Art History

B.A. or minor in Art History

Art History classes increase the students' understanding of art, cultures, and societies. Art History inquires into the relationship between visual images and the personal, social, and historical issues that shape culture.

Featured Course

ART F261X: World History of Art I
Prehistoric to Medieval Art

Explore how art has evolved across centuries of human history, from the earliest cave paintings and ancient monuments to contemporary painting, sculpture and architecture. Students examine the ideas, cultures and people that shaped art through time while learning how visual storytelling continues to influence the world around us today.

These student works are part of a final assignment that asks students to reimagine artworks from prehistory through the 14th century Each student selected a historic piece, recreated it in a different medium, and reworked at least 20% of the original design to make it their own. The results are creative, funny, thoughtful, and sometimes surprising, demonstrating how art from centuries ago can still inspire new ideas today.

Line drawing of a patterened version of the Woman of Willendorf

Woman of Willendorf, stone sculpture — Woman of Willendorf, c. 28,000–25,000 BCE. Upper Paleolithic, Gravettian culture. Oolitic limestone with traces of red ochre, height 11.1 cm. Housed in the Natural History Museum Vienna.

Knit reinterpretation of the octopus flask. A blur octopus on tan yarn wrapped around a water bottle.

Terracotta job with a large dark octopus design — Octopus Vase, c. 1500 BCE, Unknown artist (Minoan civilization), Terracotta, Found at Palaikastro, Crete. Housed in Archaeological Museum in Herakleion

Silver bird with orange stone inspired by Bosch's Garden of Earthly Delights

Silver bird inspired by Bosch's Garden of Earthly Delights

Three-panel triptych painting by Hieronymus Bosch showing a surreal vision of humanity. The left panel depicts the Garden of Eden with God introducing Adam and Eve among fantastical animals and lush greenery. The center panel is crowded with nude human figures, oversized fruits, strange animals and dreamlike structures engaged in playful, chaotic and symbolic scenes. The right panel presents a dark, nightmarish hellscape filled with fire, punishment, hybrid creatures and tortured figures surrounded by musical instruments and ruined architecture. — The Garden of Earthly Delights, Hieronymus Bosch, c. 1490–1510, Oil on oak panels, Museo del Prado, Madrid

Two playing cards featuring Hatshepsut's funerary mask and bust. One side says &/art/areas/34;Q&/art/areas/34; and the other says &/art/areas/34;K&/art/areas/34;.

Seated statue of Hatshepsut — Seated Statue of Hatshepsut, Unknown artist (Ancient Egypt, 18th Dynasty), c. 1479–1458 BCE, Granite, Housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Line drawing of a lamassu based on the Assyrian statues of winged lions with horse heads

Colossal Assyrian lamassu sculpture combining the body of a winged bull or lion with a human head wearing a royal headdress. The guardian figure stands in a powerful stance with detailed musculature, layered wings and a long curled beard. Carved in relief from stone, the lamassu originally flanked the gateway of the citadel of Sargon II, serving as both protector and symbol of royal authority. — Lamassu from the Citadel of Sargon II, Unknown artist (Neo-Assyrian Empire), c. 721–705 BCE, Housed in

Lamassu (a statue of a winged-lion with a human head) reimagined as a Pokemon trading card

A graphic faceless figure in a green hoodie and jeans surrounded by colorful silhouettes of mythical animals bearing the labels 'group projects,' 'essays,' 'tuition,' 'finals,' 'procrastination,' 'pop up quizzes,' 'stress,' 'homework,' and 'that one annoying kid in class' inspired by Martin Schongauer's Temptation of St. Anthony

Black-and-white engraving showing Saint Anthony suspended in the air while being attacked by a swarm of grotesque demon-like creatures. The monsters have distorted combinations of animal and human features, including scales, horns, claws and wings. Saint Anthony remains calm and composed at the center of the chaotic scene, his robes twisting in the movement as the creatures pull and strike at him against a sparse sky and distant landscape. — The Temptation of Saint Anthony, Martin Schongauer, c. 1470–1475, Engraving on paper, Housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art

pencil drawing of a self-portrait as a votive figure. It depicts a modern student in a t-shirt and jeans with large eyes and their hands clasped together in front of their chest

Small bronze Etruscan votive figure of a standing man with elongated proportions and simplified features. The figure wears a long draped garment and gestures outward with both hands. Its stylized face and rigid posture reflect the abstract, expressive qualities common in Etruscan bronze sculpture. The sculpture stands on a rough rectangular stone base against a dark background. — Male Votive Figure, Unknown artist (Etruscan civilization), 4th century BCE, Bronze, Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland

Facilities

The and the UA Museum of the North provide resources for historical research and curatorial investigations.

A UAMN visitor examines objects on display in the Rose Berry Alaska Art Gallery. UAF Photo

Student Clubs

Faculty

Zoë Marie Jones

Assistant Professor of Art History

zjones@alaska.edu | 907-474-7530

MUSIC 304

Mareca Guthrie

Associate Professor

mrguthrie@alaska.edu | 907-474-5102

University of Alaska Museum of the North

Mareca has been with the museum since 2008. She was born and raised in ��Ƶ with many years abroad in South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, France, Germany and Spain. She studied studio art and art history in Hills Road Sixth Form College in Cambridge and graduated with a degree in Studio Art from Carleton College in 2003 and an MFA from California Institute for the Arts (CalArts) in Los Angeles, CA in 2007.

Jessica Zaydak

Adjunct Instructor in Art History

jlzaydak@alaska.edu

Art History

B.A. or minor in Art History

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