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Home , Der Blaue Reiter, Purism, Synthetism

ARH 337K/Spring 2011 Dr. Linda D. Henderson 20th-Century European Art to 1940 Office Hours: Wed. 1-3, DFA 2.122

COURSE OBJECTIVES The goal of this course is for students to gain an understanding of the succession of styles and movements of late 19th and early 20th-century European based on issues of form/style, art theory, and cultural context. Class discussion and reading assignments, including analyses of specific essays, aim to increase a student’s ability to read critically and evaluate texts by artists, art critics, and art historians.

READING ASSIGNMENTS The textbooks for the class are George H. Hamilton, Painting and Sculpture in Europe 1880-1940 (1967; Yale U. Press, 1993); and Herschel Chipp, ed., Theories of Modern Art: A Source Book by Artists and Critics (U. of California Press, 1968/1994). The daily assignments for the class are based on Hamilton and Chipp, with the Hamilton serving as basic background and the Chipp texts providing artists’accounts of their theories and goals for their particular styles. In addition, there is a REQUIRED xeroxed packet of articles for purchase at IT Copy (MLK and Nueces). The packet contains additional early 20th-century texts that round out the Chipp documents plus more recent examples of art historical scholarship updating the Hamilton survey text. These readings are central to the course in general as well as to the class participation grade.

GRADING 90% 3 exams @ 30% each (Note there is a PRACTICE QUIZ on Feb. 1.) 10% class participation A. Examinations There will be three hour examinations during the semester. (Absence from these tests will not be excused unless the student has a written note from a physician. There will be no make-ups except in this instance.) Each hour exam counts as 30% of the course grade. There is a short PRACTICE QUIZ scheduled early in the course to introduce students to my testing methods. These quizzes will be graded, but the grades are not recorded. EVERYONE MUST TAKE THE FIRST TWO HOUR EXAMS. See below (Section D - Optional Paper/Project) for option on the third exam. B. Digital Image Reserve For each exam there will be a Slide List of the works for which students are responsible. These images will be available online through DASE, the University’s digital image service. Go to http://dase.laits.utexas.edu and choose “Public/Shared Sets.” Search Henderson and the three sets for thie class will come up, starting with 20th-Century European Art, part 1. C. Class Participation In addition to your presence and general participation, twice during the semester each student will be assigned (along with ca. 16 other students) to a specific article for discussion--see **** notations on the syllabus. A student in the assigned group will be required to turn in that day an evaluative summary sheet of his or her article and participate actively in the discussion of that text in class. These assignments are graded check-plus, check, check-minus. (GROUPS A, B, AND C will be determined by dividing the class into thirds; if you have a strong preference for a particular article or artist, you may sign up for an alternative article at least one week in advance of the due date.) Under “general participation,” I consider the impression of engagement a student gives by responding to general questions in class—be they on paintings or on artist’s writings from the Chipp text or the packet. (Those are the places to focus your attention in terms of class preparation—the Hamilton is background, but I will not ask question on those readings in class.)

D. Optional Paper/Project A student has the option of writing a 10-12 page research paper, the grade of which can be substituted for his or her grade on either of the two hour exams, after these exams have been taken, or for the third exam. A short list of typical paper topics will be handed out, but students may also propose topics of their own, which relate to their specific interests or areas of expertise. All students must have a conference with me early in the course of the semester to confirm the topic of the paper and receive some research advice. Studio majors may choose to read extensively on a particular artist relevant to their work and then produce a painting, sculpture, etc. in the style of that artist. The goal here is to significantly increase their understanding of some aspect of 20th-century European art. DUE DATE: LAST DAY OF CLASSES (May 5). D. Attendance Although I do not take attendance at class sessions, I do ask that students choose a regular seat at the beginning of the term and record this lon a seating chart. This chart functions mainly to help me get to know who you are. University policy is that three or more unexcused absences can result in lowering of the final grade one or more points. If spot checks of attendance reveal that a student is not coming to class, this policy may be invoked. Religious holidays: Students who must miss a class with an exam or discussion group reports for the observance of a religious holiday should inform their TAs well in advance of the absence, so that alternative arrangements can be made, including attendance at an alternative discussion section.

OFFICE HOURS My office is in the Doty Fine Arts Building (DFA 2.122). I am glad to meet with students during office hours (Wed. 1-3) or at other times by appointment. If for any reason you are having problems with the course, please don’t hesitate to come to see me.

ADDITIONAL UNIVERSITY POLICY NOTES: GRADING: Grading for all students in this course will follow the plus-and-minus system. STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES: The University of Texas provides upon request appropriate academic accommodations for qualified students with disabilities. For more information, contact the Office of the Dean of Students at 471-6259, 471-4641 TTY.

SCHOLASTIC DISHONESTY: You define who you are by your integrity and that cultivation of intergrity as an adult begins with your activity as a college student. Scholastic dishonesty is a serious violation of university policy, and it is harmful to both you and the University. Thus, students who violate University rules on scholastic dishonesty are subject to disciplinary penalties, including the possibility of failure in the course and/or dismissal from the University. The web page of the Dean of Students office has an excellent discussion of what constitutes scholastic dishonesty and how to avoid it: http://deanofstudents.utexas.edu/sjs/scholdis.php.

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GENERAL SCHEDULE FOR THE SEMESTER Use numbers in parentheses to determine reading assignment, listed on the separate READING ASSIGNMENT sheet, which should be read before class that day. XEROX indicates texts in the xeroxed packet at IT Copy. Asterisks **** indicate the days for discussion of artists’ writings in the Chipp anthology or xeroxed packet texts that are assigned to Group A, B, or C, which has primary responsibility for discussion that day.

SECTION I: TRANSFORMING THE NATURE AND PURPOSE OF PAINTING/ARTMAKING

January 18 Introduction 19th-Century Background: (1) Post-Impressionism: Seurat (Neo-Impressionism) (2)

January 20 Post-Impressionism: Seurat (cont.); Cézanne,; Van Gogh (3)

25 Post-Impressionism: Van Gogh (cont. as necessary) Gauguin () (4) Nabis (followers of Gauguin) -- Redon ****Gauguin, Aurier readings in Chipp GROUP A

27 Other Styles at the End of the Century: (5) Precursors of -- Ensor, Munch “” of the Naive Painter ****XEROX II (Antliff and Leighten, pp. 170-77) GROUP B We will return to this text on Feb. 8, when Group B’s summary sheets will be due. Beginnings of

February 1 SHORT PRACTICE QUIZ Fauvism (6)

3 German Expressionism; Expressionism in Vienna (7) XEROX I (Simmel)

8 DISCUSS QUIZZES Early Work of Picasso; Beginnings of Analytical (8, 9) ****XEROX II (Antliff and Leighten--remainder) GROUP B

10 Analytical Cubism of Picasso and Braque (9) **** XEROX III (Henderson) GROUP C XEROX III-A (1-page “Fourth Dimension” text for reference only) Synthetic Cubism (10)

15 Synthetic Cubism (cont.) (10); Other Cubists (11)

17 Italian (12))

22 FIRST TEST

24 English (13) Sculpture: Rodin, Matisse; Brancusi’s Primitivism (14)

March 1 Cubist, Futurist, and Vorticist Sculpture (15) Introduction to : I. , Italy (16)

SECTION II: REENVISIONING THE FUTURE (AND FURTHER TRANSFORMATIONS)

3 II. Abstract Art in : Kandinsky and “” (17) **** XEROX IV (Washton Long) Group A ****Kandinsky in Chipp (pp. 152-60 only) Group A

8 III. Beginnings of Abstract Art in Russia: , Futurism (18) Malevich and (19) ****XEROX V (Douglas) Group B ****Malevich in Chipp (pp. 341-46) Group B

10 III. Abstract Art in Russia: Malevich (cont.): Russian (20) XEROX VI (El Lissitzky)

SPRING BREAK

22 IV. Abstract Art in Holland: Mondrian and (21) ****XEROX VII (Rembert) Group C ****Mondrian and Van Doesburg in Chipp (pp. 321-25) Group C

24 Abstract Art review and looking ahead: meet in the Blanton Museum’s Michener Galleries of 20th Century American Art in two groups to be determined

29 Postwar : , Léger, Picasso (22) The in Germany (23)

31 Bauhaus (cont.) (23) XEROX VIII (Gropius)

April 5 SECOND TEST

REJECTING RATIONALISM AND THE STATUS QUO IN ART AND LIFE: AND SURREALIST SUBVERSIONS

7 Dada in Zurich and Germany (24, 25) XEROX IX (Tzara)

12 The Proto-Dada of (26) XEROX X (Duchamp, “Apropos of ‘Readymades’ XEROX X-A (Selection of Duchamp notes for Large Glass, written 1912-15) XEROX X-B (Henderson on Duchamp; only pp. 113-18, 124-25 required; simply peruse the rest)

14 Dada in New York; Dada in Paris Precursors of (27)

19 Surrealism (28)

21 Surrealism (29)

26 Later Surrealist Painting; Surrealist Photography, Objects/Sculpture, and Exhibitions

28 Later European Sculpture (30) Germany in the 1920s (31)

3 Germany (cont. as necessary) Later Work of Picasso and Matisse (32) DISCUSSION AND REVIEW: What was “”?; Looking ahead in the century

5 THIRD TEST This test is centered on the last section of the course with one essay addressing earlier material. Students also have the option of writing a paper or, for Studio majors, doing a project, instead of taking this last exam. See the description under COURSE REQUIREMENTS.