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Rembrandt and Rodin are correcting the work in two new courses that the Fine Arts Department is giving.
Fine Arts 16hf, "Theory and Practice of Drawing and Painting," and Fine Arts 17hf, "Theory and Practice of Sculpture" are offering students a chance to create and to compare their work to the masters.
After they have worked on reproducing their subjects--on canvas or clay--the students note the problems that bother them, and see what the masters did in similar situations.
This theory of learning is old, but its practice is new to the Fine Arts Department. The teaching of arts has been taken from the hands of the scholars and has been put in the hands of the artist. In two courses, at least.
Creative Opportunity
"Giving the student the opportunity to use materials in a creative way," said Charles L. Kuhn, associate professor of Fine Arts, "will teach him to attack the problem of analysis in a creative rather than a formal sense."
The attitude of the Fine Arts Department is still based on the general University standards. "These courses," said Kuhn, "are not to develop the technical skill in a professional sense. There are art schools for that purpose."
Enrollment in the painting class was limited to 35, and in the sculpture class to 13, but several times as many students had to be turned away.
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