Modernism Realism Expressionism

Catalog description

This course is an inquiry into one of the major debates of modern art. This debate had a seemingly clear victor. The idea that the artist expresses his or her individuality and then communicates that self to the rest of humanity through a higher, transcendental, language has dominated the discourse and practice of modernist art. In retrospect, the art that dominated most of the first half of the 20th century was of an Expressive nature. On the other hand art that in any way addressed direct and specific social issues was banished by art’s major institutions. Realism was dead. In this course students will look at the circumstances of how Realism became subordinated to Expressionism. Students will also address the question of what exactly constituted the practice of realist art. Students will look at the roots of both movements, taking us at times into 18th and 19th centuries, but will concentrate on how institutions like the Museum of Modern Art helped define how we see the history of 20th century art as being determined. Students will also explore how Modernism’s other, Realism, survived and gained new currency in practices of late 20th and early 21h century art.