Undergraduate Program in Central European Studies
CERGE-EI and the School of Humanities at Charles University
Address: Politických vězňů 7, 110 00 Praha 1
Tel. : +420 224 005 201, +420 224 005 133, Fax : +420 224 005 225
E-mail: [email protected]
Web: http://www.cerge-ei.cz/abroad
Gothic, Baroque, Modern: Arts in Bohemia
Dr. Tomáš Hříbek
Fall 2009
Tue 2:00-5:00pm
Course Description
This course will survey the visual arts—including some photography and film—and
architecture in the Czech Lands since the Middle Ages through the 20th century, with an
emphasis on the last 150 years or so. That is still a lot of material, so we shall concentrate, as
far as possible on the artifacts available in Prague that we can go and see for ourselves.
Throughout, we shall not cover only the Czech artists, but also other nationals who either
worked in the Czech Lands, or were highly influential here. Thus we shall cover the work of
the French, Bavarian and Italian artists and architects during the Gothic and Baroque times,
such as the Dientzenhofers or Arcimboldo; the influence of the Norwegian painter Edward
Munch on the Czech art around the 1900; the relations between the Czech and the French
surrealists; etc. etc. We shall also situate art within a larger context of social and intellectual
history, seeing, in particular, how nationalism, religion and ideology shaped the development
of Czech art and architecture. Last but not least, we shall notice the specificities of stylistic
developments in the Czech art, such as the recurrences of the elements of Gothic and Baroque
in the Czech versions of Art Nouveau and Cubism.
Course Objectives
To provide the students with a good understanding of the history of art and architecture in the
Czech Lands, whether created by the Czechs, Germans or other nationals, within a wider
context of social and intellectual history.
Structure
The course will consist of lectures, slide presentations, seminar discussions of readings, and
museum trips.
Requirements
Students are required to attend all classes as well as to participate in all the museum trips.
Everybody is expected to follow the readings from the course reader, so that they can actively
participate in discussions. Every student will be required to give a roughly 20-minute
presentation, analyzing a particular work of art (a painting, a sculpture, or a building). This
will present a material to be elaborated in the final paper, which should not exceed 10 pages,
excluding documentation (photos, drawings, etc.). The style of formatting is optional, but
1
whatever style is chosen should be adhered to consistently. Finally, there will also be a
multiple-choice in-class exam based on readings and lectures. Make-up exams will be
allowed only in the case of medical or family emergencies. The same applies to late papers.
Academic Honesty
Although the students are encouraged to exchange ideas in and outside class, everybody is
required to submit their own work. That means that copying the work of other students or
published materials is strictly prohibited.
Grading System
Class participation/attendance
Final exam
Final paper
20%
20%
40%
Select Bibliography in English
Anděl, Jaroslav and Dorothy Kosinski (eds.) (1994). Painting the Universe: František Kupka, Pioneer
in Abstraction. Ostfildern: Hatje Cantz.
Benson, Timothy and Éva Forgács (eds.) (2002). Between Worlds: A Sourcebook of Central European
Avant-Gardes, 1910-1930. Cambridge, Mass.: The MIT Press.
Bock, Ralf and Philippe Ruault (2007). Adolf Loos: Works and Projects. New York: Skira.
Camille, Michael (1996). Gothic Art: Glorious Visions. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Chipp, Herschell B. (ed.) (1968). Theories of Modern Art: A Source Book by Artists and Critics.
Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press.
Conrads, Ulrich (ed.) (1971). Programs and Manifestoes on 20th-Century Architecture. Cambridge,
Mass.: The MIT Press.
Dluhosch, Eric and Rostislav Švácha (eds.) (1999). Karel Teige: L’Enfant Terrible of the Czech
Modernist Avant Garde. Cambridge, Mass.: The MIT Press.
Greenberg, Howard and Vladimir Birgus (2007). Czech Vision: Avant Garde Photography in
Czechoslovakia. Ostfildern: Hatje Cantz.
Harbison, Robert (2000). Reflections on Baroque. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
Harrison, Charles and Paul Wood (eds.) (1992). Art in Theory, 1900-2000: An Anthology of Changing
Ideas. Oxford: Blackwell.
Kaufmann, Thomas DaCosta (1988). The School of Prague: Painting at the Court of Rudolf II.
Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
__________ (1995). Court, Cloister, and City: The Art and Culture of Central Europe, 1450-1800.
Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
Ripellino, Angelo Maria (1993). Magic Prague. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California
Press.
2
Rakušanová, Marie (ed.) (2007). Scream Mouth! The Roots of Expressionism. Prague: Academia.
Richardson, Michael and Krzystof Fijalkowski (eds.) (2001). Surrealism Against the Current: Tracts
and Declarations. London: Pluto Press.
Sayer, Derek (2000). The Coasts of Bohemia: A Czech History. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University
Press.
Seibt, Ferdinand et al. (1977). Gothic Art in Bohemia: Architecture, Sculpture and Painting. Oxford:
Phaidon Press.
Srp, Karel (2000). Toyen. Prague, Argo.
Švácha, Rostislav (1995). The Architecture of New Prague. Cambridge, Mass.: The MIT Press.
Teige, Karel (2000). Modern Architecture in Czechoslovakia and Other Writings. Santa Monica, Cal.:
The Getty Center.
__________ (2002). The Minimum Dweling. Cambridge, Mass.: The MIT Press.
Urban, Otto M. (ed.) (2000). In Morbid Colors: The Idea of Decadence and Art in Bohemian Lands,
1880-1914. Prague: Arbor Vitae.
Vegesack, Alexander von (ed.) (1992). Czech Cubism: Architecture, Furniture, Decorative Arts.
Princeton, NJ: Princeton Architectural Press.
Vergo, Peter (1994). Art in Vienna. London: Phaidon Press.
Vlnas, Vít (ed.) (2001). The Glory of the Baroque in Bohemia: Essays on Art, Culture and Society in
the 17th and 18th Centuries. Prague: National Gallery.
Witkovsky, Matthew S. (2007). Foto: Modernity in Central Europe, 1918-1945. London: Thames and
Hudson.
Wittlich, Petr (1999). Prague: Fin de siècle. Köln: Taschen Verlag.
Course Schedule
Primary readings
Secondary readings
Sep 29
Introduction; course mechanics; a crash course in the Central European history, major periods of the
European art history, and some arthistorical buzzwords.
Oct 6
Glorious Visions: Czech Gothic and Its Enduring Appeal
HAVE READ:
Michael Camille, “New Ways of Seeing Gothic Art”, “New Visions of Space” and “New
Visions of the Self” (Gothic Art: Glorious Visions)
Paint It Black: The Echoes of the Gothic in the Czech Decadence
3
HAVE READ:
K. J. Huysmans, Against Nature [1884] (selections)
Odilon Redon, “Suggestive Art” [1922] (Theories of Modern Art)
Edvard Munch, “Art and Nature” [1907-1929] (Theories of Modern Art)
Otto M. Urban, “The Idea of Decadence in the Bohemian Lands” (In Morbid Colors)
Oct 13
Class Trip – The National Gallery, The St. Agnes Monastery
Oct 20
The Glory of Baroque Bohemia: Santini and Beyond
HAVE READ:
Robert Harbison, “The Case for Disruption” and “Tormented Vision” (Reflections on
Baroque)
The Prism and the Pyramid: Baroque Elements in the Czech Cubism
HAVE READ:
Albert Gleizes and Jean Metzinger, “Cubism” [1912] (Theories of Modern Art)
Pavel Janák, “The Prism and the Pyramid” [1911] (Between Worlds)
Bohumil Kubišta, “The Intellectual Basis of Modern Time” [1912-13] (Between Worlds)
Josef Čapek, “The Beauty of Modern Visual Form” [1913-14] (Between Worlds)
Robert Harbison, “Baroque in the Twentienth Century” (Reflections on Baroque)
Rostislav Švácha, „The Prism and the Pyramid“ (The Architecture of New Prague)
Oct 27
Class Trip – The National Gallery, The Schwarzenberg Palace
Museum of Czech Cubism at The Black Madonna House
Nov 3
From Historicism to Modernism
HAVE READ:
Miloš Jiránek, “The Czechness of Our Art” [1900] (Between Worlds)
Derek Sayer, “Modernisms and Modernities” (The Coasts of Bohemia)
Petr Wittlich, “Toward a New Style” (Prague: Fin de siècle)
Don’t Tattoo Yourself! The Modern Lifestyle according to Adolf Loos
HAVE READ:
Adolf Loos, “Ornament and Crime” [1908]
Beatriz Colomina, “City” and “Interior” (Privacy and Publicity)
Nov 10
Class Trip – The Municipal House and/or The Mueller House
Nov 24
After the Demise of Naturalism: Abstraction and Photography
4
HAVE READ:
Wassily Kandinsky, “Concerning the Spiritual in Art” [1912]
Piet Mondrian, “Natural Reality and Abstract Reality” [1919] (Theories of Modern Art)
Jindřich Štyrský and Toyen, “Artificialism” [1927-28] (Between Worlds)
Pierre Brullé and Marketa Theinhardt, “Painting despite Everything: František Kupka on
Creation in the Plastic Arts”
Matthew S. Witkovsky, selections from Foto: Modernity in Central Europe, 1918-1945
Surrealism Against the Current
HAVE READ:
André Breton, “Surrealism and Painting” [1928] and “What is Surrealism?” [1934] (Theories
of Modern Art)
Karel Teige, “Poetism” [1924] (Between Worlds)
Lenka Bydžovská, “Against the Current: The Story of the Surrealist Group of
Czechoslovakia”
TOPICS FOR FINAL PAPER AND STUDY QUESTIONS FOR FINAL EXAMS AVAILABLE IN
CLASS
Dec 1
Class Trip – The National Gallery, The Fair Trade Palace
Dec 8
Architecture in the Service of Revolution: Czech Functionalism
HAVE READ:
Walter Gropius, “Programme of the Staatliches Bauhaus in Weimar“ [1919] (Programs and
Manifestoes on 20th-Century Architecture)
Le Corbusier, “Towards a New Architecture” [1920] (Programs and Manifestoes on 20thCentury Architecture)
Karel Teige, “The Liquidation of Art” [1925] and “Preliminary Remarks” [1936] (The
Minimum Dwelling)
Rostislav Švácha, “Scientific and Emotional Functionalism” (Architecture of New Prague)
Art and Politics 2: Socialist Realism and Its Discontents
HAVE READ:
Leon Trotsky, “Literature and Revolution” [1925] (Modern Art and Modernism)
Andrei Zhdanov, “Speech to the Congress of Soviet Writers” [1934] (Art in Theory, 19002000)
“The Platform of Prague” [1968] (Surrealistm Against the Current)
“The Possible Against the Current” [1969] (Surrealism Against the Current)
Boris Groys, “The Stalinist Art of Living” and “Postutopian Art: From Myth to Mythology”
(The Total Art of Stalinism)
Viewing and Discussion of Jan Švankmajer’s Surrealist film The End of Stalinism in Czechoslovakia
5
Dec 15
FINAL PAPER DUE, FINAL EXAM
6