Modern Art History Short Course
Course description
Course overview
This course will equip you with the critical tools needed to approach the themes, ideas, practices and works of modern art and contemporary art. The course moves chronologically through the art made from the French Revolution to 2000, with a main focus on 20th century art. Important art movements, ideas, artists and artworks will be introduced and explored in our classes, paying attention to the critical ways in which the canon of art history has been transformed during the past decades.
In the week-long format, your learning will be supported by study trips to the Tate Modern and seminars at the college.
In the 10-week format, classes at the college will alternate with visits to the National Gallery, Tate Modern and on some occasions other galleries. The first class of the course will take place at the National Gallery, and in the subsequent weeks we will visit Tate Modern on every occasion there is a late opening. We will also visit one temporary exhibition during the course.
Please note, these trips will involve walking, taking public transport around London and standing up for periods of time.
Who this course is for
This course is suitable for anyone interested in 20th century art. Although designed to follow on from the Introduction to Art History that runs at the National Gallery, it is also suitable for those who have not studied art history previously.
Key information
Topics covered
- Important movements, schools and artistic groups in modern art
- When was modern art? Its chronologies and debates
- The arts academy and the avant-garde
- New technologies of vision, mass reproduction and mass production
- The Historical Avant-Garde and the Neo-Avant-Garde
- The new and changing relationship between modern art and society
- International networks and connections of modern art
- Modern art and its cannon(s): historical inclusions, exclusions and questionings
- An end to modern art? Postmodernism and contemporary art
Learning outcomes
- Identify key periods, movements and ideas in modern art
- Recognise different approaches to historicising modern art
- Understand the modern art history canon, its criticisms and limitations
- Place modern artworks in relationship with the cultural production of their time
- Have a knowledge of important writings on modern art
- Make a formal analysis of modern artworks
- Evaluate the relationship between an artwork, its medium and the discourses around modern art
- Develop your own critical take on modern artworks
- Digital badge and certificate of attendance
Materials
- Notebook and pen
Tutor
Irene Montero Sabín
Irene Montero Sabín teaches Modern and Contemporary Art History. She initially trained as an artist at the University of Salamanca (BA) and University of Vigo (MFA) and holds an MA in History of Contemporary Art (Manchester University). She is a PhD candidate at University College London's History of Art department with a dissertation on contemporary art exhibitions and the 9/11 wars. She has taught at UCL, UAL and AUA. She previously worked in contemporary art publishing.Theo Carnegy Tan
Theo Carnegy-Tan is an arts academic from London, and he has taught Short Courses with Central Saint Martins since 2014. Previously has given a number of talks at the Estorick Collection of Modern Italian Art, and has worked in the archives of Zaha Hadid Architects and the Mucha Foundation. His writing has been featured in Another Gaze, MAP, and The Quietus among othersBook a course
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