10124 Art in the Technological Era

Credits: 6 intermediate credits in Art History

Prerequisites: none

Recommended: Art History: An Introduction

Author: Ziva Amishai-Maisels

The objective of the course is to enable students to understand the expressions and forms of the art of the 20th century. This period in art, whose beginnings were in the 19th century and whose essence was in the 20th century, reflects the formal, ideological and social changes which occurred with the development of new technologies. The course reviews the development of trends and styles in painting, sculpture and architecture in the 20th century, and attempts to decipher the reasons for their development and to show their influence on the shape of our visual world.

A museum visit is an integral part of the course. The materials include television programs addressing the stages of development of various 20th century styles.

Topics: Introduction – Art and technology in the 19th century; Cubism in painting and sculpture; Futurism, Leger and Mondrian; Technological approaches to design and art – Russian constructivism, de Stijl and Bauhaus; 20th century architecture; The machine in the service of artists; The subjective approach – Fauvism and German Expressionism; Abstract art – Kandinsky, Marc and Brancusi; Dada – the double standard towards the machine; Surrealism – escape from the chains of logic; Abstract expressionism – from image to abstraction and back; Pop art, minimal art and conceptual art.