Art Capitalism

3 Credits · Level: Undergraduate

Since the emergence of modern industrial capitalism in the eighteenth century, artists and art critics have grappled with its consequences. For some, art provided ways to visualize alternative modes of production or to critique existent ones. For others, art followed the logics of capitalism and industry with varied results. In this course, we will analyze modern art’s attempts to visualize, escape, or topple the capitalist world-system from the eighteenth century to the 1960s. In so doing, we will challenge ourselves to perceive modern art with fresh eyes, often from the critical, utopian, or cynical perspectives of modern artists and critics themselves. From the strictures of the art market to the barricades and the picket lines, how did artworks work in the long age of capital? Answering this question allows us to reflect on our approaches to writing art history, and to treat art not as the static reflection of politics but as an engine of historical change.