The master’s program in the Theory, Criticism and History of Art, Design, and Architecture has been developed with a keen sense of Pratt’s history as a technical school and with an appreciation of the strength this offers. No approach to art history is excluded. Pratt’s faculty has rich and varied training as well as an impressive array of degrees and other professional credentials.

Pratt’s legacy, especially in the field of design, has influenced the broad definition of art history so that it includes not only long-standing and recently developed courses in various media and design history but also film, photo, animation, and costume history.

The faculty is distinguished in training and experience.
The curriculum is informed by study of gender, class, patronage, politics, criticism, and art theory as well as style, materials, and techniques.


Art historical concern with materials and techniques exists naturally in connection with programs in the practice of art. This is an emphasis in all our courses, but it takes specific form in our required Materials, Techniques, and Conservation course taught in collaboration with the Brooklyn Museum, which has one of the oldest and best equipped conservation laboratories in the country. In addition, issues related to conservation problems in Venetian art history are explored with the help of local experts on site in our Venice program.


Dual master’s degrees with Fine Arts and Library Science are available resulting in a MS/MFA or MS/MS degree. For these programs, thirty credits of art and design history (instead of thirty six) are required.

A Certificate in Museum Studies is offered as a minor option for students in the Master’s (MS) program in the Department of the History of Art and Design. This Certificate in Museum Studies will complement the
master’s degree offering both a solid educational base in art and design history and a practical, in-depth experience in the museum world. Courses are offered primarily by the History of Art and Design and augmented by Pratt’s other schools and departments.

highlighted courses

• HA-511 Picasso/Matisse Seminar
• HA-522 Pre-Columbian Art
• HA-526 Native American Art
• HA-553 Dada and Surrealism
• HD-608 History of Industrial Design
• HA-623 Dutch Art Seminar
• HA-627 Contemporary Art Seminar
• HA-630 Michelangelo Seminar
• HA-633 German 19th Century Art
• HA-650 Materials/Techniques/Conservtn

 

• full course search

Master of Science (Theory, Criticism, and History of Art, Design and Architecture)
36 total credits required

• semester 1
• semester 2
• semester 3

General Department Inquiries:

HA@pratt.edu

Pratt in Venice

Pratt in Venice is a six-week summer program that takes place in June and July. Graduate and undergraduate students enroll for six to eight credits. Students study painting, drawing/printmaking, art history, and/or materials and techniques of Venetian art on site in Venice. The program integrates studio art with art history and welcomes the interaction of the disciplines. Pratt collaborates with Universit? Internazionale dell’Arte and Scuola Internazionale di Grafica in Venice. Group visits to Padua and Bassano/Maser are included. Students from any department at Pratt may apply; outside applications are also considered.

Pre-Columbian Art

HA-522

This survey course introduces students to the art of the geographic area which includes Mexico, Central and South America, and the Spanish-speaking Caribbean. Brazilian cultural expressions are also presented. The course begins with pre-Columbian Peru in 1500 BC and continues to 1492. The focus is on art in various media and architecture of pre-Columbian cultures.

3.00 credits

Picasso/Matisse Seminar

HA-511

Follows the evolution of these two pioneers of modern art from their training to their late years. Students investigate topics such as the influence of Cezanne and the Nabis on Matisse; the importance of late Impressionism and Primitive art to Picasso; and the role of sculpture in the work of each artist.

3.00 credits

Michelangelo Seminar

HA-630

Students are introduced to topics and issuses in Michelangelo studies. Through readings and discussions, students examine the religious, intellectual, and political climate in which Michelangelo lived and worked. Research topics are developed on themes chosen by the group.

3.00 credits

German 19th Century Art

HA-633

This survey of German art provides students with a chronological understanding of individual artists and movement within a broader social and historical context. Students examine the recurring directions of realism and romanticism, the consequences of political events, the impact of developing urban centers, and the formation of a national identity in relation to French and Italian art and the heritage of the German Middle Ages and Renaissance. Contemporary literature, music, philosophy and art criticism is also introduced.

3.00 credits

Native American Art

HA-526

This course focuses on the art and architecture of the woodlands, plains, southwest, northwest coast, and arctic Native American peoples. Collections of Native American art in local museums are studied.

3.00 credits

Dada and Surrealism

HA-553

This course covers Dada and Surrealist art, film, and literature, focusing on its sources in idealism, materialism, and psychoanalysis. Emphasis is placed on issues of paternal authority and transgressive sexuality; the role of women not only as the subject matter of art, but also as artists in their won right; as well as how Dada and Surrealism radicalized our understanding of painting and sculpture, film, and photography, text and collage.

3.00 credits

History of Industrial Design

HD-608

Students will study pre-industrial beginnings in primitive and ancient design. Medieval and Renaissance preludes to the design in the Industrial Revolution and its development to the present time are reviewed. Products, transportation, packaging and graphics from 1850 to the present will be emphasized. The course will include slide lectures, seminar sessions and research assignments.

2.00 credits

Dutch Art Seminar

HA-623

Graduate students will study a specific theme in the complex and vibrant world of Dutch Art in the 15th-17th centuries. The topic, introduced by the instructor, will follow a seminar format of oral and written presentations by students.

3.00 credits

Contemporary Art Seminar

HA-627

Beginning with the varied responses to abstract expressionism around 1960, this course explores the gradual unfolding of American painting, sculpture and alternative art forms such as video and performance over the last three decades. Course material is approached critically and historically, focusing on issues of post-modernism in regard to its feminist counterpart among other developments. There are regular gallery, museum and studio visits. Course requirements include active participation of registrants, a seminar report and a paper.

3.00 credits

3 Thesis HA-605
3 Art History (Pre-Renaissance Electives)
3 Art History (Renaissance/Baroque Electives)
3 Elective Credits
12 CREDITS

3 Materials, Techniques, & Conservation HA-550
3 Art History (Non-Western Electives)
3 Art History (19th or 20th Century Electives)
3 Elective Credits
12 CREDITS

3 Theory & Methodology HA-500
3 Art History (Film/Design Electives)
3 Art History (Architecture Electives)
3 Elective Credits
12 CREDITS

Materials/Techniques/Conservtn

HA-650

Historic materials and techniques in the various media are studied through the examination of examples, early descriptions and restorer146s journals. Students experiment in various techniques that are not current practice and learn of the technology that allows individuals to analyze the materials and technique of a given artist or object. The expertise of restorers is included through classes held in the Brooklyn Museum and guest lecturers.

3.00 credits

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