Here is the class syllabus: Art 55, Modern Art Writing Intensive Professor Blanchard Fall, 2013 MODERN ART “The world has changed less since the time of Jesus Christ than it has in the last 30 years” –Charles Peguy, 1913 The Modern Era is our era. It is not very old, by the standards of world history. It’s about 200 years old (the fully formed Classical era of Greece and Rome lasted about 800 years). That short period of time saw the biggest transformations in daily human life since the invention of agriculture 10,000 years ago. Science and technology harnessed the forces of nature to productivity and fundamentally changed our relationship to nature and to our history. They changed the way we think about each other and the way we think about ourselves. Modern history is a series of experiences that no one ever had before. No one ever saw the world from a speeding train before, or from a speeding car, a speeding airplane, or a satellite before. No one ever experienced instant international communication before. No one ever experienced global war or global politics before the modern era. At first, there was no way to describe those experiences or to articulate what they meant. Ancient traditions, institutions, and states fell like dominoes throughout this period, unable to adapt to new realities and experiences. New ideas, institutions, and states rose and fell behind them. And now, Post Modernity emphasizes the participation of all types and classes of humanity in creating history and culture for the first time ever. These new experiences created great expectations, as well as terrible ordeals, for everyone. Modern art is part of the effort to make sense of the tremendous changes modernity brought to human life. Some artists tried to imagine and build the future while others wanted to retreat into a world of private imagination. Some artists wanted to organize and rationalize human life, and others wanted to liberate it from all rational constraints. Many artists wanted to reinvent art entirely, to begin anew. In this course, we will look at how people came to terms with the modern world through art, and how art helped to shape that world. ---The textbook for this class is Modern Art by Sam Hunter, John Jacobus, and Daniel Wheeler. The 19th Century Realism and Impressionism -- chapter 1 in the textbook Post-Impressionism -- chapters 2 & 3 Rodin can be found in chapter 4 Beginnings of Modern Architecture and Design -- chapter 6 The 20th Century Matisse and Expressionism -- chapters 7&8 Picasso and Cubism -- chapter 9 Futurism – chapter 10 The Blue Rider – chapter 8 Art and The First World War -- chapter 8 Dada and Surrealism -- chapters 11 & 12 Social Realism Between the Wars -- chapter 16 Architecture and Design Between the Wars -- chapters 13 & 15 World War II and After -- chapter 18 Abstract Expressionism -- chapter 17 Color Field Painting (“Post Painterly Abstraction”) -- chapter 19 Pop Art -- chapter 19 Minimalism -- chapter 19 Art and the 1960s -- chapter 19 Conceptual Art -- chapter 22 Post Modern Art in the 1980s and 1990s -- chapter 23 Toward a New Millennium -- chapter 24 I can’t guarantee that we’ll get through all of this, but we will cover as much of it as we can. What we do cover will only scratch the surface of an era rich with remarkable, inventive, and frequently conflicting art. Course Requirements --There will be a Midterm exam and a Final exam. Both exams will consist of 10 images to Identify and one essay question, a compare/ contrast question. The Final Exam will NOT be comprehensive. --There will be a quiz every 2 weeks consisting of 5 images to identify. I will ask 3 questions per image, usually the title of the work, the name of the artist, and one more question. I will not ask you for dates. --You will be required to pick an artist from a list of very controversial recent artists. You will be required to do a 5 page paper on that artist. More detailed instructions will be posted separately. --There will be a museum paper assignment that will require you to visit the Museum of Modern Art, and to choose a work of art to copy and to write about. More detailed instructions will be posted. Later on in the semester, there will be another assignment that will require you to visit and to write about a major building in New York. The Midterm Exam = 20% of your grade The Final Exam = 20% The quizzes together = 20% The museum and architecture papers together = 20% The controversial artist paper = 20% I count attendance and participation as part of your grade (they could make the difference between a B- and a B) Midterm Exam + quizzes + museum and architecture papers + controversial artist paper + Final Exam = Final Grade NOTE: Although I do not expect you to know the date of every work of art, there are a few dates that I will expect you to know: 1863 – The Salon des Refuses where Manet made his debut 1874 – The first Impressionist Exhibition 1907 – The year Picasso painted Les Demoiselles d’Avignon 1910 – Kandinsky paints the “first” abstract painting August 1914 – World War 1 begins November 1918 – World War 1 ends September 1939 – World War 2 begins 1945 – World War 2 ends; the first nuclear explosion; Hiroshima and Nagasaki destroyed by nuclear bombs; the United Nations founded 1989 – The Cold War between the USA and the Soviet Union ends. The blogsite has a detailed chronology of events throughout the period that we cover over on the side bar, “Red Letter Dates in Modern History.” Grade Criteria An A : A work is exceptional. It is above and beyond what is required and expected. All the requirements are fulfilled and then some. A work shows insight, initiative, and an interest in exploring and questioning the material presented in the course. A B : A B is for work that is completed and meets all the requirements. The assignments are well done and well presented. Work is handed in on time. Attendance and class participation are regular and reliable. A C & D: C and D work meets the bare minimum requirements for the course. Attendance and class participation are barely adequate. Assignments meet only the most basic requirements. Failure: Failure is for not handing in required assignments, for cutting corners, for cheating, for trying to pass off a sloppy high school book report as a college level paper. Failure is for staying home and watching the tee vee instead of coming to class. Failure is for spending class time talking on a cell phone or playing games. Failure is for using this class time to catch up on your sleep. Necessary Computer Stuff My email address is: [email protected], or you can reach me at [email protected] This class has a Facebook page where I will be posting the outline for each class, links to images, and assignments among other things. You can find it here: facebook/pages/Modern-Art-with-Professor-Blanchard/303641613066774 I keep a separate blog site for images and terms that I require you to know. The blog site can be found here: blanchardmodernart.blogspot/ *Note, if you go straight to the blog, you will have to scroll down to find the section you are looking for. The posts are not in strict chronological order. My Policies If you show up and do the work in this class, then you will pass. You may not make an A or a B, but you will pass. If you fail the midterm, then I strongly advise you to drop the class. It will not get any easier. If you must repeat the class, it is better to do so with a withdrawal than with a failing grade. Please be on time to class. I realize that most of you have jobs and family responsibilities, but please make an effort to be on time to class. Try to be no more than 10 minutes late to class. Your spectacular entrance 15 to 20 minutes late will only disrupt class and win you no favor with me or other students. If you miss a quiz or a class assignment because you are late, then that’s just too bad. Cell phones OFF! Aren’t cell phones wonderful? A ringing cell phone tells the world how popular you are. A ringing cell phone in the middle of my class tells everyone trying to listen and participate that you’re rude and selfish. Cell phones should be turned off -- not set on vibrate, OFF. If you talk on the phone in the middle of class, then I will assume that you have something more important to attend to and I will ask you to leave for the day. Also, someone trying to listen to the class might reach out and touch you. Hang up the damn phone! If you must keep in contact with children or other family, please let me know, and I will make an exception. Emergencies. In a world of uncertainties, things do happen. If you miss class, and especially if you miss a deadline or an exam because of an emergency, you must bring me a doctor’s notice, or some other authorized notice. I will not consider a make-up exam or a deadline extension without that notice. Make-ups on quizzes, and extensions on deadlines must be cleared with me IN ADVANCE. Attendance is required. The cops will not bang on your door if you skip class. But if you expect to pass, then you will attend class. We have a lot to cover in this class, and you can’t afford to miss any of it. You are responsible for the day’s material whether you are present or present only in my thoughts. I count attendance as part of your final grade. No Extra Credit. If you didn’t do any of the work through the semester, then don’t expect me to rescue you at the last minute. If you didn’t care enough to do the work, then why should I care? Honesty. Cheaters never prosper…nor should they. I would rather you turn in nothing than hand me something fraudulent. If you cheat, I will fail your assignment and report you to the dean. One last thing… This is an art history class with lectures and slides. The room gets dark and I start droning on about whatever. Some of you will be tempted to nod off and go to sleep. If you decide to sleep in my class, then go ahead. I will only wake you if your snoring and night terrors disrupt the class. I will not wake you for the end of the class. You can explain yourself to Security in the morning. Awake or not, you will be responsible for the material covered that day.
Posted on: Tue, 03 Sep 2013 14:53:18 +0000
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