Art History Exam

1. The Question of Modernism

• James McNeill Whistler – Nocturne in Black and Gold (1875)

  • “Art for Art’s Sake” → Art should exist for beauty, not for moral/social lessons

  • John Ruskin → Art should serve society and moral improvement

  • Whistler vs. Ruskin → Defining modernism’s purpose

2. Impressionism & The Art of Modern Life

• Édouard Manet – Music in the Tuileries (1862)

  • Captures urban crowd life → Aligns with Baudelaire’s flâneur (urban observer)

  • Loose brushwork, modern subject matter → Breaks from academic tradition

• Key Features of Impressionism

  • Painted en plein air (outdoors)

  • Visible brushstrokes, emphasis on light

  • Everyday scenes, leisure, movement

• Artists & Works

  • Monet – Boulevard des Capucines (1873)

  • Renoir – Dance at Le Moulin de la Galette (1876)

  • Cassatt – At the Opera (1879)

3. Cross-Cultural Modernism

• Orientalism (Delacroix, Said)

  • Western stereotypes of the East → Exotic, passive, sensualized

  • Delacroix – Women of Algiers (1834) → European fantasies about “the Orient”

• Primitivism (Gauguin)

  • Idealized “tribal” societies → Ignored real colonial history

  • Gauguin – When Will You Marry? (1892) → Romanticized Tahitian women

• Modern Art in Japan

  • Japonisme – Western fascination with Japanese prints

  • Whistler – Caprice in Purple and Gold (1864) → Inspired by Japanese aesthetics

  • Yōga (Western-style painting) vs. Nihonga (traditional Japanese painting)

4. Turn of the Century Movements

• Art Nouveau (Mucha) → Organic, decorative, sinuous lines, nature-inspired

• Vienna Secession (Klimt) → Breaking away from academic tradition

• Ashcan School (Luks, Bellows, Sloan) → Gritty, urban realism, working-class subjects

• Bengal School of Art (Tagore, Bose) → Revival of Indian aesthetics in nationalist movement

5. Avant-Garde & Abstraction

• Cubism (Picasso, Braque)

  • Multiple perspectives, fragmented forms

  • Picasso – Les Demoiselles d’Avignon (1907) → African influence, shattered forms

• Expressionism (Kandinsky, Munch) → Focus on emotion, bold colors

• Futurism (Boccioni, Marinetti) → Speed, technology, modernity, violence

• Suprematism (Malevich) → Pure abstraction, geometric forms

  • Malevich – Black Square (1915) → Art free from realism

6. The American Avant-Garde

• 291 Gallery (Stieglitz) → First modern European art exhibitions in the U.S.

• 1913 Armory Show → Introduced Cubism, Fauvism, abstract art to American audiences

• Duchamp – Nude Descending a Staircase (1912) → Shocked viewers with Cubist motion

7. Art & World War I

• War Art

  • Kirchner – Self-Portrait as a Soldier (1915) → PTSD, trauma of war

  • Otto Dix – War Cripples (1920) → Critique of war’s destruction

• Dada (Ball, Höch, Duchamp)

  • Anti-war, anti-rationality, absurdist “anti-art”

  • Duchamp – Fountain (1917) → Readymade, challenges art’s purpose

Essay Prep: Modern Art & Modernity

• How did artists respond to modernization, urbanization, and globalization?

  • Impressionism → Captured fleeting city life (Monet, Manet)

  • Cubism → Reflected fragmented, fast-paced reality (Picasso, Braque)

  • Futurism → Glorified speed and machines (Boccioni)

  • Dada → Rejected war, embraced absurdity (Duchamp, Höch)

  • Global Influence → Japonisme, Primitivism, Indian Modernism