Modern Art and the Mediterranean: Barcelona, Provence, and the French Riviera with Drs. Peter Schmunk and G.R. Davis, Jr.
"Woman and a Bird" by Miro		"Weeping Woman" by Picasso

Project Description

Van Gogh was prophetic when he declared in 1888 that the future of art lay in the South of Europe, where the sunny climate and bright colors would encourage boldly expressive painting. Perhaps no geographical area was as important for the development of modern art in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries as the northwest coast of the Mediterranean. Van Gogh, Gauguin, Cezanne, Renoir, Picasso, Matisse, Miró, Gaudí, Dali, and Chagall all spent significant periods of time on or near the Mediterranean Sea and responded in compelling ways to the physical beauty and extraordinary light of the coastal landscape. This interim will explore the northwest coast of the Mediterranean as a site for the production of art in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. After a week of on-campus preparation, participants will embark on nineteen days of travel, spending a week in Barcelona and shorter periods of time in Arles, Aix, and Nice. Such an itinerary will allow for encounters with the uniquely colorful and fanciful architecture of Gaudí, tours of museums devoted to the works of Miró, Picasso, Dali, and Matisse, visits to the studio of Cezanne and a chapel designed by Matisse, and travel by bus and hikes on foot through the countryside that inspired a wide variety of artistic responses.

Day-by-Day List of Activities and Destinations

Course Information

Class Schedule:

• Week 1: Four days of on-campus meetings: 9:00-Noon; 1:00-2:30 PM

• During 19 days of travel, we are busy from 9:00 AM-5:00 PM with three free days and an occasional free afternoon.

• Eight group dinners (included in course fee) provide opportunity to discuss the day's activities.

• A single two-hour wrap-up discussion meeting upon returning to campus. Remaining time is allocated to prepare final report.

Off-campus Activity: 19 days of off-campus travel.

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Travel Forms

Wofford College requires that all participants in a travel project complete several forms to be turned in to the instructors no later than November 30th (at the mandatory meeting.) These forms are available at the Wofford Interim Website. Since several of these forms require signatures of parents or physicians, students are strongly encouraged to complete these forms as soon as possible. The College will not permit students to travel unless all documents are in order.

Mandatory Travel Insurance

All student travelers are required to purchase travel insurance from Cultural Insurance Services International. In order to obtain this insurance, you should submit your first, middle and last name, your birth date, your W number, your Interim project, and a check for $36 to Dean Ana María Wiseman in Dupré Administration Building.

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November 30th, 2005 Mandatory Meeting

At this meeting the instructors will collect all travel forms required by the College, make photocopies of passports, consider requests for roommate assignments, present reading materials, assign topics for on-site presentations by students during the travel portion of the project, collect the final payment of the course fee, and make annoucements.

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Application Form and Enrollment

Please provide introductory information about yourself for the instructors of the Modern Art and the Mediterranean Interim Project on this application form. If the course is over-subscribed, the information you provide may be used to determine who will be accepted into the course. You are therefore encouraged to make a compelling case that indicates your level of interest and commitment to this project.

You may submit this information to Dr. Davis by email or deliver this completed form to Dr. Davis whose office is in the Biology Suite on the second floor of Milliken Science Hall, room 203E no later than Tuesday, September 28th. However, you are urged to provide this information as soon as possible.

The deposit check of $500 made out to Wofford College is to be given to Dr. Davis or Dr. Schmunk on or before Tuesday, September 28th.

Seniors will register on Banner on October 25th and all others will register Oct 26th -29th.

The CRN for this course is 5065.

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Contacts

Dr. Peter Schmunk, Professor of Art History

• Office Phone 864-597-4599
• Home 864-585-9853
• schmunkpl@wofford.edu
• fax to Art Department 864-597-4595

Dr. G.R. Davis, Professor of Biology

• Office phone 864-597-4621
• Home 864-948-9025
• davisgr@wofford.edu
• fax to Department of Biology 864-597-4629

Alda Kop, Universal Travel

• Spartanburg telephone 576-6616 or
• toll free 1-800-849-0167
• univtravel@aol.com

Ana Maria Wiseman, Assistant Dean of the College and Director of Programs Abroad and 

• Office phone 864-597-4510
• wisemana@wofford.edu

Links

Barcelona, Spain and Points of Interest in Barcelona and comprehensive listings and descriptions of the city, its history, restaurants, shopping, etc.

Photographs of Barcelona and environs by Dr. Schmunk from his June 2004 visit.

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