College of Visual Arts
Art History 301
Modern Art and Architecture
Fall 2002

Time and place: Mon.-Wed., 10-11:20 am, 101 Summit building
Instructor: Dr. Julie L'Enfant
Office: second floor Dayton Building (library)
Office Hours: Wednesday, 3-4 pm, Thursday 12-1 pm, and by appointment
Telephone: 651-310-0575 E-mail: jlenfant@cva.edu
Course website: http://www.cva.edu/Programs/class web pages/Modern Art and Architecture

Course description: This course surveys art and architecture from 1900 to 1945. Through readings, slide lectures, and class discussions students will investigate major figures and movements in this period, with attention to cultural context. The course will emphasize critical theory and its role in the development of modern art.
Course objectives: my goals are to help you
1. learn about the history of art and architecture from 1900-1945
2. improve your skills in critical thinking by reading, writing, and discussingmodern art
3. develop and enlarge your own critical standards

Texts: There are two textbooks for this course. They can be purchased at Local Color.
    • Hunter, Jacobus, and Wheeler, Modern Art, third revised edition (New York: Prentice Hall and Harry N. Abrams, 2000).
    • Chipp, Theories of Modern Art: A Source Book by Artists and Critics (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1996).

Reserve readings: The following books will be placed on reserve in the library for your use as supplementary reading on architecture:
    • Frampton, Modern Architecture: A Critical History (London: Thames and Hudson, 1992)
    • Doordan, Twentieth-Century Architecture (Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 2002)

Grading will be based on
    Three examinations (20% each)
    Museum assignment (10%)
    Research paper (25%)
    Participation and attendance (5%)

Classes are lecture and discussion illustrated with slides and the occasional video. Most works covered in the course are in the textbooks but some are not; thus it is essential that you attend each class and take careful notes.
The syllabus contains a list of reading assignments. You will also receive slide lists that will serve as class outlines and study guides. (Soon the slide lists will be available on the class website.) Read the assigned pages before class and familiarize yourself with the works to be discussed and be prepared to participate in the discussion. It is fine to bring food or drink to class as long as it does not distract you, or others, from the business at hand. Please be considerate.

Attendance: Attendance is required. Please note the following attendance policy: more than two absences will result in a reduction of your grade unless there are serious extenuating circumstances; habitual tardiness will also affect your grade. Class begins promptly at 10 o’clock. Be on time.

Examinations: The three exams will have essay and short-answer questions, some based on slides. On slide questions, you will be required to identify works by artist or architect, title or name, location (in the case of architecture), and approximate date. Be able to discuss three major aspects of each work on the slide lists:
    (1) subject matter (or purpose, in the case of architecture)
    (2) style (including materials)
    (3) context (cultural, biographical, theoretical)
Please note: questions will emphasize critical theory. You will be expected to show a thorough knowledge of assigned readings in Chipp’s Theories of Modern Art as well as material presented in class and in the Hunter text. You may also be asked to identify significant individuals or define key terms. Here you need specific information, including approximate dates, ideas, and historical context.

Examinations will be closed book: you may not use textbooks, notes, or slide lists. You may, however, use a one-page "cheat sheet" as an aid to memory. Write essential information on a single sheet of paper (standard size, 8_ by 11 inches), front and back, if you wish. The cheat-sheet must be hand-written; it cannot be computer-generated or photocopied. Answers are to be written in blue books, which will be provided in class.

Make-up exams: If you must miss an exam due to illness or serious emergency, notify me in advance or later that same day at 651-310-0575 or by e-mail at jlenfant@cva.edu. Only then will I consider giving a make-up exam, which must be scheduled as quickly as possible. Missing an exam without following this procedure will result in a grade of 0.

Museum Assignment: You will be asked to visit the Minneapolis Institute of Arts to see the exhibition "Marcel Breuer in Minnesota" and other selected works. A written assignment on the visit will be due Wed., Oct. 30. In exchange, there will be no class meeting on Wed., Nov. 6.

Research paper: A research paper of 6 to 8 pages is due Wednesday, Dec. 4. The topic and preliminary bibliography, which will be graded, are due Monday, Sept. 30. If the topic is too broad, outside the scope of this course, or otherwise unacceptable, you will be required to submit a revised proposal on Wed., Oct. 16. Failure to turn in a written proposal as directed will adversely affect your grade on the final paper. Changes in topic must be submitted to me in writing for approval. For further guidance on the paper, refer to the detailed directions in a separate handout.

Academic Integrity: Plagiarism, cheating, or other forms of academic dishonesty will not be tolerated in this class. (See the CVA catalog, page B37, for a statement of the college’s policy on academic integrity.) Penalties for such dishonesty are a 0 for the work in question and suspension from the college.

Schedule of Class Topics and Reading Assignments

Note: Read the assignment given for a particular class before that date. This schedule is tentative.
Sept. 4: Introduction to the class

Sept. 9: Late 19th-century background: Structure and Expression
Chipp, pp. 11-23 (Cezanne), 48-57 (intro.), 58-66 (Gauguin), and 100-05 (Denis)

.Sept. 11: Art Nouveau
Hunter, 54-60 and 91-93; Chipp, 120-23 (Van de Velde)

Sept. 16: Early Modern Sculpture
Hunter, 61-80; Chipp, 364-65 (Brancusi)

Sept. 18: Early Modern Architecture
Hunter, 93-100

Sept. 23: Expressionism in France
Hunter, 101-11; Chipp, 130-39 (Matisse) and 144-45 (Vlaminck)

Sept. 25: Expressionism in Germany
Hunter, 112-24 and 130-31; Chipp, 146-51 (Nolde), 152-55 (Kandinsky), and 180-82 (Marc)

Sept. 30: Expressionism in Austria
Hunter, 124-30; Chipp, 170-74 (Kokoschka) and 187-92 (Beckmann)
*paper proposal due

Oct. 2: Picasso and Cubism
Hunter, 132-47; Chipp, 193-99 (intro.) and 207-16 (Gleizes and Metzinger)

Oct. 7: Examination #1Oct. 9: Developments from Cubism
Hunter, 148-56; Chipp, 274-77 (Gris), 317-18 (Delaunay), and 277-79 (Leger), and 281-93 (Futurism)

Oct. 14: Developments from Cubism, continued
Hunter, 156-62 and 201-06; Chipp, 341-46 (Malevich) and 321-25 (Mondrian and van Doesburg)

Oct. 16: Fantasy and Dada
Hunter, 163-77; Chipp, 129 (Rousseau), 440-43 (Chagall), 397-402 (De Chirico), 366-91 (Dada), and 396 (Hoch).
*revised paper proposal due

Oct. 21: Marcel Duchamp
Hunter, 169-73; Chipp, 392-95

Oct. 23: Surrealism
Hunter, 178-86; Chipp, 402-09 (Breton), 436-40 (Masson), and 427-31 (Ernst)

Oct. 28: Surrealism, continued
Hunter, 186-94; Chipp, 415-27 (excerpt from Breton) and 598-601 (Giacometti)

Oct. 30: The Bauhaus; Gropius
Hunter, 196-99 *museum assignment due

Nov. 4: Examination #2

Nov. 6: No class today in exchange for museum visit

Nov. 11: The International Style
Hunter, 205-10

Nov. 13: Skyscrapers; later Frank Lloyd Wright
Hunter, 210-14

Nov. 18: The School of Paris
Hunter, 215-33; Chipp, 140-43 (Matisse), 487-89 (Picasso), and 431-35 (Miro)

Nov. 20: International Abstraction
Hunter, 234-46; Chipp, 325-37 (Gabo)

Nov. 25: American Art: 1900-1930
Hunter, 247-54; 501-12 (intro.) and 521-25 (Davis)

Dec. 2: American/Mexican Art: the 1930s
Hunter, 255-61; Chipp, 466-70 (Davis); 474-83 (Hitler); 483-87 (Breton, Trotsky)

Dec. 4: American Abstraction between the Wars
Hunter, 261-64; Chipp, 525-26 (Davis)
*research paper due

Dec. 9: Early Abstract Expressionism
Hunter, 265-70; Chipp, 471-73 (F. A. P.), 532-36 (Gorky), and 536-44 (Hofmann)

Dec. 11: Examination #3

Note the following class policies:

Each member of the class is responsible for
    1. reading the assignments by the assigned date
    2. attending class and taking part in class discussions
    3. knowing when the three exams are scheduled and being present at the assigned times
    4. completing the museum assignment and submitting it on the assigned date
    5. completing the term paper and submitting it on the assigned date

Deadlines are important in this course, as in other coursework at CVA. Exams must be taken on the scheduled dates.
(In case of serious, verifiable emergency, follow the procedure under "make-up exams" above.) Assignments and papers must be turned in on time. Note that they are due at the beginning of class on the assigned date. Late assignments and papers will be penalized one grade level per day (B+ lowered to B, C- lowered to D+). Time pressure due to deadlines in other courses or computer/printer malfunctions are NOT acceptable excuses.