AH 2143W, Section 10, CRN 26926
Smith 115
Spring 2013
Tuesday-Thursday: 11:10-12:25
European Art of the Early 20th Century [Modern Art of the Early 20th Century]
Professor: Bibiana Obler
Email: [email protected]
Office: Smith A-108
Office Hours: Thurs. 1-3 (or by appt.)
Instructional Assistant: Mollie Berger
Email: [email protected]
Office: Smith 116
Office Hours: Tues. 1-2 (or by appt.)
The late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries witnessed a veritable cavalcade of "isms." Even
an incomplete list is formidable: Impressionism, Post-Impressionism, Neo-Impressionism,
Symbolism, Primitivism, Fauvism, Expressionism, Universalism, Cubism, Futurism,
Suprematism, Neo-Plasticism, Constructivism, Dadaism, Surrealism, Socialist Realism. What was
the fascination of the ism for artists as well as critics, particularly in Europe, and how does the
continued attention to these movements affect the way that art history is imagined? This course
considers both the limitations and advantages of thinking about modernism in terms of its
canonized movements. While a study of isms may tend to exclude artists who do not fit into one, it
encourages attention to the importance of relationships between artists. We will examine the
collaborations of artists within groups as well as the connections between the groups. We will
consider the relation of The Isms of Art, to borrow the title of El Lissitzky and Jean Arp's 1925
book on the subject, to the isms of politics, from Marxism to feminism. We will, finally,
investigate why writers on "modern art" have so often limited their discussion to European and
American art, with little attention to and even downright dismissal of "non-Western" artists. The
course will combine lectures with discussions, and will take advantage of Washington's museums
(and hopefully New York's as well) to study works of art at first hand.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
As a result of completing this course, students will:
1. be able to read and think critically about the theory and history of early twentieth-century
modernism in the visual arts;
2. develop their abilities to articulate these new-found insights in oral and written form;
3. develop research skills and the ability to write at shorter and greater length about modern art
(and by virtue of this practice, about anything);
4. attend to the importance of revision in the writing process and the finer points of style and
grammar.
Assignments & Evaluation:
5% An Easy A!
10% Short Description
15% Exhibition Review
20% Final Exam
20% Participation
• This grade is based on attendance and participation in class discussion.
• You are expected to come to class on time, to read the assignments carefully, and to be
prepared to discuss the texts and works of art.
30% Research Paper
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CLASS POLICIES
• No laptops, cell phones, iPads, etc. etc.
• Papers are due at the beginning of class. Late papers will be marked down a half-grade (B+ to B,
B to B-) for every day they are overdue. Requests for extensions will be given consideration if
they are made at least two days in advance of the due date.
• We grade anonymously; please sign your GWid instead of your name.
Visual Resources:
You can view the course images on MDID (http://mdid.art.gwu.edu/) by logging in with the user
name “artstudent,” password “artstudent.” The slides from each lecture will be available after
class.
Blackboard:
Various important class materials will be accessible through Blackboard, including electronic
reserves, this syllabus, assignments, and additional copies of slide sheets. Make sure your account
is up-to-date; I may occasionally send email announcements via Blackboard.
Course Readings:
Available at the GWU bookstore and on 2-hour reserve at Gelman:
H. H. Arnason and Elizabeth C. Mansfield, The History of Modern Art, vol. 1 (Pearson,
2013) [NB: If you use the previous edition, ignore the way the chapters are organized;
instead pay attention to the page numbers. The editions are very close, but the chapters
have been broken up into shorter chapters in the 2013 edition.]
William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White, The Elements of Style (Penguin, 2007) [NB: The
Kindle edition is 99 cents.]
All other readings will be posted on electronic reserves in Blackboard unless otherwise noted.
Academic Integrity:
I support the GW Code of Academic Integrity. It states: “Academic dishonesty is defined as
cheating of any kind, including misrepresenting one's own work, taking credit for the work of
others without crediting them and without appropriate authorization, and the fabrication of
information.” For the remainder of the code, see: http://www.gwu.edu/~ntegrity/code.html
Support for Students Outside the Classroom
DISABILITY SUPPORT SERVICES (DSS)
Any student who may need an accommodation based on the potential impact of a disability should
contact the Disability Support Services office at 202-994-8250 in the Marvin Center, Suite 242, to
establish eligibility and to coordinate reasonable accommodations. For additional information
please refer to: http://gwired.gwu.edu/dss/
UNIVERSITY COUNSELING CENTER (UCC)
The University Counseling Center (UCC) assists students in addressing personal, social, career,
and study problems. Services for students include:
- academic support and Peer Tutoring Services:
http://gwired.gwu.edu/counsel/AcademicSupport/PeerTutoringService/
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-
crisis consultations at 202-994-5300 (24/7)
confidential counseling services (individual and small group)
Security
In the case of an emergency, if at all possible, the class should shelter in place. If the building that
the class is in is affected, follow the evacuation procedures for the building. After evacuation, seek
shelter at a predetermined rendezvous location.
SCHEDULE OF CLASSES
Week 1: Setting the Scene
January 15: Introduction
January 17: What is Modernism?
• Arnason/Mansfield, chapters 1-2, pp. 1-41
• Strunk/White, "Foreword," "Introduction," and chapter 1, "Elementary Rules of Usage"
Week 2: Post-Impressionism
January 22: Sight and Touch
SHORT DESCRIPTION DUE
January 24: Symbolism & Primitivism
• Arnason/Mansfield, ch. 3, pp. 42-69
• Roger Fry, “Post-Impressionism” (1911) in Symbolist Art Theories: A Critical Anthology, ed.
Henri Dorra (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1994), 286-93
• G.-Albert Aurier, “Symbolism in Painting: Paul Gauguin” (1891) in Symbolist Art Theories: A
Critical Anthology, ed. Henri Dorra (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1994), 192-203
• Abigail Solomon-Godeau, “Going Native,” Art in America 77, no. 7 (July 1989): 119-129
*** Jan. 24, 6:30 pm, Lecture at the Phillips Collection / Center for the Study of Modern Art ***
--André Dombrowski (U. Penn) on his new book, Cézanne, Murder, and Modern Life-Week 3: Expressionism I: France
January 29: Fauvism (& Brancusi)
***January 30: VASC Lecture, 6:15 pm, Smith 114***
--Al Acres (Georgetown), "Styles of Meaning: Jan Gossart’s Adoration of the Kings"-January 31: The Decorative
• Arnason/Mansfield, chs. 4-5, pp. 70-110
• Alastair Wright, "Introduction: Between Modernism and Tradition") and ch. 4, "Negative
Dialectics," of Matisse and the Subject of Modernism (Princeton: Princeton University Press,
2004), 7-14; 131-60; 228; 251-58
• Henri Matisse, “Notes of a Painter” (1908), in Art in Theory 1900-2000: An Anthology of
Changing Ideas, ed. Charles Harrison and Paul Wood (Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2002), 69-75
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Week 4: Expressionism II: Germany
February 5: Die Brücke and the Blue Rider
February 7: Abstraction, Spirituality, & Gender
• Arnason/Mansfield, ch. 6, pp. 111-35
• Wassily Kandinsky, from On the Spiritual in Art (1911), in Post-Impressionism to World War II,
ed. Debbie Lewer (Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2006), 93-127
• Shulamith Behr, "Veiling Venus: Gender and Painterly Abstraction in Early German
Modernism," in Manifestations of Venus: Art and Sexuality, ed. Caroline Arscott and Katie Scott
(Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2000), 126-41
Week 5: Expressionism III: Japan
February 12: Universalism
• Alicia Volk, "Introduction: Painting 'X'" and ch. 5, "Unified Rhythm: Toward a Universal
Painting," in In Pursuit of Universalism: Yorozu Tetsugoro and Japanese Modern Art (Berkeley:
University of California Press, 2010), 1-12, 153-205, 221-25, 265-79
• Strunk/White, ch. 2, "Elementary Principles of Composition"
February 14: Research Workshop
RESEARCH PAPER PROPOSAL AND WORKING BIBLIOGRAPHY DUE
Week 6: Cubism I
February 19: Origins & "Analytic Cubism"
***February 20, VASC Lecture, 6:15 pm, Smith 114***
--Nina Dubin (Univ. of Illinois, Chicago), "Love, Trust, Risk: Painting the 'Papered Century'"-February 21: Materialism
• Arnason/Mansfield, ch. 7 pp. 136-68
• T.J. Clark, "Cubism and Collectivity," ch. 4 in Farewell to an Idea, pp. 168-223, 423-29
Week 7: Cubism II
February 26: "Synthetic Cubism" & Beyond
February 28: Cubism in India
• Partha Mitter, The Triumph of Modernism: India's Artists and the Avant-Garde, 1922-1947
(London: Reaktion Books, 2007), pp. 7-27, 228-32
• Strunk/White, chs. 3-5, "A Few Matters of Form," "Words and Expressions Commonly
Misused," and "An Approach to Style"
***February 28: 6:00 pm, Phillips Collection / Center for the Study of Modern Art***
--Tehching Hsieh (in conversation with Anne Goodyear)-Week 8: Futurism
March 5: Futurism--An Overview
FIRST DRAFT OF RESEARCH PAPER DUE
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March 7: Photography, Craft, and Abstraction
• Arnason/Mansfield, ch. 9, pp. 186-98
Note: Only read the first half of chapter 9! Stop when you get to Russia!
• Christine Poggi, ch. 4, "Photogenic Abstraction: Giacomo Balla's Iridescent Interpenetrations,"
in Inventing Futurism: The Art and Politics of Artificial Optimism (Princeton: Princeton
University Press, 2009), pp. 109-49, 300-15
***March 7: VASC Lecture, 6:15 pm, Smith 114***
--Raqs media collective-SPRING BREAK
Week 9: Suprematism and Constructivism
March 19: A Revolutionary Avant-Garde
7 pm, March 20: Smith Hall of Art 114
***FILM SCREENING: Dziga Vertov, Man with a Movie Camera***
March 21: From New Painterly Realism to Soviet Film
• Arnason/Mansfield, ch. 9, pp. 198-212
• Kasimir Malevich, "From Cubism and Futurism to Suprematism: The New Painterly Realism"
(1915), in Post-Impressionism to World War II, ed. Debbie Lewer (Malden, MA: Blackwell,
2006), 130-45
• Alexander Rodchenko, "Slogans" and "Organizational Programme" of the Workshop for the
Study of Painting in State Art Colleges, in Art in Theory 1900-2000: An Anthology of Changing
Ideas, ed. Charles Harrison and Paul Wood (Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2002), 339-41
• Alexander Rodchenko and Varvara Stepanaova, "Programme of the First Working Group of
Constructivists," in Art in Theory 1900-2000: An Anthology of Changing Ideas, ed. Charles
Harrison and Paul Wood (Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2002), 341-43
• Alexei Gan, Constructivism (excerpt), in Art in Theory 1900-2000: An Anthology of Changing
Ideas, ed. Charles Harrison and Paul Wood (Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2002), 343-44
• Kristin Romberg, " Labor Demonstrations: Aleksei Gan’s Island of the Young Pioneers, Dziga
Vertov’s Kino-Eye, and the Rationalization of Artistic Labor," under review, October [circulated
in class; for your eyes only!]
***March 21: 6:00 pm, Phillips Collection / Center for the Study of Modern Art***
--Jessica Stockholder (in conversation with Klaus Ottmann)-Week 10: Dada and New Objectivity
March 26: Art and Anti-Art
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March 28: Nonsense, Rationality, Originality
• Arnason/Mansfield, ch. 10, pp. 213-41
• Hugo Ball, “Dada Manifesto” (1916), in Post-Impressionism to World War II, ed. Debbie Lewer
(Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2006), 33-34
• Tristan Tzara, "Dada Manifesto 1918," in The Dada Painters and Poets, Robert Motherwell, ed.
(Cambridge: Belknap-Harvard UP, 1981), 76-82
• George Grosz, “My New Pictures” (1920), in Art in Theory 1900-2000: An Anthology of
Changing Ideas, ed. Charles Harrison and Paul Wood (Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2002), 272-74
• Ikem Stanley Okoye, "Unmapped Trajectories: Early Sculpture and Architecture of a 'Nigerian'
Modernity," in Exiles, Diasporas & Strangers, ed. Kobena Mercer (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press,
2008, pp. 28-44
Week 11: Returns to Order
April 2: Mondrian and De Stijl
FINAL RESEARCH PAPER DUE
April 4: Bauhaus and Art Pedagogy
• Arnason/Mansfield, chs. 11-13, pp. 242-96
• Piet Mondrian, "Neo-Plasticism: The General Principle of Plastic Equivalence" (1920), in PostImpressionism to World War II, ed. Debbie Lewer (Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2006), 146-53
• Johannes Itten, "Analyses of the Old Masters," in Art in Theory 1900-2000: An Anthology of
Changing Ideas, ed. Charles Harrison and Paul Wood (Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2002), pp. 304-6
• Walter Gropius, "The Theory and Organization of the Bauhaus," in Art in Theory 1900-2000: An
Anthology of Changing Ideas, ed. Charles Harrison and Paul Wood (Malden, MA: Blackwell,
2002), pp. 309-14
Week 12: Surrealism
April 9: The Psychic and Social Politics of Surrealism
April 11: Breton, Photography, Surrealism
• Arnason/Mansfield, ch. 14, pp. 297-337
• André Breton, “First Manifesto of Surrealism” (1924) (excerpted), in Post-Impressionism to
World War II, ed. Debbie Lewer (Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2006), 36-49
• Rosalind Krauss, "Photography in the Service of Surrealism," in L'Amour fou: Photography &
Surrealism, Rosalind Krauss and Jane Livingston (Washington, DC: Corcoran Gallery of Art,
1985), pp. 12-54
***April 11: 6:00 pm, Phillips Collection / Center for the Study of Modern Art***
--Daniel Bozhkov (in conversation with James Sham)-Week 13: World Powers, World Conflicts
April 16: Realism Revisited: Paris circa 1937 [issue of exhibitions]
April 18: PEER EDITING--EXHIBITION REVIEW
***April 18: 6:00 pm, Phillips Collection / Center for the Study of Modern Art***
--Wangechi Mutu (in conversation with Klaus Ottmann)-6
Week 14: Abstract No More
April 23: Socialist Realisms
• Leah Dickerman, "Leftist Circuits," in Diego Rivera: Murals for the Museum of Modern Art
(NY: MOMA, 2011), 11-47
• André Breton, Diego Rivera, and Leon Trotsky, "Towards a Free Revolutionary Art," Partisan
Review IV (Fall 1938): 49-53
April 25: Conclusion
EXHIBITION REVIEW DUE
***April 25: 6:30 pm, The Phillips Collection***
--Valerie Hellstein, GW-Phillips Postdoctoral Fellow, "Painting the Spiritual"-(lecture in conjunction with the exhibition "Angels and Demons: Pollock, Ossorio, Dubuffet"-FINAL EXAM: tentatively scheduled for May 7, 10:20-12:20 pm, Smith 115
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