Italy has always been a land of encounter for different artistic backgrounds. This course invites the student to examine how this aspect has had a significant development in the field of visual arts during the second half of the 20th century in relationship to the political, social and cultural growth of Northern Italy. How did artists meet, reject, and interact with the changes in society? Why and how did they choose to play their cultural, social, or political roles? How did the last 50 years change the identity of visual arts as we know them today? How shall we study a work of contemporary art to understand its multiple levels of meaning? All of this will be examined and discussed with the students both in class and during field studies to museums, architectural landmarks, public art, and current exhibitions.
Method of presentation:
Slides, lectures, in-class discussions and field study trips to the following monuments/museums/events in Milan:
• The Arengario and Arturo Martini’s bas-relieves
• The Museo della Permanente
• The P.A.C. Padiglione d’arte contemporanea
• Art and war: Arnaldo Pomodoro’s installation of the Armory at the Poldi Pezzoli Museum
• Architecture and urbanism in Milan: an exploration of the city center
• One or more public sculptures in the city: the issue of public art
• One or more current exhibitions: an overview of the contemporary art scene
Field studies will be an essential part of the course: this unique opportunity of direct experiences of monuments and works of art will provide a remarkable help in the understanding and appreciation of art in Northern Italy from the 1950s to the present. This course also will feature guest speakers, including Italian artists and curators, who will illustrate the role of art today.
LANGUAGE OF PRESENTATION: English
Required work and form of assessment:
Midterm Exam (30%), final exam (30%). Midterm and final exams will have the following format:
four short-answer questions (5% each); one analysis of a work of art/monument studied during the course (40%); and one short essay concerning a general topic studied during the course (40%). To help the student in his/her exam preparation, the course will include a simulation of the midterm exam. The performance in the simulation will not be considered for evaluation.
Attendance and participation (20%). Punctual reading/writing of assignments, participation in group
discussions, and attendance will be recorded.
Either of the following activities (20%): a term paper (1000 words, due in typewritten form one week
before the final exam) or preparation and leadership of the class field study trip to one of the sites listed above (with related handout, due in typewritten form one week before the selected field study). Those selecting the field trip leadership option may consult with instructor for guidance in preparing their study presentations.
content:
• Arturo Martini: “sculpture as a dead language”
• Corrente and Renato Guttuso: art and politics during and after World War II
• Emilio Vedova and action painting: Nuclearism in Milan
• Lucio Fontana and the movement “Spazialismo”: from painting to environment
• The M.A.C. (Movimento Arte Concreta) and the synthesis of the arts
• Art and architecture: Fausto Melotti and Giò Ponti in the Fifties; Melotti’s sculpture from the Sixties to the Eighties
• The fifties and sixties: an international perspective for the arts, Azimuth
• Piero Manzoni: conceptual art, body art, performances
• “The responsive eye”: artistic groups in the sixties and a new, active role of the viewer, Gianni
Colombo
• 1968: art and politics in the years of contest; artists leave the museums
• Arte Povera vs. bourgeois art
• Sculpture in public spaces, an Italian master: Mauro Staccioli from the seventies to the present
• Art in the eighties and nineties: new technologies; Studio Azzurro and interactive art
• Milan today as a world center for the contemporary art scene
Required readings:
Excerpts from:
Braun, E. (ed.). Italian art in the 20th century: painting and sculpture 1900-1988, exhibition catalog.
London: Royal Academy of Art, 1989.
Caramel, L. Il MAC Movimento Arte Concreta. Milan: Banca Commerciale Italiana, 1996. (English translation).
---. Arte in Italia negli anni Settanta. Opera e comportamento (1970-1974). Rome: Edizioni Kappa,
1999. (English translation).
Celant, G. (ed.). Fausto Melotti. Catalogue raisonnée. Milan: Electa, 1994.
---. The Italian Metamorphosis 1943-1968, exhibition catalogue. New York: Guggenheim Museum, 1994. Loers, V. Mauro Staccioli. Works 1969-1999. Milan: Edizioni L’Agrifoglio, 2000.
Studio Azzurro. Ambienti sensibili (Sensitive environments), exhibition catalog. Rome: Palazzo delle
Esposizioni, Milan: Electa, 1999. (English translation).
Whitfield, S. Lucio Fontana. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2000.
The course-pack includes as required readings also the English translation of the following original sources: L. Fontana, Manifesto blanco, 1948; P. Manzoni, For the discovery of a Zone of Images, 1957; U. Eco, Arte programmata, 1962; G. Celant, Arte Povera, 1969; M. Staccioli, Working Notes, 1973-1993; Studio Azzurro, selected writings.
* All of the required readings are available for reproduction in the course-pack. Students are strongly encouraged to visit the Università Cattolica Library of Art History, where they can find most of the originals (for a better quality of the reproduced images) and a large selection of books, catalogs and magazines on contemporary Italian art (both in English and Italian) related to the themes of the course. The instructor will be happy to suggest additional available readings and libraries to students interested in specific topics.
Recommended readings:
Ballarè, E. Art in Milan. Florence: Scala, 2002.
Caramel, L. MAC Movimento Arte Concreta 1948-1958, exhibition catalog. Parma: Galleria d’arte
Niccoli, 1996. (English translation).
Celant, G. (ed.). Piero Manzoni. Catalogue raisonné. Milan : Skira, 2004. Lucio Fontana, exhibition catalogue. London: Whitechapel Art Gallery, 1988.
Valentini, V. (ed.). Studio azzurro: percorsi tra video, cinema e teatro. Milan: Electa, 1995. (English
translation).
Vergine, L., H. M. Davies and F. Cavallucci. Staccioli. Milan: Charta, 1997. (English translation).
Zero to Infinity. Arte Povera 1962-1972, exhibition catalog. London: Tate Modern, Minneapolis: Walker Art
Center, Los Angeles: The Museum of Contemporary Art, Washington D.C.: Hirshhorn Museum and
Sculpture Garden, 2001-2003.
Italy has always been a land of encounter for different artistic backgrounds. This course invites the student to examine how this aspect has had a significant development in the field of visual arts during the second half of the 20th century in relationship to the political, social and cultural growth of Northern Italy. How did artists meet, reject, and interact with the changes in society? Why and how did they choose to play their cultural, social, or political roles? How did the last 50 years change the identity of visual arts as we know them today? How shall we study a work of contemporary art to understand its multiple levels of meaning? All of this will be examined and discussed with the students both in class and during field studies to museums, architectural landmarks, public art, and current exhibitions.
Slides, lectures, in-class discussions and field study trips to the following monuments/museums/events in Milan:
• The Arengario and Arturo Martini’s bas-relieves
• The Museo della Permanente
• The P.A.C. Padiglione d’arte contemporanea
• Art and war: Arnaldo Pomodoro’s installation of the Armory at the Poldi Pezzoli Museum
• Architecture and urbanism in Milan: an exploration of the city center
• One or more public sculptures in the city: the issue of public art
• One or more current exhibitions: an overview of the contemporary art scene
Field studies will be an essential part of the course: this unique opportunity of direct experiences of monuments and works of art will provide a remarkable help in the understanding and appreciation of art in Northern Italy from the 1950s to the present. This course also will feature guest speakers, including Italian artists and curators, who will illustrate the role of art today.
LANGUAGE OF PRESENTATION: English
Midterm Exam (30%), final exam (30%). Midterm and final exams will have the following format:
four short-answer questions (5% each); one analysis of a work of art/monument studied during the course (40%); and one short essay concerning a general topic studied during the course (40%). To help the student in his/her exam preparation, the course will include a simulation of the midterm exam. The performance in the simulation will not be considered for evaluation.
Attendance and participation (20%). Punctual reading/writing of assignments, participation in group
discussions, and attendance will be recorded.
Either of the following activities (20%): a term paper (1000 words, due in typewritten form one week
before the final exam) or preparation and leadership of the class field study trip to one of the sites listed above (with related handout, due in typewritten form one week before the selected field study). Those selecting the field trip leadership option may consult with instructor for guidance in preparing their study presentations.
• Arturo Martini: “sculpture as a dead language”
• Corrente and Renato Guttuso: art and politics during and after World War II
• Emilio Vedova and action painting: Nuclearism in Milan
• Lucio Fontana and the movement “Spazialismo”: from painting to environment
• The M.A.C. (Movimento Arte Concreta) and the synthesis of the arts
• Art and architecture: Fausto Melotti and Giò Ponti in the Fifties; Melotti’s sculpture from the Sixties to the Eighties
• The fifties and sixties: an international perspective for the arts, Azimuth
• Piero Manzoni: conceptual art, body art, performances
• “The responsive eye”: artistic groups in the sixties and a new, active role of the viewer, Gianni
Colombo
• 1968: art and politics in the years of contest; artists leave the museums
• Arte Povera vs. bourgeois art
• Sculpture in public spaces, an Italian master: Mauro Staccioli from the seventies to the present
• Art in the eighties and nineties: new technologies; Studio Azzurro and interactive art
• Milan today as a world center for the contemporary art scene
Excerpts from:
Braun, E. (ed.). Italian art in the 20th century: painting and sculpture 1900-1988, exhibition catalog.
London: Royal Academy of Art, 1989.
Caramel, L. Il MAC Movimento Arte Concreta. Milan: Banca Commerciale Italiana, 1996. (English translation).
---. Arte in Italia negli anni Settanta. Opera e comportamento (1970-1974). Rome: Edizioni Kappa,
1999. (English translation).
Celant, G. (ed.). Fausto Melotti. Catalogue raisonnée. Milan: Electa, 1994.
---. The Italian Metamorphosis 1943-1968, exhibition catalogue. New York: Guggenheim Museum, 1994. Loers, V. Mauro Staccioli. Works 1969-1999. Milan: Edizioni L’Agrifoglio, 2000.
Studio Azzurro. Ambienti sensibili (Sensitive environments), exhibition catalog. Rome: Palazzo delle
Esposizioni, Milan: Electa, 1999. (English translation).
Whitfield, S. Lucio Fontana. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2000.
The course-pack includes as required readings also the English translation of the following original sources: L. Fontana, Manifesto blanco, 1948; P. Manzoni, For the discovery of a Zone of Images, 1957; U. Eco, Arte programmata, 1962; G. Celant, Arte Povera, 1969; M. Staccioli, Working Notes, 1973-1993; Studio Azzurro, selected writings.
* All of the required readings are available for reproduction in the course-pack. Students are strongly encouraged to visit the Università Cattolica Library of Art History, where they can find most of the originals (for a better quality of the reproduced images) and a large selection of books, catalogs and magazines on contemporary Italian art (both in English and Italian) related to the themes of the course. The instructor will be happy to suggest additional available readings and libraries to students interested in specific topics.
Ballarè, E. Art in Milan. Florence: Scala, 2002.
Caramel, L. MAC Movimento Arte Concreta 1948-1958, exhibition catalog. Parma: Galleria d’arte
Niccoli, 1996. (English translation).
Celant, G. (ed.). Piero Manzoni. Catalogue raisonné. Milan : Skira, 2004. Lucio Fontana, exhibition catalogue. London: Whitechapel Art Gallery, 1988.
Valentini, V. (ed.). Studio azzurro: percorsi tra video, cinema e teatro. Milan: Electa, 1995. (English
translation).
Vergine, L., H. M. Davies and F. Cavallucci. Staccioli. Milan: Charta, 1997. (English translation).
Zero to Infinity. Arte Povera 1962-1972, exhibition catalog. London: Tate Modern, Minneapolis: Walker Art
Center, Los Angeles: The Museum of Contemporary Art, Washington D.C.: Hirshhorn Museum and
Sculpture Garden, 2001-2003.