ARTH 103
‘Picasso Who?’
Introducing Modern Art
Summer
2015
Pablo Picasso, Les Desmoiselles d’Avignon, 1907.
Art History and Theory Programme
School of Humanities
University of Canterbury
Course Co-ordinator: David Khan
Lecturer: Dr. Barbara Garrie
ARTH 103: ‘Picasso Who?’ Introducing Modern Art
Summer, 2015
Course Co-ordinator: David Khan: [email protected]
If you have any questions about the course, the LEARN site or any of your assessments, please
contact me. I’m happy to help!
Lecturer: Dr Barbara Garrie
+ Recognition of key artistic concepts and interrelationships between artistic
practices, critical
debates and social and historical developments.
+an awareness of the history of modern art as a ‘constructed’ narrative
+an understanding of how histories of modern art relate to processes of
colonization, industrialization and internationalism
Email: [email protected]
Introduction
This course will investigate a range of models and practices of late nineteenth and early twentiethcentury Modernism. Classes will focus on key movements and artists and will cover the dominant
‘isms’, including, but not limited to, Impressionism, Post-Impressionism, Fauvism, Expressionism,
Cubism, Futurism, Dada and Surrealism. These movements will be set in their social, political and
historical contexts, and will cover issues of modernity and urbanism, utopianism, stylistic imperatives,
political radicalism and the two World Wars. We will also consider questions that Modernism has raised
for critics, theorists and historians. The course focuses on Modernism in painting, but it will also include
classes on Modernist sculpture, photography and film.
ARTH 103 provides a valuable contextual background for ARTH 215: International Contemporary Art.
Learning Objectives
 Develop skills in visual analysis.
 Develop skills in interpretation and critical thinking and understanding critical writing.
 Develop written communication skills and oral communication through tutorial participation.
Learning Outcomes
 Knowledge and understanding of Modernism in its wider art historical context.
 Recognition of key artistic concepts and interrelationships between artistic practices, critical
debates and social and historical developments.
 An awareness of the history of modern art as a ‘constructed’ narrative.
 An understanding of how histories of modern art relate to processes of colonization,
industrialization and internationalism.
 The ability to think critically and construct evidence based arguments.
Texts
There is no one set text for this course and readings will be posted on Learn weekly. However, all
students are strongly encouraged to read:
 Charles Harrison, Modernism (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press and Tate Gallery, 1997).
Also recommended:
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N. Stangos, Concepts of Modern Art: from Fauvism to Postmodernism (London: Thames and
Hudson, 1994).
nd
Anne D’Alleva, How to Write Art History, 2 Edition (Laurence King Publishing: London,
2010).
Michelle Facos, An Introduction to Nineteenth-Century Art (Hoboken: Taylor & Francis, 2011).
NB: All lectures will be recorded and made available on LEARN
Lecture Timetable:
Week 1.
Lecture 1 [16/11]: Course Outline and Introduction to the Modern
Lecture 2 [17/11]: The Academy and Realism: Towards the ‘avant-garde’
Lecture 3 [18/11]: Impressionism I: Plein Air and Landscape Painting
Lecture 4 [19/11]: Impressionism II: Modern Life, Urbanism and Photography
Lecture 5 [20/11]: Essay preparation
Tutorial: The modernist canon
Tutorial assignment one due in Friday 20 November
Week 2.
Lecture 6 [23/11]: Post-Impressionism I: Van Gogh and Gauguin
Lecture 7 [24/11]: Post-Impressionism II: Cezanne
Lecture 8 [25/11]: Neo-Impressionism: Seurat and Signac
Lecture 9 [26/11]: Fauvism: Matisse and Derain
Lecture 10 [27/11]: German Expressionism
Tutorial: Visual analysis skills
Tutorial assignment two due in Friday 27 November
Week 3.
Essay one due in 5 pm Monday 30 November
Lecture 11 [30/11]: Cubism (Dr Rosie Ibbotson)
Lecture 12 [1/12]: The Russian Avant-garde
Lecture 13 [2/12]: Futurism and Vorticism
Lecture 14 [3/12]: British Artists and World War I
Lecture 15 [4/12]: Dada
Tutorial: Critical reading skills
Tutorial assignment three due in Friday 4 December
Week 4.
Lecture 16 [7/12]: Surrealism
Lecture 17 [8/12]: Mondrian, De Stijl and Purism
Lecture 18 [9/12]: The School of Paris between the Wars
Lecture 19 [10/12]: Avant-garde Film
Tutorial: Looking at exhibitions: Tate Modern’s ‘The Vorticists’ (2010) and MoMA’s ‘Inventing
Abstraction’ (2013)
Tutorial assignment four due in Friday 11 December
Week 5.
Lecture 20 [14/12]: British Abstraction: Nicholson, Hepworth and Moore
Lecture 21 [15/12]: American Art of the 1930s: Social Realism, Figuration and the WPA
Lecture 22 [16/12]: Towards Abstract Expressionism: From Europe to the USA
Lecture 23 [17/12]: Course summary
Essay two due in 5pm Sunday 20 December
Assessment
1.
20% Tutorial Assignments.

5% The modernist canon worksheet. Due 5pm Friday 20 November

5% Visual analysis worksheet. Due 5pm Friday 27 November

5% Critical reading worksheet. Due 5pm Friday 4 December

5% Looking at exhibitions worksheet. Due 5pm Friday 11 December
2.
30% Catalogue essay. Due 5pm Monday 30 November
3.
40% Research essay. Due 5pm Sunday 20 December
4.
10% Participation in online forum.
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1.
All course work should be submitted to the online dropbox on LEARN.
Please note that all written work will be submitted through Turnitin (more details below)
Students are advised to retain a copy of work submitted for assessment.
Tutorial Assignments (20%), due 5pm Friday 20 November, 27 November, 4 December &
11 December
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2.
For each tutorial topic students should engage in some forum discussion and then write
short answer responses (up to 250 words) to the questions on the worksheet.
Worksheets should be submitted via the dropboxes in the TUTORIALS folder on LEARN.
More information about this piece of assessment can also be found on LEARN in the
ASSESSMENT folder.
Catalogue essay (30%), due 5pm Monday 30 November

Students are asked to write a 1,000 word catalogue entry for one artwork that has been
covered in the course so far, as follows:
Art galleries and museums often produce catalogues, which document the works in their
collections or particular exhibitions. Imagine you are writing a catalogue entry for ONE
work in a survey exhibition called 'Modern Art of the Early Twentieth Century'. In your
entry you should give the full details of the work as in the example below:
Artist: Pablo Picasso
Title: Les Demoiselles d'Avignon
Date: 1907
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: 243.9 x 233.7 cm
Collection: Museum of Modern Art, New York.
You should then write a catalogue essay (c. 1000words) in which you consider the ways
in which this work can be considered Modern. You might consider the subject matter of
the work, its formal qualities (use of line, colour, form etc) or the materials used, for
example.
Remember that your catalogue entry should remain focused on analysing the ONE work
of art you have chosen, placing it in the context of developments in Modern Art during the
first half of the twentieth century.

More information about this piece of assessment can also be found on LEARN in the
ASSESSMENT folder.
3. Research Essay (40%), due 5pm Sunday 20 December

Students are asked to write a 1,500 word essay as follows:
One way in which art historians share their research is through articles published in journals
such as Art History, Oxford Art Journal or Art Bulletin. Choose one of the essay topics below
and imagine you are writing an academic essay for one of these journals. Remember that your
essay should have a clear argument (the point you are trying to make) and you
should use formal language.
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o
Discuss the impact of the First World War on AT LEAST TWO artists discussed in the
course so far.
o
In 1909 F. T. Marinetti wrote in the founding manifesto of Futurism that: ‘We affirm
that the world’s magnificence has been enriched by a new beauty: the beauty of
speed.’ Discuss with reference to AT LEAST TWO artists covered in this course.
o
Examine the sculpture of AT LEAST ONE artist covered in this course in terms of his
or her use of abstraction.
o
In what ways can early twentieth-century photography OR film be seen to engage
with modernist avant-garde trends? Discuss with reference to the work of AT LEAST
TWO artists encountered during the course.
o
‘Abstraction was not the inspiration of a solitary genius but the product of network
thinking.’ Giving examples, briefly discuss the extent to which developments in early
twentieth-century modern art were informed by the transmission of ideas between
artists working in different countries, OR within different disciplines (eg. visual arts,
literature, music, performance).
Please consult the Art History Essay Writing Guide (on LEARN) for guidance on writing essays
in art history.
Students should follow accepted methods of setting out essays. Close attention should be given
to: accurate documentation; concise and clear expression; punctuation, spelling and grammar.
Illustrations may be included if you wish, but they are certainly not essential.
Please note that any requests for extensions must be made no later than the week before the
due date, and that heavy workload in itself is not usually justification for an extension.
4.
Participation in forums (10%)
Submission of Assignments

All assignments should be submitted online via LEARN.
o Tutorial assignments should be submitted via the appropriate dropbox in the TUTORIALS
folder.
o The catalogue essay and Research Essay should each by submitted via the appropriate
dropbox in the ASSESSMENTS folder.
 Your assignments should be typed using Times New Roman, 12pt font, 1.5 line spacing.
 Please also note that files should be in .doc or .docx format. If you have any problems with
this please speak with the lecturer or your tutor.
 All graded assignments will be returned via LEARN.
TURNITIN
This course will use online assignments where all student work will be submitted through the
Turnitin plagiarism-checking service. Each time you submit an assignment you will be asked to
verify that the work is your own and you will see a statement saying that your work will be
submitted to Turnitin. You will be able to access your Turnitin Similarity Report and see the
Similarity score. On the basis of this result, it then becomes YOUR responsibility as a student to
arrange an appointment with the lecturer if you are concerned about the score or feel that I may
consider parts of your assignment were plagiarised. I will not make any advance suggestion to
you of what score is ‘safe’ or ‘low’ as this depends on a number of factors. It is your responsibility
to contact me if you are concerned about your work. You will not be able to re-submit an
assignment after obtaining your similarity score and report. When you submit the assignment, this
is final.
Reading
Compulsory readings for each week will be loaded onto Learn.
There are many texts available on all artists and movements covered in ARTH 103. To read more
widely, students are encouraged to start with Oxford Art Online in the first instance. A UC catalogue
keyword search will also bring up many resources on each topic.
The following are recommended texts that cover the period covered by the course:
Charles Harrison, Modernism (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press and Tate Gallery, 1997). N.
Stangos, Concepts of Modern Art: from Fauvism to Postmodernism (London: Thames and
Hudson, 1994).
Charles Harrison and Paul Wood (eds), Art in Theory, 1900–2000: An Anthology of Changing Ideas
(Oxford: Blackwell, 2003).
The Yale/Open University Series is strongly recommended as further background reading:
Francis Frascina et al, Modernity and Modernism: French Painting in the Nineteenth Century (London:
Open University Press, 1993).
Charles Harrison et al, Primitivism, Cubism, Abstraction (London: Open University Press, 1993). Briony
Fer et al, Realism, Rationalism, Surrealism: Art between the Wars (London: Open
University Press, 1993).
The texts published by Tate Gallery under the heading ‘Movements in Modern Art’ are also
recommended and are useful on the various ‘isms’:
Belinda Thomson, Post-Impressionism (London: Tate, 1998).
David Cottington, Cubism (London: Tate, 1998).
Shulamith Behr, Expressionism (London: Tate, 1999).
Richard Humphreys, Futurism (London: Tate, 1999).
James Malpas, Realism (London: Tate, 1997).
Fiona Bradley, Surrealism (London: Tate, 1997).
Mel Gooding, Abstract Art (London: Tate, 2001).
Further general reading:
Britt, David, Modern Art: Impressionism to Post-Modernism (London: Thames and Hudson, 1999).
Chipp, H. B., Theories of Modern Art (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1968).
Clark, T. J., Farewell to an Idea: Episodes from a History of Modernism. New Haven: Yale University Press,
1999.
Dawtrey, Liz et al., Investigating Modern Art. New Haven: Yale University Press, The Open University, The
Arts Council of England and Tate Gallery, 1996.
Facos, Michelle. An Introduction to Nineteenth-Century Art (Hoboken: Taylor & Francis, 2011). Foster, Hal et
al., Art Since 1900: Modernism Antimodernism Postmodernism. London: Thames
and Hudson, 2004.
Frascina, Francis and Jonathan Harris (eds.), Art in Modern Culture: An Anthology of Critical Texts. London:
Phaidon, 1992.
Greenberg, Clement, Art and Culture: Critical Essays. Boston: Beacon Press, 1961.
Schapiro, Meyer, Modern Art: Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries. New York: George Braziller, 1978.
The following texts may also be useful:
Ades, Dawn, Dali (London: Thames and Hudson,1995).
----, Marcel Duchamp (London: Thames and Hudson, 1999).
Compton, Susan (ed.), British Art in the 20th Century: The Modern Movement (London: Lund
Humphries, 1987).
Cox, Neil, Cubism (London: Phaidon, 2000).
Hilton, Tim, Picasso (London: Thames and Hudson, 1995).
Rubin, James H., Impressionism (London: Phaidon, 1999).
Spalding, Frances, British Art Since 1900 (London: Thames and Hudson, 1996).
Whitfield, Sarah, Fauvism (London: Thames and Hudson, 1996).
Policy Statement: Late Submission of Coursework
1.
All essays and other assessable work for Art History should be submitted on the due date
set out in the course outlines, handouts or booklets. It is the student’s responsibility to
ensure they know the due date for any required work or the set date of any
test/examination. Late essays will be subject to a penalty of 1% per day. (So if you hand in
your essay 5 days late, and get 75% for your essay, 5% will be subtracted, leaving you with
a final mark of 70%.) Late essays will not be accepted after essays have been graded and
returned.
2.
If an extension beyond the due date is needed, students should ask the course coordinator.
Any request for an extension must be made prior to the due date and will normally be for a
maximum period of seven days. The generally recognised grounds are the same as those
for aegrotat (outlined in the University of Canterbury Calendar) and do not include workload
as such.
3.
Students unable to submit work by the due date through causes or circumstances entitling
them to apply for aegrotat (outlined in the University of Canterbury Calendar: see General
Course and Examinations Regulations) should apply to the Registry on the official form
within seven days of the due date of submission or the test/examination date. On
notification of the aegrotat application, the Art History coordinator will write to the student
accepting or declining it. However, this acknowledgement should not be taken to mean that
an accepted application for aegrotat will necessarily be successful; consideration of such
applications will only be carried out by the examiners at the end of the course.
4.
The generally agreed marking period is four weeks from a due date or test/examination
date (see General Course and Examination Regulations). Lateness in submission may
result in equivalent delay in the return of grades.
Plagiarism
Students should be aware of General course and Examination Regulations (found in the
University of Canterbury Calendar), which states that ‘Plagiarism is a form of dishonest practice’.
Plagiarism is defined as the ‘taking and use of another person’s thoughts, writings or inventions as
one’s own.’ NB: plagiarism from the internet is particularly easy to detect.
College of Arts marking scale: Grades and numerical equivalents
A+
A
AB+
B
BC+
C
CD
E
90–100
85–89
80–84
75–79
70–74
65–69
60–64
55–59
50–54
40–49
0–39