Art History is a flexible degree program for students who want to pursue in-depth study of art history in combination with extensive studio work.
Beginning with fundamental knowledge of the visual and verbal vocabularies of art, students pursue more advanced critical study of objects, image making, actions, and events—the products and processes of visual culture throughout history around the world.
In addition, students concentrate intensively in a selected studio area of their choice while experimenting with other studio fields.
The Art History Program unites the practical knowledge and understanding of how art is made with critical study, allowing advanced art historical inquiry.
Art History at Moore College spans a wide array of topics, approaches and historical periods and is particularly attuned to the role of women and issues related to women in the visual arts.
First-year courses introduce key art historical concepts and acquaint students with ancient cultures as well as major European and American monuments, cultural movements, and the artists who created them. Students focus on modern art and select from a range of non-Western cultures for a study in the second year.
Advanced courses and electives reflect the diverse expertise and enthusiasm of faculty, providing rich opportunities to study art of specific historical periods, cultural groups, and diverse, contemporary modes of production.
Students in all courses are encouraged to sharpen analytic skills as they examine cultural ideas and artistic theory in depth. Senior Thesis in Art History allows students to develop and pursue their personal research interests in close collaboration with professionally active scholars.
The Art History emphasis provides an excellent basis for graduate study in art history as well as preparation for careers in related fields such as museum studies, gallery work, and publishing in the arts.
Jonathan Wallis, PhD
Assistant Professor, Chair
Liberal Arts
Education: PhD, MA, Tyler School of Art, Temple University. BA, University of New Hampshire.
Areas of specialization: Modern and Contemporary Art
Current Scholarly Interests: The religious paintings of Salvador Dalí, spirituality and technology in contemporary art.
Favorite work of art: T.V. Buddha, Nam June Paik, 1974.
Professional Activities:
· forthcoming: “Holy Toledo!: Salvador Dalí’s paranoiac-critical mysticism and the Life of St. John of the Cross” in The Dalí Renaissance, Penn State University Press.
· 2006/07 Guest Curator, “Norman Rockwell’s Saturday Evening Post Covers.” Atwater Kent Museum, Philadelphia.
· 2006 Commentator, The Life of an Easter Masterpiece: Christ Saint John of the Cross, BBC2 Television documentary.
· 2005 “The Day After: Cai Guo-Qiang’s Mushroom Clouds, Michael Heizer’s Earthworks, and Atomic Activity and Anxiety in the Nevada Desert” Society for Literature, Science, and the Arts, Chicago.
· 2004 “From Rhino Horns to Day-Glo Bunnies: The Legacy of Dalí’s Nuclear Mysticism in Postmodern Art and Science” in Persistence and Memory: Dali at the Centennial. Bompiani Press, 2004.
· 2003 “Case Open and/or Unsolved: Étant donnés, the Black Dahlia, and Marcel Duchamp’s Life of Crime,” Rutgers Art Review, Vol. 20, 2003.