MODERN WESTERN ART WORLD (Theory)

Paper Code: 
VHA 422
Credits: 
5
Contact Hours: 
75.00
Max. Marks: 
100.00
Objective: 

COURSE OBJECTIVES:

The course will enable the students to-

  1. Analyze and evaluate the art works of Western Modern artists.
  2. Study timeline to understand the historical development of Modern Western art world.
  3. Understand a range of new artistic techniques and mediums explored by the modern western artists.
  4. Develop skills to write critique on various art forms.

COURSE OUTCOMES:

Course

 

    Course Outcomes

Learning and teaching strategies

Assessment Strategies

Course Code

Course Title

VHA

422

Modern Western Art World (Theory)

The students will-

CO93: Trace the evolution of modern western art periods to understand how history influences art.

CO94. Consider major monuments, artists, methods and theories to assess the

qualities of work of art in their historical and cultural settings.

CO95:  Demonstrate skills to read art works critically and apply them in reading artworks of their contemporaries.

CO96:  Infer the hold on the cultural and contextual aspect of Modern Western Art to further estimate the social political scenarios.

CO97:  Argue on how Modern Western art changes according to social political changes and the patrons responsible for art so as to build and hold conversations at museums, art galleries and art meetings.

CO98:  Effectively apply knowledge of Modern Western Art in critical writings.

Approach in teaching:

Interactive Lectures, Discussion, Tutorials, Reading assignments, Demonstration of writing and visualizing.

 

Learning activities for the students:

Self-learning assignments, Effective questions, presentation, Giving writing tasks.

 

Class test, Semester end examinations, Quiz, Solving problems in tutorials, Assignments, Presentation, Individual and group projects, regular submission.

COURSE CONTENT:

As time passed, many artists were repulsed by the ornate grandeur of these styles and sought to revert to the earlier, simpler art of the Renaissance, creating Neoclassicism. Neoclassicism was the artistic component of the intellectual movement known as the Enlightenment, which was similarly idealistic. Just as Mannerism rejected Classicism, so did Romanticism reject the ideas of the Enlightenment and the aesthetic of the Neoclassicists. In the early 19th century the face of Europe, however, became radically altered by industrialization. In response to these changes going on in society, the movement of Realism emerged. Realism sought to accurately portray the conditions and hardships of the poor in the hopes of changing society. Out of the naturalist ethic of Realism grew a major artistic movement, Impressionism. The Impressionists pioneered the use of light in painting as they attempted to capture light as seen from the human eye. Following the Impressionists and the Post-Impressionists came Fauvism, often considered the first "modern" genre of art. Just as the Impressionists revolutionized light, so did the fauvists rethink color, painting their canvases in bright, wild hues. After the Fauvists, modern art began to develop in all its forms, ranging from Expressionism, concerned with evoking emotion through objective works of art, to Cubism, the art of transposing a three-dimensional reality onto a flat canvas, to Abstract art.

 

15.00
Unit I: 

Neoclassicism art (mid 18th to the end of the 19th century) isquite distinct movements in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that draw upon Western classical art and culture (usually that of Ancient Greece or Ancient Rome): Jacques Louis David’s Painting of The death of Marat. Benjamin West’s The death of General Wolfe. George Stubbs’s Lion attacking a horse. Sculpture of Thomas Banks’s The death of Germanicus. Architecture of Claude Nicolas Ledoux’s Barriere de Vaillette Paris.

Romanticism art(second half of the 18th century) is a complex artistic, literary, and intellectual movement that originated in the Western Europe, and gained strength in reaction to the Industrial Revolution:  Francisco Goya’s The sleep of reason produces monsters, The third of May and The family of Charles. Theodore Gericault’s the raft of the Medusa and Portrait of The Madman. Jean Auguste Diminisque Ingres’s Odalisque. Delacroix’s The Massacre art Chios. Camille Corot’s Morning: Dance of the Nymphs. Theodore Rousseau’s A meadow bordered by trees. Jean Francois Millet’s The Sower. John Fuseli’s The nightmare. William Blake’s The ancient of Days. John Constable’s Hampstead Heath, The Haywain and Salisbury Cathedral from the Meadows. Turner’s The slave ship and Rain, Steam, Speed. Cotman’s Durham Cathedral. Friedrich’s Abbey in an Oak forest. Thomas Cole’s View of Schroon Mountain. Sculpture of Carpeaux’s The Dance. Bartholdi’s Statue of Liberty.

15.00
Unit II: 

Realism and Impressionism art: In the early 19th century the face of Europe, however, became radically altered by industrialization. Poverty, squalor, and desperation were to be the fate of the new working class created by the "revolution." In response to these changes going on in society, the movement of Realism emerged. Realism sought to accurately portray the conditions and hardships of the poor in the hopes of changing society. Out of the naturalist ethic of Realism grew a major artistic movement.

The Impressionists pioneered the use of light in painting as they attempted to capture light as seen from the human eye: Gustave Coubet’s painting of Studio of a painter. Manet’s The fifer and A bar at the Folies Bergere. Monet’s On the bank of the seine Bennecourt, Water Lilies and Red boats Argenteuil. Pissarro’s The Cote des Boeufs at L’Hermitage near Pontoise. Renoir’s Le Moulin de la Galette. Degas’s Prima Ballerina and The tub. Morisot’s La lecture. Cassatt’s The bath. Rossetti’s Beata Beatrix. Whistler’s The artist’s mother. Rodin’s Sculpture of The Thinker and The Kiss. Architecture of Gustave Eiffel’s The Eiffel tower. Morris’s Decorative art of Green dining room.

 

15.00
Unit III: 

Post Impressionism: As a direct outgrowth of Impressionism came the development of Post-Impressionism: Cezanne’s Painting of A Modern Olympia, Self portrait, Still life with apples in bowl, Montste Victoire seen from Bibemus Quarry. Seurat’s A Sunday afternoon on the island of La Grande Jatte, Chahut, The Couple. Toulouse Lautrec’s At the Moulin Rouge, La Goulue. VanGogh’s The Potato Eaters, Self Portrait, Wheat field    and Cypress trees. Paul Gaugin’s The vision after the sermon, Where do we come from, Offerings of Gratitude. Edward Munch’s The Scream. Gustav Klimt’s The Kiss. Picasso’s The Old Guitarist. Rousseau’s The Dream. Maillol’s Sculpture of Seated Woman. Sullivan’s architecture of Carson Pirie Scott and Company department Chicago.

 

15.00
Unit IV: 

Fauvism (The 20th century): Following the Impressionists and the Post-Impressionists came Fauvism, often considered the first "modern" genre of art. Just as the Impressionists revolutionized light, so did the fauvists rethink color, painting their canvases in bright, wild hues: Henris Matisse’s Painting of The Joy of Life, The Red Studio. Rouault’s Head of Christ and The Old King.

Expressionism: After the Fauvists, modern art began to develop in all its forms, ranging from Expressionism, concerned with evoking emotion through objective works of art. Expressionism had deep historical roots as Fauvism exerted a decisive influence on the Expressionist movement that made it appealing to the Northern mind and lasted far longer in Germany at the same time. For this reason, Expressionism is sometimes applied to German art alone:  Die Brucke- Kirchner’s Self Portrait with Model, Winter Landscape in Moonlight. Heckel’s Woman before a mirror.  Kandinsky’s Sketch I for “Composition VII”, Accented Corners. Franz Marc’s Animal Destinies. Kokoschka’s The bride of the wind. 

 

15.00
Unit V: 

Cubism: Expressionism, concerned with evoking emotion through objective works of art, to Cubism, the art of transposing a three-dimensional reality onto a flat canvas, to Abstract art. These new art forms pushed the limits of traditional notions of "art" and corresponded to the similar rapid changes that were taking place in human society, technology, and thought: Picasso’s Painting of Les Demoiselles d’ Avignon, Portrait of AmbroiseVollar, Still life with chair caning, Three Musicians, Mother and Child, Three Dancers, Guernica. Braque’s Collage of Newspaper, Bottle, Packet of tobacco.

Futurism: The short lived Futurist movement in Italy exemplifies the new style of geometric precision of engineering that made it uniquely attuned to the dynamism of modern life:Boccioni’s Dynamism of a Cyclist.

Dadaism: Giorgio de Chirico’s Mystery and Melancholy of a Street. Marc Chagall’s I and the Village. Duchamp’s The Bride and Nude Descending a staircase no. 2.

Surrealism is often classified as a form of Modern Art. However, the Surrealists themselves have objected to the study of surrealism as an era in art history, claiming that it oversimplifies the complexity of the movement (which they say is not an artistic movement), misrepresents the relationship of surrealism to aesthetics, and falsely characterizes ongoing surrealism as a finished, historically encapsulated era: Marx Ernst’s Painting of La Toilette de la Mariee, Collage of 1 Copper plate 1 Zinc plate 1 Rubber cloth 2 Calipers 1 Drainpipe telescope 1 Piping man. Dali’s The Persistence of Memory. Kahlo’s Self portrait with Thorn Necklace. Miro’s Composition. Klee’s Twittering Machine, Park near Lu.

Abstract Expressionism:  The Painting that prevailed for about 15 years following the end of World War II arose in the direct response to the anxiety brought on by these historical circumstances. Under the influence of Surrealism and existentialist philosophy, Action painters, the first of the Abstract Expressionists, developed a new approach to art: Gottlieb’s Painting of Descent into darkness. Pollock’s Autumn Rhythm: Number 30. Kooning’s Woman II.

Pop Art: Other artists who made a name for themselves in the mid 1950’s rediscovered what the public continued to take for granted despite all efforts to persuade otherwise: Hamilton’s Painting of Just what is it that makes today’s home so different.

References: 

Suggested Text Books/Suggested Reference Books:

  • Herbert Read, A concise history of modern painting, Thames & Hudson, 1967 reprint
  • H.H. Arnason, A History of Modern Art, Thames & Hudson, 2001 Revised reprint
  • David Britt, Modern Art, Thames & Hudson, 1989 reprint
  • Douglas Cooper, The Cubist Epoch, Phaidon& Los Angeles County Museum, 1971
  • John Golding, Cubism — a history and analysis (1907 – 1914), Faber & Faber, 1968 reprint
  • John Elderfield, The “Wild Beasts”: Fauvism and its affinities, MOMA, 1976
  • Pontus Hulton,  Futurism& Futurisms, Thames &Hudson, 1987
  • Renata Negri, Matisse & the Fauves, Lamplight Publishing Inc., 1975
  • Pierre Schneider, Matisse, Thames & Hudson, 1984
  • William S. Rubin, Dada, Surrealism & their heritage, MOMA, 1968
  • GaetonPicon, Surrealism 1919-1939, Skira, 1977
  • Pierre Daix (text), Picasso – the Cubist years 1907-1916, Thames & Hudson, 1979
  • John Elderfield, The cut-outs of Henri Matisse, Thames & Hudson, 1978
  • Norbert Lynton, Klee, Hamlyn, 1975
  • Frank Whitford, Kandinsky, Paul Hamlyn, 1987
  • Piet Mondrian 1872-1944, (Centennial exhibition catalogue), Solomon R.Guggenheim Museum, 1971
  • L.J.F. Wijsen beck, Piet Mondrian, Studio Vista Ltd., 1969
  • Albert E. Elsen, Origins of Modern Sculpture: Pioneers and Premises, Phaidon Press, 1974/78
  • Mary L. Leukoff, Rodin in his time, Thames & Hudson & Los Angeles County Museum, 1994
  • Franco Russoli (intro), Henry Moore: Sculpture, EditionesPoligrafa, 1981
  • Janson's History of Art: The Penelope J.E. Davies, Walter B. Denny Western Tradition.
  • Art: A World History : Elke Linda Buchholz, Susanne Kaeppele

E-Resources including links

Reference Journals

  • JOA - Journal of Arts
  • ShodhKosh: Journal of Visual and Performing Arts
  • Atishay Kalit- A Bilingual Research Journal of Fine Arts, Culture and Humanities
  • Kala: The Journal of Indian Art History Congress

 

 

Academic Year: