Introduction to Modernism (255-0-1)
Instructors
Jessy Bell
Meeting Info
Block Pick-Laudati Auditorium: Mon, Wed 12:30PM - 1:50PM
Overview of class
This undergraduate lecture course introduces one of the most contested terms of art historical inquiry today: modernism. Broadly, the term refers to the collective efforts of cultural producers to respond to the ever-shifting conditions of perception and social life brought on by modernity. The course examines some of the key moments in global modernity from the mid-nineteenth to mid-twentieth century. It provides a critical introduction to the rise of modern art practices from a range of locales, pushing against the hegemonic discourses upholding the Western canon to underscore the interdependencies between the Global North and the Global South.
From anti-colonial modernism in India to considerations of race and modernism in mid-century Jamaica, this course takes seriously the diversity of experiences of global modernity by examining movements and moments formed in opposition to the ravages of capitalism, colonialism, industrialization, imperialism, and war that continue to define our world. We will examine how the aesthetic of newness, ideas of "progress," and radical formal invention characteristic of modernism were rooted in the societal transformation of modernity. The work of the course contests the idea of modernism as a purely European or American phenomenon while considering artists' efforts to elaborate internationalist artistic languages, reflecting and refracting the concurrent rise of the modern nation-state. Across the quarter, we will focus on how modernist traditions transformed through their circulation across cities, nations, and continental borders. The overarching goal of this course is the consideration of how the formal concerns of distinct movements in modern art, responding to modernization, emerged out of specific historical and cultural contexts and how each movement pushed against the tastes of society at large to radically challenge ideas about art itself.
Class Notes
Waitlist information for this course: https://arthistory.northwestern.edu/courses/2024-2025/registration_waitlist.html
Class Attributes
Historical Studies Foundational Discipline
Literature and Arts Foundational Discipline
Historical Studies Distro Area
Interdisciplinary Distro-rules apply
Literature & Fine Arts Distro Area
Global Perspectives on Power, Justice, and Equity
Associated Classes
DIS - Parkes Hall 213: Fri 9:00AM - 9:50AM
DIS - Parkes Hall 213: Fri 10:00AM - 10:50AM
DIS - University Library 5322: Fri 9:00AM - 9:50AM
DIS - University Library 5322: Fri 10:00AM - 10:50AM
DIS - University Library 3322: Fri 12:00PM - 12:50PM
DIS - University Library 3322: Fri 1:00PM - 1:50PM
DIS - University Library 3370: Fri 1:00PM - 1:50PM
DIS - University Library 3370: Fri 2:00PM - 2:50PM