The History of Art Department's most recent addition, Dr. Felipe Pereda of Madrid, Spain, has filled a gap in art history's Western timeline — medieval to early modern Spanish art.
Since opting to study art history in college, Pereda has ventured into relatively unexplored territory by American standards, one which consists of the boisterous artistic activity during the Renaissance and Baroque periods in Spain.
Since joining Hopkins last year, Pereda has taught a course each for undergraduates and graduates, sharing expertise that, outside of Spain, is quite limited. Currently both his courses, "Art and Faith in Golden Age Spain" and "Art & Reform in Renaissance Spain" focus on the influence and significance of religious images while examining master Spanish artists beyond iconic figures like Diego Velázquez and Jusepe de Ribera. As such, Pereda's inclusion in the department adds both depth and range to an already-rich field of study.
Born and raised in Madrid, Pereda grew up amid world-renowned art and architecture, an unquestionable contribution to his later decision to study Art History in college.
Upon entering the Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Pereda, unlike most American undergraduates, had already officially decided what he planned to study.
"You have already made your choice before you study," Pereda said, "I went to study History, and from there, I had a choice between History and History of Art."
As a student he also studied philosophy, which he thinks overlaps with art history in a variety of ways that he can still apply as a professor today.
"Within philosophy I focused on the history of aesthetics, so there was overlap with my art history studies which I found very interesting and use in the classes I teach," Pereda said
Pereda reflects upon his undergraduate experience with a laugh and some indifference.
"[It was] just okay. It's a very crowded university where there are very good professors, but not very much attention to individual students and so forth," Pereda said.
"In Spain, in University, there is not that much of a choice. The program is very much structured and not very many options."
Pereda's vision of the college experience was vastly different from the one exhibited at Hopkins. When asked about the difference between his experience and what he has observed at Hopkins saw vast contrasts.
"They are opposite experiences . . . they are very different," he said. "First of all, the number of students in a class is very different. From my experience here, I teach small classes. It seems overall there are more options than just big lectures. Then here, you have the library, the resources, are all on campus
"In Madrid, students would just go to class and leave as quickly as they could after. There wasn't really a campus life. Also the research and teaching was completely separate — it doesn't happen on campus [in Madrid]. Professors just go to the university to teach their classes. Here, the community is much better integrated."
After finishing his undergraduate studies, Pereda furthered his education at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, where he also received his PhD in Art History, to work with others studying Early Modern Spanish art. His thesis was about architecture and humanism in Renaissance Spain, specifically in Salamanca, a town in Castile.
Though he left for one year to study at Harvard, Pereda eventually returned to Autónoma.
"After my studies, I stayed [there] to teach, which is a rare thing for the United States.
"I taught for thirteen years, except for one where I worked as a fellow at the National Gallery. I taught mostly undergraduates in big lecture classes. There are some seminars in Spanish universities. But mostly teaching is about [the] lecture."
Here at Hopkins, especially in the Art History department, Pereda has expanded on his interest in the intersection of Art History and the philosophy of aesthetics.
As an art historian and a teacher, Pereda found it difficult to pick one aspect from all his years of research and teaching. However, he found the advantages of community that campuses like Hopkins provide the most distinct.
"It is a very broad question. But I think of myself as a very vocational teacher. And I like very much that I think that it's a profession where teaching and research can go very well together. [History of Art] is actually a very experimental field, in that respect," he said.
Currently, Pereda is researching Francisco de Zurbarán, the 17th century painter nicknamed the "Spanish Caravaggio" for his use of the chiaroscuro and tenebrism techniques.
"This is the artist I am most interested in right now," he said.
"I am working on Spanish visual culture and the representation of emotions in Golden Age Spain. Hopefully this project will turn into a book."
For most students, especially ones of Art History, previous exposure and conceptions of art have a profound impact on the ability to objectively analyze it. The opportunity to study any art, especially art made during the Renaissance and Baroque periods in Europe, without bias is quite unique.
"It is a great advantage because I am showing and talking about things on which the students have almost or absolutely no prejudices," he said. "They know so little that everything is new and that makes things much more flexible—there are no preconceived notions, which is the good thing about it. The other side of so little previous knowledge is that it's hard to teach everything, talk about everything, and fill the whole map of Spain."
Through teaching, Pereda hopes his students will share his enthusiasm.
"My goal is to raise general interest in Art History in Spain. And to put Spain on the map, figuratively, because it doesn't exist right now. My other goal is to interact with other departments, historians and anthropologists for example, to explore Spanish culture and history from different perspectives," he said.
