Michael Amy Headshot

Michael Amy

Professor

School of Art
College of Art and Design

585-475-7921
Office Location
Office Mailing Address
Michael Amy, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor of the History of Art, School of Art, College of Art and Design, R

Michael Amy

Professor

School of Art
College of Art and Design

Education

BA, Vrije Universiteit Brussel (Belgium); MA, Ph.D., New York University

Bio

Michaël J. Amy is an art historian, critic, writer, public speaker, and curator with a B.A. from the Department of Art History and Archaeology at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, and an M.A. and Ph.D. from New York University’s Institute of Fine Arts. He is a Distinguished Professor of Art History in the College of Art and Design at Rochester Institute of Technology.

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585-475-7921

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Areas of Expertise

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Published Review
Amy, Michael. "Pepón Osorio." Rev. of Pepón Osorio, by N/A. Sculpture 14 Sep. 2023: /. Web.
Amy, Michael. "Mire Lee." Rev. of Mire Lee, by Michael Amy. Sculpture 29 Aug. 2023: /. Web.
Amy, Michael. "Anita Molinero." Rev. of Anita Molinero, by Michael Amy. Sculpture 24 Jan. 2023: /. Web.
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Invited Article/Publication
Amy, Michael. "Spiritual Labyrinth: A Conversation with Herman van Bergen." Sculpture. (2023). Print.
Amy, Michael. "Memory Is a Weapon: A Conversation with Ricardo Brey." Sculpture. (2023). Print.
Amy, Michael. "Destructive Forces: A Conversation with Jon Kessler." Sculpture. (2023). Print.
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Invited Keynote/Presentation
Amy, Michael. "Cimabue's Altarpiece of the Crucifixion in the Upper Church of San Francesco at Assisi." Art History Symposium. SUNY Geneseo. Geneseo, NY. 28 Apr. 2023. Keynote Speech.
Amy, Michael. "Alice Neel: Four Paintings of Seated Figures." /. School of Visual Arts & Design, University of Central Florida. Orlando, FL. 11 Oct. 2023. Lecture.
Journal Paper
Amy, Michaël. "The Illusionist: A Conversation with Guillaume Bijl." Afterimage 49. 3 (2022): 4-22. Web.
Amy, Michael. "Bernini: Sculpting in Clay." CAA.Reviews. (2013): 1-3. Web.
Amy, Michael. "Ghosts of Things: A Conversation with Diana Al-Hadid." Sculpture 32. 3 (2013): 20-27. Print.
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Book Chapter
Amy, Michaël and Mark Gisbourne. "The Missing Are Presumed Dead." Olivier Masmonteil. s.l., s.l.: Blurb, 2018. pp.5-12. Print.
Amy, Michaël. "An Architecture of Light." Michael Taylor: Traversing Parallels. Seattle, Washington: University of Washington Press, 2018. pp.99-105. Print.
Amy, Michaël. "Horror and Hope." Lee Bul. Ed. Stephanie Rosenthal. London, Great Britain: Hayward Gallery Publishing, 2018. pp.137-140. Print.
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Published Article
Amy, Michael. “Boston Light: Daguerreotypes by Southworth & Hawes Convey Mid-19th-century America Through its Luminaries and Ordinary Citizens.” Johan Swinnen and LucDeneulin eds. The Weight of Photography: Photography: History, Theory andCriticism: Introductory Readings, (2010): 67-72. Print.
Amy, Michael. “The Call of the Wild.” Jan Fabre, ChaptersI-XVIII, Waxes & Bronze, (2010): 140-141. Print.
Amy, Michael. “Art as a Disappearing Act: A Conversation with Dustin Yellin.” Sculpture, 29.5 (2010): 40-47. Print.
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Currently Teaching

ARTH-135
3 Credits
In this course students will examine the forms, styles, functions, and meanings of important objects and monuments dating from prehistory through the Middle Ages, and consider these works of art in their social, historical and cultural contexts. The primary goals of this course are to learn how to look, how to describe and analyze what we see, and how to use these skills to understand and explain how art visually expresses meaning. At the end of the term, students will have gained a foundational knowledge of the object, scope and methods of the discipline of art history. The knowledge obtained in this introductory course will also guide students in their own creative endeavors.
ARTH-136
3 Credits
In this course students will examine the forms, styles, functions, and meanings of important objects and monuments dating from the Renaissance through the beginning of the twentieth century, and consider these works of art in their social, historical and cultural contexts. The primary goals of this course are to learn how to look and how to describe and analyze what we see, and to use these skills to understand and explain how art visually expresses meaning. At the end of the term, students will have gained a foundational knowledge of the object, scope and methods of the discipline of art history. The knowledge obtained in this introductory course will also guide students in their own creative endeavors.
ARTH-311
3 Credits
The subject of this course is painting, sculpture and architecture of the second half of the Dugento and the Trecento in Italy and its aim is to provide insight into the ways in which society and culture expressed its values through art; 1250 marks the death of the last Hohenstaufen Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II and 1401 is considered by many to mark the beginning of the Early Renaissance, with the competition for the second set of bronze doors for the Baptistery of Florence. Artists students will study will include Nicola and Giovanni Pisano, Arnolfo di Cambio, Cimabue, Pietro Cavallini, Giotto, Duccio, Simone Martini, Pietro and Ambrogio Lorenzetti, Tino da Camaino, Andrea Pisano, Orcagna, Andrea Bonaiuti, Giusto de’ Menabuoi, Altichiero, and Paolo Veneziano. The works students will study will include altarpieces, private devotional images, mural cycles, tombs, churches, chapels, town halls, palazzi and piazze. Questions for consideration will include: the nature and meaning of this proto-Renaissance, the importance of antique and medieval precedents, the increasing attention to the effects of nature, the role of the patron, and the relevance of documents, literary sources and visual precedents for our interpretation of images.
ARTH-317
3 Credits
The subject of this course is 15th century painting, sculpture and architecture in Florence and Rome and its aim is to provide insight into the ways in which society and culture expressed its values through art between 1401, the year when the Calimala Guild announced a competition for a second set of bronze doors for the Baptistery of Florence, and 1500 the year when Michelangelo completed work on the Roman Pietà. Artists students will study include Filippo Brunelleschi, Lorenzo Ghiberti, Donatello, Nanni di Banco, Luca della Robbia, Michelozzo, Leon Battista Alberti, Lorenzo Monaco, Gentile da Fabriano, Masaccio, Fra Angelico, Fra Filippo Lippi, Paolo Uccello, Bernardo and Antonio Rossellino, Andrea del Verrocchio, Antonio del Pollaiuolo, Sandro Botticelli, Domenico del Ghirlandaio, Leonardo da Vinci, Filippino Lippi and Michelangelo. The works students will study will include altarpieces, private devotional images, portraits, mural cycles, paintings and sculpture of mythological subjects, allegories, ceilings, doors, tombs, churches, chapels, palazzi, villas and piazze. Questions for consideration will include: the nature and meaning of the Early Renaissance, developments in artistic theory and practice, the importance of Antique and Medieval precedents, the increasing attention to the effects of nature, the role of the patron, and the relevance of documents, literary sources and visual precedents for our interpretation of images.
ARTH-318
3 Credits
The subject of this course is 16th century painting, sculpture and architecture in Florence and Rome and its aim is to provide insight into the ways in which society and culture expressed its values through art between 1501, the year when Michelangelo returned from Rome to Florence to begin carving the colossal marble David, and 1600 which marks the emergence of the Baroque style in Rome. Artists students will study include Leonardo da Vinci, Bramante, Michelangelo, Raphael, Sebastiano del Piombo, Jacopo Sansovino, Baccio Bandinelli, Jacopo Pontormo, Agnolo Bronzino, Benvenuto Cellini, Bartolomeo Ammannati, Giorgio Vasari, and Giovanni Bologna. The works students will study will include altarpieces, private devotional images, portraits, mural cycles, paintings and sculpture of mythological subjects, allegories, ceilings, tombs, churches, chapels, palazzi, villas, piazze, fountains and equestrian monuments. Questions for consideration will include: the nature and meaning of the High Renaissance, Mannerism, and the late Renaissance, developments in artistic theory and practice, the importance of antique and medieval precedents, the increasing attention to the effects of nature, the role of the patron, and the relevance of documents, literary sources and visual precedents for our interpretation of images.

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