Course Description
Summary
This introductory course considers exhibitions that have shaped scholarly and popular conceptions of twentieth-century Western art history. Readings, films, discussions and interactive lectures address styles and ideas within the context of the art spectacle or “show.” Starting with the Armory Show of 1913, we examine art-world machinations as part of economic, political and social shifts. How did players and institutions, from curators and collectors to politicians and the press, combine to elevate certain artists and exhibitions to fame or notoriety? Parallel to looking critically at popular narratives, we examine lesser-known yet equally significant stories and perspectives in the scope of art history. Exhibitions selected for each decade build on each other to give students a cumulative understanding of modernism and postmodernism and sub-movements within them such as Dada, Abstract Expressionism, Minimalism, Pop, Conceptual Art, appropriation, identity politics, and institutional critique.
