Reference no: EM133042553

ARTH2O4 Modern Art and the "Shock of the New"

Assignment Requirements:

- Answers are expected to reference a minimum of two of the readings from class
- Students should also incorporate at minimum three sources from outside the class readings, using either materials they discovered in their library research assignment or others that fit the topic of study
- The required length is set at six to eight typed pages, double-spaced, 12-point font (approximately 1500-2000 words). Please include a title page (with a title, your name, the course number etc.), number your pages, and include a bibliography and figures list at the end
- Please include any images you discuss to illustrate your arguments in a figure section at the back of the paper with proper citation (i.e. please include full details with any images - title, date, artist, materials, and where you found the image). You may include images from our lectures as examples.
- Proper citation of images and textual references must be used following Chicago Manual of Style, with Notes and Bibliography method.

Choose from one of the questions below and write a clear and concise response in an essay format. Develop first an argument or THESIS statement in your introduction, then outline what you will argue and how (listing examples and sources you will use), finally lay out those examples. End your essay with a strong concluding paragraph.

Please write an essay that addresses ONE of these questions:

1) The study of Modern art requires us to understand how artists challenged tradition but also how they borrowed, transformed, appropriated, and recuperated other styles, movements, and practices from the past and present to create something modern. With reference to the content, images, and readings from class, address the half-myth of modern art: "Artists broke with tradition and embraced the 'new'."

2) In 1971, Linda Nochlin wrote an essay for the magazine ARTnews called, "Why Have Their Been no Great Women Artists?"

In this seminal essay of feminist art history, she points out that this very question is only the tip of the iceberg of misunderstanding and myth surrounding the way that an artist achieves success and is remembered by history. By using the example of unequal access to art education, she concludes that, "it was indeed institutionally made impossible for women to achieve artistic excellence, or success, on the same footing as men, no matter what the potency of their so-called talent, or genius." After reading Nochlin's article, write an essay that
responds to the above statement, using examples we have learned about in the history of Modern Art.

3) Choose a subject based on your library research assignment (surrealism, Frida Kahlo etc.) and write an essay in which you use sources from your library research assignment (and others that you find by doing more research) as well as readings from the course. This essay may focus on a particular artist or take as its focus an area of theory or history. Examples of a theme or topic might be: "how did cold war culture impact the success of Abstract Expressionism?" or "what role did painting outside play in the creation of the Impressionist style?" Be sure to develop a strong argument or thesis statement and use the visual description and analysis of artworks (I recommend no more than 3) in your argument.