Special Topics: Arts of Asia and the Middle East (389-0-2)

Topic

Painting the Orient

Instructors

Yuthika Sharma

Jessy Bell

Meeting Info

Kresge Centennial Hall 4-410: Mon, Wed 12:30PM - 1:50PM

Overview of class

For British artists and travelers in eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, India was part of the distant Orient. Where it was standard practice to embark on a grand tour of European sites, India offered a taste of the exotic East. As maritime trade with Asia boomed, the sights of Hindoostan became objects of popular curiosity in Britain and Europe. Europe's mercantile interests opened the door to professional artists such as Thomas and William Daniel, William Hodges, and Johann Zoffany who made their careers through their Indian expeditions. On the other hand, British women such as Emily Eden and Fanny Parkes who traveled and lived in British India, produced their own sketches and impressions. In this course we will examine how artists and amateurs documented the life, customs, and landscapes of a region that would eventually become part of Britain's Victorian Empire. Through a look at painted canvases and personal diaries, we will unravel how images while being documents of discovery, also sat at the core of networks of commerce, fashion, dispossession, and even violence.

Class Materials (Required)

Readings on Canvas

Class Notes

Please use the following link for Art History Waitlist information: https://arthistory.northwestern.edu/courses/2023-2024/registration_waitlist.html