In this course, we examine how the visual arts represented and influenced the evolving private life from the late Middle Ages to the early 20th century. We begin by discussing the boundaries and intersections between the private and public spheres, as well as between the private, the intimate, and the individual, within both conceptual and historical frameworks. Then, we focus on the following topics (among others):
– everyday scenes in 17th-century Dutch painting;
– women’s letters: a cultural practice and a theme in art;
– the cabinet as both an imagined and a physical space – a room for the individual and a place for collections;
– the emergence of the modern art market as an alternative to the patronage system;
– the hermitage as an idea and an architectural form;
– Images of home, family, sensibility, and intimacy in genre painting and portraiture of the 18th century;
– The rise of individual autonomy and liberties as a source of new themes and strategies in 19th-century art.