Art History 116: Topics in Modern & Contemporary Art
Global Modernisms: Modern Art in Africa, Asia, and Latin America
Monday 1:30-4:20 PM
Kadema 113
Elaine O’Brien, Ph.D.
Hours: M & Th 4:30-6pm
Office: Kadema 190
eobrien@csus.edu
http://www.csus.edu/indiv/o/obriene/
Seminar description:
It is a tenet of art history that in the modern period European painting, sculpture,
architecture, and design were fundamentally transformed by non-Western art. What
we will study in this class is the other half of the story of modern art. By the end of the
19th century European avant-garde modernism had journeyed to cosmopolitan centers
in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Through seminar readings and discussions, we will
come to understand modern art as a global phenomenon, not merely Western, and
more astonishingly radical than we knew.
Prerequisite: one of the following courses: Art 1B (Renaissance to the Present), Art 109
(Modern Art), Art 111 (Latin American & Latino/a), or permission of instructor
NOTE: You are required to attend one hour of the art history symposium,
Visual><Verbal Border Crossings, on Saturday, March 15 (see schedule below for
details). Please mark your calendar and make necessary arrangements now.
Required readings: No textbook. Readings are listed on the schedule, below, and
available on the course website: http://www.csus.edu/indiv/o/obriene/ (Art 116,
“Readings”). You are required to print them out, mark them for reference, and bring
them to seminar on the date they are being discussed.
Course Requirements and Bases of Grade Evaluation:
20% participation: Good participation is how much you help others learn: a positive,
questioning, engaged attitude toward the material the class. This is evident in you
attentiveness, comments, questions, listening with respect, attendance, being on time,
and note taking.
 Attendance policy: Two unexcused absences reduce your grade by a letter
grade; each subsequent absence reduces your grade by a whole letter. Four
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unexcused absences result in automatic failure. Chronic (more than 3 times)
lateness or leaving early can reduce your grade by one letter.
Scheduled appointments, transportation problems, and job demands are
not excused. Illness and family/childcare emergencies are excused. Absence
due to illness requires a medical excuse from a doctor or the CSUS student
health clinic. Please inform me of family emergencies or any situation that will
keep you from class or affect your ability to learn. Do not hesitate to come to see
me during my office hours or make an appointment, and feel free to email me
anytime.
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NOTE: Please keep all cellphones and electronic gadgets turned off and out of
sight during class.
NOTE: No eating please. Drinks are okay.
If you have a disability and require accommodations, you need to provide disability
documentation to SSWD, Lassen Hall 1008, (916) 278-6955. Please discuss your
accommodation needs with me after class or during my office hours early in the
semester.
60%: Weekly reading journal entries and in-class commentaries
NOTE: Always bring hard copies of the texts we are discussing to class.
Reading journal entries: 550 words (typed, double-space, 12 font). They are
the basis of class discussion; turn them in at the end of each class. I’ll mark
them with a check plus, check, or check minus and return them to you. These
must be on time for the seminar to function. Late journals are not accepted.
On how to read academic articles: These kinds of texts can take the
best readers a lot of time. So do not be discouraged, demoralized, or
angry at the author and me if you don’t understand something. Read
and reread each essay slowly and look up all unfamiliar words.
Underline passages and make marginal notes. Mark key ideas “for
discussion.” Marking aids comprehension and it will also help you
locate significant passages quickly during class discussion.
On how to write the journal entry: The format is a dialogue.
o Put your name, course title, the date, author, author’s
nationality, title of reading, and original publication date on
top.
o Write a concise statement of the thesis of each reading
o For each reading, select passages you marked “for
discussion.”
o Write the quotation and your paraphrase of it into your
journal with the page number in parentheses next to the
passage.
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Then write a brief response for each quote until you have
written at least 550 words. You may write up to 650 words
maximum if you need to. (You can write as much as you
want, of course; just don’t turn it all in.)
Save your graded journal entries for the bound journal (see below).
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In-class commentaries:
Two parts:
 At the beginning of each class, before the collaborative
presentation (see below), you will write a summary of the main
thesis and supporting points of the argument of each of the week’s
readings. The purpose is to refresh your memory and prepare you
for discussion. You may refer to your journal entry as you write.
 At the end of class you will conclude the commentary with
paragraph on what you learned and will remember. Turn in the
commentary with the journal entry at the end of the class. I will
mark them with a check plus, check, or check minus and return
them to you.
NOTE: Save your marked in-class commentaries for the bound journal.
Bound journal: Due May 12
At a copy store, ring bind your original marked journal entries (not new
copies) and the in-class commentaries with a front and back cover.
 Before you bind them, add a cover page with title, your name, date
and course information on it. Add a table of contents and a 4-page
(900-word) introduction.
o For the introduction, follow the same dialogue format as the journal
entries. First reread all of your journal entries and in-class
commentaries carefully, underlining significant passages and
writing brief comments on them in the margins.
o In the first paragraph of the introduction, summarize your
work.
o Then transcribe and paraphrase a few of the most significant
sentences you wrote and write a short response to them.
o Conclude with a 1-page (300-word) comparative analysis of
modern art in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
20%: Two collaborative presentations of readings
Reading groups will be selected on the first day of class. Get together outside of
class with your group, discuss the readings you are to present and prepare a formal
presentation (15-25 minutes) that you will read aloud at the beginning of the
assigned class. Make a handout to distribute to the class before your presentation.
For each reading, identify the author (why is s/he credible?), the thesis question
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and thesis, legs (supporting points) of the argument, key terms (defined), your
questions and positions.
NOTE: It is crucial that the work be shared as equally as possible.
Each
presentation begins with introductions and an explanation of how the group got the
presentation together (for example, a meeting plus email exchanges, phone calls,
whatever method you used), and which individual did what. The best grades go to
presentations that show evidence of interactive teaching and learning.
Schedule: (Subject to changes announced in class or by My Sac State email, which
you are responsible for checking.)
NOTE: Readings are available on the course website for you to download.
Journal entries on the listed readings are due the following class unless
otherwise indicated.
January 28: Introduction / schedule semester presentations
 Marshall Berman, from Introduction to All That Is Solid Melts into Air: The
Experience of Modernity
 Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, “On the Bourgeoisie”
 Eugène Delacroix, Letters and Notes from His Voyage to North Africa
 Ella Shohat & Robert Stam, “Unthinking Eurocentrism”
Feb. 4: David & Sharon // Syllabus quiz on course requirements
 Patricia Leighten, “The White Peril and L’Art negre: Picasso, Primitivism, and
Anticolonialism
 Everlyn Nicodemus, “Modern Art in Africa: An Ongoing Project”
Feb. 11: IIah & Lisa
 Okeke, Chika. “Modern African Art.” In The Short Century: Independence and
Liberation Movements in Africa 1945-1994, edited by Okwui Enwezor, 29-36.
Munich, London, New York: Prestel, 2001.

Okeke, Uche. “Natural Synthesis” (1960). In Seven Stories about Modern Art in
Africa, Whitechapel Art Gallery, London, pp. 208-9. Paris, New York: Flammarion,
1995.

Sack, Steven. “From Country to City: The Development of an Urban Art,” in Ten
Years of Collecting, edited by Anitra Nettleton and David Hammond-Tooke, 5457. Johannesburg: University of Witwatersrand Art Galleries, 1989.

Miles, Elza. “Nomfanekiso Who Paints at Night: The Art of Gladys Mgudlandlu”.
Vlaeberg, South Africa: Fernwood Press, 2002.
Feb. 18: Leah & Jessica
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
Enwezor, Okwui and Octavio Zaya. “Negritude, Pan-Africanism, and Postcolonial
African Identity: African Portrait Photography.” In “Colonial Imaginary, Tropes of
Disruption: History, Culture, and Representation in the Works of African
Photographers.” In In/sight: African Photographers, 1940 to the Present, 17-47.
New York: Harry Abrams, 1996.
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Enwezor, Okwui. “A Critical Presence: Drum Magazine in Context.” In In/sight:
African Photographers, 1940 to the Present, 179-191. New York: Harry Abrams,
1996.
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Harris, Michael. “Art of the African Diaspora.” In A History of Art in Africa, 500514. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 2001.

Fanon, Frantz. From the chapter “On National Culture” in The Wretched of the
Earth (in French 1961). Preface by Paul Sartre. Copyright Presence Africaine,
181. Great Britain: Penguin Books 1967.
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Cesaire, Aime. “Discourse on Colonialism” (in French 1955), 75-76. New York:
Monthly Review Press, 1972.
Feb. 25: Tiffany & Enrique & Shue
 Fathy, Hassan. “Chorale: Man, Society, and Technology: An Experiment in Rural
Egypt” (1969). In Architecture for the Poor: An Experiment in Rural Egypt, 2426, 37-38, 43-45. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1973.

Ukadike, Nwachukwu Frank, “Oral Tradition and the Aesthetics of Black African
Cinema.” In Nwachukwu Frank Ukadike, Black African Cinema, 70-72, 201-216.
Berkeley: University of California Press, 1994.

Rouch, Jean, and Ousmane Sembène. “A Historic Confrontation between Jean
Rouch and Ousmane Sembène in 1965: ‘You Look at Us as if We Were Insects.”
Transcribed by Albert Cervoni and translated by Muna El Fituri. In The Short
Century: Independence and Liberation Movements in Africa 1945-1994, edited
by Okwui Enwezor, p.440. Munich, London, New York: Prestel, 2001.
March 3: Ali & Melanie
 Andrea Giunta, Strategies of Modernity in Latin America, Beyond the Fantastic
(ed. Gerardo Mosquera), pp. 53-66, London: inIVA, 1995.
 Gerardo Mosquera, “Africa in the Art of Latin America,” Art Journal, Vol. 51, No.
4, Latin American Art, pp. 30-38, 1992.
March 10: Danny & Lisa
 Natalia Majluf, "Ce n'est pas le Pérou," or, the Failure of Authenticity: Marginal
Cosmopolitans at the Paris Universal Exhibition of 1855, Critical Inquiry, Vol. 23,
No. 4. (Summer, 1997), pp. 868-893.
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 March 13, 7pm, Mariposa 1000: Lecture by Festival of the Arts visiting artist,
Richard Jackson. Extra credit opportunity: 5 points for writing down one good
question for the artist and 5 more points for asking it out loud during the Q&A.
 March 15, Saturday: Visual><Verbal Border Crossings
Fifth annual CSUS Festival of the Arts Art History Symposium.
o Roberto Tejada, Keynote: "Viewer Tutorials: The Behavior of Pictures and
Language" University of California, San Diego.
o Janice Lynn Robertson, Fordham University, New York: “Art><Writing
Border Crossings: A Nahua Riddle Sparks an Interactive Reading and
Renewed Vision of Aztec Picture-Writing”
o Jordana Moore Saggese, Santa Clara University: “Basquiat and the Beats”
o Marta Garsd, Argentinean, San Diego Museum of Art: “Black Edges” (on
Magda Santonastasio’s art books)
o Ann Marie Leimer, University of Redlands: “Crossing the Border with La
Adelita: Lucha-Adelucha as Emblematic Border Crosser in Delilah Montoya’s
Codex Delilah”
o Tatiana Reinoza Perkins, University of Texas, Austin: Respondent
One hour (two lectures) required attendance. Write a question for each speaker. 5 points
extra credit for each additional lecture you hear; 5 points more for asking your question out
loud during the Q&A. Write down the answer
March 17: David & Sharon
 David Craven, “The Latin American Origins of ‘Alternative Modernism,’” Third
Text, No. 36 (Autumn), pp. 29-44, London: Routledge, 1996.
March 24: Ilah & Lisa
 Mary Coffey, “Muralism and the People: Culture, Popular Citizenship, and
Government in Post-Revolutionary Mexico,” The Communication Review, Vol. 5,
pp. 7-38, London: Taylor & Francis, 2002
 March 31-April 6: Spring Recess
April 7: Leah & Jessica
 Celina Borges Lemos, “The Modernization of Brazilian Urban Space as a Political
Symbol of the Republic,” The Journal of Decorative and Propaganda Arts, Vol. 21,
Brazil Theme Issue. (1995), pp.218-237.
 Saturday April 12: Mao Era Propaganda Art, Symposium, Nelson Gallery, Art
Building, UC Davis. Extra credit opportunity: 5 points for a question for each
speaker
Speakers include:
Judy Andrews, Ohio State University
Chen Xiaomei, UCD
Ellen Johnston Laing, University of Michigan
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Shen Kuiyi, UC San Diego
Sheldon Lu, UCD
Yang Peiming, owner and proprietor, Shanghai Propaganda Poster Art Centre
April 14: Tiffany & Enrique & Shue
 Ahmad Mashadi, Negotiating Modernities: Encounters with Cubism in Asian Art.
In K. Miwa, K. Suzuki and T. Matsumoto (eds.) Cubism in Asia: Unbounded
Dialogues pp. 215-218, Tokyo: The National Museum of Modern Art, 2005.
 Omuka Toshiharu, The formation of the audiences for modern art in Japan. In E.
Tipton and J. Clark (eds.) Being Modern in Japan: Culture and Society from the
1910s to the 1930s pp. 51-60. Canberra: Australian Humanities research
Foundation.
April 21: Ali & Melanie
 Gennifer Weisenfeld, “Anatomy of a Movement,” Mavo: Japanese Artists and the
Avant-Garde 1905-1931 pp.63-121. University of California Press.
April 28: Danny & Lisa
 Geeta Kapur, “When was Modernism in Indian Art?” When was Modernism:
Essays on Contemporary Cultural Practice in India, pp.297-324, New Delhi:
Tulika, 2000.
 Osman Jamal, E B Havell and Rabindranath Tagore: “Nationalism, Modernity and
Art,” Third Text 53, Winter pp. 19-30, 2000-1.
May 5:
 Xu Hong, “Early Twentieth Century Women Painters in Shanghai,” Shanghai
Modern 1919-1945 (exhibition catalogue) pp.200-215, Munich: Villa Stuck, 2005.

Ralph Crozier, “Post-Impressionists in Pre-War Shanghai: The Juelanshe (Storm
Society) and the Fate of Modernism in Republican China,” J. Clark (ed.)
Modernity in Asian Art pp. 135-154, Sydney: Wild Peony, 1993.
May 12: Bound journals due. These will be the basis of our culminating discussion.
NOTE: This seminar does not have a final exam and I do not hold office hours
during final exam week, if you want to keep your journals and commentaries, you
can include a postage-paid self-addressed envelope for me to mail it to you. Or
prepare your bound journal with photocopies of your marked journal entries and inclass commentaries (instead of the originals). Be sure my notes and marks are
legible. Annotate the copies (instead of the originals) and bind them with the
introduction and table of contents as described on the syllabus
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