Esther Thyssen

Senior Lecturer, Theory & History of Art & Design
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BA, Lake Forest College
PHD, Yale University

Esther T. Thyssen studied art history at Lake Forest College and Yale University, receiving her PhD from Yale in 1999. She was Fulbright Guest Professor of American Studies at Debrecen University in Hungary in 2006 and at the University of Bucharest in Romania in 2018. Her research interests are in the construction of modernism in Europe and the Americas and the revision of the history of art in east and central Europe prior to 1989. She is currently researching the movement of art and artists across the former Iron Curtain, as well as abstraction and new media art during the 1970s. At RISD she teaches Global Modernisms, Early 20th Century Art and Abstract Expressionism in Global Politics.

Courses

Fall 2023 Courses

THAD H101-07 - THAD I: GLOBAL MODERNISMS
Level Undergraduate
Unit Theory + History of Art + Design
Subject Theory & History of Art & Design
Period Fall 2023
Credits 3
Format Lecture
Mode In-Person
Start date
End date

THAD H101-07

THAD I: GLOBAL MODERNISMS

Level Undergraduate
Unit Theory + History of Art + Design
Subject Theory & History of Art & Design
Period Fall 2023
Credits 3
Format Lecture
Mode In-Person
Start and End 2023-09-06 to 2023-12-13
Times: M | 2:50 PM - 4:20 PM; TTH | 11:20 AM - 12:20 PM Instructor(s): Esther Thyssen Location(s): College Building, Room 424; Auditorium, Room 132 Enrolled / Capacity: 20 Status: Closed

SECTION DESCRIPTION

This is a required course for all first year and transfer students to introduce them to global modern and contemporary art, architecture and design in the period between 1750 and the present. The course addresses modernism as a global project, presenting several case studies from across the world that unfold to show how multiple kinds of modernism developed in different times and distant places. By presenting alternate, sometimes contradictory stories about modern and contemporary art and design, along with a set of critical terms specific to these times and places, the class aims to foster a rich, complex understanding of the many narratives that works of art and design can tell. With this grounding, students will be well positioned to pursue their interests in specialized courses in subsequent semesters. 
 
Registration process: First-year students are registered into sections by the Liberal Arts Division.
Transfer and sophomore and above students should register into the evening section offered in the fall. 
 
For schedule conflicts during lecture times, please contact the Academic Programs Coordinator in the Liberal Arts Division office. For issues with registration, contact the Registrar's office for assistance. 
 

Major Requirement | BFA

THAD H101-08 - THAD I: GLOBAL MODERNISMS
Level Undergraduate
Unit Theory + History of Art + Design
Subject Theory & History of Art & Design
Period Fall 2023
Credits 3
Format Lecture
Mode In-Person
Start date
End date

THAD H101-08

THAD I: GLOBAL MODERNISMS

Level Undergraduate
Unit Theory + History of Art + Design
Subject Theory & History of Art & Design
Period Fall 2023
Credits 3
Format Lecture
Mode In-Person
Start and End 2023-09-06 to 2023-12-13
Times: M | 4:40 PM - 6:10 PM; TTH | 11:20 AM - 12:20 PM Instructor(s): Esther Thyssen Location(s): College Building, Room 424; Auditorium, Room 132 Enrolled / Capacity: 20 Status: Closed

SECTION DESCRIPTION

This is a required course for all first year and transfer students to introduce them to global modern and contemporary art, architecture and design in the period between 1750 and the present. The course addresses modernism as a global project, presenting several case studies from across the world that unfold to show how multiple kinds of modernism developed in different times and distant places. By presenting alternate, sometimes contradictory stories about modern and contemporary art and design, along with a set of critical terms specific to these times and places, the class aims to foster a rich, complex understanding of the many narratives that works of art and design can tell. With this grounding, students will be well positioned to pursue their interests in specialized courses in subsequent semesters. 
 
Registration process: First-year students are registered into sections by the Liberal Arts Division.
Transfer and sophomore and above students should register into the evening section offered in the fall. 
 
For schedule conflicts during lecture times, please contact the Academic Programs Coordinator in the Liberal Arts Division office. For issues with registration, contact the Registrar's office for assistance. 
 

Major Requirement | BFA

THAD H741-01 - EARLY 20TH CENTURY ART
Level Undergraduate
Unit Theory + History of Art + Design
Subject Theory & History of Art & Design
Period Fall 2023
Credits 3
Format Lecture
Mode In-Person
Start date
End date

THAD H741-01

EARLY 20TH CENTURY ART

Level Undergraduate
Unit Theory + History of Art + Design
Subject Theory & History of Art & Design
Period Fall 2023
Credits 3
Format Lecture
Mode In-Person
Start and End 2023-09-06 to 2023-12-13
Times: MW | 9:40 AM - 11:10 AM Instructor(s): Esther Thyssen Location(s): College Building, Room 424 Enrolled / Capacity: 25 Status: Open

SECTION DESCRIPTION

This course offers students an introduction to Western modern art, covering movements in Europe and Northern America from about 1900 to 1950, such as Expressionism, Fauvism, Cubism, Dada, Futurism, Surrealism, and Abstract Expressionism. Contextualizing the artistic developments of the -isms with social and historical agendas of their respective times will support our understanding not only of change of formal elements, but also change in political landscapes. Special focus will be put on artists and groups such as the bridge, the blue rider, Picasso, Matisse, Kandinsky, Malevich, Duchamp, Douglas, Rivera, O'Keefe, Pollock. Participation, in-class presentations, and a final paper are required for this course.

Open to Sophomore, Junior, Senior or Graduate Students.

Elective

THAD H281-01 - AMERICAN PRINTS: ARTISTS AND MASTER PRINTERS
Level Undergraduate
Unit Theory + History of Art + Design
Subject Theory & History of Art & Design
Period Fall 2023
Credits 3
Format Lecture
Mode In-Person
Start date
End date

THAD H281-01

AMERICAN PRINTS: ARTISTS AND MASTER PRINTERS

Level Undergraduate
Unit Theory + History of Art + Design
Subject Theory & History of Art & Design
Period Fall 2023
Credits 3
Format Lecture
Mode In-Person
Start and End 2023-09-06 to 2023-12-13
Times: F | 9:40 AM - 12:40 PM Instructor(s): Esther Thyssen Location(s): College Building, Room 424 Enrolled / Capacity: 25 Status: Open

SECTION DESCRIPTION

The 1960s saw the expansion of the art market in the US when printmaking workshops emerged on the coasts and in the heartland. Artists and master printers worked collaboratively at ULAE, Tamarind, Gemini GEL, Tyler Graphics and others, and such presses also editioned artists' prints for sale via the gallery system. Importantly such workshops also offered an opportunity to artists primarily committed to other media to explore various printmaking methods. Collaboration among artists and printmakers thus became a hallmark of the so-called American Printmaking Renaissance. The course will investigate the nature of collaboration between artists and master printers as we study prints by epoch-making artists including Louise Nevelson, Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg, Helen Frankenthaler, Richard Diebenkorn, Ed Ruscha, Vija Celmins, as well as lesser-known artists who contributed significantly to the popularity of prints. Technical innovation continued in the era of Pop with the use of commercial techniques by Warhol, Rosenquist and Lichtenstein, and continues today with the use of digital media. We will draw upon the collection of the RISD museum to develop an intimate understanding of the role of innovation and collaboration in American printmaking ca.1960-1990.

Open to Sophomore, Junior, Senior or Graduate Students.

Elective

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BA, Lake Forest College
PHD, Yale University