Art Criticism and Essayism

Recommended Prerequisites

Knowledge of 19th and 20th century Art History and Philosophy; Knowledge of English (reading).

Teaching Methods

Theoretical and practical sessions based on texts’ close reading and writing. Presentation and discussion, by students, of researches and essays previously appointed. 

Learning Outcomes

To differentiate between art theory and art criticism. To learn the various critical approaches to works of art and its authors. To understand the types of criticism based on the aesthetic criteria of each time and place. The role of interpretation, judgement, evaluation and taste in the formulation of critical thinking on works of art, exhibitions and artists. To develop tools for thinking and writing on art.

Work Placement(s)

No

Syllabus

1. What is art: origins and development of the concept.

2. Art criticism as a specific way of looking and understand art and the artistic practices.

3. Interpretation, judgement, evaluation and taste: analysis and questioning of art’s concepts and terminology.

4. Case studies: the experience of art and the experience of writing. 

Head Lecturer(s)

Ana Catarina Rosendo de Sousa

Assessment Methods

Assessment
Synthesis work: 30.0%
Research work: 70.0%

Bibliography

BORDWELL, Making meaning. Inference and rhetoric in the interpretation of cinema, Harvard University Press, 1989

DERRIDA, Jacques, L’écriture et la différence, Paris, Seuil, 1967

EAGLETON, Terry, The function of criticism, Londres, Verso, 1984

HOUSTON, Kerr, An introduction to art criticism: histories, strategies, voices, Boston, Pearson, 2003

KANT, Immanuel, Crítica da faculdade do juízo, Lisboa, IN-CM, 1992

RANCIÉRE, Jacques, O espectador emancipado, Lisboa, Orfeu Negro, 2010.