Course Description
High modernism in the twentieth century. Topics include Dada, Constructivism, Surrealism, the Bauhaus, and other major trends between the two World Wars.
Additional Requirements for Graduate Students:
Graduate students will be expected to produce an extensive
research paper on specific works or issues related to the field
and the methodologies appropriate to the topic under
consideration in the course. This paper will be a detailed,
in-depth consideration of the student's chosen theme requiring
not only a demonstration of advanced research skills (including
the ability to read and use material presented in foreign
languages), but also an articulation of the student's ability to
understand and manipulate the critical apparatus of art history
in connection with European Art between the Great Wars.
Athena Title
EUROPE:1918-1945
Prerequisite
Two ARHI 3000-level courses and permission of major
Semester Course Offered
Not offered on a regular basis.
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
This course traces artistic developments between World Wars I and II, including the "Call to Order," Dada, Russian Constructivism, the Bauhaus experiment, Surrealism, and the imposition of Fascist and Nazi ideologies on art in Italy and Germany. Major figures to be considered include Picasso, Arp, Schwitters, and Miro. Students will be presented with the competing impulses in society and art for order and dissent, and an understanding of how art was used as a tool of totalitarian regimes. Students will be tested three times over the course of the semester and submit a research paper on a common theme determined by the instructor. Exams and the paper will each constitute one quarter of the final grade.
Topical Outline
I. The "Call of Order" in France II. Disorder and Dissent: Dada III. Abstraction and Construction: DeStijl, Russian Constructivism, the Bauhaus IV. Surrealism V. Art under authoritarian regimes VI. Some major figures between the wars: Arp, Kandinsky, Klee, Picasso
Syllabus