Syllabus

Development of Modern Art Fall 2012

Tuesdays + Thursdays 1:00 – 2:20pm Bradley Hall 312

Department of Arts, Culture and Media – Rutgers University

Professor Doris Caçoilo

Office hours by appointment in Bradley Hall 316

doris *at* gaiastudio.org

 

COURSE DESCRIPTION

In this course students will be introduced to key issues and theoretical approaches in the development of modern art. The course will provide a historical overview of artworks created across the globe from the neoclassic period through mid 20^th century movements.

COURSE OBJECTIVES

Students will be able to identify major artists, their works, and their stylistic characteristics in different periods. Students will develop the ability to create thoughtful and engaging projects and writing assignments. In addition to a rigorous reading schedule students are required to write various projects for the class blog and sustain continued research and writing throughout the course in addition to the scheduled projects. 

Students are expected to use theory, criticism and philosophy to understand art and art history. Feedback from classmates is a valuable resource for the improvement of student writing and work. Presentations and discussions allow us to share our projects and analysis of the readings with others and express our intentions and interpretations. Class participation is essential and mandatory.

Class sessions will be divided into presentations and class discussion of the readings. Presentations will address both theoretical and analytical issues related to the development of modern art. Students are responsible to be prepared for class, read all assignments on time and post all writing and projects to the blog, paying attention to technical and aesthetic presentation as well as thoughtful and well-developed content. All work must be handed in on time.

REQUIRED TEXTBOOKS:  

•          Stephen F. Eisenman, ed., Nineteenth-Century Art: A Critical History, 4th Edition

•          Hunter, Jacobus, and Wheeler Modern Art: Painting, Sculpture, Architecture, Photography 3rd Edition, Revised and Expanded 2005

Suggested Texts:

•          Elizabeth Gilmore Holt, ed. From the Classicists to the Impressionists: Art and Architecture in the 19th Century

•          Herschel B. Chipp, ed., Theories of Modern Art: A Source Book by Artists and Critics

READINGS Assigned and suggested readings will broaden the scope of the material covered in class.  Refer to the class syllabus for reading assignments.  Required and suggested readings are on reserve at the John Cotton Dana Library. 

BLOG You must consult the class blog daily to check for announcements, readings and to post your assignments. The blog is crucial to the course and your completion of the requirements. You MUST have access to the blog to complete assignments, get readings, post work and comment on students’ posts.

REQUIREMENTS FOR COMPLETION OF THE COURSE

Four writing assignments published to the blog as well as two short exams will be completed during the semester. Students must also finish readings for each class and participate in class discussions. All assignments must be on time. Work will not be accepted late.

ATTENDANCE

Attendance is required. Attendance is taken at the beginning of each class, and will be considered when determining the final course grade. More than four (4) absences will result in an 'F' (failure) for the class. No exceptions. Class begins on time, so you must be punctual. Lateness, leaving early or leaving class unexcused for an extended period of time will also be recorded. Two of these instances will count as one absence. You are required to make up any and all work that is missed if you are absent. Notify the professor if you will be absent.

NOTE: BACK-UP your work frequently, even as you are working on the projects. Write and edit your posts locally before uploading them to the web. No excuses!

GRADE POLICY

All assignments must be finished and handed in on time to receive a passing grade for this course.

20% 4 blog posts

60% 2 in-class exams

10% group presentations

10% attendance/participation (Contributions to class discussion, on the class blog + attendance)

Statement on Originality of the Work

All work completed for this course must be completed by the student enrolled in the course. Plagiarism is a very serious academic offense that will result in penalties ranging from reduction of class grade to failure in the course. Plagiarism occurs when the ideas, images, and words, published or unpublished, of others are presented as one's own without citing the original source. Plagiarism also occurs when the papers, research, or creative works of another person are presented as one's own work.

ASSIGNMENT DESCRIPTIONS

*Two exams

Students must be prepared for two in-class exams of the class readings and discussions.

*Posts 1-4.

Students must develop researched responses to readings and discussions in class. Each post will be specific to the topics covered in class at that time and will be explained during class. Students are responsible to write and edit these posts as well as illustrate them and successfully post them to the blog for discussion and critique in class.

*Group presentations

Create a presentation that illustrates the readings for that day. You can choose to focus on one particular theme, artist, group or school or give a general overview of themes covered. Presentations should be organized, clear and engaging and should include a visual component in addition to an exciting interactive presentation. All students in the group must participate. These should be 7-10 minutes. The presentations should spur discussion within the classroom. Presentations should end with a question or questions posed to the class. MAKE IT AWESOME! Presentation summaries must be posted to the blog. Every student will present twice throughout the semester.

SCHEDULE

******PLEASE NOTE THAT THE FOLLOWING SCHEDULE IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE I WILL ANNOUNCE CHANGES IN CLASS AND ON THE BLOG if you ever have questions or concerns about the schedule, due dates, changes or anything else please e-mail me.

Week 1:            9/4 T - Introduction and discussion. Set up students on the class blog.

                        9/6 Th – What is Modern? Discussion session. No Readings Due. 

Week 2:      9/11 T- Neoclassicism

Required Reading:

·  Eisenman, Chapter 1

Suggested Reading:

·  Jacques-Louis David, “The Painting of the Sabines” 1800, in Holt, pp. 4-14

·  Maurice Denis, “The Doctrine of Ingres,” 1912, in Holt, pp. 34-38

Additional Readings and Reproductions:

·  Tony Halliday, Facing the Public: Portraiture in the Aftermath of the French Revolution

·  Ewa Lajer-Bucharth, Necklines: The Art of Jacques-Louis David after the Terror

9/13 Th – Discussion session.

Week 3:     9/18 T – Neoclassicism (con’t) and Romanticism

POST 1 postponed (now due 9/25) - Group 1 presents

Required Reading:

·  Eisenman, Chapters 2 and 5

Suggested Reading:

·  Casper David Friedrich, “Thoughts on Art,” Eugène Delacroix, journal excerpts, 1822-1859, in Holt, pp. 152-171

·  John Constable, “Letters,” in Holt

                            

                        9/20 Th – Goya

                       Group 2 presents

Required Reading:

·  Eisenman, Chapter 3

Suggested Reading:

·  Janis Tomlinson, Goya in the Twilight of the Enlightenment pp. 60-70; 115-127; 128-149.

Additional Readings and Reproductions:

·  Janis Tomlinson, Francisco Goya y Lucientes, London, 1994.

Week 4:            9/25 T –American Art 1770-1865

                         POST 1 Due - Group 3 presents

Required Reading:

·  Eisenman, Chapters 6, 8 & 9.

Additional Reading:

·  Barbara Novak, American Painting in the Nineteenth Century: Realism, Idealism and the American Experience

·  Barbara Novak, Nature and Culture: American Landscape Painting, 1825-75

                        9/27 Th – Discussion session.

Week 5:     10/2 T – Naturalism and Realism  

Group 4 presents

Required Reading:

·  Eisenman, Chapters 10 & 13

·  Hunter, Jacobus & Wheeler, pp. 13-15

Suggested Reading:

·  Jean François Millet, “Letters,” in Holt, pp. 354-357

Additional Readings and Reproductions:

·  Linda Nochlin, Realism

·  Annette Bourrut Lacouture, Jules Breton: Painter of Peasant Life 

                        10/4 Th – Realism and Allegory in the Paintings of Gustave Courbet

                             Group 5 presents

Required Reading:

·  Eisenman, Chapter 11

Suggested Reading:

·  Gustave Courbet, “Exhibition and Sale of Forty Pictures and Four Drawings of the Work of Gustave Courbet,” 1885, in Holt, p. 348

·  Gustave Courbet, “Letter to Jules Husson,” 1855, in Holt, pp. 348-350

·  Gustave Courbet, “Letter to a Group of Students,” 1861, in Holt, pp. 351-353

Additional Readings and Reproductions:

·  Michael Fried, Courbet’s Realism

·  Linda Nochlin, Realism

·  Petra Chu, The Most Arrogant Man in France: Gustave Courbet and the Nineteenth-Century Media Culture

Week 6:     10/9 T – **SYLLABUS CHANGE**** 

                             Group 6 presents

No Required Reading:

Suggested Reading:

·  Eisenman, Chapter 15

·  Hunter, Jacobus & Wheeler, pp. 15-17

·  Édouard Manet, “Reasons for Holding a Private Exhibition,” 1867, in Holt, pp. 368-369

                        10/11 Th – Impressionism and Beyond

                             Group 7 presents

Required Reading:

·  Hunter, Jacobus & Wheeler, pp. 17-22

Suggested Reading:

·  Édouard Manet, “Reasons for Holding a Private Exhibition,” and Émile Zola, “Mon Salon,” in Holt

Additional Readings and Reproductions:

·  Clement Greenberg,  "The Later Monet," Art and Culture: Critical Essays

·  John House, Monet, Nature into Art. New Haven, 1986

·  T. J. Clark, The Painting of Modern Life: Paris in the Art of Manet and His Followers

·  Albert Boime, Art and the French Commune: Imagining Paris after War and Revolution

·  James Rubin, Impressionism and the Modern Landscape: Productivity, Technology, and Urbanization from Manet to Van Gogh

                       

Week 7:            10/16 T – Post-Impressionism

                             Post 2 Due

Required Reading:

·  Eisenman, Chapters 17-19; 21

·  Hunter, Jacobus & Wheeler, Chapter 2; pp. 34-47

Suggested Reading:

·  George Seurat, “Excerpt from a Letter…,” in Holt, pp. 470-471

·  Vincent Van Gogh, “Letters,” in Chipp pp. 29-47

·  Paul Gauguin, writings on his paintings and on Primitivism, in Chipp, pp.  67-86

·  Paul Cézanne, “Excerpts from Letters,” in Chipp, pp. 16-24

Additional Readings and Reproductions:

·  Robert Herbert, Seurat: Drawings and Paintings

                        10/18 Th - Post-Impressionism (con’t)

                                    Group 8 presents

Week 8:     10/23 T -  Symbolism and Expressionism

                              Group 9 presents

 Required Reading:

·  Eisenman, Chapter 20

·  Hunter, Jacobus & Wheeler, pp. 47-60; 112-126

Suggested Reading:

·  Emil Nolde, excerpt from Jahre der Kämpfe, in Chipp, pp. 146-151

·  Wassily Kandinsky, “The Effect of Color,” and “On the Problem of Form,” in Chipp pp. 152-170

Additional Readings and Reproductions:

·  Michelle Facos, Symbolist Art in Context

10/25 Th –  Symbolism and Expressionism (con't)

Week 9:      10/30 T - CANCELLED #Sandy

11/1 Th - CANCELLED #Sandy

Week 10:        11/6 T – Review for exam 

                        11/8 Th - EXAM 1 

Week 11:            11/13 T - Cubism

                           

Required Reading:

·  Hunter, Jacobus & Wheeler, Chapter 9 and ch 10

Suggested Reading:

·  Clement Greenberg, “Collage,” 1959, Art and Culture: Critical Essays

·  Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler, excerpt from “The Rise of Cubism,” 1915, in Chipp, pp. 248-259

·  Pablo Picasso, “Statement,” 1923, in Chipp, pp. 263-266

Additional Readings and Reproductions:

·  William Rubin, Picasso and Braque: Pioneering Cubism

·  Leo Steinberg, "The Philosophical Brothel," Art News, Sept. and Oct., 1972

·  Pepe Karmel, Picasso and the Invention of Cubism

·  Elizabeth Cowling,et al., Picasso: Challenging the Past

11/15 Th - Abstraction in the Wake of Cubism: Suprematism, Constructivism +De Stijl

                             

Required Reading:

·  Hunter, Jacobus & Wheeler, Chapter 10

Suggested Reading:

·  Piet Mondrian, “Plastic Art and Pure Plastic Art,” in Chipp

·  Kasimir Malevich, “Suprematism,” in Chipp pp. 341-346

Additional Readings and Reproductions:

·  Matthew Teitelbaum, ed., Montage and Modern Life: 1919-1942

·  Maria Gough, The Artist as Producer: Russian Constructivism in Revolution

·  Timothy O. Benson, ed., Central European Avant-Gardes: Exchange and Transformation, 1910–1930

·  Leah Dickerman, et. al., Aleksandr Rodchenko

 Week 12:     11/20 T –  Dada and the Ready Made

                             

Required Reading:

·  Hunter, Jacobus & Wheeler, Chapter 11

Suggested Reading:

·  Richard Huelsenbeck, “En Avant Dada: a History of Dada,” and in Chipp pp. 377-382

·  Marcel Duchamp, “The Richard Mutt Case,” 1917, in Charles Harrison and Paul Wood, ed., Art in Theory, 1900-1990: An Anthology of Changing Ideas, p. 248

Additional Readings and Reproductions:

·  Marcel Duchamp, “Apropos of ‘Readymades,’” 1966, in Richard Hertz and Norman M. Klein, Twentieth Century Art Theory: Urbanism, Politics and Mass Culture, pp. 334-335

·  Amelia Jones, Irrational Modernism: A Neurasthenic History of New York Dada

·  Irene Gammel,  Baroness Elsa: Gender, Dada, and Everyday Modernity

·  Naomi Sawelson-Gorse, ed., Women in Dada: Essays on Sex, Gender, and Identity

·  Isabel Schulz, ed., Kurt Schwitters: Color and Collage

                       

                        11/22 Th- NO CLASS 

Week 13:         11/27 T- Surrealism

                               

Required Reading:

·  Hunter, Jacobus & Wheeler, Chapter 12

Suggested Reading:

·  André Breton, excerpt from the first “Manifesto of Surrealism,” 1924, in Charles Harrison and Paul Wood, ed., Art in Theory, 1900-1990: An Anthology of Changing Ideas, pp. 432-439

                        11/29 Th- Public and Private Architecture at the Turn of the Century

                              Post 3 Due (on the museum trip)

 Required Reading:

·  Hunter, Jacobus & Wheeler, Chapter 6

·  Eisenman , pp. 331

Suggested Reading:

·  Frank Lloyd Wright, “A Home in a Prairie Town,” in Holt

Additional Readings and Reproductions:

·  Vincent Scully, Frank Lloyd Wright

·  Kenneth Frampton, Modern Architecture

·  Neil Levine, The Architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright

·   

Week 14:     12/4 – The Bauhaus, Le Corbusier, The International Style and Frank Lloyd Wright

                            

Required Reading:

·  Hunter, Jacobus & Wheeler, Chapter 13

Additional Readings and Reproductions:

·  Le Corbusier, Towards a New Architecture

·  Le Corbusier, “Five Points Towards a New Architecture,” 1926, from Programs and Manifestoes on 20th-Century Architecture, ed. Ulrich Conrads, pp. 99-101

                        12/6 – The Rise of New York as an Art Capital

                              Post 4 Due 

Required Reading:

·  Hunter, Jacobus & Wheeler, Chapter 17

Additional Readings and Reproductions:

·  ”Jackson Pollock: Is he the greatest living painter in the United States?,” Life Magazine, August 1949, in Richard Hertz and Norman M. Klein, Twentieth Century Art Theory: Urbanism, Politics and Mass Culture, pp. 351-356

·  Martica Sawin, Surrealism in Exile and the Beginning of the New York School

Week 15:            12/11 T - Review for Exam

                        12/13 Th - READING DAY

EXAM WEEK:            12/20 Th - EXAM 2  11:45am-2:45pm