Susan Musich

Examine how portraits reflect society, culture, and individual identity as you explore works from across periods, styles, and mediums in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago museum. Uncover intricate narratives as you analyze subtle visual cues, symbols, and compositional elements to decode what they reveal about the subject and artist.

We tend to think that a work of art is a unique object. However, throughout history, artists have created works with the intention of reproducing them in limited quantities. These editioned artworks are crafted in a variety of media—prints, photographs, video, and artists’ books. This hybrid course will take advantage of collections generally not available to the public to study editions of these different art forms. Sample Schedule Week One: Introduction to Editions (remote) Weeks Two to Four: Jean and Steven Goldman Study Collection of Prints and Drawings (in-person), Prints and Drawings Then and Now (two remote sessions) Week Five: Joan Flasch Artists’ Book Collection (in-person) Weeks Six to Eight: Photography at AIC (in-person), Museum of Contemporary Photography (in-person), Photography Then and Now (remote) Week Nine: Video at SAIC and Beyond (remote) Week Ten: Summary of the Course (remote) This hybrid course will meet both in-person and online and includes a visit to the Jean and Steven Goldman Study Collection of Prints and Drawings scheduled outside the regular class meeting time.

Inspired by the exhibition Georgia O'Keeffe: 'My New Yorks,' this course will explore the artists' urban-themed paintings, drawings, and pastels. Gain insight into O'Keeffe's unique approach to capturing the city, experimenting with scale, subject matter, form, and perspective. This course will also address works by other artists depicting cityscapes in the Art Institute of Chicago's collection.