This course begins with a consideration of Italian Renaissance art and architecture and proceeds to explore subsequent artistic eras and approaches -- the Baroque, Neoclassicism, Romanticism, Impressionism -- up until the major movements of the twentieth century. This overview of European and American art covers cultural origins as well as individual creators (for example, Michelangelo Buonarroti, Claude Monet, Pablo Picasso, Georgia O ' Keeffe, and Jacob Lawrence). Emphasis is placed on subjects, period styles, and the varied purposes of art -- personal, propagandistic, political, and conceptual -- in these eras. Students will acquire familiarity with specific artworks from each period and with the vocabulary of, and skills necessary for, art analysis as we examine painting, sculpture, and architecture through time.