Art and the Modern World

(2.5-3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

This module examines the developments that take place in European art from the mid-nineteenth century until the outbreak of the first World War. This is one of the most exciting periods in the history of art, when long established traditions are challenged and when art practice is affected by social and political considerations. The lectures with explore, for example, the building of the Crystal Palace in 1851, the world of the Impressionist painters, the individualism of artists like Van Gogh and Cézanne, and the beginnings of Modernism. Finally, the abandoning of subject matter in abstract art will challenge us to look at art in a new way.