Analyzing Art through Depression: House Course

Course Description: From Vincent Van Gogh's post-impressionist Starry Night to Mark Rothko's iconic paintings depicting blocks of color, visual art has evidently changed drastically over the years from artist to artist. Despite these differences in painting styles, what the above two artists have in common, however, is a known history of depression that, upon closer examination, seems to be conveyed heavily in their artwork. Even with this similarity of career descent into depression, the two differ in not only how they conveyed their depression within their art, but also how others received such notice of mental difference: Van Gogh's depression is widely known to society in the form of him infamously cutting off his ear, whereas Rothko's depression appears to be subtle as his death shocked numerous other artists of his time. In this course, we will examine the relationship between an artist's career timeline of depression and the artwork produced by the artist. How did the era in which the artist lived impact how his depression manifested itself within his artwork? Does an artist's particular style somehow make his descent into depression more or less evident within his artwork? Can it be discerned whether the artist's occupation and artwork impacted his depression or vice versa (if the artist's depression impacted his career)? Furthermore, how is this relationship between an artist's work and his depression received within society-is it noticed, ignored, or criticized? 

      To gain further insight into the potential answers to these questions, a total of three artists with known depression (Vincent Van Gogh, Mark Rothko, Edgar Degas) will be analyzed throughout the course by reading about their career timelines and analyzing their artwork. To supplement these readings and analyses, students will be asked to post to multiple discussion forums to relay their thoughts before and after class discussions. Analysis of these three artists will be interspersed with opportunities for students to create artworks of their own. They may mimic the styles of the artists studied at each interval of the course but are also encouraged to create their own style of conveying either their own depression (if applicable) or the current stigma that depression carries within society. After delving into the careers of these artists and how their artwork changed respectively over these timelines, students will be asked to choose an artist either with or without diagnosed depression and write a research paper on how the artist's diagnosed depression influenced his/her artworks or how the artist's works alone conveyed his/her hidden depression.  

Pass/Fail Grade Determination: Students are required to submit a total of seven discussion forums/summaries/proposals, two paintings, and one research paper by the end of the course. Assignments regarding discussion forums/summaries/proposals and the two paintings will be assessed for completion and constitute approximately 50% of pass/fail determination. The research paper will compose the latter 50% of this determination and will be assessed for not only completion, but also effort and quality at the discretion of the instructor. Detailed point values are included in each set of guidelines for the discussion forums/summaries/proposals, paintings, and research paper, and the final grade will be determined by the student's total number of points at the end of the semester. Attendance is mandatory at all sessions in order for a passing grade, but two absences are permitted within given reason of illness or other obligations. 
* Pass: 70 points or more
* Fail: 69 points or less
Discussion Forums/Summaries/Proposal Guidelines (21 points): Each submission involving a discussion forum, summary of discussion, or research paper proposal will be worth 3 points and assessed only for completion and on-time submission. Late submissions will receive no credit. Discussion forums should examine the "Questions of Analysis" presented in the working schedule, and summaries should convey understanding of the class discussion regarding the readings. The research paper proposal should highlight one artist not discussed in class and include a brief description of what the student intends to convey about this artist and his/her depression. 

Painting Guidelines (29 points): Students are not required to have previous experience in creating visual arts, though knowledge of painting techniques would certainly be helpful in conveying messages in the painting requirement. The two paintings will be assessed only for completion, effort, and intent to convey a message regarding the student's own depression (if applicable), the stigma of depression within society (from either a medical or humanistic perspective), or the mimicking of Van Gogh, Rothko, or Degas's styles. The assessment will not rely upon artistic depth or quality, but students will be required to fully utilize class time given to create the paintings. In short, the two paintings will be assessed based upon the following three factors according to the instructor's discretion: 
* Completion: Does the student have two finished paintings to present? 
* Effort: Did the student maximize class time to fulfill this requirement?
* Intent: Did the student submit two descriptions (100 words each) briefly detailing the components of the paintings with regard to the one of three messages - beliefs about their own depression, recreation of the artistic styles discussed in class, or the societal stigma of depression? 

Research Paper Guidelines (50 points): Students will be asked to choose an artist not discussed in class and to use this artist to analyze depression from either a medicalized or humanistic point of view. With a medical definition of depression, students may pick an artist with known or diagnosed depression and analyze how this psychiatric disorder manifested itself within their styles and works of art. Using a humanistic perspective, students may take an alternate route, instead using primarily the artist's style and works of art in order to present an argument evaluating why an artist not medically diagnosed with depression may be viewed by society as having the mental difference. The research paper will be assessed based on the following components: 
* MLA format 
* Length requirement: 8-10 pages. Inclusion of images of artists' works is encouraged, but the images must be included in an abstract at the end of the paper and will not count towards the length requirement. 
* Incorporation of at least 3 critical sources
* Persuasiveness of the argument presented: Does the student provide enough supporting analysis involving the artist's works in order to convince the reader that the essay's thesis is valid?




Working Schedule
	*Class will meet once a week for 12 weeks; each class being 1.5 hours in length. 

Week 1: 

In class: Review syllabus, discuss goals for house course, and briefly introduce major assignments throughout course. Students will be asked to submit initial thoughts regarding the relationship between artists with depression and their artworks (100 words or less) to a discussion forum. Discuss these initial thoughts and student's expectations for how analysis of this course will progress. Briefly define depression in the context of it being a mental difference using the definition presented by the American Psychiatric Association below. Further analyze how depression is represented in the "mad genius image" and how this image takes creativity into account using Katie Rose Guest Pryal's article "The Creativity Mystique and the Rhetoric of Mood Disorders." 
* Links to articles: http://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/depression/what-is-depression 
http://dsq-sds.org/article/view/1671/1600 

Week 2: 

Assignment due: Read Dietrich Blumer's "The Illness of Vincent Van Gogh" from The American Journal of Psychiatry. Post short commentary (200-300 words) to discussion forum taking into account the questions of analysis below. 
* Link to reading: http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/doi/pdf/10.1176/appi.ajp.159.4.519 
* Questions of analysis: How did Van Gogh's comorbidity of mental differences affect his depression in particular? Why might Van Gogh's tendency towards epileptic seizures be analyzed rather heavily in an academic article of psychiatry but appear to be disregarded or not known to society in general? Does this potentially new insight into factors impacting Van Gogh's depression change your initial notions regarding how he conveyed messages through his artwork? 

In class: Discuss Blumer's article and major topics presented in discussion forum. Analyze differences in style and depiction between Dunes (1881) and Landscape at Auvers in the Rain (1890). Focus on these differences and how they may define the beginning and end of his primary career. 

Week 3: 

Assignment due: Choose 5 of Van Gogh's paintings from the catalogue below, each one from a different year, and draw parallels between Van Gogh's life timeline as presented in Blumer's article and each work of art chosen. (Analysis should be similar to that completed in Week 2 of class. Take note of Van Gogh's style of painting, the colors that he used, and the imagery that he focuses on.) 
* Link to catalogue: http://www.vangoghgallery.com/catalog/Painting/ 

In class: Students will engage in a Socratic discussion regarding the artworks they chose and why. Because some works of art may or may not have been chosen by multiple students, the intent of discussion is that they will be introduced to more works of art within Van Gogh's gallery. Discussion should focus on Van Gogh's style of painting, purpose, and compositions within each work, as well as changes between each work and general transitions of style between each year of Van Gogh's career. 

Week 4: 

Assignment due: Submit brief summary (200 words) of Week 3's Socratic discussion and after-thoughts regarding discussion. 

In class: Begin first painting exercise either mimicking Van Gogh's style, creating own style conveying depression (if applicable), or creating work that depicts the stigma of Van Gogh's depression in the current generation. Other techniques of creating visual art may be used according to instructor's discretion regarding relevance to achieving course intentions and goals. 

Week 5: 

Assignment due: Read Mark Rothko's Biography and Rachel Cooke's article on The Guardian. Post short commentary (200-300 words) to discussion forum taking into account the questions of analysis below.
* Links to readings: http://www.theartstory.org/artist-rothko-mark.htm 
https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2008/sep/14/art1 
* Questions of analysis: How does Rothko's daughter present her father's depression and what statement does she make regarding how his depression was shown through his artwork? What implications might this statement have on your initial perspective of Rothko's work? 

In class: Discuss Rothko's biography and its relation to Kate Rothko's perspective on her father's depression and his artwork. Analyze Magenta, Black, Green on Orange (1949) and Untitled, Black on Grey (1969). Note changes in shapes of color blocks, colors of the blocks themselves, and overall transition between a painting from early on in Rothko's career to one right before his death. 

Week 6: 

Assignment due: Under the tab labeled "Selected Rothko Paintings," choose 3 of Rothko's paintings from the gallery below between 1942 to 1969, each from a different year, and draw connections between each painting and either an aspect from Rothko's biography or Kate Rothko's comment regarding the transition in her father's work. Pay attention to works that may be different from the blocks of color that Rothko is known for-though these constitute the majority of art that was produced in his career, his paintings from 1942-1945 may be overlooked. Analyze at least one of these paintings and draw a conclusion as to what the difference in these paintings conveyed or why Rothko's style may have changed between 1945 and 1949. 
* Link to gallery: http://www.mark-rothko.org/mark-rothko-paintings.jsp

In class: Socratic discussion regarding Rothko's work similar to that completed in Week 3. Students will also engage in small group discussions to read and evaluate Alison E. Germaine's article "Disability and Depression in Thor Comic Books." Students should focus primarily on how Germaine analyzes societal interpretations of depression and how she claims this social construct of depression is portrayed in the comic design of Thor comic books.  
* Link to article: http://dsq-sds.org/article/view/5015/4413
* Discussion Questions: Under the section "Society, Gender, and Image," Germaine states that the societal interpretation of depression has mainly been dismissive and, using the words of Harris and White, that people with depression are "perceived to have a weakness in succumbing to moods that should be shaken off." Taking into account how Germaine claims this societal interpretation of depression applies to Thor comics, do you think this humanistic perspective of depression applies to Van Gogh or Rothko's depression? Why or why not? 

Week 7: 

Assignment due: Submit brief summary (200 words) of Week 6's class discussion and after-thoughts regarding discussion. 

In class: Continue and finish painting exercise begun in Week 4. 

Week 8: 

Assignment due: Read Edgar Degas's biography and Dr. Karcioglu and Dr. Eliason's academic article "Edgar Degas's Eyes." Post short commentary (200-300 words) to discussion forum taking into account the questions of analysis below.
* Link to readings: http://www.theartstory.org/artist-degas-edgar.htm 
	https://news.med.virginia.edu/hospitaldrive/2015/09/22/edgar-degass-eyes/ 
* Questions of analysis: How did Degas's loss of vision impact his artistic career? Is it possible to determine whether his loss of vision preceded or superseded his onset of depression? What evidence from either his biography or the health article supports your claim? Compare the comorbidity of Degas's depression and vision loss with Van Gogh's depression and epileptic episodes. How did the onset of multiple physical and mental differences impact these two artists differently? Are there any similarities between the two? 

In class: Discuss Degas's biography and major topics presented in discussion forum. Analyze how Degas's primary depictions of dance may have contributed to whether or not his depression was noticeable within his works. Compare and contrast Ballet Rehearsal on Stage (1874) and Dancers at the Barre (1880-1900). 

Week 9: 

Assignment due: Under the tab labeled "Selected Edgar Degas Paintings," choose 4 of Degas's paintings from the gallery below between the years 1853 to 1907, each from a different year, and analyze the transitions between the paintings in chronological order. (The year of each painting is presented once the work is clicked on to be viewed.) 
* Link to gallery: http://www.edgar-degas.net/paintings.jsp 

In class: Students will engage in Socratic discussion similar to those presented in Weeks 3 and 6. Provide time within discussion to discuss all three artists and how the relationships between their artistic careers and their depression either were similar to or deviated from each other. Students will subsequently engage in small group discussions to read and evaluate the DSQ article "Art and Disability: Intersecting Identities among Young Artists with Disabilities" by Jennifer Sullivan Sulewski, Heike Boeltzig, and Rooshey Hasnain. 
* Link to article: http://dsq-sds.org/article/view/3034/3065 
* Discussion questions: How do insights from the disability artists in the article parallel the depression found in the works of Van Gogh, Rothko, and Degas? The article distinguishes between literal and figurative representations of disability in the works of the artists mentioned: how do these different representations convey depression and disability differently? Does one form of representation convey a more medicalized definition of depression and another a more humanistic perspective? Consider the humanistic point of view of depression in the context of "madness"-how would you identify the works of Van Gogh, Rothko, and Degas in this context?  

Week 10: 

Assignment due: Submit brief summary (200 words) of Week 6's class discussion and after thoughts regarding discussion. Choose desired artist to analyze in research paper and submit brief proposal (100 words or more) as to how this artist or his/her works were similar to the depression prevalent in Van Gogh, Rothko, or Degas's works and careers. 

In class: Briefly discuss proposals and address questions regarding research paper. Students should use remaining class time to either begin researching for paper or start second painting. 

Week 11:

Assignment due: N/A

In class: Students will use class time to continue working on either their research paper or their second painting. 

Week 12: 

Assignment due: Submit research paper and two paintings (including 2 brief descriptions of the paintings). 

In class: Allow each student to present thesis and general structure of his/her research paper. Students will submit brief summary (100 words) regarding what they learned throughout the course and compare this post-course summary with their initial observations taken during Week 1.