Physical History of Art

What constitutes an artwork? What forces cause it to change over time? How do these changes impact our understanding of art objects? Artworks are not static. They are in constant flux, even before the work leaves an artist’s studio. Close physical examination of artworks—an approach now commonly called technical art history—allows for a clearer picture of an object’s path through time, including alterations made within an artist’s workshop, to treatments undertaken by conservators at a significantly later date. This seminar explores art’s manufacture through a close study of materials and technological processes, surveying the various attitudes toward preservation and exhibition as they develop over time. Working across temporal and geographic borders with the collections of the Yale Art Gallery and the Yale Center for British Art, as well as those in other institutions in Connecticut and New York, this course examines a variety of materials and techniques, including tempera and oil painting on panel, works on paper, and time-based media and ephemeral art. The course is a close collaboration with the curatorial and conservation staff of the Yale museums and the object scientists based at West Campus. It provides a foundation in the history of technical art history and conservation while also considering more theoretical issues of authenticity and artistic intention.

Taught Spring 2020
Course Number: 
HSAR 675