Modern Art History
Kathy Moore
Textbook
History of Modern Art
Painting Sculpture Architecture Photography
H.H. Arnason Marla Prather
The course will examine the origins and development of modern art, including painting, sculpture, and architecture, from
the time of Manet in the late nineteenth century through the twentieth century. Its purpose is to help the student gain an understanding
of some of the major ideas behind the development of modernism and of the characteristic forms of various art movements, and to
acquaint the student with some of the important artistic figures who played a significant role in these developments. This is a history
course which is concerned with the evolution and interrelation of ideas about art, history, artists, and visual facts and their application
to emerging art forms examined within their cultural-historical context. This course is intended to develop critical thinking and
communication skills as well as knowledge of the subject matter.
Supplies Needed:
Notebook, notebook paper, pencil or pen
*This is a lecture based class--- every student will be required to come to class prepared to
take notes and participate in class discussions.
Grading Rules
Tests
Quizzes
Homework
Nine Weeks Project
Knowledge Area(s) satisfied:
Skill(s) Developed:
40%
20%
15%
25%
Artistic Knowledge and Experience, Historical Knowledge
Critical Thinking Skills and Dispositions
Learning Objectives:
Knowledge Area (Artistic Knowledge and Experience):

Acquire visual literacy.
Through an examination of the art of the modern period students will become familiar with works of art representative of
the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries and will learn to recognize elements of visual language (such as line, form, color, light,
texture, space, proportion, composition) and to interpret how ideas are communicated through this formal language in ways that are
relevant in their social-historical context.

Acquire the critical and technical vocabulary to describe, analyze, and formulate arguments about artistic productions.
Through the study of modern art students will acquire the appropriate artistic terminology and the skills of visual analysis
necessary to critically describe, analyze and formulate arguments about these artistic productions.

Assess how formal qualities of artistic expression are intrinsically tied to an audience.
This course emphasizes how formal artistic qualities relate to the audiences of their time and how forms reflect different
artistic aims relevant to their context. Students will become aware of how art is linked to the social systems and ideologies of
particular audiences.

Examine multiple interpretive possibilities of art and know that interpretations both reflect the culture that produced them and
change over time.
In this course we will interpret art objects within contexts appropriate for their particular historical moment and place.
Students will learn that aesthetic interpretations vary between artists and audiences both within particular periods and between periods
of time.

Evaluate works of art in light of aesthetic and historic precedent.
By examining the development of modern art over time, students will learn how art works relate to their aesthetic and
historic precedents, reflecting influences from and reactions to those precedents.
Knowledge Area (Historical Knowledge):

Develop the ability to evaluate and explain the forces of historical continuity and change.
In this course historical continuity and change is examined through the art forms of the late nineteenth and twentieth
centuries. We will examine the historical evolution of visual forms and ideas of art as well as how these relate to historical events and
social forces of their time.

Develop an understanding of the relationships among historical events, culture, and social forces.
In this course we will examine art within the context of history, culture, and society and explore how artistic forms are
related to these contexts.

Develop an awareness that human values, ideas of justice, and methods of interpretation influence and are influenced by time,
culture, and personal perspective.
In this course we will examine the varying and changing character of human values, perspectives, and ways of interpreting
the world and human experience as expressed by artists and interpreted by audiences at various moments in the modern period.
Skills (Critical Thinking Skills and Dispositions):

Comprehend, paraphrase, summarize, and contextualize meaning of various forms of communication.
In this course students will analyze visual images in terms of their artistic significance and their relationship to their
cultural-historical context. Students will also apply ideas in written texts to their interpretation of visual art.

Analyze relationships among statements, questions, concepts, descriptions, or other forms of representation intended to express
beliefs or ideas.
In this course students will analyze relationships between forms and statements communicated visually in art works and
evaluate how these express similar and diverse ideas. Students will also evaluate how information in various written sources relates to
visual examples.

Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of varying points of view.
In research and class discussions students will evaluate various points of view regarding art and its relation to culture.

Generate new ideas, hypotheses, opinions, theories, questions, and proposals; and develop strategies for seeking and
synthesizing information to support an argument, make a decision, or resolve a problem.
Utilizing both visual and written information, students will learn to form and support theses about what is communicated in
works of art and how these works relate to their context.
Areas of Study
The Impressionism Movement
Manet, Monet, Renior, Degas, Morisot, Cassat
Post Impressionism
Seurat, Signac, Cezanne, Gauguin, Van Gogh
The Art Nouveau Movement (from late 1880s)
Mucha, Beardsly, Klimt, Tiffany
The Fauvist Movement (1898-1908)
Marquet, Derain, de Vlaminck, Matisse
Expressionism
The Der Blaue Reiter Artist Group
Kandinsky, Marc, Grosz, Modigliani
Cubism
Picasso, Braque
The Futurism Art Movement (1909 - 1914)
Marinetti, Boccioni, Balla, Carra, Severini
The Constructivist Art Movement (1917 - 1921)
Dada (1915 – 1924)
Arp, Picabia, Duchamp
De Stijl (1917 – 1931)
Harlem Renaissance (1920s - 1930s)
Johnson, Jones, Lawrence, Motley, Bearden
Art Deco (1920s and 30s)
Van Alen, Lempicka, Erte, Lalique
Surrealism (1924 onwards)
Breton, Ernst, Chirico, Arp, Ray, Miro, Magritte, Dali
American Art Before World War II
Abstract Expressionism (1940s and 50s)
de Kooning, Pollock, Gorky, Rothko, Noland
Op Art (1950s to early 60s)
Vasarely, Albers, Escher
Pop art (1950s - 60s)
Warhol, Rauschenberg, Lichtenstein