The canon of modern art reads as a litany of famous men: Édouard Manet, Marcel Duchamp, Salvador Dalí, Jackson Pollock, Robert Rauschenberg, Donald Judd, Robert Smithson, Nam June Paik and so on. In this course, we will survey the history of modern and contemporary art through the work of female artists. Starting with Impressionism and working our way forwards to the present day, we will chart a chronology of art in which artists like Berthe Morisot, Varvara Stepanova, Natalia Goncharova, Meret Oppenheim, Lee Krasner, Betye Saar, Nancy Holt, Yoko Ono, Shigeko Kubota and Adrian Piper, among others, hold center stage. Over the course of the semester, students will gain a basic introduction to artistic movements such as Impressionism, Constructivism, Cubism, Dada, Surrealism, Abstract Expressionism, Minimalism, Land Art, Fluxus, Conceptual Art and Video Art. Throughout, we will also engage critically with questions of gender and feminist historiography.

Textbooks/Other Materials: All required texts will be posted to Canvas as PDFs

Course Requirements:
Attendance and participation: 20%
Three in-class quizzes: 30%
Weekly discussion posts: 15%
Final paper: 35%

Intended Audience: Intended for undergraduates. No prior knowledge of subject required.

Class Format: Two 80-min lectures per week.

Estimated Cost of Materials: $0

HISTART Distribution Requirements: Transregional, Modern and Contemporary

Keywords: modern art, contemporary art, feminism