Art History 245 - Art of Cold War Modernity

This course traces the different paths of painting, sculpture, and mixed media in the United States and, to a lesser extent, Western Europe between 1945 and 1989 -- that is, between the end of World War II and the fall of the Berlin Wall. We will begin with both the "climax" and "crisis" of modernism in midcentury and the movements and works that the crisis spawned. In the second half of the course, we will follow art's relationship to a variety of postmodern subjects and debates. Throughout, we will measure the effects of geopolitical tensions on the visual arts. On a weekly basis, we will read a wide range of primary and secondary sources, with essays by art historians, critics, and artists. Overall, we will try to understand ambitious art's relationship with key social, political, and cultural developments during an intense four decades of worldwide change and uncertainty.

Course limited to sophomores, juniors and seniors