Art History and Archaeology

Chair: Elizabeth Childs

Home Page: http://www.artsci.wustl.edu/%7Eartarch/index.html Location: 206 Steinberg Hall Telephone: (314) 935-5287

The Department of Art History and Archaeology at Washington University in Saint Louis has a rich past and a vibrant present. One of the oldest Art History programs west of the Mississippi, the Department was an important force in establishing recognition for Art History outside of the eastern United States. The program was built by some of the foremost figures in the discipline, including Horst Janson, Frederick Hartt, and George Mylonas. The Washington University Gallery of Art, founded in 1881, is home to one of the most important modern art collections in the Midwest, and is one of the most distinguished university collections in the United States.

Now over a century in the making, our graduate and undergraduate programs are small but known for their excellence. With degree programs from the undergraduate to Ph.D. level, our faculty offers training in everything from traditional archaeology to the most contemporary art historical approaches. Because of our modest size, our students receive invaluable attention and extensive opportunities to teach, research, and gain important museum experience. Washington University's St. Louis location provides students with the cultural and research opportunities of a major urban area, balanced with affordable housing and easy navigability.

Our rich resources include an excellent Art and Architecture library, an established field trip program that affords our students twice-yearly visits to major national exhibitions, and an expansive lecture series that attracts important Art History scholars to speak and provide special seminars to our students. The Department of Art History and Archaeology at Washington University is an exellent choice for those seeking a program that is intimate yet broad-ranging, and historically significant with an eye on the future.

News Stories & Tip Sheets:

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"Chance Encounters" Eminent critic Yve-Alain Bois to speak on John Cage, François Morellet and Ellsworth Kelly Nov. 9 Oct. 29, 2009 -- Yve-Alain Bois Critic and curator Yve-Alain Bois, a widely recognized expert on 20th-century European and American art, will present a lecture titled "Chance Encounters: John Cage, François Morellet, Ellsworth Kelly" at 6:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 9, in Steinberg Hall Auditorium. The talk — held in conjunction with the exhibition Chance Aesthetics, on view at the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum through Jan. 4 — is cosponsored by the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts' fall Public Lecture Series and the Department of Art History & Archaeology in Arts & Sciences.

"A Challenge to Democracy" Fall series to explore past and present of ethnic profiling Aug. 12, 2009 -- Passing Poston: An American Story (2008) Ethnic profiling is illegal in the United States, prohibited by the Fourth Amendment, which requires probable cause for searches and seizures, and by the Fourteenth Amendment, which calls for equal protection under the law. And yet as the recent arrest of Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates demonstrates, the issue remains far from settled. This fall Washington University in St. Louis will present "Ethnic Profiling: A Challenge to Democracy," a semester-long series exploring the history, impact and ethical issues surrounding ethnic profiling through lectures, readings, performances, panel discussions and other events. .

"The Future of the Image" W.J.T. Mitchell to speak on visual culture March 2 Feb. 24, 2009 -- W.J.T. Mitchell, the Gaylord Donnelley Distinguished Service Professor in the departments of Art History and English at the University of Chicago, will speak on "The Future of the Image" at 6:30 p.m. Monday, March 2, in the Etta Eiseman Steinberg Auditorium as part of the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts' spring lecture series. An award-winning teacher, scholar and theorist of media, art and literature, Mitchell is associated with the emergent fields of visual culture and iconology—the study of images across the media.

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Faculty Experts:

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Elizabeth Childs Associate professor of art history WUSTL Photo Services Childs Download Childs' major interests are French 19th-Century visual culture, art, and politics, exoticism (particularly the work of Paul Gauguin), history of photography, and caricature. Direct contact: (314) 935-5287 / ecchilds@wustl.edu

William E. Wallace Barbara Murphy Bryant Distinguished Professor of Art History William Wallace Download Wallace is an internationally recognized authority on Michelangelo and his contemporaries. In addition to more than forty articles (as well as two works of fiction), he is the author and editor of four books on Michelangelo: Michelangelo at San Lorenzo: The Genius as Entrepreneur (Cambridge 1994); ... Expertise: Early and High Renaissance Art, Italian Renaissance Architecture, Leonardo, Mannerism, Michelangelo, Old Master drawings, Raphael, … Media assistance: (314) 935-8494 / liam_otten@wustl.edu

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Related News Clips:

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Getty Museum Buys a Seldom-Exhibited Gauguin The New York Times March 12, 2008 -- The J. Paul Getty Museum announced Tuesday that it had acquired "Arii Matamoe," an 1892 painting by Paul Gauguin that has been in a private collection in Switzerland for decades and has been exhibited publicly only once since 1946. Elizabeth Childs, a Gauguin scholar who is chairwoman of WUSTL's art history and archaeology department, comments.

Drill hole begins Homeric quest BBCNews.com (UK) Oct. 12, 2006 -- A UK-led team is challenging cherished ideas on Greek mythology by proposing an alternative site for Ithaca. The island was said to be the home of Odysseus, whose 10-year journey back from the Trojan War is chronicled in Homer's epic poem the Odyssey. Geologists are this week sinking a borehole on nearby Kefalonia in an attempt to test whether its western peninsula of Paliki is the real site. WUSTL art history and archaeology professor Sarantis Symeonoglou, who has spent years trying to tie locations on Ithaki to details in the poem, comments.

An ancient masterpiece or a master's forgery? The New York Times and 1 others April 19, 2005 -- A scholar has suggested that ''Laocoon,'' a fabled sculpture whose unearthing in 1506 has deeply influenced thinking about the ancient Greeks and the nature of the visual arts, may well be a Renaissance forgery -- possibly by Michelangelo himself. WUSTL art history professor William Wallace comments.