specific stylistic movements between western and non-western cultures. Students will study Russian and Central Asian responses to Romanticism, Realism, and Futurism, as well as artists’ efforts to reclaim Russia’s eastern heritage in the early 20th century. The first part of the course focuses on the development of Russian painting, sculpture, and printmaking in the 18th and 19th centuries. The focus during the second part of the course is then on Russian and Soviet modernism, from the art of the Russian avant-garde movements of the 1910s-20s to nonconformist art of the 1960s-80s. Threaded through the course will be analyses of the art and visual culture of Central Asian countries such as Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. The works of all the artists under study will be discussed in terms of the cultural and political context of Russia both before and after the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917.

Course Goals 1. Advanced knowledge of various artistic media central to Russian, Soviet, and Central Asian art production, including: painting, printmaking (lubki), sculpture, textiles, conceptual objects, and performance. 2. Advanced knowledge of major artists and works of art from the period under study. 3. Advanced knowledge of approaches and methodologies used by art historians to assess works of art. 4. Advanced knowledge of key terms in art history as well as their use and application. 5. Advanced knowledge of how to conduct formal and visual analyses to build arguments about works of art.

Student Learning Outcomes

1. Identify key artworks and art movements in the period and culture under study, and discuss them in relation to larger issues in art history. 2. Situate, engage, and assess artworks in relation to their cultural, political, and socio- historical context. 3. Conduct close reading and formal analysis of works of art and write analytically at an advanced level about images and texts under study by using scholarly research methods.

4. Express and communicate ideas and arguments about art and art history across all components of the course including written assignments, presentations, and classroom discussions. 5. Mastery and fluid use of key terms in Russian, Soviet, and Central Asian art including: Occidentalism, Slavophilia, mass culture, avant-garde, authoritarianism, and globalization. 6. Conduct intensive readings of advanced-level art historical texts and theoretical discourses in order to analyze interpretations about artworks. 7. Ability to summarize and elaborate upon the ideas of others and ideas of their own based on a new depth of knowledge on art, poetry, philosophy, art criticism, and political history.

REQUIRED TEXTBOOKS

Rosalind Blakesley The Russian Canvas: Painting in Imperial Russia, 1757-1881. Yale University Press, 2016. ISBN-13: 978-0300184372

Camilla Gray, The Russian Experiment in Art, 1863–1922. Thames and Hudson, 1986. ISBN-13: 978-0500202074

Additional required readings will be available through the Moodle website for this course. You should print these PDFs and read them for the assigned class according to the schedule below. You must bring the readings with you to class for the days they are assigned (either printed out in hard copy or already downloaded on your laptop or iPad; NOT on a cell phone). If there is ever a problem with a PDF on Moodle, email me right away. Continually not bringing the readings with you to class will result in a lowered participation grade for the semester.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

Class Attendance and Participation: Attendance will be taken at the beginning of each class meeting. Four absences will be allotted to each student without penalty. I will, however, drop a student’s final average by one letter grade for each absence beyond the four allotted: an A thus drops to a B, a B to a C, a C to a D, and so forth. If you will be absent, please send me an email beforehand to let me know. This does not necessarily mean the absence will be excused, but it will let me know what’s going on.

Classroom Policies:

All cell phones must be put on silent and set NOT to vibrate for the duration of class. Typing on a cell phone is not permitted for any reason during class. You may take photographs of the projector screen or chalkboard using your cell phone during the class, but these photographs are

© 2017 Allison Leigh, This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial- No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License not allowed under any circumstances to be posted online or to social media and are to be used for study purposes only. Please be sure not to include the professor in these photos. Violation of these rules will result in a complete ban of cell phone use during class for everyone.

Laptops may be used to take notes, but must only be used for note-taking. If you use a laptop for note taking you must sit in the first two rows of seats in the classroom. Any student caught looking at material on a laptop not related to class during lecture or discussion will be banned from using a laptop in class again. Recording of class lectures or discussions is not allowed. You must meet with me in person to receive permission to record and sign a waiver if permission is granted. A respectful tone should always be maintained in class (both with the professor and with each other) in all exchanges.

Required Reading: Assigned readings are listed in the course schedule below and are fundamental to developing an understanding of the material. You are expected to complete the readings listed on the schedule below for the day they are listed (i.e. before the class meeting) and demonstrate knowledge of the information they contain in class discussions. I reserve the right to give periodic pop quizzes. These will be “open book” and you may use your copy of the reading and/or notes while taking the quiz. In addition, I will occasionally ask you to respond to a reading in such a way that demonstrates you have completed it before we begin discussion.

Writing: Two short essays and several one-page response papers will be required for this course. The first short essay will be a visual analysis essay (4-5 pages) in which you will be asked to use formal analysis to describe and investigate a Russian artwork from a list of possible choices after spending a prolonged period studying the work. The second short essay will be a book review essay (4-5 pages) in which you will assess the merits, organizational structure, and writing style of Rosalind Blakesley’s The Russian Canvas. The one-page responses will be to readings assigned on the “case study” days. There are 12 total case studies and you will need to submit responses to 6 of your choice over the course of the semester. Further details and guidelines for these essays will be forthcoming.

To pass the class, all writing assignments must be completed. Please note that writing is accepted in stapled, printed hard copy only and not over email. The minimum page requirement must be met always: for example, 3 “full” pages means 3 full pages - i.e., not two and a quarter, not two and a half, for example, but 3. Papers with manipulated fonts and margins to stretch the text, feigning the required length, will not be accepted and will immediately receive a grade of “F”. Students are required to write in a standard 12-point font and use 1” margins on ALL sides.

EXAMS: In addition to the essays and responses, there will be two exams in this course. The midterm exam will be on Moodle and you will be able to use notes and the readings to complete this test.

The final exam will be in-class and will consist of slide IDs, multiple choice questions, and an essay. A study guide will be given in advance to help narrow the material to be tested on this exam.

GRADING:

Participation 15% Visual Analysis Essay 15% Quizzes and Responses 20% Book Review Essay 15% Midterm Exam (on Moodle) 15% Final Exam 20%

MOODLE AND EMAIL: For the duration of this class, students are required to have regular access to a computer with online service and a ready-to-receive UL email account; students must also have regular access to Moodle.

DISABILITIES ACT STATEMENT: If you are a student who is disabled as defined under the Americans with Disabilities Act and require assistance, academic accommodations or other support services will happily be provided to you. Please see me in person after class your first day or two of attending with appropriate documentation to discuss accommodations or come to my office hours to discuss.

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: Students are expected to adhere to the highest standards of academic integrity. Knowingly performing, attempting to perform, or assisting another in any act of academic dishonesty such as cheating, plagiarism, collusion, and the misrepresentation of circumstances such as illness and conflicting responsibilities will not be tolerated and result in serious consequences, including failing the course.

COURSE SCHEDULE:

Aug Introduction to the 21 Course Aug Blakesley, Introduction, p. 1-7 23 Peter the Great and Aug Westernization c. Lindsey Hughes, “From Tsar to Emperor,” in Picturing 25 1700 Russia (2008), p. 51-56.

Aug The Formation of Blakesley, Chapter 1: Creating an Academy, p. 11-31 28 the Imperial Aug Academy of Arts 30 and Catherine the Great

Sept 1 Late 18th Century Blakesley, Chapter 2: The Vanguard, p. 33-57

Sept 4 NO CLASS (Labor Day)

Sept 6 Late 18th and Early Blakesley, Chapter 7: Outliers, p. 167-203 19th Century

Sept 8 Blakesley, “Ladies-in-Waiting in Waiting: Picturing Case Study: Adolescence in Dmitry Levitsky’s Smolny Portraits, 1-page DMITRY 1772–76,” Art History 37, No. 1 (February 2014), p. 10- response LEVITSKY 37.

Sept

Sept Blakesley, Chapter 3: Challenges and Champions, Early 19th Century 13 p. 59-83

Sept 15 Sept Blakesley, Chapter 4 18 Sept Moscow School 20 & Sept Development of Christopher Ely, Chapter 1: Arcadia on the Steppe, in 22 Landscape This Meager Nature: Landscape and National Identity in Imperial Russia (2002), p. 27-58.

Sept Blakesley, Chapter 5: Travellers, p. 109- 25 Russia and the West Sept before the Mid-19th Visual 27 Century Analysis Essay due Sept Blakesley, Chapter 6: History Painters Abroad, p. 141- 29 165 Oct 2 Allison Leigh, “Blood, Skin, and Paint: Karl Briullov in Case Study: 1832,” to be published in New Narratives of Russian 1-page KARL BRIULLOV and Eastern European Art, p. 1-22. response

Oct 4 Case Study: Rosalind Gray, “The Homo-Erotic Paintings of ALEKSANDR Aleksandr Ivanov,” in Gender and Sexuality in Russian 1-page IVANOV Civilization (2001), p.163-173. response

Oct 6 NO CLASS (Fall Break)

Oct 9 Second Half of the Blakesley, Chapter 8: Casting a Critical Eye, p. 205-239 19th Century Oct 11 Oct 13 MIDTERM EXAM

Oct 16 Case Study: PAVEL Allison Leigh, “Men’s Time: Pavel Fedotov and the 1-page FEDOTOV Pressures of Mid-Nineteenth-Century Masculinity,” to response be published in Slavic and East European Journal (SEEJ), Issue 61. Oct 18 Richard Wortman, “Lubki of Emancipation,” in 1-page Case Study: LUBKI Picturing Russia (2008), p. 90-95. response

Oct 20 Blakesley, Chapter 9: The Realist Debate, p. 241-269 Critical Realism Oct 23 Oct 25 Case Study: Molly Brunson, “Wandering Greeks: How Repin 1-page ILYA REPIN Discovers the People.” Ab Imperio 2 (2012), p. 83-111. response

Oct 27 Case Study: Maria Chernysheva, “‘The Russian Gérôme’? 1-page VASILY Vereshchagin as a Painter of Turkestan,” in RIHA response VERESHCHAGIN Journal 96 (September 2014), p. 1-20.

Oct 30 Mir iskusstva Gray, Chapter 2, p. 37-62. Book (World of Art) Review Essay due Nov 1 Early 20th Century: Gray, Chapter 4, p. 93-130. Neoprimitivism

Nov 3 Gray, Chapter 5, p. 131-184. Suprematism Nov 6 Nov 8 Case Study: Branislav Jakovljevic, “Unframe Malevich!: Ineffability KAZIMIR and Sublimity in Suprematism,” Art Journal, Vol. 63, 1-page MALEVICH No. 3 (Autumn, 2004), p. 18-31. response

Nov Case Study Watch on Youtube: Aleksandra Shatskikh Lecture 10 continued… “Black Square: Malevich and the Origin of Suprematism” (46 minutes) Quiz on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muwA6UlNza0 Moodle

Nov T.J. Clark, Chapter 5: God is Not Cast Down, in 13 Case Study: Farewell to an Idea: Episodes from a History of 1-page EL LISSITSKY Modernism (1999), p. 225-297. response

Nov Constructivism Gray, Chapter 8, 244-276. 15 Nov Maria Gough, “In the Laboratory of Constructivism: 17 Case Study: Karl Ioganson's Cold Structures,” October, Vol. 84 1-page KARL IOGANSON (Spring, 1998), p. 90-117. response

Nov Leah Dickerman, “Camera Obscura: Socialist Realism 20 Socialist Realism in the Shadow of Photography,” October, Vol. 93 (Summer, 2000), p. 138-153.

Nov Douglas Northrop, “Envisioning Empire: Veils and 22 Central Asian Visual Revolution in Soviet Central Asia,” in Picturing Soviet Art Russia, p. 162-167.

Nov NO CLASS (Thanksgiving Break) 24 Nov Alla Rosenfeld and Norton T. Dodge, eds. 27 Soviet Nonconformist Art: The Soviet Experience, 1956-1986 Nonconformist Art (1995), p. 36-61.

Nov Case Study: Matthew Baigell, “Boris Sveshnikov,” in Painting for 29 BORIS the Grave: The Early Work of Boris Sveshnikov (2008), 1-page SVESHNIKOV p. 10-43. response

Dec 1 Allison Leigh, “Future Ruins: Time, Memory, and Case Study: Nostalgia in the Work of Komar and Melamid.” 1-page KOMAR & University of Pittsburgh Studies in Slavic Cultures 8 response MELAMID (August 2009): 9–26.

Tues., FINAL EXAM | 2:00 – 4:30PM Dec 5