Humor in the Visual Arts
Comedy, wit, and satire appear frequently, and sometimes unexpectedly, throughout the arts of Europe and America from antiquity to the present. In this course we will selectively examine aspects of visual humor, ranging from the hilarious to the scathing. We will begin with essays by Baudelaire and Freud, attempting to isolate the essence of humor. After a broad survey of visual manifestations, we will study in depth absurd behavior by gods and mythological characters in Renaissance art, the birth and flowering of caricature and satire beginning with the age of reason, and the appearance of comics in the modern era. 3 hrs. lect.