Karen's+Expository+Essay

A Great Art History Course, an Even Better Professor

If you are like me, the term “art history” is synonymous with snooze fest. It’s stuffy, boring, and unfortunately a required discipline of any art related curriculum. I dread the thought of sitting in a dark room looking at various slides of the Madonna and Christ child for an hour and fifteen minutes twice a week. But, Dr. Richard Rubenfeld’s Survey of Western Art II class is not like this and can interest even the most reluctant of students.

Survey II is a summary of western artworks spanning approximately 1250 to 1880 and covers major art movements such as the Italian Renaissance, Baroque Art, and Impressionism. Dr. Rubenfeld is a very knowledgeable art historian and his passion for art is infectious. His area of expertise is in the Italian Renaissance and he blatantly states his bias, acknowledging: “Italian artists are the best. What other artists do you know that have turtles named after them?” Rubenfeld also tries to only show work he has seen in person, and can offer firsthand knowledge of not just the artwork but where it is located as well. Very rarely does he show work he has not seen, and he always makes students aware of which works these are.

His intimate knowledge of the artworks is more than can be gleaned from the 300 page textbooks that accompany each course. Rubenfeld goes beyond simply analyzing the artwork to offering details and tidbits about the artists themselves that would not be found in a typical art history text. Did you know Michelangelo’s //David// was carved out of a piece of “ruined” marble rejected by two other artists because it was too shallow for a human figure? I didn’t until I took this class with him.

Survey II consists of three exams and one paper of which you are allowed to drop your lowest grade. Each exam is a combination of fill in the blank, multiple choice, and short answer questions. There is also a compare and contrast essay. Rubenfeld sends out study guides beforehand that narrows the number of artworks you need to be familiar with down to 25. For each artwork, identify the title, artist, date, period, and culture. He is lenient on spelling, and dates must be within a hundred years to be given credit. For the short answer and essay questions, be specific and give examples. Even if your answer is completely wrong, as long as you can give evidence to support it, you will get some credit. Each exam also has an extra credit artwork that wasn’t shown in class but could be identified based on other work shown and is worth the equivalent of one letter grade. Rubenfeld also offers additional opportunities for extra credit if you attend gallery openings, artist lectures, and other events sponsored by the art department.

The paper is a three to five page analysis of an artwork from the time periods covered in class. Rubenfeld does require it to be a piece you have actually seen and not one that was talked about in class. Because of this, he offers optional class fieldtrips to the Toledo Museum of Art and DIA. Rubenfeld spends roughly two hours in the museum taking you through the period of time and pointing out different works. It is an informal setting and he encourages you to bring along friends and family. His enthusiasm and passion for art becomes apparent during these trips as he practically runs from one work of art to then next. Often various people visiting the museum will join the group just to hear what he has to say. If you are still nervous about the paper, you can turn it in early for feedback and a chance to revise. Rubenfeld is available during office hours or will make special accommodations to fit your schedule. He always answers his email, but you may have to wait a few days for a response.

Rubenfeld’s lecturing style is very conversational and engaging. He is so animated and passionate about his lectures and always has a jolly smile on his face that reminds me of Santa Claus. It is hard not to become intrigued by what is being said as he treats even the simplest concepts such as consistent lighting or functional drapery with the same enthusiasm and degree of delight. Dr. Rubenfeld always allows for questions and answers them to the best of his ability. He facilitates discussion asking students to compare two works or describe what they see. He makes an effort to know each student on a first name basis.

However, Rubenfeld loves to talk. Be prepared to stay right up until the last second or over class time because he wants to cover just one more thing. You may also want to think twice about scheduling another class right after his unless you are comfortable sprinting across campus. Because of this, each class starts out with a review of the artwork covered at the end of the last class. Also, most of the information comes in a verbal format. Rubenfeld gives out artwork lists that include the title, artist, culture, date, medium, and sometimes location of each work of art seen in class; the rest of the information is given verbally in lecture. He talks fast! There is always a constant stream of information coming at you to write down. Laptops are allowed, but if you aren’t a particularly fast note taker, you may want to invest in a tape recorder.

The goal of any of Rubenfeld’s classes is to navigate away from the stereotypical “boring art history class” and share his love of art while educating students. He has certainly convinced me. So, if for some reason you still need an art history class, I highly recommend you take Survey of Western Art II with Dr. Richard Rubenfeld. You won’t regret it!