ARH 390: Special Topics in Art History

Course Topic Description - American Art and Architecture of the Gilded Age: French pundit Charles Péguy famously argued that the world changed more in the 30 years surrounding the year 1900 than it had since the time of Jesus. He was talking about the unprecedented speed of modernization during the era Mark Twain called the Gilded Age. This course examines that explosion of wealth and culture in America, a time when massive industrial fortunes built a glittering, overnight veneer of classical culture. Together, we will analyze everything from the grand residential palaces of Newport to the elite portraiture and landscapes of the period's major painters, alongside the innovative decorative arts and civic monuments that reshaped American cities. Ultimately, we will evaluate how the era's elite used magnificent design and fine art to project power and anchor a society being radically transformed by new economic forces.