Annotation
*Students must consult with Dr Armand before attempting to register in this seminar. Only advanced MA students are elligible.
OBJECTIVES
This course offers a selected survey of developments in British and American Art from the beginning of the 20th century until the present. The focus will be on early avant-garde movements, such as Vorticism in Britain and Dada in the USA, following the European influences of Cubism, Futurism and Dada. Artists to be examined will include: Wyndham Lewis, Jacob Epstein, Man Ray, Marcel Duchamp, Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera, Wilfredo Lam, Matta, Richard Hamilton, Francis Bacon, John Cage, Cy Twombly, Fluxus, the Chapman Brothers, Stelarc, et al. Special attention will also be given to the theoretical writings and art criticism of Frank O?Hara, John Ashbery, Robert Hughes, Lawrence Alloway, Clement Greenberg, John Cage, Barnett Newman, among others. Texts in focus will be Hal Foster, The Return of the Real: The Avant-Garde at the End of the Century, Rosalind Krauss and Yves-Alain Bois, Formless: A User?s Guide and Rober Hughes, The Shock of the New. Students should also consult in advance the numerous books on twentieth century art located in the Klementinum and Municipal libraries, and in the UMPRUM library, including: Art Today, ed. Edward Lucie-Smith; Contemporary Art (ZKM), Horst Bredekamp & Ursula Frohne; Erfindung der Menschen, ed. Richard von Dulman; and Scenes of the World to Come, Jean-Louis Cohen. Students are also encouraged to make use of appropriate internet sources.
ASSESSMENT 2 short position papers, 1,500-2000 wds. 1 to focus on the work of an art critic discussed in the course; 1 to focus on the work of a chosen artist or artists. Each student will be required to give 1 in-class presentation. Full attendance is required.