Strategies of Visualization – Art and Ideas in Modern Central Europe

Course description

This course surveys the visual arts in Central Europe from the rise of modernism around 1900 to the present after postmodernism, with a strong focus on German art. It aims to study the individual works closely and interpret them critically by analysing their formal structure, style and technique, iconography etc.; consider the concerns of the artists who created them; and place the works within their wider historical, philosophical, political, social and cultural backgrounds as well as within the international development of the visual arts in Western Europe and – in the second half of the 20th century – the US. A consideration of the theoretical context is of particular importance for the understanding of 20th-century art and its role in society. Thus the course will also introduce students to major philosophical ideas of the period and will focus on various links to the visual art works including reflections on the methods which art historians have found appropriate in studying the objects and ideas which constitute their discipline. Berlin houses some of the most splendid art collections in the world, such as the Neue Nationalgalerie, the Hamburger Bahnhof (with the Friedrich Christian Flick Collection), the Kupferstichkabinett (Graphic Arts), the Brücke-Museum, and the Berlinische Galerie, not to mention the collections of ancient art. In addition, a vibrant scene of art galleries provides new perspectives on contemporary art that has not yet been established in the museums. An essential approach of the course will be to work not only with slides and text sources in class but also with the originals during excursions to different museums. Thus the specific material qualities of the art works discussed in class will be experienced in front of the originals. This can serve as an eye-opener for understanding the reasoning and the artistic procedure of the artists in their respective period.

Learning objectives

In addition to establishing the basic chronological and stylistic evolution of art/painting in 20th century, the course will also be examining the variety of factors that influenced the style of key artworks. Throughout the course, we should keep asking ourselves, "why did this artwork look the way it did?" and keep discovering that there are a multitude of factors that explain the creation and historical and philosophical evolution of an artwork.

By the end of this course, students should be able to:

• Identify the hallmarks of and rationales behind a variety of artworks
• Make educated deductions why, when or how the paintings/artworks were designed that way.
• Identify and explain the different developments of styles and movements

Course Requirements

• Attendance and participation (includes 1 Independent Project report): 25%
• Presentation and Handout: 15%
• Midterm slides: 10%
• Midterm questions: 10%
• Midterm essay: 15%
• Final slides: 10%
• Final questions: 15%

Literature

Readings on Blackboard.

Readings provide a general outline of the theoretical and formal characteristics of the art in the 20th century, leaving specific problems and issues for class discussion and independent work.

• Charles Harrison and Paul Wood (ed.): Art in Theory 1900 – 2000. An Anthology of Changing Ideas. Oxford 2003.
• Christos M. Joachimides, Norman Rosenthal and Wieland Schmied (ed.): German Art in the Twentieth Century: Painting and Sculpture, 1905-1985. Exhibition cat. Royal Academy of Arts. London 1985.
• Eckhart Gillen (ed.): German Art from Beckmann to Richter. Images of a divided country. Exhibition cat. Martin Gropius Bau: Berlin 1997/98. • Joseph D. Parry (Ed.), Art and Phenomenology, New York 2011.
• Michael Hatt / Charlotte Klonk: Art history. A critical introduction to its methods, Manchester 2006.
• Stephanie Barron, Sabine Eckmann, Eckhart Gillen (ed.): Art of Two Germanys. Cold War Cultures. Los Angeles, Berlin 2009