2008 Kasteel Well Summer Program
THE ROLE OF THE PORTRAIT AND THE SELF PORTRAIT: THE RENAISSANCE VS. THE DIGITAL ERA
8 UNDERGRADUATE CREDITS IN VISUAL AND MEDIA ARTS
VM366-3 Topics in Art History and Digital Photography
MAY 16 - JUNE 20, 2008
The goal of this summer program is to study and compare two different means of artistic expression made in two completely different time periods: The 'pre-modern', more artisinal style, method, technique, and the meaning and methods of interpretation of old master paintings of the Renaissance will be compared and contrasted to the methods, meaning and modes of interpretation of modern means of image-making, in particular of digital photography. The topics this summer will be the portrait and the self portrait.
THE PROGRAM
The Art Historical Component
This summer we will examine the cultural and artistic exchange in Early Modern Europe when international trade, migration and the process of cross-cultural awareness had just begun. Renaissance painting of Venice in Italy and of Bruges in the ‘Low Countries’ during the period 1400-1550 will serve as a case study for commercial and cultural interaction and exchange as reflected in their artworks.
The commercial revival in the late Middle Ages and the Early Renaissance caused the rise of flourishing urban centers such as Bruges and Venice, which paved the way to an ever-increasing self-awareness. Comparison of Venetian and Flemish artworks of the Renaissance analyzed in their historical context, will show how and to what extent Venice and Bruges mutually influenced one another. The commercial, cultural, religious and subsequently political interaction between these two cosmopolitan cities transformed their vernacular style and mode of expression. This process of cross-fertilization, which took place between other European cities as well, contributed to the rise and dissemination of the Renaissance style. The potential for an international community and a shared visual language of communication was thus created.
Particular emphasis will be placed on the emergence of individualism and self-awareness of the trading middle class of Bruges and of the ruling class of Venice. This increased self-esteem generated in the visual arts the birth of a new genre: portraiture. We will examine the methods of inquiry we should employ to come to answers on questions such as: How realistic, idealized or political were these portraits? What type of portraits or self portraits existed in the Renaissance? What was the purpose of the portrait? What does the portrait reveal of the inner self, of the inner emotions and thoughts? How does it reflect the mentality of that time period? What was the relationship between the sitter and the painter? How did cultural exchange take place in the Renaissance and how did it effect the evolution of style in this new genre? In general, we will investigate the questions we should pose to the visual object under scrutiny and whether the questions we raise were relevant to the time period of the Renaissance and in particular of Renaissance Venice and Bruges.
The Digital Photography Component
This part of the summer program contains both a theoretical and a practical part. It will reflect upon and critically analyze the medium of photography in general, and of digital photography in particular, both from an ethical and an aesthetical point of view. The course investigates the use of the portrait in photography throughout its history. We will examine visual experience and representation in our modern visual culture, with particular emphasis on the representation, the fashioning and the shaping of the inner and outer self. The Internet revolution that takes place 150 years later, enables people to present themselves instantly before an audience of millions. This implies that we can become the photographer, the sitter, the editor, the publisher and the spectator ourselves. The same or comparable questions raised about portraiture and its function in the Renaissance can be raised here.
The practical side of this component includes a creative, hands-on part designed to increase students’ practical understanding of this digital technology with all its creative, expressive, communicative and manipulative possibilities. Working with the digital camera and learning the technique of editing, students will develop and extend their artistic and critical understanding of images, of the making of meaning and of the effect of mass reproduction. Students will be exposed to different ways of seeing and of representation which depend as much on mentality, fashion, personal taste and style, as on intention, purpose and function. Through analysis, comparison and hands-on experience focused on a clearly circumscribed theme: the portrait and the self-portrait, students will gain a deeper understanding of the role and expressive meaning of this new medium in modern-day society.
DIGITAL CAMERA AND OTHER EQUIPMENT REQUIREMENTS
All participants must bring their own digital camera with a minimum of 6 megapixels. The pixels must be real pixels and not an upgraded figure. A hybrid digicam (video with camera) will not do. A memory card of at least 2 GB and an external memory card reader are also needed. This is an absolute required minimum.
The strongly recommended configuration would be a digital SLR camera with at least 6 megapixels. A camera with manual settings for shutter speed, aperture and focus. The camera should work in RAW mode. (An adjustable shutter speed allows the photographer to freeze or blur motion. An adjustable aperture is important for isolating or including more in your photo. Manual focus is important, most auto-focus systems in smaller cameras have certain limitations, mainly, they don't like to focus where you want them and not at the right moment).
A laptop (PC or Mac) with Photoshop CS2 or CS3 and the Bridge (part of Photoshop) will make it easier to follow this course.
THE SCHEDULE
Classes will be held Monday through Thursday at the castle with some Friday sessions. There are 20 contact hours per week for all lectures for the two courses and 2-3 daily-lecture-hours per course within a week. Class contact hours include instruction time during educational excursions and field visits.
THE FACULTY
Dulcia Meijers has been the Director/Executive Director of Emerson College's European Center at Kasteel Well, the Netherlands, since 1992. Ms. Meijers graduated from the University of Nijmegen with an M.A. in Art History and Classical Archeology and a Ph.D. in the Architectural History of Italian/Venetian palaces from the late Renaissance and Baroque period. In addition to many scholarly articles, Ms. Meijers is co-author (with B. Aikema) of the book Nel Regno dei Poveri. Arte e storia dei Grandi Ospedali veneziani in eta moderna, 1474-1797(1989), and author of De gouden schemer van Venetie. Een portret van de Venetiaanse adel in de achttiende eeuw (1991). She has consulted with the city architects of Venice, Italy, on restoration projects, conducting archival research and art historical analysis of historically important buildings. In 1988 Ms. Meijers curated a retrospective exhibition of the artist Peter Goldschmidt (1923-1987) at the Museum of Rijswijk, and in 1991 she curated for the Historical Museum of Amsterdam the loan exhibition De Gouden Schemer van Venetie. Een portret van de Venetiaanse adel in de Achttiende eeuw. She is a member of the Board of Editors of the scholarly periodical Het Nederlands Kunsthistorisch Jaarboek, and secretary and treasurer of the foundation "Collection Mos" for the stimulation and development of the study and research of Italian Art in European context. Since 1986 Ms. Meijers has taught many courses at Castle Well in the areas of European Studies and Civilization, European Cultural History, and European Art History.
Rob Duckers is Assistant Director for Administration and Management for the Emerson College European Center at Kasteel Well, the Netherlands. He studied Art-History at the Radboud University, Nijmegen and Codicology at the University of Leiden. In 1998, he received an honors-degree in Art-History from the Radboud University, Nijmegen. His specialist fields are manuscript illumination, especially from the so-called Upper-Quarter of the Duchy of Guelders (i.e. present-day North-Limburg in the Netherlands) and medieval church-treasures. He regularly publishes and lectures on these subjects. He taught and did research at the Radboud University, Nijmegen for over three years and was invited by Museum Het Valkhof, Nijmegen, to curate the internationally acclaimed exhibition "The Limbourg Brothers. Nijmegen Masters at the French Court, 1400-1416", which was held in 2005 and showed loans from museums all over the world, amongst others the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, the Museé du Louvre, Paris, the Vatican Library, Rome, and the Getty Museum, Los Angeles. At present, he is curating two more exhibitions, to be held in 2008 and 2009. Apart from his duties at Kasteel Well, he is writing his doctoral dissertation on two paraliturgical manuscripts from Maastricht and is also curator of the Treasury of the Basilica of Saint Servatius in that town, which has the finest collection of medieval and postmedieval ecclesiastical art in situ in the Netherlands.
Gerlo Beernink studied Science and Nature Studies at the University of Nijmegen. Since his graduation, he has been working as a freelance photographer and given many short-term courses on European Photojournalism to various audiences. In 2003 and 2004, he taught at the School of Journalism in Utrecht. Professionally, Gerlo has won several prominent prizes for his photo work : in 1991 he won a third prize at the World Press Photo Award under the category of “Daily Life”. In the same year, he also won the first prize for the Silver Camera Award under the category of foreign country.
THE REQUIRED ACADEMIC FIELD EXCURSIONS
The travel component of the program demonstrates an essential synergy of learning the subject matter inside classrooms and taking a “up-close” study of Renaissance Art. Students are required to attend two mandatory travel excursions accompanied by faculty members: one to Bruges and one to Venice. These excursions help introduce students to the larger cultural region of the site and to connect class lecture to gallery/museum visit facilitating students to visualize and experience the origin, the development and spread of Renaissance art in Europe.
THE LOCATION
Participants will reside at Emerson College’s Kasteel Well, a medieval, double-moated castle situated in the heart of Holland’s Limburg region. The castle is located in the village of Well in the southeastern part of the Netherlands. Well is five minutes from Germany, appropriately two hours from the French-speaking region of Belgium, and is easily accessible by mass transit.
ADMISSION
The online application will be available beginning December 15, 2007. The application deadline has been extended to Friday, March 21, 2008. Enrollment is limited to 16. Applicants will be notified by e-mail and regular mail of their acceptance status. Once accepted to the program students must submit a $300 nonrefundable, nontransferable deposit to secure enrollment. Please note that admission may close before the published application deadline.
| PROGRAM DATES
| PROGRAM FEE |
| The program fee includes:
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| For more information call or e-mail: Tel: (617) 824-8567 | Or visit: International Study and External Programs The Little Building 80 Boylston Street Room 121 Boston, MA 02116-4624 |
The College reserves the right to withdraw this offering if it fails to generate sufficient enrollment. Participants should be guided by this policy when making travel arrangements. Emerson College is an equal opportunity, affirmative action institution.
Students who wish to participate in any Emerson sponsored program or activity, including Emerson's external programs at Kasteel Well and in Los Angeles and Prague, must be physically and mentally able, with or without reasonable accommodations, to fully and safely participate in the program or activity. Students who suffer from a physical or mental disability, and wish to request accommodations that might enable them to fully and safely participate should contact Dr. Anthony Bashir at Emerson's Disability Services Office.
Please note: Applicants who've successfully submitted their application will immediately receive a copy via e-mail. If you do not receive a copy of your application via return e-mail you should assume it was NOT submitted successfully, and you must submit the application again.
Accurate as of 5/15/08. Subject to Change.