The Department of History of Art and Visual Studies
Source: https://arthistory.cornell.edu/ Parent: https://as.cornell.edu/major_minor_gradfield/visual-studies
Traditional areas of study integrated with modern fields of theory and research
The Department of History of Art and Visual Studies
Our department studies areas traditionally central to the discipline such as ancient, medieval and Renaissance art, and the integration of recent fields of theory and research to the study of global visual culture. Students further their understanding of the discipline of art history, its roots, its methodologies, as well as its historical and critical connections with other disciplines.
History of Art Links
Department News
Visual Culture Colloquium with Jennifer Roberts 3/17/26
3/17/2026
Visual Culture Colloquium with Jennifer Roberts 3/17/26
Making an impression: A new approach to classical concepts of the image
2/26/2026
For the ancient Greeks, an image could be understood as a seal pressed on a material to leave a mark, as opposed to an inferior imitation (mimēsis), scholar Verity Platt argues in a new book.
Ancient Copies, Modern Methods: Replication, Translation, and Reception in the Work of Margarete Bieber
2/26/2026
Ancient Copies, Modern Methods: Replication, Translation, and Reception in the Work of Margarete Bieber 2/26-2/27
Patricia Ekpo to give talk on Senga Nengudi
2/18/2026
Patricia Ekpo to give talk on Senga Nengudi
Museum installation focuses on small figures in large landscapes
2/10/2026
A new student-led installation at the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art explores the role of “staffage" figures.
Pulse of Art History with Hamed Yousefi 2/24/2026
2/24/2026
Pulse of Art History with Hamed Yousefi 2/24/2026
History of Art Seeking Postdoctoral Associate as part of Cornell’s Active Learning Initiative
2/03/2026
History of Art Seeking Postdoctoral Associate as part of Cornell’s Active Learning Initiative
College of Arts and Sciences announces 2026 Klarman Fellows
2/04/2026
The 12 early-career scholars will pursue research in the sciences, social sciences and humanities.
History of Art Events
Mar
13
Friday
12:30 PM
Piano Series: Beyond the Parlor—Women Shaping American Musical Life, 1860–1930
Johnson Museum of Art Robinson Lecture Hall
Mar
17
Tuesday
04:45 PM
Hamed Yousefi - "Friendship and Control: Modern Art and Islamic Craft in the Work of Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian"
Klarman Hall KG42
Mar
17
Tuesday
04:45 PM
The Pastel from Mars
A. D. White House Guerlac Room
Apr
10
Friday
04:45 PM
New Date: Ravinder Binning (Colgate University), "The Visionary Mode in Medieval Nubian Painting"
Goldwin Smith Hall G22
Apr
16
Thursday
05:15 PM
A Conversation with Alexis Rockman
Johnson Museum of Art Robinson Lecture Hall
Land Acknowledgement
Cornell University is located on the traditional homelands of the Gayogo̱hó꞉nǫ' (the Cayuga Nation). The Gayogo̱hó꞉nǫ' are members of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, an alliance of six sovereign Nations with a historic and contemporary presence on this land. The Confederacy precedes the establishment of Cornell University, New York state, and the United States of America. We acknowledge the painful history of Gayogo̱hó꞉nǫ' dispossession, and honor the ongoing connection of Gayogo̱hó꞉nǫ' people, past and present, to these lands and waters.
This land acknowledgment has been reviewed and approved by the traditional Gayogo̱hó꞉nǫ' leadership.
Image caption:\ Francisco José de Goya, “Murío la verdad [Truth has died],” Plate 79 of The Disasters of War, 1863. Etching and drypoint, 14.6 x 17.8 cm. Herbert F Johnson Museum of Art, Museum Associates Purchase Fund.