I'm taking European Paintings: From Leonardo to Rembrandt to Goya online with @edxonline. Check it out! https://learning.edx.org/course/course-v1:UC3Mx+CEH.1-ENx+3T2021/home
The best courses I took in art history and specifically European Painting were given by William Kloss, M.A. I have never read a better course in anything. The Great Courses still offer these and I highly recommend them all. I am still in the middle of the above course and haven’t formed an opinion.
I'm taking Rhetoric: The Art of Persuasive Writing and Public Speaking online with @edxonline. Check it out! https://learning.edx.org/course/course-v1:HarvardX+AESTHINT15+3T2021/home
The above is based on Harvard professor James Engell's on-campus course, "Elements of Rhetoric." It is the best i have ever read on Civic Discourse. If you want to know what important civic leaders said on various matters - this is a must reading. It is also a course, i’d say, on democracy. Professor James Engell serves Verbal art of the highest order.
Why am I bothering? I believe Art has moral and ethical obligation to society in the 21 century, the way Renaissance art had obligation to humanism. Before Renaissance art served the church. Before now art served the art market. We need a socially responsible art for the 21 st century, art for the betterment of humankind.
i am also working on ideas for White Room 2, an expanded edition, where an entire room will be upholstered in primed canvas, with upholstered furniture sourced from Manhattan streets.