ART 408.

001 Spring 2015 1

ART 408.001: 20th Century Art History
Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, 12-12:50, Dunkle 218
Instructor: Travis English
Office Hours: 126A, MWF 11-12; TuTh 2-3; Otherwise, by appointment
E-mail: twenglish@frostburg.edu
Phone: x4941
Course Description: Survey of major developments from post-impressionism to postmodernism and the contemporary in Europe and the United States. This is an illustrated
lecture course examining modern painting, sculpture, print arts, and architecture created
during the twentieth centurywith particular emphasis on art made 1900-1980in
Europe and America. With a particular emphasis on the historical and social dimensions
of Modernist artistic practices, we will examine the changing role of the artist and artistic
self-identity in the modern period, the dialogues and tensions between high art and
mass culture, the development of the historical avant-garde, the successes and failures of
Modernism, the relation between Modernist art and politics, and the critical roles of
gender and race in modern art. These are only a few of the main themes we will address.
A survey of this material encompasses a variety of objectives:
I.

II.
III.

To present to the student a model of the discipline of art history through reading
textbooks and through class lectures and discussions. This includes
learning to analyze works of art in order to understand the particular
contributions they make to our understanding of their respective cultures.
To develop a basic working knowledge of modern art and artists, as well as the
major trends and theories of artistic Modernism.
To build and develop a vocabulary for understanding and discussing ideas in
visual-pictorial form. This not only includes the descriptive, technical,
and conceptual vocabulary particular to the formal analysis of art, but also
necessarily includes the learning of dates, names, and historical concepts.
The study of Modernist art in particular presents the student with not only
difficult visual forms to grapple with, but also sometimes difficult
theoretical writings produced by artists as verbal justification and
explanation of their often-opaque visual works. Keep in mind that as a
course in the history of twentieth century art, the development of a basic
vocabulary depends as much on historical understanding as it does on
visual analysis.

Required Texts: 1. H.H. Arnason and Elizabeth C. Mansfield. History of Modern Art
(7th ed.). Prentice Hall, 2010. ISBN: 0205673678
2. Herschel B. Chipp, ed. Theories of Modern Art: A Source Book by
Artists and Critics. University of California Press, 1984.
ISBN: 0520052560
Textbooks are available at the University Bookstore. Other assigned texts are listed in the
schedule and are available for downloading in the course documents on Blackboard. You
are expected to keep up with the readings as assigned in the week-by-week schedule

ART 408.001 Spring 2015 2

below. I reserve the right to proctor pop quizzes if class participation is below my
expectations.
Exams and Grade Calculations: There will be two midterm exams and one final exam
based upon course lectures and reading assignments. Each exam will cover only the
material in the immediately preceding segment of the course. The midterm exams will
each account for 15% of your final grade, the final exam for 20%. The rest of your grade
will be based on a 4-5 page critical analysis paper (discussed below) worth 15%, a 6-7
page research paper (discussed below) worth 20%, and three open note* quizzes worth
10% in total.
The general pattern of testing on quizzes and exams will be: term and quotation
identifications, slide identifications, attributions (of works with which you have not been
familiarized in class or assigned readings), and two timed essays in which you will
compare and contrast two works of art chosen by me from the lectures. For each exam
you will need to know:
1.
Styles and Movements (ex: Futurism, Surrealism, Abstract Expressionism, Pop).
2.
Significant terms (ex: assemblage, photomontage, papier coll), people (ex: Pablo
Picasso, F.T. Marinetti, Clement Greenberg), stylistic concepts (ex:
naturalism, painterly, abstraction), theoretical ideas as presented in your
readings, and an ability to associate and discuss all of these in relation to
specific works of art.
3.
Chronology: placing the work of art within the correct historical time frame.
4.
Medium and technique.
5.
The meaning, purpose, and historical context of works of art.
*For the open note quizzes, open note means your own notes. Printouts of slide
presentations and slide lists are not allowed. If you are found using them, you will
receive an automatic zero for the quiz. If you have permission to use an electronic device
to take notes in class, be sure to print your notes before the quiz and bring them to me for
usage approval, since you will not have access to your electronic device during a quiz.
Grading Scale: All grades are calculated according to the Universitys scale:
A (90-100%)
B (80-89%)
C (70-79%)
D (60-69%)
F (below 60%)
Makeups: There will be no makeups given for missed quizzes and exams except in the
case of illness or death in the immediate family (for the former, a written note from a
physician is required). All such absences MUST be reported to me via e-mail or through
the Art Department office BEFORE the hour of the exam.
Critical Analysis Assignment: For this assignment, you will be given a prompt asking
you to write a 3-4 pages comparative analysis based on select readings by critics and
theorists of twentieth century art. You will be asked to compare and contrast the works of
three writers chosen from a longer list, so it is important that you make sense of why their
works are being discussed together by putting them in productive dialogue with each
other. This means that while some summary remarks are important to contextualize your

ART 408.001 Spring 2015 3

argument, your main goal is close-reading and critical analysis of the texts. These
assignments require repeated close readings of each text, in order that you may pull out
the most salient and productive points. Each paper will be 3-4 pages in length, doublespaced, with one-inch margins, and typed in twelve-point Times New Roman font. The
paper is due in class (a hard copy) on Friday, March 13th. Any derivation from this will
be cause for penalty.
Final Paper: In the second half of the term, you will write a paper on a topic of your
choosing not covered in class. You may choose from the suggested topics below, or come
up with your own, but all topics must have my advance approval. Be sure to choose a
topic that, while not covered in class, complements our discussions. Decisions should be
made no later than the fifth week of class. A topic and working bibliography with at least
five sources (three books and two scholarly articles are the minimum requirements) will
be due on Friday, March 20th in class (email submissions will not be accepted). In this
paper, you will need to analyze works of art with regard to their meaning and context,
using primary and secondary sources. There are many anthologies of nineteenth century
art theory and criticism that provide a wealth of primary sources. Even if you choose a
topic from the list provided, be sure to have a focused thesis statement around which your
analysis is organized and framed. The paper will be 7-8 pages in length, double-spaced,
with one-inch margins, and typed in twelve-point Times New Roman font. I encourage
you to include images for reference, but as an appendix at the end of your paper. You
may use MLA or Chicago Manual style and citation guidelines, but be sure to be correct
and consistent. The final draft of your paper is due in class (meaning also a hard copy)
on Monday, May, 4th. Any derivation from this will be cause for penalty.
Other Classroom Policies (this list is not exhaustive):

Students are required to come to class prepared for discussion of the weeks
topic. This means that you will have done the reading and have been
thinking about what you had read

Students are expected to arrive on time and to not disrupt class by leaving
early. I expect your undivided attention during the period of the class.

Cell phones, and all other personal electronic devices must be off and put
away by the start of the class and must remain off and put away
throughout the entire class. If you are found using a phone in class,
for texting or otherwise, you will be removed for disruption.

Disrupting class will adversely affect your grade.

All handouts (including the syllabus and slide lists) will be posted on the
Sakai site for students to access. Therefore, it is your responsibility to
procure additional copies if you happen to lose the copy given to you in
class.
Academic Integrity: I expect the highest level of honesty and integrity from each
student. Every quiz, exam, and paper that bears your name, as well as your attendance
and attitude throughout the course, is a reflection of your integrity. Anything less than
the highest level of honesty and integrity will compromise you, the course, and the entire
institution of Frostburg State University, and is unacceptable. Each student must pursue

ART 408.001 Spring 2015 4

his or her academic goals honestly and be personally accountable for all submitted work.
Representing another person's work as your own is always wrong. Any suspected
instance of academic dishonesty will be reported to the Academic Judiciary.
Disruptive Behavior: The University will not tolerate disorderly conduct which
substantially threatens, harms, or interferes with university personnel or orderly
university processes and functions. This includes ringing cell phones. If a phone rings
during a class, the student must either leave the room or hand the phone to the professor
for answering. If a phone rings during a test, the student will receive a grade of 0 (zero)
for that test. A faculty member has the right to require a student to leave the classroom
when his/her behavior disrupts the learning environment of the class. A student found
responsible for disruptive behavior in the classroom may be administratively withdrawn
from the course.
Students with Learning or Physical Disabilities: If you have a learning or physical
disability which may require classroom modifications or accommodations, please meet
with your instructor to discuss this by the second class section. You may choose to
approach the instructor directly after class or to set up an appointment during his/her
office hours. Your discussion of your disability will be most useful for your instructor if
you : 1) define the disability; 2) describe its manifestations; 3) discuss accommodations
from which you have benefited in the past; 4) indicate the accommodations which you
would find useful in this class; and 5) decide with your instructor individual
responsibilities in arranging these modifications.
Note: The Office of Student Services is willing to proctor, read, or mark tests for
students. Please request such assistance in advance, if possible. The coordinator will also
work with you on preparing a description of your disability and needs; other services are
also available. Call x4481 for more information.
Reporting of Child Abuse: Please be aware that according to state law in Maryland,
educators are required to report current and past child abuse and neglect even when the
former victim is now an adult and even when the former alleged abuser is deceased. If
you disclose current or past abuse/neglect in class, in papers, or to me personally, I am
required by law to report it.
Schedule (subject to change):
January 26th-30th: Introduction: The 19th Century Origins of Modern Art WAS: Preface
Look over Chapters 1-3 in Arnason and Chapters 1 and 2 in Chipp
February 2nd -6th: Fauvism, German Expressionism and the Primitive Impulse
Arnason: Ch. 5, Ch. 6
Chipp: 124-86
February 9th-13th: Cubism and the Deconstruction of Pictorial Space
Arnason: Ch. 7
Chipp: 193-206, 216-43, 248-80
February 16th-20th: Post-Cubist Directions: Futurism, Suprematism, Constructivism
Monday: Quiz I

ART 408.001 Spring 2015 5

Arnason: Ch. 9
Chipp: 281-308, 325-45
February 23rd-27th: Destroy the Real with Pithy Objectivity: Dada and the New
Objectivity
Monday: Exam I (covering Fauvism through Constructivism)
Arnason: Ch. 10
Chipp: 366-96; 474-82
March 2nd-6th: Surrealism and the School of Paris
Arnason: Ch. 11, Ch. 14
Chipp, 397-455
March 9th-13th: Constructing Utopia: de Stijl and Bauhaus
Arnason: Ch. 12, Ch. 13
Chipp: 309-16, 321-25, 349-63
Friday: Critical Analysis Paper Due in Class
March 16th-20th: Spring Break, No classes
March 23rd-27th: American Triumphalism and Abstract Expressionism
Arnason: Ch. 15 (starting at 364), Ch. 16
Chipp: 501-19, 532-82
FRIDAY: Paper Topics and Bibliographies due
March 30th-April 3rd: Postwar European Art: Reconsidering the Human
Monday: Quiz II
Arnason: Ch. 17
Chipp: 589-622
April 6th-10th: Pop Goes Art: Art and Mass Culture in the Age of Consumption
Monday: Exam II, covering Dada-Postwar European Art
Arnason: Ch. 18, Ch. 19
Texts on Pop (PDF on Blackboard)
April 13th-18th: Minimalism and Modernisms Theatrical Sublime
Arnason: Ch. 20
Texts on Minimalism and Conceptualism (PDF on Blackboard)
April 20th-24th: Conceptualism: Art in the Service of the Mind
Arnason: Ch. 22
Texts on Conceptual Art (PDF on Blackboard)
April 27th-May 1st: Womens Work and Womens Spaces: the Emergence of Feminist Art
Monday: Quiz III
Arnason: Ch. 22, 575-586
Texts on Feminist Art (PDF on Blackboard)
May 4th-8th: Arts Expanded Field in Postmodernism
Monday: Research Paper Due in Class
Arnason: Ch. 23
Essay on Postmodernism (PDF on Blackboard)
May 11th: Catch-up
FINAL EXAM, as scheduled by the University: 5/18/2015, Monday, 11:15am-

ART 408.001 Spring 2015 6

1:45pm, Dunkle 218
Suggested Paper Topics:
Matisses Sculpture
Primitivism and Politics in German Expressionism
Abstract Art and the Musical Metaphor
Women in German Expressionism (Artists and Subject)
Cubism and Relativity
Picassos Blue Period and the Problem of Biography
Machine Aesthetics in Fernand Leger and Others
Wyndham Lewis and British Vorticism
Art and World War I
Dada and the Invention of Photomontage
Art and the Russian Revolution
New Image Photography
Art in the Harlem Renaissance
Surrealist Photography
Alfred Stieglitz and the Photosecession
American Artists in Europe
The Armory Show of 1913
The Return to Order: Classicism in the 1920s (France, Italy, Germany)
Painting the American Scene: Regionalism between the World Wars
Art in Fascist Italy
Aestheticizing Power: Nazi Art
Socialist Realism in the Soviet Union
The WPA and American Documentary Photography
Abstract Expressionism and Cold War Politics
Women in Abstract Expressionism
Conceptual Art and Institutional Critique
Art and the Black Power Movement
The Death and Rebirth of Painting, 1970s-1980s
Return of the Repressed: German Neo-Expressionism
Art and the AIDS crisis
Feminist Video Art
Global Feminisms in Contemporary Art

ART 408.001 Spring 2015

Helpful Guidelines for Writing (Art History papers and beyond):

1. Underline or italicize all titles of works of art.
2. General terminology for discussing art is work of art, artwork, piece, or
simply work. PLEASE DO NOT use piece of art or piece of work.
3. Understand the differences between the following and use each appropriately:
a. its and its
b. their, there, and theyre
c. affect and effect
d. to, too, and two
4. Do not use contractions in academic writing.
5. Colors opposite each other on the color wheel are complementary colors, not
complimentary colors.
6. 2-D and 3-D should always be spelled out as two-dimensional and threedimensional.
7. Refer to artists by their first and last names or last name only. Unless you are
writing a personal essay about someone with whom you are on familiar and
friendly terms, use their last name.
8. Use the viewer when addressing the person who is to be observing at the work,
including yourself when you are writing about your own observations.
9. Avoid colloquialisms, such as:
a. get/got
b. a lot of
c. have gotten
d. would have
10. Paintings are painted, sculptures sculpted, buildings built or constructed,
and all of these are created. Avoid the term made.
11. NEVER use phrases like most unique. Something is either unique or not. In
other cases, think about whether your word is comparative or not.
12. Spell out numbers less than 101.
13. Be sure to maintain tense. Actions taking place in the past should be written
about in the past tense.
14. Avoid passive voice unless necessary. Picasso painted Les Demoiselles
dAvignon in 1907 is better than Les Demoiselles dAvignon was painted by
Picasso in 1907.
15. Always attempt to be as direct and precise as possible in your choice of language.
16. The English language is among the most diverse and intricate languages in the
world. Use it well and use as much of it as you can! Linguistic variety makes for
more exciting writing, better communication, and livelier reading!

ART 408 SLIDE LIST ONE

Fauvism
Henri Matisse
5.4 Luxe, Calme et Volupte, 1904-05, oil

on canvas
5.7 Portrait of Madame Matisse/ The
Green Line, 1905, oil and

ART 408.001 Spring 2015

tempera on
canvas
5.8 Le Bonheur de Vivre (The Joy of
Life), 1905-06, oil on canvas
5.12 Le Luxe II, 1907-08, casein on
canvas
5.21 Harmony in Red (The Dessert),
1908, oil on canvas
5.22 Dance III, 1909-10, oil on canvas
5.25 Back series, 1909-30, bronze
Andre Derain
5.13 London Bridge, 1906, oil on canvas
Die Brucke
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner
6.3 Street Scene, Dresden, 1908, oil on
canvas
6.4 Seated Girl (Frnzi Ferhmann),
1910, oil on canvas
Emil Nolde
6.6 The Last Supper, 1909, oil on canvas
Erich Heckel
6.8 Two Men at a Table, 1912, oil on
canvas
6.9 Standing Child, 1910, color woodcut
Der Blaue Reiter
Vasily Kandinsky
6.15 Sketch for Composition II, 190910, oil on canvas
6.16 Composition VII, 1913, oil on
canvas

Franz Marc
6.20 The Large Blue Horses, 1911, oil
on canvas
6.21 Stables, 1913-14, oil on canvas
German Expressionist Sculpture
Wilhelm Lehmbruck

6.27 Seated Youth, 1917, plaster

Ernst Barlach
6.29 The Avenger, 1914, bronze
Austrian Expressionism
Egon Schiele
6.30 Schiele Drawing a Nude Before a
Mirror, 1910, pencil on paper
Oskar Kokoschka
6.33 The Tempest, 1911, oil on canvas
Cubism
Pablo Picasso
7.2 La Vie, 1903, oil on canvas
7.4 Family of Saltimbanques, 1905, oil
on canvas
7.7 Les Demoiselles dAvingon, 1907,
oil on canvas
7.12 Three Women, 1907-08, oil on
canvas
7.17 Girl with a Mandolin, 1910, oil on
canvas
7.18 Portrait of Daniel Henry
Kahnweiler, 1910, oil on canvas
7.19 The Accordionist, 1911, oil on
canvas
7.21 Still-life with Chair Caning, 1912,
oil and oilcloth on canvas with
rope
7.23 Guitar, Sheet Music, and
Wineglass, 1912, collage and
drawing
7.27 Maquette for Guitar, 1912,
cardboard, string, and wire
Georges Braque
7.9 Viaduct at LEstaque, 1907, oil on
canvas
7.11 Houses at LEstaque, 1908, oil on
canvas
7.16 Violin and Palette, 1909, oil on
canvas
7.20 The Portuguese, 1911, oil on canvas

ART 408.001 Spring 2015

7.22 Fruit Dish and Glass, 1912, collage
and charcoal drawing

Juan Gris
7.36 Still Life and Townscape (Place
Ravignon), 1915, oil on canvas

Constructivism
El Lissitzky
9.30 Proun 99, 1924-25, paint on wood
9.31 Proun Room, 1923
9.32 The Constructor (Self-Portrait),
1924, gelatin silver print

Robert Delaunay
7.40 Eiffel Tower in Trees, 1910, oil on
canvas
7.42 Simultaneous Contrasts: Sun and
Moon, 1913, oil on canvas

Vladimir Tatlin
9.34 Counter-Relief, 1915, mized media
9.35 Model for the Monument to the
Third International, 1919-20,
wood, iron, glass

Sonia Delaunay
7.43 Blanket, 1911, fabric
Futurism
Giacomo Balla
9.6 Street Light, 1909, oil on canvas
9.7 Dynamics of a Dog on a Leash,
1912, oil on canvas
Gino Severini
9.9 Dynamic Heiroglyph of the Bal
Tabarin, 1912, oil and sequins on
canvas
Carlo Carra
9.12 Patriotic Celebration (Free-Word
Painting), 1914, collage
Umberto Boccioni
9.14 The City Rises, 1910, oil on canvas
9.15 Development of a Bottle in Space,
1912, bronze
9.17 Unique Forms of Continuity in
Space, 1913, bronze
Suprematism
Kasimir Malevich
9.27 Morning in the Village After a
Snowstorm, 1912, oil on canvas
9.29 Suprematist Composition: White
Square on White, 1918, oil on
canvas