HAA 103 - Art, Science and the Practice of Art History

How was a particular work of art made, and why does it look the way it does? To what extent do the availability of materials and development of material technology influence artistic choice and innovation? How can science help us understand the making and alteration of artworks? The course will explore these and other questions of materiality through a combination of hands-on experimentation with artist's materials and techniques, close looking at objects in the Harvard Art Museums' collections, and conversations with conservators, scientists and curators.  The course aims to help students to better understand artistic choices and processes and to introduce them to scientific tools used in the technical examination and analysis of artworks. It also invites students to consider the implications of alterations that occur in objects over time. The course will be taught by a team of instructors from the Straus Center for Conservation and Technical Studies (SCC), the Division of Academic and Public Programs and curatorial departments, who will model the interdisciplinary collaboration required for such work, which considers questions of materiality and how they affect the way we understand, interpret, preserve and present works of art. The class will meet twice a week in the Harvard Art Museums alternating between the Materials Lab, Art Study Center and SCC.