Special Topics in Modern Art (368-0-2)

Topic

Art of Revolution & Empire: Russia & the USSR

Instructors

Christina Hilleboe Kiaer

Meeting Info

Kresge Centennial Hall 2-410: Mon, Wed 12:30PM - 1:50PM

Overview of class

This course examines the art and visual culture of revolution in the context of empire, from the revolt against tsarist empire in 1905, to the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917 that led to the formation of the Soviet Union, to the Stalin Revolution of the 1930s that aimed to establish an anti-imperialist socialist empire. Artists of the Russian empire were among the first to invent abstraction in the 1910s, and, after 1917, Soviet artists were the first to fulfill the avant-garde slogan "art into life." With particular attention to woman artists and artists from Ukraine and other regions of the Russian empire and the USSR, we will study 19th century realism and Impressionism, Neo-primitivism, Cubo-futurism, Suprematism, Constructivism, photomontage, photography and experimental film, and the invention of Socialist Realism as modern public art.

Class Materials (Required)

Robert Bird et al., Revolution Every Day: A Calendar (Mousse Publishing and The Smart Museum, 2017), ISBN 978-88-6749-294-7;
Sheila Fitzpatrick, The Russian Revolution: 1917-1932, 4th ed. (Oxford University Press, 2017), ISBN 978-0198806707

Class Notes

Please use the following link for Art History Waitlist information: https://arthistory.northwestern.edu/courses/2023-2024/waitlist.html