JOHN CABOT UNIVERSITY COURSE CODE: "AH 283" COURSE NAME: "Special Topics in Modern and Contemporary Art" SEMESTER & YEAR: Fall 2015

SYLLABUS INSTRUCTOR: Yvonne Dohna EMAIL: [email protected] HOURS: MW 10:00 AM 11:15 AM TOTAL NO. OF CONTACT HOURS: 45 CREDITS: 3 PREREQUISITES: OFFICE HOURS: M/W 9.00

COURSE DESCRIPTION: Specialized courses offered periodically on specific aspects of the art of the modern and contemporary world. Courses are normally research-led topics on an area of current academic concern. May be taken more than once for credit with different topics.

SUMMARY OF COURSE CONTENT: This course explores the themes of abstraction from the Middle Age to Contemporary art, with particular emphasis on the treatment of the abstract expressionism, the constructivism and minimalism as different expressions of the same intellectual thinking, ending up with abstract film and colour music. From the Middle Age on we will search for announcements of abstraction and for its theoretical background. Starting with Giotto and Cennino Cennini, we will analyze Leonardo’s sfumato based on his theories, which led directly to the late abstract period of Rembrandt. Showing the role of Turner and the Bauhaus and the Expressionism which gave essential contributions to abstract art. Some of the questions we will address are: When did Abstraction start and what are theoretical thinking and ideas? What is the role of the colour and line in the process of abstraction in art? These and other questions will help us analyze the assigned authors and texts and understand their bases and motivations in dealing with problems of abstraction.

LEARNING OUTCOMES: At the end of this course students should have a working knowledge of the history of abstraction, the relevant terms, concepts, theories and trends. They will have a basic knowledge of the vocabulary used by art historians and philosophers and the basic bibliography of the recent literature. Through a comparative analysis of the four assigned texts students will have developed further their ability to find correlations, contrasts and contradictions between different sources to help them form an autonomous and critical understanding of a particular topic, issue, or problem.

TEXTBOOK: NONE

REQUIRED RESERVED READING: NONE RECOMMENDED RESERVED READING: NONE

GRADING POLICY -ASSESSMENT METHODS: Assignment Guidelines Weight Class participation and homework: Class participation and homework: 30% Mid Term Exam: 25% Research paper (10-15 pages) 20% Final Exam: 25% 30% -ASSESSMENT CRITERIA: AWork of this quality directly addresses the question or problem raised and provides a coherent argument displaying an extensive knowledge of relevant information or content. This type of work demonstrates the ability to critically evaluate concepts and theory and has an element of novelty and originality. There is clear evidence of a significant amount of reading beyond that required for the course BThis is highly competent level of performance and directly addresses the question or problem raised.There is a demonstration of some ability to critically evaluatetheory and concepts and relate them to practice. Discussions reflect the student’s own arguments and are not simply a repetition of standard lecture andreference material. The work does not suffer from any major errors or omissions and provides evidence of reading beyond the required assignments. CThis is an acceptable level of performance and provides answers that are clear but limited, reflecting the information offered in the lectures and reference readings. DThis level of performances demonstrates that the student lacks a coherent grasp of the material.Important information is omitted and irrelevant points included.In effect, the student has barely done enough to persuade the instructor that s/he should not fail. FThis work fails to show any knowledge or understanding of the issues raised in the question. Most of the material in the answer is irrelevant. -ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENTS: ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENTS AND EXAMINATION POLICY You cannot make-up a major exam (midterm or final) without the permission of the Dean’s Office. The Dean’s Office will grant such permission only when the absence was caused by a serious impediment, such as a documented illness, hospitalization or death in the immediate family (in which you must attend the funeral) or other situations of similar gravity. Absences due to other meaningful conflicts, such as job interviews, family celebrations, travel difficulties, student misunderstandings or personal convenience, will not be excused. Students who will be absent from a major exam must notify the Dean’s Office prior to that exam. Absences from class due to the observance of a religious holiday will normally be excused. Individual students who will have to miss class to observe a religious holiday should notify the instructor by the end of the Add/Drop period to make prior arrangements for making up any work that will be missed. The final exam period runs until ____________

ACADEMIC HONESTY As stated in the university catalog, any student who commits an act of academic dishonesty will receive a failing grade on the work in which the dishonesty occurred. In addition, acts of academic dishonesty, irrespective of the weight of the assignment, may result in the student receiving a failing grade in the course. Instances of academic dishonesty will be reported to the Dean of Academic Affairs. A student who is reported twice for academic dishonesty is subject to summary dismissal from the University. In such a case, the Academic Council will then make a recommendation to the President, who will make the final decision.

STUDENTS WITH LEARNING OR OTHER DISABILITIES John Cabot University does not discriminate on the basis of disability or handicap. Students with approved accommodations must inform their professors at the beginning of the term. Please see the website for the complete policy.

SCHEDULE

I. WEEK 1. Introduction to the topic: Definition of abstraction. Perception and aesthetics. 2. Middle Age and abstraction (Giotto) II. WEEK 3. Abstract thinking in the Renaissance (Leonardo) 4. Abstract colour (Titian) 5. Abstract sculpture (Michelangelo) III. WEEK 6. Abstract thinking (Rembrandt) 7. Romantic abstraction (Turner) III. WEEK 8. Impressionism (Monet, Renoir) 9. Symbolism and the form (Hugo, Moreau, Klimt) IV. WEEK 10. Purity, the infinite, the metaphysical , sublime (Itten, Barnett Newman, Brancusi) 11 Playfulness, childishness, innocence (Tinguely, Calder) V. WEEK 12 Nature (Kandinsky, Klee, Marc, Mondrian, Noguchi, Gorky, Clyfford Still, DeKooning, Ellsworth Kelly, Joan Mitchell) 13. Dynamism, energy, action, conflict, modern life (Futurism) VI. WEEK 14. Musical structures (rhythms, harmonies, variations on themes, etc.) 15. Physicality, sensations of materiality, weight, lightness, density; phenomenology (Pollock, Smithson, Judd, Burri, Fontana, Polke) VII. WEEK 16. Light (Rothko, Dan Flavin, James Turrell) VIII.WEEK 17. Formalism, reductivism, minimalism (Mondrian, Newman, Robert Ryman) 18. Psychoanalysis, authenticity, the unconscious, the self (Miro) IX. WEEK 19. The critique of the artistic "self " in the post-modern era (Gerhard Richter) 20. Expressionism, gesture, mark-making, handwriting; the trace of the moving hand (DeKooning, Twombly, Franz Kline, Pollock) X.WEEK 21. Utopianism, idealism, modernity, rejection of the past, social amelioration (Beuys) 22. Abstract in Modernism (Picasso, Manet) 23. Bauhaus (Maholy-Nagy, expressionism, primitivism, purism, geometry, color investigations by Itten, Albers) XI. WEEK 24. The principle of collage (Schwitters, Rauschenberg) 25. Surface and reduction (Rodin, Giacometti) 26. Accident and fear (Francis Bacon) XII. WEEK 27. Constructivism 28. Colour and theories (Kandinsky, Klee, DeKooning, Howard Hodgkin)