ART 22100 Art and Philosophy of the East

A humanities/art history course designed to introduce students to art from India, China and Japan and the basic principles of Taoism, Buddhism and Zen upon which these arts are based. The course will explore the form and meaning of the works of art and the ideas and principles that inspired their creation. Chinese bronzes and landscape painting, Japanese ink painting, ceramics, statues and stupas, Zen gardens and the tea ceremony are among the art works that give visual shape and form to the various and different philosophical and spiritual points of view of Taoism, Buddhism and Zen. The important influence of Japanese prints and Zen principles on the development of modernism in Western art and design in the 20th century will also be considered.