Syllabus of Lecturer in Arts, History & Aesthetics

Syllabus for the Post of Lecturer in Arts, History & Aesthetics

MODULE – History of Art (Indian & Western) : 20 Mark

Pre-historic art – cave paintings, early sculptural forms, petroglyphs, earliest writing forms like cuneiform, hieroglyphs – Rise of civilizations – Mesopotamia, Egypt and Indus Valley – Indian Art – Mauryan imperial art, Budhist art, Vaishnava, Shaiva and Shakthi cultic iconographies, Manuscript Painting of Pala – Paintings at Badami, Ajanta Caves – the illustrated manuscripts of the Jains, Mughal, Mewar & Pahadi miniature paintings – Indian temple architecture in terms of emperors and their stylistics – different types of architecture, Dravida, Nagara and Vesara – Chalukya, Pallava and Rashtrakuta period-Rock cut architecture and sculpture at Ellora Mahabalipuram and Elephanta – Early structural temples at Aihole, Pattadakal, etc -Temples and sculputre in Orissa, Khajuraho and Western India -Pala-Sena period, Stone and Metal Sculpture -Fusion Of Medieval Hindu and Sarcenic architecture -Architecture in South India: Halebidu, Belur: Bronze images form Chola to Vijayanagara period- various Indian folk art traditions Western Art – Influence of Egypt, Mesopotamia on the art of the Mediterranean Islands, early Greek Art. 1000 B.C. to 700 BC) -Archaic period, evolution of the, Male nude figure. – Classical period, Polyclitus, Canons ) ideal proportions. Phidias and Parthenon, – Sculptures with movement and balance -Praxiteles, Lyssipus, Scopas -Realism and grandeur, Pergamon, Laocoo, realistic portraiture – Greek humanism, the development of various arts -The military empire of Rome -Alexander and the expansion of the empire -The Great builders of Rome: Markets, Courts, Temples, roads aqueducts. The use of arch in building -Mosaics and paintings at Pompeii -Portrait sculpture antiwar columns -Rise of Christianity; life of Christ, early Christian symbols, art of Catacomba – Basilica and the first church -Shifting of empire to Constantinople, the contact with the East, Mosaics in the churches of Hagia Sophia, San Vitale San Apollinare in Classes, and in San Apollinare Nuovo – Spread of Byzantine art to Russia -Manuscripts and icon paintings. 16.Scythian, Celtic, Viking and Carolingian ornament and Art -Art of Western Europe; Romanesque churches at Autun, Mossaic, in France -Manuscripts and books covers, Tapestry and decorative objects. Renaissance Humanism – discovery of pictorial devices – renaissance painters, sculptors and architects – Post-Renaissance scenario -Mannerism –Parmigianino, Pontormo, Bronzino -Baroque-Caravaggio, Poussin, claude Lorraine, Rembrandt, Vermeer, Franz Hals, Rubens, Velazquez -Rococco -Watte an, Fragonard, Boucher, Chardin, Tiepolo, Gainsborough, Hogarth, Reynolds -Neo-classicism and Romanticism – David, Ingres, Goya, Delacroix, Blake, GermanNazarena; Realism, Naturalism, Impressionism: Courbet, Milet, Corot, Manet, degas, Monet, Renoir Postimpressionism: Cezanne, Van Gogh

MODULE-2 – Histories of Modern Art : 10 Marks

Europe & American contexts of modernism : Beginnings of ‘the modern’ sensibilities in the industrialised Europe – Romanticism – Realism – Impressionism – Cubism – Futurism –Fauvism –Dadaism – surrealism – German Expressionism – Abstract expressionism- suprematism – Constructivism – De Stijl – Bauhaus – Minimalism -Conceptual art – the ‘post-modern turn’ – feminists – Italian Trans avant-garde – British Neorealism – Neo-conceptual Artists- video art –subversive practices in the Euro-American contexts Indian modern art: Locating ‘modernism in India – colonial modernity – print modernisms – regional modernisms – contextual modern – post modern scenario of art in India – globalization and art – Asian contexts of the modern art : Emergence of the discourse of ‘modern’ in the art of 20th century China, Japan and Korea. Contemporary art practices. Middle East modern art: Emergence of the discourse of ‘modern’ in the art of 20th century Emirates and other Arab cultures. Contemporary art practices developed there. Black aesthetics. African modern art: Art in the apartheid and post apartheid phases of 20th century Africa. The black diaspora. Black aesthetics

MODULE-3 – Religious, Cultural and Textual Sources of Indian Art – 10 Marks

Selected texts from Shilpasastras concerning techniques of painting, sculpture and iconography. Modern Indian literary criticism focusing on the studies of G N Devy, A K Ramanujan, K.Ayyappapanikkar and Wendy Doniger – Dravidian aesthetics – introduction to the Sangham Literature, landscape and aesthetics. Concept of Thinai

MODULE-4 – Art Historical Methodology – 15 Marks

Development of Art historical Canons and its Authors – Giorgio Vasari (Chronicles of artists in time) – Joachim Winckelmann (History of art in antiquity) – Michael Baxandall (on artistic intention)- Immanuel Kant (critique of judgement) Wolfflin (Principles of Art History) – Alois Riegl (Late Roman Kunstwollen)- Ernst Gombrich (Art & Illusion) Erwin Panofsky (Iconography & Iconology) – Martin Heidegger (Origin of the work of art), Meyer Schapiro – David Summers (Problems of art historical description) Various mechanisms of meaning and interpretation – Norman Bryson (Vision and Painting) Jacques Derrida’s ideas on deconstruction – Michael Foucault on archeology of knowledge – Judith Butler’s writings and gender as a category in art history – Jennifer Doyle’s ‘Queer wallpaper’ – Pierre Bordiau’s ideas on social distinctions and cultural taste – Development of Indian Art History writing in the colonial & post-colonial contexts – Writings of R Shivakumar – Gita Kapur – role of art education in developing Indian modern Art – Shivaji K Panikar’s writings on the ‘radicals’ in Kerala – Post colonial theories – writings of Homi Bhabha – Carol Duncan (on the art museum) Walter Benjamin (work of art in the age of mechanical reproduction) – John Berger, Ways of seeing – Writing from the margins – the perspectives of regional art history

MODULE-5 – Aesthetics – 10 Marks

Introduction to the basic principles of Indian Philosophy as related to Arts. Evolution of aesthetic concepts. Theories of Rasa Dhawani, Alancara, Auchitya. Interrelationships the above concepts and their relevance to arts. Inter relationships of visual and performing art. Shadanga, the six limbs of art – Theory of imitation – Plato, Aristotle, Medieval Aesthetics- St.Augustin, Thomas Acquinas, Origins of western aesthetics- Francis Bacon and Rene Descartes, Significance of Baumgarten, Immanuel Kant’s idea of beauty and aesthetic judgement, Hegel’s phenomenology of spirit, Post-Kantian and post- Hegelian thoughts, Marxist Aesthetics.

MODULE-6 – Cultural Studies – 10 Marks

Notions of ‘Culture industry’ (Adorno), work of art in the age of mechanical reproduction (Walter Benjamin), contributions of Stuart hall. Michael Foucault’s concepts of knowledge and power, Lyotard’s notion of post-modernism, post-colonial studies (Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak’s ideas), social life of things (Arjun Appadurai), the discourses of ethnicity and multi-culturalism, gender critique and visual culture, cyber culture, work of art in the age of digital reproduction.

MODULE-7 – History of Art (Kerala) – 10 Marks.

Major forms of theatre and percussion in Kerala from ancient times to the present day – Temple architecture – Illustrated text of Chitraramayana – Buddhist iconography in the region of Kerala – Art and crafts of Travancore – ‘modern art’ in Kerala – influence of art schools and academicism in the art of Kerala – Ravivarma -K. Madhavamenon – K C S Panikkar – influence of Madras School – Cholamandalam artists village – Migrated generation of urban modern artists from Kerala –Art history of Kerala within the arguments of ‘regional modernism’ – art education in Kerala and art student activism – return of ‘Malayali artists’ in the globalised era – context of the Kochi Biennale – women artists from Kerala – discourses of ‘the subaltern’ and the art historical context of Kerala

MODULE-8 – Art in 21st century – 15 Marks

Exhibition Practices – Museums of the world – history and theory of museum – Art galleries in Europe and India – Case studies of exhibition designs – Large scale exhibitions from Art Fairs of 19th century to Biennial Cultures of late 20st century – experimental exhibitions and fringe practices in world art. Archival Practices – systems of Documenting – preserving – Introduction to Archiving – Theory, techniques, and practice in the development and administration of archives and archival materials – an understanding of the purposes, functions, and activities that lead to the creation and maintenance of recorded information. Review of the nature of information, records, historical documentation, archival administration and the role of archives in modern society – development of archival institutions in the western world, terminology, differences between library and archival techniques, the arrangement and description of archival materials, security, acquisitions, outreach, reference, and appraisal Post Humanist and Transhumanist practices: cyber cultures – generative practices – critique of humanism and re evaluation of art history – interdisciplinarity and collaborative nature of art practices

NOTE: – It may be noted that apart from the topics detailed above, questions from other topics prescribed for the educational qualification of the post may also appear in the question paper. There is no undertaking that all the topics above may be covered in the question paper