The Turkish conquest of Constantinople in 1453 spurred a search for new trade routes to the East. The voyages of discovery, improvements in naval technology and competition for domination of East West commerce opened up new markets. At the same time, they facilitated exchange and provided a fresh stimulus for artistic expression in Europe and Asia. This course explores the creative transactions that took place through court and religious art, luxury goods and exotica in both continents from 1450-1900. The history of trade, imperial ambitions and movements of people provides a context for assessing the dynamic relationships between art and changing tastes, the fascination with the exotic, and perceptions of the self and the world around.

3 contact hours a week.

On campus and gallery visits.

Anna Jackson and Amin Jaffer, Encounters: The Meeting of Asia and Europe 1500-1800, London: V&A Publications, 2004.

Jay A. Levenson (ed.), Circa 1492: Art in the Age of Exploration, Washington, D.C.: National Gallery of Art, 1991

John M. MacKenzie, Orientalism: History, Theory and the Arts, Manchester University Press, 1995

Michael Sullivan, The Meeting of Eastern and Western Art, Berkeley: University of California Press, 1989