The module provides a practice-based approach to art history to complement the academic approach of other modules in the History of Art programmes. By focusing on prints it will aim to provide students with an "apprenticeship" in two practical areas of art history, namely collecting and curating. The module will involve students in the full cycle of these two interrelated processes: from identifying and acquiring a print, to cataloguing and curating it, to making sense of it to a wider public by placing it in the context of a themed exhibition. In the first assessment task each student will submit an “exhibition bid” proposing an idea for an exhibition based on the existing collection and suggesting new acquisitions (and possibly loans) to realise the idea. The concepts for exhibitions could derive from the subject matter or techniques of prints in the collection, or they could involve focussing on a particular artist or period. The best conceived bid will then be adopted by the group who will work collectively to put on the exhibition. At this stage students will visit dealers and auction houses and carry out object-based research in order to secure new acquisitions. A study diary will be kept by each student to record this process and will be submitted at the end of the module as part of the overall assessment. As prints are acquired they will be catalogued to a professional standard format and these entries will form the basis of a catalogue to accompany the exhibition that will be the culmination of the module. Putting on the exhibition will require practical team-work to frame and hang the prints, to write and produce labels and illustrative material, and to staff and publicise the exhibition.
Total contact hours: 48
Private study hours: 252
Total study hours: 300
Main assessment methods
Exhibition Bid (2500 – 4000 words) (30%)
Log Book (4000 – 6000 words) (40%)
Exhibition (20%)
Project Performance (10%)
Reassessment methods
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The University is committed to ensuring that core reading materials are in accessible electronic format in line with the Kent Inclusive Practices. The most up to date reading list for each module can be found on the university's reading list pages: https://kent.rl.talis.com/index.html
See the library reading list for this module (Canterbury)
The intended subject specific learning outcomes.
On successfully completing the module students will be able to:
1 identify and evaluate different types of prints in terms of technique (engraving, etching, mezzotint, mixed medium etc.), subject and engraver;
2 acquire the discipline of object-based research and description essential for the process of cataloguing (a development from learning outcome 8.1 above). This process also involves developing a sense of how the market value of collectable items relates to their historic and aesthetic value;
3 acquire a good knowledge of the history of printmaking and be able to relate this to the history of other visual arts, as well as to broader themes of cultural history;
4 acquire, through practical and responsible involvement in developing a departmental collection, a good understanding of the nature and history of collecting as an art historical practice;
5 design and budget for an exhibition bid;
6 structure and arrange a collection of objects, together with the critical information relating to those objects in a clear and useful way (e.g. the basic skills of archival practice).
The intended generic learning outcomes.
On successfully completing the module students will be able to:
1 acquire skills of project management (necessary for putting on an exhibition, for example);
2 work with others to achieve collectively agreed aims and objectives, within a timetable and budget, thereby developing skills of oral and written communication and problem solving;
3 acquire skills of promotion and publicity (for example, by advertising and disseminating information about an exhibition);
4 use appropriate Information Technologies to research and present their work;
5 further develop the key skills of critical reading and visual analysis, and the analysis of primary and secondary sources.
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