Learning objectives
With reference to the Dublin Descriptors, the course aims that at its conclusion the student will have acquired:
- Knowledge and ability to understand: theoretical knowledge and ability to understand the history of art from the origins to the end of the nineteenth century to the whole course of the twentieth century, contextualising the main protagonists of the visual arts in the context of contemporary cultural, historical, social and economic events, with particular attention to the relations between art and food
- Applied knowledge and ability to understand: ability to apply the acquired knowledge in the investigation of specific works of art; ability to apply the acquired knowledge in recognising, relating and contextualising different works within a chronological discourse (synchronic and diachronic); ability to collect and interpret data (sources, information) according to a philological and critical approach.
- Autonomy of judgement: ability to autonomously use the method of critical analysis applied to the main cases analysed in class, having developed the ability to interpret and rework the information and theoretical data acquired for a correct interpretation of the works within a historical and cultural contextualisation.
- Ability to learn: capacity for autonomous learning and own self-evaluation, in order to deepen autonomously the discipline from a historical and theoretical point of view.
Course unit content
The knowledge of the main repertoires and figurative models conveyed to food and the table, and at the same time knowing how to use the images and art objects of the past as evidence of the gastronomic culture of different eras and contexts, and to understand how they can document the historicity of typical products and traditional preparations - Mastery of iconography and iconologies of food and canteen, as a visual documentation for the historical reconstruction of gastronomic culture and convivial art.
The analysis of the lineaments of contemporary art history will be accompanied by specific in-depth studies of exemplary works that have proposed the theme of the image of food or that have used the edible element as a linguistic and expressive medium: from the historical avant-garde's rethinking of the still life genre to the experiments of Futurist cuisine, from the representation of food in Pop Art to Daniel Spoerri's Eat Art, up to the relational art works of the 1990s.
Programme:
From Antiquity to the Renaissance
- From Mannerism to Baroque and Rococo
- From Neoclassicism to Impressionism
. iconography and iconology of food and canteen
. The decorative arts of plates and tables
. Food communication images
. The food museums
- Post-Impressionism, Expressionism
- Cubism, Futurism
- Dada, Surrealism, Metaphysics, Return to Order
- Abstract Expressionism, New Dada, Pop Art
- Nouveau Réalisme, Spatialism, Azimuth
- The Neo-Avant-gardes of the 1960s and 1970s
- Themes and Trends of the 1980s and 1990s
Bibliography
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1.
Notes and materials available online at elly.dusic.unipr.it.
Manual (compulsory only for students who have not attended lectures):
Pierluigi De Vecchi, Elda Cerchiari, Arte nel Tempo. Dal Postimpressionismo al Postmoderno, vol. 3, tome II, Bompiani, Torino 1993 (or subsequent editions). FOR NON-ATTENDING STUDENTS, THE STUDY OF THE TEXTBOOK IS COMPULSORY.
2.
Essays (the indicated readings are compulsory):
- G. Barbieri, A tavola con Dio: riti della mensa nella pittura d’età moderna, in Cultura del cibo, a cura di M. Montanari, F. Sabban, A. Capatti, vol. IV, a cura di M. Montanari, Torino, Utet, 2015
- T. Lucchetti, La cucina, la tavola, le arti plastiche, in Cultura del cibo, a cura di M. Montanari, F. Sabban, A. Capatti, vol. IV, a cura di M. Montanari, Torino, Utet, 2015
- S. Malaguzzi, Arte e cibo, Giunti-Art&Dossier, n. 200, giugno 2013
A. Veca, La natura morta, Giunti-Art&Dossier (ne esistono due edizioni, la più antica è la n. 46)
- Clare Bell, Eat Up: la Pop Art e il cibo come genere, in Arts & Foods. Rituali dal 1851, edited by Germano Celant, exhibition catalogue (Triennale di Milano, April 9 -November 1, 2015), Electa, Milano 2015, pp. 544-556
- Guido Andrea Pautasso, L’eversione della cucina futurista, in Cucina futurista. Manifesti, menu e documenti, edited by Guido Andrea Pautasso, Abscondita, Milano 2015, pp. 192-199.
- Samuel Vitali e Uliana Zanetti, “Rinascite e trasformazioni della natura morta nella contemporaneità. Un itinerario”, in La natura della natura morta. Da Manet ai nostri giorni, edited by Peter Weiermair, exhibition catalogue (Galleria d’Arte Moderna, Bologna, December 1, 2001- February 24, 2002, Electa, Milano 2001, pp. 26-49
Teaching methods
The didactics makes use of different strategies and methods
- lectures (with different critical methodology: reading of works, philological-documentary analysis, historical-social-political contextualisation)
- moments of interaction during plenary sessions
- the images projected during the lectures will be available on the Elly platform after the end of the lectures
Assessment methods and criteria
Written examination relating to the programme covered and the bibliography indicated. In order to pass the examination, students will have to prove that they have achieved the general objectives of the course.
Research thesis with bibliography (with texts and not only documents found on the web). In addition to the description of style and content of a work of art, or of a historical photo (at least 50 years old), or of any artefact with decorative or artistic elements, a reflection on how the image in question is able to document historical aspects of food and canteen, and therefore a reflection on their perception and methods of use and practices in the historical and cultural context of the artist of the work. It is always in any case required that the student proposes and preliminarily agree on the subject chosen for approval.
