Sabanci University Fall Semester 2011-2012 Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Instructor: Maryse Posenaer Class hours: Mondays, 10.40-12.30 in FENS L045 Sections: Wednesdays, 13.40-14.30 & 14.40-15.30 Office hours: Wednesdays, 10.00-12.00 or by appointment FASS, Office No 2021- Phone: Ext. 9285 E-mail: posenaer@sabanciuniv.edu E-mail hours: Anytime but NOT on weekends Hum 212: Major Works of Modern Art Syllabus No 2 This course aims to introduce students to one of the crucial periods of Western art; that is, the birth, development and triumph of Modern (modernist) Art from the 1860 s to the 1950/60 s. The primary purpose of this course however is not to stress the chronological development of Modern Art by -isms" but rather to focus on and pursue specific art-related and cultural issues that pertain to a few major works. Each lecture will focus on one key work of painting or sculpture by artists such as Manet, Monet/ Renoir, Rodin, Munch/ Van Gogh, Cezanne, Gauguin, Klimt, Duchamp, Tatlin, Picasso, Matisse, Brancusi, Magritte/ Dali, Pollock and/ or Warhol. Those works will be discussed along with comparative material to explore those specific issues that are selected for each work and to illustrate earlier and later related developments. Those selected works will be presented chronologically, but the lectures themselves will be kept fairly independent and presented as a series of visits to a museum without walls. Ultimately, this course aims to help students understand modern art while developing a critical understanding of some of its many issues and aspects. Please note: Exam times MĐDTERM NO 1 on WEDNESDAY November 2nd at 19.40 Room to be MĐDTERM NO 2 on WEDNESDAY December 14th at 19.40 Room to be Tentative Schedule: Week 1 Monday September 26th Introduction: Major works? Modern art? Recitation: Traditional art vs Modern art - some basic ideas & terms. 1
Week 2 Monday October 3 (Add drop) Edouard Manet (1832-1883). Olympia, 1863. Salon of 1865. Oil/ canvas, 130 x 190 cm. Orsay Museum, Paris. Required reading: E. Manet: Olympia 1863 from M. Bohm-Duchen. The Private Life of a Masterpiece (Berkeley & LA: 2001) Recitation: Manet s Olympia and the representation of women Week 3 Monday October 10 Claude Monet (1840-1926). Interior View of the Gare Saint Lazare, The Auteuil Line, 1877. Oil/ canvas, 75 x 104 cm. Orsay Museum, Paris. Required reading: Monet at the Gare Saint Lazare from Juliet Wilson-Bareau. Manet, Monet and the Gare Saint Lazare (NGA Washington DC and Yale University Press, 1998) Recitation: The Impressionists and the Hausmannization of Paris Week 4 Monday October 17 Auguste Rodin (1840-1917). The Thinker, 1881. Bronze, 71 x 40 x 58 cm. Rodin Museum, Paris. Required reading: (MAY BE CHANGED) How Rodin Worked on the Sculpture from A.E. Elsen. The Gates of Hell by Auguste Rodin (Stanford University Press, Stanford, CA: 1985) Recitation: Rodin s novel ways of making and conceiving sculpture Week 5 Monday October 24 Paul Cézanne (1839-1906). Vessels, Basket and Fruit (The Kitchen Table), 1888-90. Oil/ canvas, 81 x 65 cm. Orsay Museum, Paris. Required reading: I Would Like to Astonish Paris With an Apple from H. Duchting. Cézanne (Köln: 2003) Recitation: Cézanne s use of aerial and linear perspective Week 6 Monday October 31 Edward Munch (1863-1944). The Scream, 1893. Oil, pastel, and casein on cardboard; 91 x 73.5 cm. National Gallery, Oslo. Required reading: Edward Munch The Scream from M. Bohm-Duchen. The Private Life of a Masterpiece (Berkeley/LA: 2001) Recitation: Munch s Felt Reality. MĐDTERM NO 1 on WEDNESDAY November 2nd at 19.40 Room to be Week 7 Monday November 7 No lecture. Ara tatil Week 8 Monday November 14 2
Pablo Picasso (1881-1973). Les Demoiselles d Avignon, 1907. Oil/ canvas, 243 x 233 cm. Museum of Modern Art, NYC. Required reading: The Demoiselles d Avignon, 1907 from M. Bohm-Duchen The Private Life of a Masterpiece (Berkeley & LA: 2001) Recitation: Picasso s fascination for primitive art Week 9 Monday November 21 Henri Matisse (1869-1954). The Dance, 1909. Oil/ canvas, 258 x 389 cm. Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg. Required reading: Shchukin s Collection from B. W. Kean. French Painters, Russian Collectors (London: 1994) Recitation: Matisse and semi abstract art. Degrees & meanings of abstract art. Week 10 Monday November 28 Constantin Brancusi (1876-1957). Miss Pogany (III), 1931. Marble on limestone, 45 x 18x 29 cm. Philadelphia Museum of Art. Required reading: The Human World & The Animal World from Eric Shanes. Brancusi (New York & London: 1989) Recitation: Meaning of Brancusi s use of serial works: How and why? Week 11 Monday December 5 Marcel Duchamp (1887-1968). Fountain, 1917/1964. Readymade: porcelain urinal, 23x 18 cm. Private Collection. Required reading: Breaking Free and Major Accomplishments from Janis Mink. Marcel Duchamp. Art as Anti-Art (Köln: 2000) Recitation: Why are Duchamp s readymades revolutionary? Week 12 Monday December 12 Vladimir Tatlin (1885-1953). Model for the Monument to the Third International, 1919-20. Mixed materials. Model in Museum of Modern Art, Stockholm. Required reading: Revolutionary Experience: From the Studio into the Street from Christiana Lodder. Russian Constructivism (New Haven & London: 1983) Recitation: Tatlin s Monument and Russian politics MĐDTERM NO 2 on WEDNESDAY December 14th at 19.40 Room to be Week 13 Monday December 19 René Magritte (1898-1967). The Human Condition I, 1933. Oil/ canvas, 100 x 81 cm. Private collection, France. Required reading: The Human Condition from Suzi Gabik. Magritte (Thames & Hudson, London: 1985) Recitation: Magritte s ways of representing visual reality. Week 14 Monday December 26 Jackson Pollock (1912-1956). Autumn Rhythm : Number 30, 1950. Dated: 1950. Oil/ canvas, 266 x 525 cm. Metropolitan Museum of art, NYC. 3
Conclusion and exam questions. Required reading: Autumn Rhythm : Number 30, 1950. 1950 from M. Bohm- Duchen The Private Life of a Masterpiece (Berkeley & LA: 2001) Recitation: Pollock s work method. A painting made as a performance Week 15 Monday January 2 Conclusion (Last week of classes) II Course work or What students are expected to do for this class.. Attendance Students are strongly encouraged to attend the lectures and the recitations and to take notes as well. Why? Because all lectures are given as visual presentations but some of the works shown in class or recitations are not shown in the readings. So taking notes and looking at the works is essential for this course. Looking assignments All the digital images of the works shown in class (in lectures and recitations) are posted every week on SuCourse. Make sure you look at them carefully and every week. For the identification questions at the exams, you should be able to identify the important works that are shown in lectures and recitations, and give an approximate date. You are not expected to memorize all the titles and exact dates of the works shown in class. You are expected to know the name of the artists and to give an approximate date which you should justify. In other words, which you should explain (We will discuss that date-related matter in class and section). For the single known or unknown work and for the comparison-type essay questions at the exams, you should understand--and be ready to explain--key ideas and facts concerning aspects of style, subject matter, techniques used, sources used, criticisms addressed at the works, aims of the artists etc. for all the works seen in lectures and recitations. Use lecture and section notes as well as notes from readings to answer those questions. Readings There is a reader which includes a variety of articles that concern the major works. You should read those articles every week, before the lectures and sections. The reader will be available at Canon. The visuals for those articles will also be posted on SuCourse. Please note that there will be reading questions at the exams. Examinations and grades 4
Please note that plagiarism and cheating at the exams will not be tolerated and may lead to disciplinary actions. Two Midterms= 50% There will be TWO midterms that are closed books Type of questions: Identification of important works (name of artist and approximate date); Short essay questions based on the discussion of a single known or unknown work as well as comparisons of known and/or unknown works (open or closed comparisons). Short reading questions. Final: 40% Type of questions: Similar to midterm questions. Please note that for the final exam, students are responsible for the material seen during the entire semester. Participation: 10% (attendance to and participation in recitations) Students are expected to attend the recitations/ discussion sections they were registered for or attend another section given by the same teaching assistant. Attendance and participation in sections will count towards the final class grade (10%). They are also expected to attend lectures where pop attendance will be taken. Make-ups will be given only to students with a valid medical certificate given by or approved by SU Medical Center and/ or major personal reason, or exam conflicts (meaning two exams given at the same time not the same day!!!!). The format of all make-up exams will be the same format as regular exams but midterm make-ups may be oral and given during the last week of classes. Makeups for the final exam will certainly be oral and given after the final, at a time TBA. Students who need a makeup have to inform me by email before the regular midterm or final. Thanks for your understanding. ************************* 5