Modernist Avant-Gardes

Subject 107-038 (2008)

Note: This is an archived Handbook entry from 2008.Search for this in the current handbookSearch for this in the current handbook

Credit Points: 12.500
Level: Undergraduate
Dates & Locations:

This subject is not offered in 2008.
Time Commitment: Contact Hours: A 1-hour lecture and a 1.5-hour seminar per week
Total Time Commitment: .
Prerequisites: Usually 12.5 points of first-year art history.
Corequisites: .
Recommended Background Knowledge: .
Non Allowed Subjects: .
Core Participation Requirements: .

Coordinator

Dr Anthony White
Subject Overview:

This subject examines responses to modernity in avant-garde art, culture and theory during the high modernist period (1900-1950). A variety of stylistic categories (including Futurism, Expressionism, Cubism, Constructivism, Dada and Surrealism) and individual artists (including Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Piet Mondrian and Marcel Duchamp) will be considered. The social, historical and theoretical context in which diverse modernist aesthetics were formed will be studied using historical sources and contemporary theory. Students should become familiar with issues such as the rise of abstraction, the relationship of art and politics, the impact of urbanism on art, utopian models of art, nationalism and the arts, colonialism, gender and sexuality.

Assessment: A 1500 word assignment 30% (due during the semester) and a 2500-word essay 70% (due during the examination period).Assessment submitted late without an approved formal extension will be penalised at 2% per day. Students who fail to submit up to 2-weeks after the final due date without a formal extension and/or special consideration will receive a fail grade for the piece of assessment.
Prescribed Texts: A subject reader will be available from the University Bookshop
Recommended Texts:

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Breadth Options:

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.
Fees Information: Subject EFTSL, Level, Discipline & Census Date
Generic Skills:

  • be able to research through the competent use of the library and other information sources, and be able to define areas of inquiry and methods of research in the preparation of essays;

  • be able to conceptualise theoretical problems, form judgements and arguments and communicate critically, creatively and theoretically through essay writing, tutorial discussion and presentations;

  • be able to communicate knowledge intelligibly and economically through essay writing and tutorial discussion;

  • be able to manage and organise workloads for recommended reading, the completion of essays and assignments and examination revision;

  • be able to participate in team work through involvement in syndicate groups and group discussions.
Notes: .
Related Course(s): Bachelor of Arts
Diploma in Arts (Art History)
Graduate Certificate in Arts (Art History)
Graduate Diploma in Arts (Art History)

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