ART 361 (17062)                                  Buckberrough
Spring, 2000                                     Hillyer 426    768-4741
Twentieth Century Art                  buckberro@mail.hartford.edu
Tuesday 7:00-10:00                               Office Hrs.:  W 1:30-3:30 and
                                                               by appt.
 
 

COURSE DESCRIPTION:

This course is planned at this time in order to take advantage of the major exhibition opening this week at the Wadsworth Atheneum, Salvador Dali's Optical Illusions and the exhibition of the work of Alexander Calder that will open there at the end of the semester.  Both artists were affiliated with the Surrealist movement.  Dali is probably the best known Surrealist artist of the group, even through he was officially expelled relatively early in his career.  The course will examine the art, the history, and the theoretical concerns of the Surrealist movement, concentrating on the years 1920-1945, between its beginnings after World War I and its shift out of the avant-garde limelight at the end of World War II.

I will try to strike a balance between a presentation of information on the artists and their art, an investigation of writings by the Surrealists, and an introduction of various theories (especially psychoanalysis and marxism) that were fundamental in guiding the artists' goals and inventions.  One textbook is a compilation of documents of Surrealist writings.  Another was written by a late member of the group and provides interesting biographical anecdotes.  The third introduces a range of issues that have been of concern in recent critical writings on the movement, such as the Surrealists' obsession with the image of "woman," the role of psychic pathologies in developing "revolutionary" art, the politics within the movement and the political interests of the artists, and the Surrealists' reshaping of our understanding of vision.  The particularly difficult role of women artists in the movement will be studied at length.

COURSE OBJECTIVES:

At the end of the course, students will be able to:

• identify and characterize the artists and intended audiences of the Surrealist movement.
• discuss clearly the cultural contexts for the original production, appearance, and use of Surrealist art.
• discuss and compare the different philosophies and theories that were important in the formulation of Surrealist art.
• write cogently on selected aspects of Surrealist art, and be able to evaluate diverse interpretations and conflicting accounts of its histories.
• show a critical awareness of one or more current art historical theories.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS:

Emphasis will be on reading, writing, thinking, and looking.  Required readings will sometimes be very challenging, and at other times quite straight forward.  You will have worksheets and study questions to help you through the difficult readings:
 
 
 

GENERAL RULES:
 

• Role will be taken in every class.  You are allowed no more than two unexcused absences.  For an excused absence, you must call or email me before class to explain why you will not be there.  Acceptable reasons are severe illness and death in the family.  Few other reasons are acceptable for excused absences.  On your third unexcused absence you will be administratively removed from the course. It makes no difference if these are sequential or non-sequential absences.

• Late assignments (or any sort) will be graded down one letter grade for each week of lateness.

• All assignments must be completed to receive a passing grade.  The only exception to this rule concerns the worksheets.  You may skip one, but no more than one, worksheet and still receive a passing grade in the course.

• All papers (as opposed to worksheets) must be typewritten, double-spaced, and should follow correct form.

• Make-up exams or in-class writing assignments will be allowed only if arranged in advance and only with a viable reason which I will approve in advance.

ADDED RULE:
 

 

Any student who misses an appointment with me will have their course grade reduced by 1/2 letter grade.  Conversely, if I miss an appointment with any student, that student's course grade will be raised by 1/2 letter grade.

READINGS:

The texts for the course are:

 Sarane Alexandrian, Surrealist Art, (Thames and Hudson, 1970/1997)
 Patrick Waldberg, Surrealism, (Thames and Hudson, 1965/1995)
 Briony Fer, David Batchelor, Paul Wood, Realism, Rationalism, Surrealism:
 Art between the Wars, (Yale University Press in association with the Open University, 1993)

Other books, articles, and excerpts will be put on reserve and/or on-line .  You will be required to read some and urged to read others.
Books on Reserve

TENTATIVE SCHEDULE OF TOPICS AND ASSIGNMENTS:

This schedule is open to change--YOU are responsible to listen to the announcements of these changes in class, or check them on the web site.

Jan. 18 INTRODUCTION and some playing around
         Exquisite Corpse -- Class poetry
Jan. 25 No class--snow day

Feb. 1  HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL SETTING FOR SURREALISM

Read: in Fer, Batchelor, Wood:
  Batchelor on Dada, pp. 30-47, and look through the
  book to familiarize yourself with other art from the
  teens and twenties.

Feb. 8  THE POETS AND THE PAINTERS
  Read:  in Alexandrian,
    Conquest of the Marvelous, chapter 3, pp. 47-59
   in Fer, Batchelor, Wood
    Fer on Surrealism and Difference, pp. 170-176
   in Waldberg
    Preface, pp. 7-9
    The Word, The Eve of the Conflict, pp. 11-17
    Breton: First Surrealist Manifesto, pp. 66-75
    Breton: The Exquisite Corpse, pp. 93-95
    Worksheet and Poetry for 2/8
 

Feb.  15 PSYCHOANALYSIS--Freud, Automatism and the Dream
  Read:  in Alexandrian
    Surrealism and Painting, chapter 4, pp. 60-93
   in Fer, Batchelor, Wood
    Fer on 'Woman,' Women and Desire, pp. 176-180
    Fer on Freud and the Unconscious, pp. 180-83
   in Waldberg:
    Breton: Surrealism and Painting, pp. 81-88
    Eluard: Food for Vision, pp. 89-90
    Ernst: Beyond Painting, pp. 96-100
  STUDENT REPORTS ON Masson, Miro, Ernst, Tanguy
     Worksheet for 2/15
     Dali Paper Assignment
          Vocabulary for 2/15
Feb. 22 MARXISM AND ITS HERITAGE
  Read: in Fer, Batchelor, Wood
    Fer on Breton's Nadja, pp. 183-189
   in Waldberg
    Breton: Second Surrealist Manifesto, pp. 76-80
  STUDENT REPORTS ON Picasso, Man Ray, Bellmer, Magritte, Arp
    Worksheet for 2/22
        Vocabulary for 2/22
Feb. 29 DALI
  Read: in Alexandrian, Towards a Revolutionary Art, chapter 5,
    pp. 94-118
   in Fer, Batchelor, Wood
    Fer on The Uncanny, pp. 189-203
  Screening of Un Chien Andalou
  STUDENT REPORTS ON Delvaux, Dominguez, Giacometti,Brauner
    Worksheet for 2/29
        Vocabulary for 2/29

Mar 7  MORE PSYCHOANALYSIS AND ITS ANTAGONISTS
  Read:  in Fer, Batchelor, Wood
    Fer on Breton and Bataille, pp. 200-209
    Fer on The Role of Psychic Disorder in the Surrealist
      Aesthetic, pp. 209-221
  PAPER ON DALI EXHIBITION DUE
  STUDENT REPORTS ON Brassai, Bunuel, Trouille, Hérold,
    Worksheet for 3/7
        Vocabulary for 3/7
Mar. 14 No class--Spring Break

Mar. 21 MIDTERM and screening of L'Age D'Or
    Slides for Midterm Exam
          Study Question for Miderm Exam
           Worksheet for L'Age d'Or

Mar. 28 THE PRESENCE OF WOMEN
  Read:  in Fer, Batchelor, Wood
    Fer on Muse/Artist, pp. 231-244
   More reading to be announced
  STUDENTS REPORTS ON Oppenheim, Kahlo, Varo, Fini, Kertesz
    Worksheet for 3/28
        Vocabulary for 3/28

Apr. 4 MORE ON WOMEN ARTISTS
  Read: on reserve and on the web site: excerpts from Whitney
    Chadwick, "Women, Surrealism, and Self-Representation"
   More reading to be announced
  STUDENTS REPORTS ON  Toyen, Carrington, Cahun, Sage, Ford
    Worksheet for 4/4
        Vocabulary for 4/4

Apr. 11 THE SURREALIST OBJECT
   Read: in Alexandrian
    The Object, chapter 7, pp. 140-150
   in Fer, Batchelor, Wood
    Fer on Objects of Desire, pp. 221-231
  STUDENT REPORTS ON Cornell, Seligman, Ubac, Maar, Hugo
    Worksheet for 4/11
        Vocabulary for 4/11
Apr. 18 NO CLASS--PROFESSOR OUT OF TOWN

Apr. 25 SURREALIST FESTIVALS
  Read: in Alexandrian
    Festivals of the Imagination, chapter 8, pp.  151-161
  STUDENT REPORTS ON Maar, Paalen, Penrose, Jean, Kiesler
   Worksheet for 4/25

    (Give Take-home final assignment)

May 2 SURREALISM IN AMERICA
  READ: In Alexandrian
   In the United States, chapter 9, pp. 162-176
  STUDENT REPORTS ON Lam, Tanning, Hirschfield, Matta, Duchamp
 

FINAL EXAM
Turn in take home final anytime before 7:00 p.m. Tuesday, May 9.
Calder Assignment
Take Home Final Exam