FINE ARTS 1D

As a general course, Fine Arts 1d covers the history of Architecture, Sculpture, and Painting from "The fall of the Roman Empire to the present day." The subject is roughly divided into three sections: Medieval, Renaissance, and Modern, which, with Ancient treated by 1c, survey the entire history of Art. In the course as it is now compressed into one half year, each of these divisions is accorded a very brief treatment, inadequate for concentrators in the field.

For the student who does not intend to go on in the department and desires only a cultural dilettantism, the present structure of Fine Arts 1d may be satisfactory; but for the concentrator it is a farce, ingeniously evolved about a series of delightful witticisms, centered, by admission and intention, around the high spots, and decidedly undesirable as the prerequisite for any further course. It should be remodelled into three half courses, one based on each of the divisions, Medieval, Renaissance, and Modern Art, and carefully integrated. These along with Fine Arts i.e. would very adequately cover the field in preparation for divisionals within a two year period.

The objection which the Fine Arts department has raised against this change, that the new courses would compete with the old 1a and 1b on the history of architecture, now prerequisite in the School of Architecture, is not insurmountable 1a and 1b are scarcely more detailed than 1d, and the proposed courses, although enlarged by two more arts in scope, might easily give a treatment of the history of architecture as adequate as that now offered. Moreover, requiring architecture men to learn the fundamentals of other arts as background would have a broadening effect. Fine Arts 1d might serve a useful role in providing an artistic introduction for those about to travel to Europe, but it should not be continued as a prerequisite for concentrators or as the only course offering general preparation for divisionals.