You're browsing Art History Classes in Chicago, IL

Explore the history of photography, beginning in 1827 with the first photograph, through the age of daguerreotype portraits, the photograph’s early development as an art form, the invention of Kodak’s Brownie camera, to contemporary photography. Discover great photographers and examine how this relatively new medium has affected our culture.

Liesl Olson, Chicago Renaissance: Literature and Art in the Midwest Metropolis This remarkable cultural history celebrates the great Midwestern city of Chicago for its centrality to the modernist movement. Author Liesl Olson traces Chicago’s cultural development from the 1893 World’s Fair through mid century, illuminating how Chicago writers revolutionized...

Where can we start with Art? From cave paintings to the work being created right now, this speed-date with a complex discipline will whet your appetite for the art that is all around us. We’ll discuss artists’ traditional and radical roles around the world, connecting style, structure, and meaning in new ways. Week 1: Thinking globally, looking...

Remember when feminism happened, and Georgia O’Keeffe kicked butt, and now museums and the art world totally treat male and female artists with equal value? JK JK IT’S STILL SUPER BAD!  On this two-hour tour of the Art Institute of Chicago, we get three things done: We celebrate the awesome women who ARE represented We fill you in on some...

In this course, students learn about the variety of ways that color is considered and used as a design element. Working with current color theory principles and models, students develop color plans and concepts in relationship to individual and group projects. This research is compiled in sketchbook/notebook format and is used as reference for independent...

Art Seminar: The Body in Art: A History of Presence & Absence The body has been both a subject and a medium of art for millennia. We’ll look at multiple forms of art that explore the body as both a visceral location and a representation of identity. Looking beyond portraiture, our focus will include feminist and queer histories, ritual practices,...

Learn art historical references, styles and artists each week, and then experiment with the various technique introduced for yourself. We will study and view the history, and then be set free to work on a piece in that particular form or technique.  Additional time will be given if a learner requires more instruction on how to use the materials....

As protests against systemic racism continues, the significance of monuments has been thrust into the cultural spotlight. Who or what should they represent? Can or should they be removed? And what is to replace them? In this course we’ll focus on artists of color who address these questions by exploring ideas of history, identity and power. Skill...

Visual Earthquakes: How Photography Changed the Course of Art When in 1839, photography was first presented to the world, it caused a storm of excitement and an undercurrent of disquiet. Photographers and artists spent decades experimenting with techniques while critics debated the nature of this new, world-changing invention. This course maps the...

In this seminar we’ll explore a constellation of modern and contemporary artists who have redefined the practice of painting by exploring what it is not. From Tibetan sand mandalas to Joan Miro’s burnt canvases to Katharina Grosse’s paintings/sculptures, we’ll learn how artists use ideas of absence, silence and erasure to push the boundaries...

What happens when art becomes more about actions than a physical result? How does art relate to us and the wider social world? How do we negotiate the gap and blur the boundaries between art and life? Learn the history of performance art and a wide spectrum of performance forms including performance in everyday life, rituals, folk forms, artists'...

An overview of the history of photography as both an art and a science. Class will begin with the birth of the photographic process, in the 1830s, (and its inspiration by the camera obscura) and end with our present day digital photography.  Discussions will include the science and technique behind various photographic processes, and will concentrate...

Throughout history, artists have trained by learning from artists that came before them. We will focus on different areas of art history with particular emphasis on technique, including composition, line quality, values, etc. and then practice these techniques firsthand.