This is a five-week art history course exploring Fin-de-Siècle artists. The term “Fin-de-Siècle” refers to the period at the close of the 19th century characterized by a mixture of decadent, cynical, and pessimistic attitudes alongside a hope for a new beginning. It describes a cultural, artistic, and social period marked by sophisticated despair, hedonism, and anxiety that civilization was in decline. 

In this course you will have the opportunity to discuss paintings from this fascinating period. We will explore some of these artists and their work through discussion and lecture.  An abundance of art slides will give you ample inspiration for engaging in group discussions. You will be encouraged to share thoughts and personal reactions in a judgement free environment.

The Nabis were a Symbolist, cult-like group who organized into a secret society. The Nabis felt that as artists they were creators of a subjective art that was deeply rooted in the soul of the artist. As an example of the Nabi approach, at the beginning of their meetings, they would recite the following "mantra" together: "sounds, colors, and words have a miraculously expressive power beyond all representation and even beyond the literal meaning of the words."

The Nabis artists that I will introduce include Paul Sérusier, Pierre Bonnard, Édouard Vuillard, and Maurice Denis.  In addition, I will include other Fin-de-Siècle artists, including Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec who captured the vibrant, often decadent nightlife of Paris's Montmartre district, and Gustav Klimt, founder of the Vienna Secession.

The format of the class will be discussion and lecture using projected slides of paintings.

Brief highlight handouts will be available.  Homework will consist of brief readings to be found online, and should take less than an hour to an hour and a half each week. I will email links to the readings before each class.