History of Illustration

Illustrations are the first art form we will encounter in the course of our lives. Before we become acquainted with art exhibited in museums, we encounter/see illustrations that appear in books, on the street, on signs and screens that accompany our daily lives. In this introductory course we will try to understand what constitutes illustration as an art form that combines text and picture, its uniqueness as a primary form of art that it is, and, what differentiates it from other art forms. We will try to understand when does illustration become a technical instrument of demonstration and when does it transform into a complex, original innovative and somewhat unique form of art. The first part of the course will be devoted to fundamental terms connected to the field. Once acquired, the terminology it should inspire an historical introduction to the stepping stones of the evolution of the illustration while stressing the golden age of the European and American illustration in the 19th and 20th centuries. The second part of the course will allow the student to delve deeper into the works of artists renowned as illustrators, e.g. Norman Rockwell, Tomi Ungerer. We will introduce the student to unique creators who hold a distinct illustrative body of works such as William Blake and Charlotte Salomon. During the semester there will be a strong emphasis on reading of theoretical and historical texts to establish the course methodology by simultaneous observation of visual and textual information so to achieve a complete-holistic understanding of illustration.