Professor Toothe on why it is important to study art history
Photo courtesy of Geneseo.edu
Professor Hilary Toothe of the art history department has been at SUNY Geneseo for 12 years. She originally started in fine arts, wanting to be a painter, but then found she liked sculpture. She took her first art history course on the Northern Renaissance while in college and was immediately hooked. She quickly realized while in school that she was not the artist she thought she was, so she decided to go into research and history, studying culture and history through the lens of art. She did not know what she wanted to do but found her passion in art history.
Professor Toothe’s main concentration in graduate school was Italian Renaissance art, and her second concentration was German Expressionism—her favorite period. She explains that in graduate school, you must pick a main concentration to study and then pick a second that is opposing to get a wide range of knowledge.
She explains that art history is important to study as it allows you to think critically and see the world differently through the eyes of others. She says that art history is a culturally focused subject, allows you to learn how people felt vs. what they did, and is important to humanity. Professor Toothe states that critical thought is a large part of studying art history and is central to a liberal arts education; the student is exposed to a little bit of everything. Because of this, they learn how to see the world from different perspectives and understand cultural differences and lifestyles. Specifically, learning about different lifestyles, economic differences, and religions—which provides endless opportunities to get information about people and how we function as civilized people.
Professor Toothe says that Geneseo’s art history department is very small, and she would like to see it grow back to when it was in its prime. She would like more faculty and more classes to be offered. She enjoys her survey courses: Ancient through Gothic, Renaissance to Rococo, and Neoclassicism to Contemporary. Professor Toothe notes Geneseo’s lack of fine arts classes as “unfortunate,” as they are good for students to learn about art and express themselves and help learn about artists studied in art history. Toothe says that engaging in and studying studio art helps students see how incredibly difficult it is and understand the artist’s challenge and mentality. It allows one to appreciate it more.
Professor Toothe stated that there are many ways to study fine arts outside of a college environment, including community centers, online courses, artists' podcasts, and classes offered at museums. The best way, however, is through proper academic education, which is best received in person. Professor Toothe states that artists are like athletes; some are better, some have more talent, and some have better training. Developing artistic skills requires a solid foundation of practice, and voice becomes essential for artists to express their voice through mediums.
Kaitlynn Schweitzer, a junior English Literature major and Art History minor, as well as a teaching assistant (TA) to Professor Toothe, says that more classes could definitely be offered within the department. Being an Art History major at Geneseo could be difficult, but being a minor has been fine for her. She says that fitting what she is interested in for art history around her English major is hard because of the limited time classes are offered. Kate believes that access to studio art classes would help her better understand and appreciate art history. She thinks that learning artistic techniques would help everyone understand the difficulty and intensity of art and what the artists went through during their creative process. Kate says that taking Renaissance to Rococo with Professor Toothe made her want to take more classes and eventually minor in art history. She plans to get her master’s degree in art history after graduation.