Hum/VC 52 - Color

This course will take us from the ancient caves of Indonesia to the caravan trades of Medieval Sahara, the mines of early modern Afghanistan, the codices of colonial Mexico City, the gardens of the Incan empire, the alchemical recipes of China, and, finally, the pink "rouge" makeup on the French queen Marie Antoinette's cheeks. We will examine color across geographies and cultures in history with a thematic approach, exploring each week a different facet of color as it relates to visual culture, art, and architecture: from environmental cultivation and extraction to alchemy, magic, chemistry, technology, commerce, anthropology, literature, physics, medicine, psychology, race studies, culture, and aesthetics. This class will emphasize visual analysis, the reading of primary and secondary sources, and the crafting of original research and writing. We will have on-site visits to the Huntington Museum, Library, and Botanical Gardens, and discussions with contemporary color-makers and artists.