Newswise — Eugene J. Johnson remembers taking the legendary art history course he now teaches, as a Williams College undergraduate in the fall of 1956. He went into it with zero interest in the arts. "I was dragged into it," he says. "But then I got hooked." Today, as the Amos Lawrence Professor or Art, Johnson inspires the next generation of art lovers with the modern version of that course, Aspects of Western Art (ARTH101). Structurally, it is much the same as when he took it -- a first semester dedicated primarily to three-dimensional arts (sculpture and architecture), and a second-semester focused on two-dimensional arts (painting). For decades, it was split with Whitney Stoddard and S. Lane Faison, two of the guiding mentors of the so-called "Williams Mafia," alumni went on to reach the heights of the art world. Last fall, the course was taken by 184 students, who attended three lectures each week in Brooks-Rogers Hall. In each session, Johnson guided the students through a series of slides that are shown on the large screens above the stage. He speaks with confidence and authority, and it is impossible to miss the rising clatter of laptop keys clicking away in the dark as he makes an important point. Halfway through the semester, the course moves from sculpture to architecture, and Johnson introduces the new subject by defining its terms. He borrows as a starting point the definition provided by Roman writer Vitruvius -- that architecture is a balance of function, structure, and design. To keep the conversation grounded, he introduces images of cleverly-designed doghouses from a recent exhibition in New York, which demonstrates in a scaled-down fashion how these principles interact. From there, he begins to elaborate on different ways of looking at building. He shares a quote from Friedrich Von Schelling about how architecture is "frozen music," and illustrates it with images of such apparently disparate structures as the Renaissance elegance of the Ducal Palace in Venice and the severe modernist hulk of Boston City Hall. Each has elements that appear to resemble notes written on a page. Johnson then moves on to quote Louis Kahn, that is architecture is "the thoughtful making of spaces," and shows the students the architect's work at the Exeter Library and the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth. Johnson is not intimidated by new technology. Beginning in 2002, he has directed the Virtual Architecture Project, which has created hundreds of computer rendered mock-ups of buildings from around the world and has become an important teaching tool. Johnson's style has left its mark on generations of students. "His lecture style fascinated me. He could weave the intricacies of works created hundreds of years apart into one synthesized story," said Fiona Moriarity, '11, an art history major who took his course. "He knew how to make the material accessible for the hundred plus students in lecture regardless of their major or the material at hand." In addition to the lecture, students also participate in weekly discussion groups, which are capped at 15 students each and are taught by members of the department (Johnson teaches three of them himself). The smaller groups give them more of a chance to take advantage of the unique art resources Williamstown offers, the Williams College Museum of Art and the Clark Art Institute. It also gives them a chance to take field trips through the evolving campus. Johnson says he particularly likes to show them the Bronfman Science Center. [answer why] Johnson believes that the course is more than just an overview of western art. He begins the course with a look at contemporary sculpture, to get students to realize that it won't just be a slog through the ages. "One of the missions of this department is to make students aware of what's going on now," he says. He believes that it is part of a good, liberal arts education. "Training students in visual analysis is the fundamental tool of art history," he says. "It is immensely important... and it is of general utility in a very visual world." But beyond that, appreciating the visual arts is something that just makes your life a little bit better. He recalled receiving postcards from former students, including one who had just visited the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul. "It's a gift that keeps on giving," he says. "It's something you can take with you that adds pleasure to life."
The reading list includes
Sylvan Barnet, A Short Guide to Writing About ArtNew York: Prentice Hall, 2010.
James F. O'Gorman and Dennis E. McGrath, ABC of ArchitecturePhiladelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1997.
Marvin Trachtenberg and Isabelle Hyman, Architecture from Pre-Historyto Post-ModernismNew York: Prentice Hall, 1986.
John Summerson, The Classical Language of ArchitectureCambridge: MIT Press, 1966.
The assignments include six quizzes are given through the semester, in which students are asked to identify several important works of art by name, artist, and general date. There is also a midterm and a final exam. Also, there is a one-page paper due about a work of sculpture at the Williams College Museum of Art. Another is a drawing and a paper about an assigned building on the Williams campus.
Founded in 1793, Williams College is the second oldest institution of higher learning in Massachusetts. The college’s 2,000 students are taught by a faculty noted for the quality of their teaching and research, and the achievement of academic goals includes active participation of students with faculty in their research. Students' educational experience is enriched by the residential campus environment in Williamstown, Mass., which provides a host of opportunities for interaction with one another and with faculty beyond the classroom. Admission decisions are made regardless of a student’s financial ability, and the college provides grants and other assistance to meet the demonstrated needs of all who are admitted.
To visit the college on the Internet: http://www.williams.edu/ Williams College can also be found on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/williamscollege and Twitter: http://twitter.com/williamscollege
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