Skip to Main Content
Skidmore College
First-Year Experience

Scribner Seminar Program

Course Description

Paint, Potential, and Power: The London Experience for American Artists


Instructor (s): Paul Sattler, Art

Why was is it so difficult for American painters to sever their umbilical relationship to British Art, London and the European Tradition given Colonial America’s thrust toward independence? Students will be introduced to Art History as well as Studio Practices. Students will examine how Modernism, the rise of Paris and the World Wars influenced the British/American cultural relationship. Students will also analyze the experiences and expressions of painters such as Benjamin West and compare them to 19th century artists including John Singer Sargent and James Whistler. Students will learn the basics in the crafts of drawing and watercolor through repeated visits to London ’s seminal collections of painting and have the opportunity to observe instructional methods of London ’s Royal Academy of Art.

Course Offered