This course surveys German art and architecture from the rise of modernism circa 1900 through postmodernism and the present. It aims to: study the individual works closely and interpret them critically by analyzing their formal structure, style, technique, iconography, etc.; consider the concerns of the artists who created them; and place the works within their wider historical, political, economic, social, and cultural backgrounds as well as within the international development of the visual arts in Europe and—in the second half of the 20th century—the U.S. Topics include Jugendstil (Art Nouveau), Expressionism, Dada, Surrealism, New Objectivity and Magic Realism, Bauhaus, art and architecture in Nazi Germany, art and architecture in the two German states—the GDR and FRG (1945-1989)—and the reflection of the German past, the reshaping of Berlin as the restored capital of Germany after 1989, and Pluralism in postmodern German art. An essential approach of the course is to work not only with slides and textual sources in class, but also with the original works during several field study visits to museums and walking tours to architectural sites. Thus the specific material qualities of the artworks discussed, and the urban context of the individual buildings, are experienced directly. This can serve as an eye-opener to understand the thinking and artistic procedure of the artists and architects in their time.
Prerequisites:
None
Method of presentation:
Lecture, discussion, student presentations, field study.
Required work and form of assessment:
Attendance and participation (20%), oral presentation during field trip (20%), term project (research paper or creative project, 20%), and final exam (slide identification and short essay questions, 20%)
content:
I. Introduction: Course overview and assignments
German Art / Art in Germany
Arts and Crafts, Art Nouveau (Vienna Secession) Readings:
Keith Hartley, Introduction to The Romantic Spirit in German Art 1790-1990, pp. 13-16
William Vaughan, “Romanticism” in The Romantic Spirit in German Art 1790-1990, pp. 210-211 “Art and Crafts Movement: Introduction” in The Dictionary of Art, Vol. 2, pp. 568
Michèle Lavallée, “Art Nouveau” in The Dictionary of Art, Vol. 2, pp. 561-568
II. Field Trip
Brandenburger Tor, Pariser Platz, Reichstag
Alte Nationalgalerie: The 19th century: The romantic tradition
III. Expressionism and the Birth of Abstract Art
Die Brücke
Der Blaue Reiter
After World War I: The experience of the disintegration of reality and the building of new realities
Russian Avant-garde: Suprematism and Constructivism
Bauhaus
New Objectivity Readings:
Andrea Frey and Janni Müller-Hauck, “Programs, Manifestos, Critical Writings” in German Expressionism: Art and Society, pp. 328-332 (Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Franz Marc, Wassily Kandinsky)
Peter Selz, “Fauvism and Expressionism: the Creative Intuition” in Theories of Modern Art: A source book by artists and critics, pp. 124-128 (Introduction to fauvism and expressionism)
Kasimir Malevich, “Non-Objective Art and Suprematism” in Art in Theory 1900–2000: An Anthology of
Changing Ideas, pp. 292-293
Christina Lodder, “Constructivism” in The Dictionary of Art, Vol. 7, pp. 767-772
Walter Gropius, “The Theory and Organization of the Bauhaus” (1923) in Art in Theory 1900–2000: An
Anthology of Changing Ideas, pp. 309-314
Rainer K. Wick, “Bauhaus” in The Dictionary of Art, Vol. 3, pp. 399-404
Maria Makela, “A Clear and Simple Style: Tradition and Typology in New Objectivity” in Negotiating History: German Art and the Past, ed. Jay Clarke, The Art Institute of Chicago 2002, pp. 39-51.
IV. Field trip
Kupferstichkabinett
Kulturforum, Buildings of Scharoun and Mies van der Rohe
Shell-House
V. Dada and Surrealism
The destruction of the Arts in Nazi-Germany: “Degenerate art” and Nazi ideology
Two exemplary artists: Paul Klee and Max Beckmann Readings:
From Art in Theory 1900 – 2000: An Anthology of Changing Ideas:
Tristan Zara, “Dada Manifesto” (1918), pp. 252-257
Richard Huelsenbeck and Raoul Hausmann, “What is Dadaism and what does it want in Germany?” pp. 259-260
Otto Dix, “The Object is Primary,” pp. 408
Max Ernst, “What is Surrealism?” (1934), pp. 491-493
Adolf Hitler, Speech inaugurating the “Great Exhibition of German Art,” pp. 439-441
From Theories of modern art: A source book by artists and critics:
Introduction: Dada and Surrealism, pp. 366-375
Kurt Schwitters, from Merz (1921), pp. 382-384
Max Beckmann, “On My Painting” (1938), pp. 187-192
Sigrun Paas, “Nazism” in The Dictionary of Art, Vol. 22, pp. 709-712
Stephanie Barron, “Modern Art and Politics in Pre-war Germany” in “Degenerate Art:” The Fate of the Avant-Garde in Nazi Germany, pp. 9-23
Christian Lenz, “Max Beckmann” in The Dictionary of Art, Vol. 3, pp. 477-482
Ann Temkin, “Paul Klee” in The Dictionary of Art, Vol. 18, pp. 108-113
VI. Field trip
Airport Tempelhof, Ex-Reich Air Travel Ministry
Jüdisches Museum (architecture) Berlinische Galerie
VII. Art in Postwar Germany
Abstract vs. Figurative Art
Art Informel, Tachisme, Lyrical Abstraction, Zero
Socialist Realism
Myth, ideology and the German past Readings:
Philip Coper, “Art Informel” in The Dictionary of Art, Vol. 2, pp. 543-545 “Tachisme” in The Dictionary of Art, Vol. 30, pp. 231
Stephan von Wiese, “Zero” in The Dictionary of Art, Vol. 33, pp. 636-637
Eduard Beauchamp, “Werner Tübke: Reminiscences of J.D. Schulz III” in German Art from Beckmann to Richter: Images of a divided country, pp. 170-173
Stephanie d’Alessandro, “History by Degrees: The Place of the Past in Contemporary German Art” in Negotiating History: German Art and the Past, pp. 67-81
Anne Erfle, “Sigmar Polke’s Images of Germany” in German Art from Beckmann to Richter: Images of a divided country, pp. 230-242
Paul Celan, “Death Fugue” in German Art from Beckmann to Richter: Images of a divided country, pp. 336
VIII. The search for new art-forms: Happenings, Fluxus, Actions, Performances, Concept Art, and Body Art
Gerhard Richter Readings:
Joseph Beuys, “Not Just a Few Are Called, But Everyone” and “I am searching for Field character” in Art in Theory 1900 – 2000: An Anthology of Changing Ideas, pp. 903-906
Heiner Stachelhaus, “Joseph Beuys” in The Dictionary of Art, Vol. 3, pp. 891-893
Gerhard Richter, “Interview with Benjamin Buchloh” in Art in Theory 1900–2000: An Anthology of Changing Ideas, pp. 1147-1158
IX. Field trip
Building the New Berlin: Potsdamer Platz and the political center
X. PRESENTATION OF STUDENT PROJECTS and FINAL EXAM
Required readings:
Selections from the following (most books can be found in the IES library): Architecture of the City of Berlin, 1900-2000. Berlin: 2000.
Barron, Stephanie and Wolf-Dieter Dube. German Expressionism: Art and Society. Venice: Palazzo Grassi, 1997. Exhibition catalogue.
Chipp, Herschel B. Theories of Modern Art: A source book by artists and critics. Berkeley: 1968.
Clarke, Jay, ed. Negotiating History: German Art and the Past. Chicago: The Art Institute, 2002.
“Degenerate Art:” The Fate of the Avant-Garde in Nazi Germany. Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1991. Exhibition catalogue.
Eisler, Colin. Masterworks in Berlin: A City’s Paintings Reunited. Painting in the Western World, 1300-1914. Boston: 1996.
Gillen, Eckhart, ed. German Art from Beckmann to Richter: Images of a divided country. Berlin: Martin Gropius Bau, 1997/98. Exhibition catalogue.
Harrison, Charles and Paul Wood, eds. Art in Theory 1900-2000: An Anthology of Changing Ideas.
Hartley, Keith, Henry Meyric Hughes, Peter-Klaus Schuster and William Vaughan, eds. The Romantic Spirit in German Art 1790-1990. Stuttgart: 1994.
Joachimides, Christos M., Norman Rosenthal and Wieland Schmied, eds. German Art in the Twentieth Century: Painting and Sculpture, 1905-1985. London: Royal Academy of Arts, 1985. Exhibition catalogue.
Paret, Peter. German Encounters with Modernism 1840-1945. 2001.
Turner, J., ed. The Dictionary of Art, Volumes 2, 3, 7, 22, 30, 33. London: 1996.
Wise, Michael Z. Capital Dilemma: Germany’s Search for a New Architecture of Democracy. New York:1998. (Kunstbibliothek 8 1998 3156)
This course surveys German art and architecture from the rise of modernism circa 1900 through postmodernism and the present. It aims to: study the individual works closely and interpret them critically by analyzing their formal structure, style, technique, iconography, etc.; consider the concerns of the artists who created them; and place the works within their wider historical, political, economic, social, and cultural backgrounds as well as within the international development of the visual arts in Europe and—in the second half of the 20th century—the U.S. Topics include Jugendstil (Art Nouveau), Expressionism, Dada, Surrealism, New Objectivity and Magic Realism, Bauhaus, art and architecture in Nazi Germany, art and architecture in the two German states—the GDR and FRG (1945-1989)—and the reflection of the German past, the reshaping of Berlin as the restored capital of Germany after 1989, and Pluralism in postmodern German art. An essential approach of the course is to work not only with slides and textual sources in class, but also with the original works during several field study visits to museums and walking tours to architectural sites. Thus the specific material qualities of the artworks discussed, and the urban context of the individual buildings, are experienced directly. This can serve as an eye-opener to understand the thinking and artistic procedure of the artists and architects in their time.
None
Lecture, discussion, student presentations, field study.
Attendance and participation (20%), oral presentation during field trip (20%), term project (research paper or creative project, 20%), and final exam (slide identification and short essay questions, 20%)
I. Introduction: Course overview and assignments
German Art / Art in Germany
Arts and Crafts, Art Nouveau (Vienna Secession)
Readings:
Keith Hartley, Introduction to The Romantic Spirit in German Art 1790-1990, pp. 13-16
William Vaughan, “Romanticism” in The Romantic Spirit in German Art 1790-1990, pp. 210-211 “Art and Crafts Movement: Introduction” in The Dictionary of Art, Vol. 2, pp. 568
Michèle Lavallée, “Art Nouveau” in The Dictionary of Art, Vol. 2, pp. 561-568
II. Field Trip
Brandenburger Tor, Pariser Platz, Reichstag
Alte Nationalgalerie: The 19th century: The romantic tradition
III. Expressionism and the Birth of Abstract Art
Die Brücke
Der Blaue Reiter
After World War I: The experience of the disintegration of reality and the building of new realities
Russian Avant-garde: Suprematism and Constructivism
Bauhaus
New Objectivity
Readings:
Andrea Frey and Janni Müller-Hauck, “Programs, Manifestos, Critical Writings” in German Expressionism: Art and Society, pp. 328-332 (Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Franz Marc, Wassily Kandinsky)
Peter Selz, “Fauvism and Expressionism: the Creative Intuition” in Theories of Modern Art: A source book by artists and critics, pp. 124-128 (Introduction to fauvism and expressionism)
Kasimir Malevich, “Non-Objective Art and Suprematism” in Art in Theory 1900–2000: An Anthology of
Changing Ideas, pp. 292-293
Christina Lodder, “Constructivism” in The Dictionary of Art, Vol. 7, pp. 767-772
Walter Gropius, “The Theory and Organization of the Bauhaus” (1923) in Art in Theory 1900–2000: An
Anthology of Changing Ideas, pp. 309-314
Rainer K. Wick, “Bauhaus” in The Dictionary of Art, Vol. 3, pp. 399-404
Maria Makela, “A Clear and Simple Style: Tradition and Typology in New Objectivity” in Negotiating History: German Art and the Past, ed. Jay Clarke, The Art Institute of Chicago 2002, pp. 39-51.
IV. Field trip
Kupferstichkabinett
Kulturforum, Buildings of Scharoun and Mies van der Rohe
Shell-House
V. Dada and Surrealism
The destruction of the Arts in Nazi-Germany: “Degenerate art” and Nazi ideology
Two exemplary artists: Paul Klee and Max Beckmann
Readings:
From Art in Theory 1900 – 2000: An Anthology of Changing Ideas:
Tristan Zara, “Dada Manifesto” (1918), pp. 252-257
Richard Huelsenbeck and Raoul Hausmann, “What is Dadaism and what does it want in Germany?” pp. 259-260
Otto Dix, “The Object is Primary,” pp. 408
Max Ernst, “What is Surrealism?” (1934), pp. 491-493
Adolf Hitler, Speech inaugurating the “Great Exhibition of German Art,” pp. 439-441
From Theories of modern art: A source book by artists and critics:
Introduction: Dada and Surrealism, pp. 366-375
Kurt Schwitters, from Merz (1921), pp. 382-384
Max Beckmann, “On My Painting” (1938), pp. 187-192
Sigrun Paas, “Nazism” in The Dictionary of Art, Vol. 22, pp. 709-712
Stephanie Barron, “Modern Art and Politics in Pre-war Germany” in “Degenerate Art:” The Fate of the Avant-Garde in Nazi Germany, pp. 9-23
Christian Lenz, “Max Beckmann” in The Dictionary of Art, Vol. 3, pp. 477-482
Ann Temkin, “Paul Klee” in The Dictionary of Art, Vol. 18, pp. 108-113
VI. Field trip
Airport Tempelhof, Ex-Reich Air Travel Ministry
Jüdisches Museum (architecture) Berlinische Galerie
VII. Art in Postwar Germany
Abstract vs. Figurative Art
Art Informel, Tachisme, Lyrical Abstraction, Zero
Socialist Realism
Myth, ideology and the German past
Readings:
Philip Coper, “Art Informel” in The Dictionary of Art, Vol. 2, pp. 543-545 “Tachisme” in The Dictionary of Art, Vol. 30, pp. 231
Stephan von Wiese, “Zero” in The Dictionary of Art, Vol. 33, pp. 636-637
Eduard Beauchamp, “Werner Tübke: Reminiscences of J.D. Schulz III” in German Art from Beckmann to Richter: Images of a divided country, pp. 170-173
Stephanie d’Alessandro, “History by Degrees: The Place of the Past in Contemporary German Art” in Negotiating History: German Art and the Past, pp. 67-81
Anne Erfle, “Sigmar Polke’s Images of Germany” in German Art from Beckmann to Richter: Images of a divided country, pp. 230-242
Paul Celan, “Death Fugue” in German Art from Beckmann to Richter: Images of a divided country, pp. 336
VIII. The search for new art-forms: Happenings, Fluxus, Actions, Performances, Concept Art, and Body Art
Gerhard Richter
Readings:
Joseph Beuys, “Not Just a Few Are Called, But Everyone” and “I am searching for Field character” in Art in Theory 1900 – 2000: An Anthology of Changing Ideas, pp. 903-906
Heiner Stachelhaus, “Joseph Beuys” in The Dictionary of Art, Vol. 3, pp. 891-893
Gerhard Richter, “Interview with Benjamin Buchloh” in Art in Theory 1900–2000: An Anthology of Changing Ideas, pp. 1147-1158
IX. Field trip
Building the New Berlin: Potsdamer Platz and the political center
X. PRESENTATION OF STUDENT PROJECTS and FINAL EXAM
Selections from the following (most books can be found in the IES library): Architecture of the City of Berlin, 1900-2000. Berlin: 2000.
Barron, Stephanie and Wolf-Dieter Dube. German Expressionism: Art and Society. Venice: Palazzo Grassi, 1997. Exhibition catalogue.
Chipp, Herschel B. Theories of Modern Art: A source book by artists and critics. Berkeley: 1968.
Clarke, Jay, ed. Negotiating History: German Art and the Past. Chicago: The Art Institute, 2002.
“Degenerate Art:” The Fate of the Avant-Garde in Nazi Germany. Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1991. Exhibition catalogue.
Eisler, Colin. Masterworks in Berlin: A City’s Paintings Reunited. Painting in the Western World, 1300-1914. Boston: 1996.
Gillen, Eckhart, ed. German Art from Beckmann to Richter: Images of a divided country. Berlin: Martin Gropius Bau, 1997/98. Exhibition catalogue.
Harrison, Charles and Paul Wood, eds. Art in Theory 1900-2000: An Anthology of Changing Ideas.
Hartley, Keith, Henry Meyric Hughes, Peter-Klaus Schuster and William Vaughan, eds. The Romantic Spirit in German Art 1790-1990. Stuttgart: 1994.
Joachimides, Christos M., Norman Rosenthal and Wieland Schmied, eds. German Art in the Twentieth Century: Painting and Sculpture, 1905-1985. London: Royal Academy of Arts, 1985. Exhibition catalogue.
Paret, Peter. German Encounters with Modernism 1840-1945. 2001.
Turner, J., ed. The Dictionary of Art, Volumes 2, 3, 7, 22, 30, 33. London: 1996.
Wise, Michael Z. Capital Dilemma: Germany’s Search for a New Architecture of Democracy. New York:1998. (Kunstbibliothek 8 1998 3156)
Students might also want to check the internet for background information. http://www.artcyclopedia.com/ includes a useful introduction to art movements and artists For the Berlin collections see:
http://www.smb.spk-berlin.de/ng/ng19.html (Nationalgalerie)
http://www.smpk.de/kk/e/s.html (Kupferstichkabinett) http://www.brueckemuseu.de (Brücke-Museum) http://www.bauhaus.de (Bauhausarchiv) http://www.berlinischegalerie.de (Berlinische Galerie)