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Skidmore College
First-Year Experience

Scribner Seminar Program
Course Description

The Painter's Convention: Landscape, still life, figure

Instructor(s): Doretta Miller, Art

What, if anything, do contemporary artists owe to the past? For more than a thousand years artists in different cultures created images falling into three broad categories: landscape, still life, and figure. The majority of these paintings followed long-held cultural traditions and artisan/artist criteria. Today there is little or no consensus on painting norms; therefore, contemporary painters and students of art must make individual and informed choices. Students in this seminar will create art as well as study art and examine paintings in the three categories from various times and cultures, including contemporary trends. Students will write essays about the various criteria identified and apply the findings from their research to the creation of small paintings.


Course Offered