About this course: What do paintings tell us about sex? How is art gendered? In this course we will study some of the world’s most beloved pictures guided by expert curators and art historians who step outside of the square, bringing a gendered reading to the masterpieces contained in the magnificent collections that we have been lucky enough to bring to the Coursera platform. In this course you will learn how: * Gender and sexuality is an integral part of the production and reception of works of art * To increase your understanding of paintings through theories of gender and sexuality * To understand key terms from gender-related theories of art history and museology * To recognise the operation of what is termed ‘the gaze’ and how it works in relation to paintings * Ideas about gender and sexuality can productively be employed in theorising art curatorial practices * To take the initiative in relating theoretical ideas about gender and sexuality to the reading and display of art and visual cultures. View the MOOC promotional video here: http://tinyurl.com/hm7qbl3
Created by: The University of Melbourne
Taught by: Jeanette Hoorn, Professor
Culture and Communication
| Level | Beginner |
| Language | English, Subtitles: Greek |
| How To Pass | Pass all graded assignments to complete the course. |
| User Ratings |
Syllabus
WEEK 1
Tiepolo’s Cleopatra
We begin this MOOC by introducing you to some of the theories about gender and sexuality that we will be calling upon throughout this course. We will look at the tradition of the representation of women in art and the operation of the 'male gaze', which render...
4 videos, 5 readings
Graded: 1. Painting, Agency and the Gaze - This quiz contributes 11% towards your final grade
WEEK 2
The Culture of Sensibility and the ‘Man of Feeling’
This week we examine in detail Thomas Gainsborough’s much loved Portrait of an officer of the Fourth Regiment of Foot, the portrait of Richard St George Mansergh-St George in the collection of the National Gallery of Victoria. Here we consider how Gainsborough...
3 videos, 1 reading
Graded: 2. The Culture of Sensibility and the ‘Man of Feeling’ - This quiz contributes 11% towards your final grade
WEEK 3
Gainsborough at the Huntington
We consider five pictures by Thomas Gainsborough in week three of this course that are held in the collection of the Huntington Gallery in California, through an explication of how the artist represented his subjects in the context of the culture of sensibilit...
4 videos, 1 reading
Graded: 3. Gainsborough at the Huntington - This quiz contributes 11% towards your final grade
WEEK 4
Sexual Codes in Eighteenth Century French Courtly Painting
This week Jennifer Milam, Professor of Art History at the University of Sydney, reveals the sexual codes and symbols of art in eighteenth century French painting. Professor Milam uncovers the erotic references imbedded in the courtly art of François Boucher an...
3 videos, 1 reading
Graded: 4. Sexual Codes in Eighteenth Century French Courtly Painting - This quiz contributes 11% towards your final grade
WEEK 5
Orientalism, Gender and Display - Painting in Morocco
This week Dr Caroline Wallace and I present a study of two artists working in Morocco in the early twentieth century; the British Royal Academy painter John Lavery and the Australian modernist Hilda Rix Nicholas. They examine how these artists used orientalist...
3 videos, 1 reading
Graded: 5. Orientalism, Gender and Display - This quiz contributes 11% towards your final grade
WEEK 6
Henri Rousseau: Challenging the Myth of the Passive Woman
This week Professor Barbara Creed explores the way Henri Rousseau challenged the myth of the passive woman and relocates women as a vital source of creativity and mystery in art. In The Dream woman is represented as the new Eve living in harmony with nature in...
2 videos, 1 reading
Graded: 6. Henri Rousseau - This quiz contributes 11% towards your final grade
WEEK 7
Henri Matisse, Paul Cezanne and Max Dupain - Modernism, Gender and the Science of Movement
Scientific advances in the nineteenth and early twentieth century created new ideas about male and female bodies. In a unique reading of Henri Matisse's Dance and Paul Cezanne's The Bather, we consider how Darwinian theory and science impacted upon the work of...
3 videos, 1 reading
Graded: 7. Modernism, gender and the science of movement - This quiz contributes 11% to your final grade
WEEK 8
Frida Kahlo, Glyn Philpot and the Struggle to Paint
This week we begin by looking at Frida Kahlo’s Fulang-Chang and I as well as her Self-Portrait with Cropped Hair Canvas. These lectures on Frida Kahlo's pictures at MOMA finish with a discussion between myself and Redmond Barry Distinguished Professor Barbara ...
3 videos, 1 reading
Graded: 8. Sexuality and dissonance - This quiz contributes 11% to your final grade
WEEK 9
What is Women’s Business? Indigenous Art and the Dreaming
National Gallery of Victoria Senior Curator of Indigenous Art, Judith Ryan, takes us deep into the Dreaming of the Australian Indigenous tradition. She examines in detail the making of two masterpieces by women artists from the Australian outback; Emily Kam Kn...
3 videos, 2 readings
Graded: 9. What is Women’s Business? - This quiz contributes 12% to your final grade
FAQs
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The University of Melbourne
The University of Melbourne is an internationally recognised research intensive University with a strong tradition of excellence in teaching, research, and community engagement. Established in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest University.
Ratings and Reviews
Great course! It has changed the way I view art. The lecturers make complex material accessible and interesting.
wonderful interpretation of masterpiece and art movement, help to deeply appreciate famous art works. Wish to attend more courses from Melbourne University
Sorry to be so insistent, but put subtitles in Spanish and added some Latin American art to your course, I think there are good contributions so you can take advantage of the subject.
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I thoroughly enjoyed this course and would recommend it.