Just over a hundred years ago, a group of young artists moved to New York City and set about creating a new form of urban realism. Later dubbed the "Ashcan School," their aim was actually to capture as many aspects as possible of life in the new metropolis of the twentieth century. Our class will examine the work of the Ashcan artists in the broad context of changes in urban culture of their day. We will consider the artistic and intellectual origins of the artists' concepts of "real art" and "real life" and study their art's relationship to representations of urban life in turn-of-the- century journalism, literature, social sciences and popular entertainment. We will also explore their encounter with social and cultural issues that continue to characterize modern cities: class difference, immigration and ethnic and racial diversity, changes in gender definitions, changing patterns of work and leisure; spectacle, display and public life; consumerism and the urban gaze, and the nature of community and communication in urban society. Special attention will be paid to the artists' interaction with the expanding world of mass media and commercial culture in the early twentieth century. We will work closely with the upcoming exhibition of Ashcan School art, to open at the Detroit Institute of Art in March 2008 ,and will make field trips to view the exhibition and attend the daylong symposium there. TEXTBOOKS will include two RECOMMENDED TEXTS for students new to the field: Sylvan Barnet, A Short Guide to Writing About Art Erika Doss, Twentieth Century American Art (Oxford history of Art) Estimated cost of materials: $100 or more, but less than $150. There is also a $40 lab fee for field trips. IV. 4

Fulfills Upper Level Writing Requirement