Art History Course

HOW WE LIVED: Scenes of Everyday Life

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Bruegel and Vermeer are familiar names, but artists across the centuries have offered us insights into the lives of ordinary people: jolly peasants at work and play, middle class families in domestic settings and the nobility enjoying leisure pursuits.

Once occupying a minor category in the academic hierarchy, and considered sentimental by Modernist critics, genre scenes have, deservedly, been re-evaluated by recent art historians.

In spite of the dominance of abstraction, many twentieth century artists have chosen to make art that reflects the political and economic changes shaping our society. Alongside painting, new techniques include collage, photography, performance and installation.

From Medieval prayer books, through Flemish Renaissance and the Dutch Golden Age, to French Rococo, Victorian Realism, Impressionism, Modernism, Pop and Contemporary Art, join me to discover 'How We Lived'.