Art

Return to: College of Arts & Sciences: Departments/Programs 

History of Art

Overview A painting, sculpture, or building is a monument surviving from the past, bearing the imprint of its creator and its time. The discipline of art history seeks to order and interpret these monuments; it seeks to discover their special characteristics and the value of the age in which they were created. For example, the work of Van Gogh would be examined in terms of his place in the Post-Impressionist generation of artists and his life in a period of religious revivals. The discipline defines the cultural currents of a period, and provides a context for understanding, appreciating, and enjoying art.

The department provides its students with the skills and perspectives of the liberal arts; to think clearly, to write well, and to find, analyze, evaluate, and present facts and ideas. It also provides students with a broad, humanistic background, an advantageous resource among the disciplines of law, business, and medicine. Students often combine art history with a major in one of these respective areas.

The major also soundly prepares students for graduate study. Professional careers in art history including teaching (most often at the college and university level), museum work, and work in the art market, usually require additional study at the graduate level leading to the M.A. and Ph.D.

Faculty The fifteen full-time faculty members are renowned for their teaching ability and scholarship. Among the many honors presented to the faculty are Guggenheim and National Endowment for the Humanities fellowships, a Henry Luce fellowship at the National Humanities Center, visiting Senior Fellowships at the Getty Center for the Arts and Humanities, election to the Academy of Arts and Sciences, a Mellon Professorship at the American Academy in Rome, and an Ailsa Mellon Bruce Senior Fellowship and a Mellon Professorship at the Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts at the National Gallery of Art. Each student is given the opportunity to work closely with one or more of these distinguished professors.

Students Approximately 120 students major in art history. Some introductory lecture courses are large; however, many courses are taught as colloquia, with enrollments between 18 and 25 students, and seminars, with enrollment limited to twelve students. The lecture courses are usually survey courses (e.g., Introduction to Classical Archaeology; Baroque Art in Europe; Arts of the Buddhist World - India to Japan; Art Now); the colloquia and seminars usually focus on one or two artists (e.g., Michelangelo, Bosch and Bruegel) or on themes (e.g. Mysteries of Ancient China; The Myth of the Artist; Art History’s Feminisms). The department offers over fifty courses, so there is a wide range of choices available. Independent study options exist, and some majors take courses in studio art as well. Courses in architectural history offered by the School of Architecture count toward the major.

Special Resources The University of Virginia Art Museum encourages participation in its activities by art history majors and students in general. The Fiske Kimball Fine Arts Library is a specialized collection of approximately 214,000 volumes and provides research and study space as well as research assistance by its trained staff.  An extensive collection of digital images is also available.

Studio Art

Overview Studio Art at the University of Virginia is a rigorous, pre-professional program leading to the Bachelor of Arts degree. The department provides instruction in the following areas: drawing, painting, cinematography, printmaking, sculpture, photography, and new media. Special Topics courses cover a range of topics including bookmaking, performance art, and Study-Abroad photography in Italy.

The major is designed to accommodate students with various interests and abilities, serving those who expect to become professional artists and welcoming those who are mainly interested in art as an avocation or as a means toward aesthetic fulfillment. The Studio Art major requires 30 credit hours of study, which includes at least one course in the history of art. All Studio Art majors choose an area of research to concentrate in and must complete a four-course sequence in one of the programs mentioned above. The program is also distinguished by many visiting artists and exhibitions presented throughout the academic year which offer students an opportunity to interact directly with contemporary art and artists. 

Faculty The nine full-time faculty members and a diverse group of adjunct and visiting faculty represent a multiplicity of activities and media. All faculty members are active professional artists with exhibitions at museums and galleries across the country and abroad. Among the awards and honors garnered by members of this group are two Guggenheim Fellowships, several Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Professional Fellowships, and several Artist’s Fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts. Works by the faculty are in many prestigious museum collections, including the Museum of Modern Art, The Whitney Museum of Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the National Gallery of Art, the Philadelphia Art Museum, the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington, D.C. and the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis. The faculty make themselves easily accessible to their students, serving as mentors in and out of the classroom.

Students  Studio Art programs expanded with the completion of Ruffin Hall in 2008. A new building built specifically for Studio Art, Ruffin Hall was designed with the faculty working closely with the architects to design the various studios. All studio art courses have limited enrollment, since the courses are taught in atelier style. All majors, in their final semester, are required to complete a senior exhibition. Many students in studio art are double majors. Art History is the most obvious choice for a second major, though English, Anthropology, Biology and Psychology are also common. Graduating students are eligible to apply for an Aunspaugh Fifth Year Fellowship. This award allows our top students the opportunity to extend their art practice within the department for one additional year, complete with a studio space and stipend, culminating in an exhibition. Approximately 10 percent of the majors go on to graduate work within the fine arts. Placement has been good, including admission to top national programs. Other students seek graduate work in related fields, including graphic and fashion design, medical illustration, art therapy, illustration, museum work, gallery management, advertising design, and teaching.