Portraiture has taunted scholars with its tradition of legibility, and it often masquerades as a highly codified artistic genre. Yet many artists have exploded its parameters and redefined its function. What makes an image a "portrait"? Does it need a face? a human body? Does it need to "look like" someone? In the modern era, representations of words, body parts, shoes, and machines have all claimed designation as "portraits." How does a portrait refer to its subject? Why has this seemingly traditional genre appealed to artists otherwise eager to break with tradition? What kind of impact did photography have on painted portraiture? This seminar will consider portraiture by artists such as Gustave Caillebotte, John Peto, Julia Margaret Cameron, Thomas Eakins, Pablo Picasso, Alfred Stieglitz, Frieda Kahlo, James Van Der Zee, Archibald Motley, Andy Warhol, and Diane Arbus in order to investigate the ways in which artists reformulated and "modernized" the genre to serve national, racial, artistic, or sexual identity, as well as individual, group and self identity. Requirements: one or two oral reports, a research paper of 15-20 pages, and class participation. Prerequisites: ArtH 101-102. Enrollment limited to 15. Preference given to majors.

Hour: ARAUZ