Friday, February 22, 2008
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Art Theft and Fraud Crime Reports
Due: Friday, February 22nd
As you’ve probably heard or read, a major art heist occurred at the Bruerle Museum in Zurich, Switzerland last week. Thieves escaped from the museum with over $164.2 million worth of artwork by Cezanne, Degas, van Gogh, and Monet in broad daylight. This is just one of many in a long history of art theft and fraud. Small and large scale operations occur all of the time, all over the world and only a small portion of the work is actually recovered. The circumstances surrounding the cases, while often resulting in tragic losses for the art world, are always fascinating, mysterious, and point out underground crime rings that are otherwise invisible to the average citizen.
For Friday, please research and be prepared to inform the class about one case of art theft or fraud that interests you. (**note that art fraud generally involves forgery of a work and an attempt to sell it as the original). There are many resources available to you online and in print, a few of which are listed below:
FBI Art Theft Department and National Stolen Art File: http://www.fbi.gov/hq/cid/arttheft/arttheft.htm
International Foundation for Art Research:
http://www.ifar.org/
Museum Security Network:
http://www.museum-security.org/wordpress/
Saving Antiquities for Everyone:
http://www.savingantiquities.org/
Interpol:
http://www.interpol.int/default.asp
Site devoted to “Fighting the Illicit Traffic of Cultural Property”: http://icom.museum/illicit.traffic.html
American Association of Museums:
http://www.aam-us.org/
Your crime report should include a description and brief history of the painting and artist, the value of the piece, commentary on the location that it was stolen from, recovery or leads (if any), and any other interesting details that you come across which make that specific instance of theft or fraud unique.
As you’ve probably heard or read, a major art heist occurred at the Bruerle Museum in Zurich, Switzerland last week. Thieves escaped from the museum with over $164.2 million worth of artwork by Cezanne, Degas, van Gogh, and Monet in broad daylight. This is just one of many in a long history of art theft and fraud. Small and large scale operations occur all of the time, all over the world and only a small portion of the work is actually recovered. The circumstances surrounding the cases, while often resulting in tragic losses for the art world, are always fascinating, mysterious, and point out underground crime rings that are otherwise invisible to the average citizen.
For Friday, please research and be prepared to inform the class about one case of art theft or fraud that interests you. (**note that art fraud generally involves forgery of a work and an attempt to sell it as the original). There are many resources available to you online and in print, a few of which are listed below:
FBI Art Theft Department and National Stolen Art File: http://www.fbi.gov/hq/cid/arttheft/arttheft.htm
International Foundation for Art Research:
http://www.ifar.org/
Museum Security Network:
http://www.museum-security.org/wordpress/
Saving Antiquities for Everyone:
http://www.savingantiquities.org/
Interpol:
http://www.interpol.int/default.asp
Site devoted to “Fighting the Illicit Traffic of Cultural Property”: http://icom.museum/illicit.traffic.html
American Association of Museums:
http://www.aam-us.org/
Your crime report should include a description and brief history of the painting and artist, the value of the piece, commentary on the location that it was stolen from, recovery or leads (if any), and any other interesting details that you come across which make that specific instance of theft or fraud unique.
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Presentation Guidelines
Presentations:
Over the course of the year, each member of the class will be responsible for giving two oral presentations with accompanying visual materials. The first presentation will be on an artist who worked between the Early Renaissance to the Impressionist Era and the second presentation (given during Spring semester) will focus on an artist from the post-Impressionist period to today. The presentations should be approximately 20 minutes long, giving the class an in-depth look at the artist’s life and work. The following elements should be included:
● Artist’s personal history
● Influences
● Social, political, or religious events that they experienced
● In-depth analysis of 2 of their works of art
-This analysis should utilize all applicable visual language terms, elements and principles of design (Section 2.3, p. 40-45)
Over the course of the year, each member of the class will be responsible for giving two oral presentations with accompanying visual materials. The first presentation will be on an artist who worked between the Early Renaissance to the Impressionist Era and the second presentation (given during Spring semester) will focus on an artist from the post-Impressionist period to today. The presentations should be approximately 20 minutes long, giving the class an in-depth look at the artist’s life and work. The following elements should be included:
● Artist’s personal history
● Influences
● Social, political, or religious events that they experienced
● In-depth analysis of 2 of their works of art
-This analysis should utilize all applicable visual language terms, elements and principles of design (Section 2.3, p. 40-45)
Monday, January 28, 2008
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Monday, December 10, 2007
End of Material for Quiz #4, 12/12/07
Fall Semester Final Project
Your Career as a Curator
Picture this: You are a world-renowned curator. You have been summoned by the National Gallery in London to put together a show which will open at the start of the New Year in 2008. They’ve hired you to take an innovative look at art from the Early Renaissance through the Early 18th Century. You’ve been granted an unlimited amount of funding to travel all over Europe (and the rest of the world, when necessary) in order to locate and return to London with 15 to 20 works of art that will make up the exhibit.
Your primary goal for the project is to utilize works of art that interact with, or relate to each other in a unique and interesting way. The interaction can involve a specific artistic property, subject matter, connection between the lives of the artists, etc. The show must include works from at least 3 different countries, multiple time periods, and at least 2 different media. You must also incorporate at least 6 works of art that we have not studied in class.
Your final show should include the following elements:
1. Visual component—create a 2D or 3D model of the gallery space in which you will hang the art. Show us how you plan to display the works. Curators make very specific choices about which pieces hang next to each other and why. Think about your placement! You should also create a brochure for your new and exciting exhibition. Name the show, advertise what it will feature, and entice viewers to visit the National Gallery in January.
2. Written component—write a 5-7 page paper that includes the following:
a. Introduction that explains which works of art you chose and your primary reason(s) for choosing them. What are the connections (or major contrasts) between them? How do they relate, visually, thematically, in terms of their effect on the audience, societal, historical implications? What are the unique elements that they bring to the exhibit as well?
b. Do an in-depth property analysis on 3 works of art, 2 of which we have NOT studied in class. Utilize primary sources and scholarly articles when available. Cite all sources in a complete bibliography.
3. Oral component—be prepared to present your exhibit to the class during exam week. Your presentation should be 15-20 minutes long, covering the main ideas in your paper and walking the class through the visuals.
Picture this: You are a world-renowned curator. You have been summoned by the National Gallery in London to put together a show which will open at the start of the New Year in 2008. They’ve hired you to take an innovative look at art from the Early Renaissance through the Early 18th Century. You’ve been granted an unlimited amount of funding to travel all over Europe (and the rest of the world, when necessary) in order to locate and return to London with 15 to 20 works of art that will make up the exhibit.
Your primary goal for the project is to utilize works of art that interact with, or relate to each other in a unique and interesting way. The interaction can involve a specific artistic property, subject matter, connection between the lives of the artists, etc. The show must include works from at least 3 different countries, multiple time periods, and at least 2 different media. You must also incorporate at least 6 works of art that we have not studied in class.
Your final show should include the following elements:
1. Visual component—create a 2D or 3D model of the gallery space in which you will hang the art. Show us how you plan to display the works. Curators make very specific choices about which pieces hang next to each other and why. Think about your placement! You should also create a brochure for your new and exciting exhibition. Name the show, advertise what it will feature, and entice viewers to visit the National Gallery in January.
2. Written component—write a 5-7 page paper that includes the following:
a. Introduction that explains which works of art you chose and your primary reason(s) for choosing them. What are the connections (or major contrasts) between them? How do they relate, visually, thematically, in terms of their effect on the audience, societal, historical implications? What are the unique elements that they bring to the exhibit as well?
b. Do an in-depth property analysis on 3 works of art, 2 of which we have NOT studied in class. Utilize primary sources and scholarly articles when available. Cite all sources in a complete bibliography.
3. Oral component—be prepared to present your exhibit to the class during exam week. Your presentation should be 15-20 minutes long, covering the main ideas in your paper and walking the class through the visuals.
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
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