Survey and analysis of the most important trends in German art and architecture from the Third Reich to the present, presented within their respective historical contexts with special emphasis on the role of Berlin in this epoch of big changes and famous artists. Topics include intellectual, political and social aspects: art and architecture under National Socialism; division of the development of German art after 1945: GDR: Stalinism, Socialist Realism, and the later liberalization movement; FRG: abstraction, realism, and other concepts and tendencies of Western Modernism; phases of urban reconstruction in the East; international building exhibitions in West-Berlin (1957, 1987); art and architecture after German reunification – searching for identity in Germany; Berlin as the new capital of Germany: the face of the city at the turn of the century.
Learning outcomes:
First, without reference to specific historical periods, students will acquire basic characteristics and terminology of art because many are not familiar with this field. In the course of the semester, students will be familiarized with the historical facts and societal contexts that constitute artistic movements as well as shape the intentions and works of artists. A similar approach will enhance the students’ knowledge of urban planning and architecture.
Method of presentation:
Lectures, slide and video presentations, discussions, museum visits, excursions/field trips, production of a small final art project.
“Pars pro toto”: Students will be viewing different representative examples from every important period, sometimes learning will be accompanied by music. Following, in clear elocution of question and answer, there will be the analysis of characteristic aspects of selected art pieces or buildings as well as their relation with their respective time, their theme, style, composition, color, material and construction. Students will independently write two to three picture descriptions including commentary which will enhance their ability to judge and promote an adequate treatment of art as a medium. Students will choose the pieces of their descriptions. Alternatively, students may write personal statements reflecting their impressions after visits to museums and exhibitions. At the end of the semester, students will turn in and present an art project with themes, mediums and techniques of their own choosing.
Required work and form of assessment:
In the beginning, students might contemplatively and curiously look at the German art scene (this is great!). However, after the completion of this class, basic knowledge of discussed subjects as well as an acquired artistic sensitivity are expected. The phenomenon of “art”, its history, its functioning mechanisms in society and the perception of its cultural environment should enter the students’ awareness and, hopefully, their interest in art will be profoundly deepened."
Final grades will be based on a midterm (20%) and a final examination (25%), project work/term paper (25%), analysis of pictures, and oral participation (30%). Class attendance is required.
content:
Architecture under National Socialism
Art and ideology in the Third Reich; “Entartete Kunst” (“degenerate art”) inward and outward emigration
Division of the German cultural development after the Second World War:
EAST (= GDR):
Art in the 1950s and ´60s: Stalinist dogmas and Socialist Realism
Architecture: city planning and reconstruction modeled on Soviet examples
WEST (=FRG):
Architecture in the 1950s and ´60s: International Style – West-Berlin as an example. “Interbau”: City West, Kulturforum
Art: Joining the art of Western Modernism: Abstraction, Informel
Countermovements to the art of Informel:“Zero”,Colour Field, New Figuration
Expansion of the notion of art : signs, individual mythologies; Material Art, installation, performance
EAST:
Art in the 1970s and ´80s: new (liberal) tendencies
Architecture: ”Socialist” inner cities; industrial construction (“Platte”) versus dilapidation of historic urban substance
WEST:
The 1970s and ´80s:
Post modern architecture: International Building Exhibition (IBA) Berlin 1987
Art: Neo-Expressionism (“Neue Wilde”) and other hands
The 1990s: search for identity after reunification
aspects of all-German art and architecture
Tendencies after 2000
Visit to a selected IBA-area and central area of Berlin and/or
Visit to a gallery of contemporary art
“Art project”: presentation
Required readings:
Europarat, Hayward Gallery et al, eds., Kunst und Macht. (exhibition catalogue) London: sbc, Oktagon, 1996.
German Art And Architecture In The 20Th Century: 1933 To The Present
Survey and analysis of the most important trends in German art and architecture from the Third Reich to the present, presented within their respective historical contexts with special emphasis on the role of Berlin in this epoch of big changes and famous artists. Topics include intellectual, political and social aspects: art and architecture under National Socialism; division of the development of German art after 1945: GDR: Stalinism, Socialist Realism, and the later liberalization movement; FRG: abstraction, realism, and other concepts and tendencies of Western Modernism; phases of urban reconstruction in the East; international building exhibitions in West-Berlin (1957, 1987); art and architecture after German reunification – searching for identity in Germany; Berlin as the new capital of Germany: the face of the city at the turn of the century.
First, without reference to specific historical periods, students will acquire basic characteristics and terminology of art because many are not familiar with this field. In the course of the semester, students will be familiarized with the historical facts and societal contexts that constitute artistic movements as well as shape the intentions and works of artists. A similar approach will enhance the students’ knowledge of urban planning and architecture.
Lectures, slide and video presentations, discussions, museum visits, excursions/field trips, production of a small final art project.
“Pars pro toto”: Students will be viewing different representative examples from every important period, sometimes learning will be accompanied by music. Following, in clear elocution of question and answer, there will be the analysis of characteristic aspects of selected art pieces or buildings as well as their relation with their respective time, their theme, style, composition, color, material and construction. Students will independently write two to three picture descriptions including commentary which will enhance their ability to judge and promote an adequate treatment of art as a medium. Students will choose the pieces of their descriptions. Alternatively, students may write personal statements reflecting their impressions after visits to museums and exhibitions. At the end of the semester, students will turn in and present an art project with themes, mediums and techniques of their own choosing.
In the beginning, students might contemplatively and curiously look at the German art scene (this is great!). However, after the completion of this class, basic knowledge of discussed subjects as well as an acquired artistic sensitivity are expected. The phenomenon of “art”, its history, its functioning mechanisms in society and the perception of its cultural environment should enter the students’ awareness and, hopefully, their interest in art will be profoundly deepened."
Final grades will be based on a midterm (20%) and a final examination (25%), project work/term paper (25%), analysis of pictures, and oral participation (30%). Class attendance is required.
EAST (= GDR):
WEST (=FRG):
EAST:
WEST: