Tulane Art History Summer Classes in Paris

4-WEEK PROGRAM: JULY 11 – AUGUST 9

ARHS 3911 (3 CREDITS)

IMPRESSIONISM IN PARIS MUSEUMS

PROF. MICHELLE FOA

Paris is the best place in the world to learn about Impressionism!  Not only do the city’s museums have the largest and best collections of Impressionist works, but we’ll be able to see first-hand the many sites that the Impressionists depicted in their images.  In this class, we will explore the work and careers of central figures in the Impressionist and Post-Impressionist movement such as Degas, Renoir, Monet, Van Gogh, and others, by studying their works in person in museum collections and special exhibitions throughout the city.  Some of the museums that we will visit are the Musée d’Orsay, the Musée de l’Orangerie, and the Musée Marmottan Monet.  We will also take a trip to see Monet’s beautiful house, gardens, and water lily pond in Giverny.

ARHS 3913 (3 CREDITS)

ART, MONTMARTRE, AND THE PLEASURES OF PARIS

PROF. MICHELLE FOA

In this class, we will explore the various forms of pleasure and entertainment that were an essential part of Paris’s identity in the later 19^th century, and we’ll analyze different painters’ and writers’ representations of these Parisian pleasures.  We’ll pay particular attention to the world of Montmartre, a center of the city’s pleasure industry and its modern art scene.  From Baudelaire’s writings about Parisian prostitutes to Toulouse-Lautrec’s many pictures of Montmartre’s dance halls, we’ll study the work of some of the key artists of the period and visit some of the entertainment sites and activities that they featured in the work, such as Montmartre cabarets and the beautiful Garnier Opera House.  Other leisure and entertainment venues that we’ll visit are the Eiffel Tower and Paris’s 19^th-century department stores and shopping arcades.  By the end of the class, we’ll see why Paris was thought of as the European pleasure capital of the 19^th century!

• Both classes are taught entirely in English and no art history background is required.
• Program-wide excursions include a 4-day trip through Northern France, a visit to a palace outside of Paris, and a nighttime dinner cruise down the Seine River.

If you have any questions about these classes or the Paris summer program, please feel welcome to contact 

Prof. Michelle Foa (mfoa@tulane.edu) or Joseph Michel in the study abroad office (jmichel4@tulane.edu).