Velázquez and His Modern Legacy

Diego Velázquez (1599–1660), has been regarded as a prince among painters almost without interruption since his death. This course considers both aspects of his achievement, the major works he created while living and the influence they exerted after his death. Artists responding to his legacy included Goya, Sorolla, and Picasso as well as an international group from Manet, Whistler, and Sargent through Salvador Dali, Francis Bacon, and Thomas Struth. Major themes include the enduring appeal of virtuoso painterly technique, the dynamic between artists' lives and the art they make, and challenges from past art to modernist ambitions. Prerequisites: an introductory art history course and/or courses in seventeenth- to nineteenth-century European art. (4 credits)