Complete Western Art History Part 2: 20th Century to Today with Dr. Timea Andrea Lelik

Lecture One: Fauvism and Expressionism
We will begin this course by looking at the first art movement of the twentieth century, namely Fauvism. The paintings of the Fauves were characterized by seemingly wild brushwork and strident colors, while their subject matter had a high degree of simplification and abstraction. Fauvism has been compared to Expressionism, both in its use of pure color and unconstrained brushwork, where the latter presents the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it radically for emotional effect in order to evoke moods or ideas. In this lecture, we will closely examine the works of Henri Matisse, Andre Derain, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Wassily Kandinsky, Gabriele Münter, Franz Marc, James Ensor, Edward Munch, and Gustav Klimt.

Lecture Two: Cubism, Futurism, Abstractionism
We will begin this seminar by discussing the revolutionary new approach to representing reality invented by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque. Considered the most influential art movement of the twentieth century, Cubism sought to depict subjects from a multitude of viewpoints at the same time in order to represent the subject in a greater context. Early Futurist paintings hold in common with Cubism the fusing of the past and the present, the representation of different views of the subject pictured at the same time or successively, also called multiple perspectives, simultaneity, or multiplicity. We will end the lecture by examining the profound influence the development of non-objective, or abstract art, had for the rest of the century. In this seminar, we will examine the works of Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque, Fernand Leger, Robert and Sonia Delaunay, Hilma Af Klint, Gino Severini, Kazimir Malevich, Piet Mondriaan, etc.

Lecture Three: Dada and Surrealism
Fueled by the traumas and confusion of the First World War, artists sought new ways to express their inner turmoil. The Dada movement consisted of artists who rejected the logic, reason, and aestheticism of modern capitalist society, instead of expressing nonsense, irrationality, and anti-bourgeois protest in their works. The term anti-art, a precursor to Dada, was coined by Marcel Duchamp around 1913 to characterize works that challenge accepted definitions of art. The movement influenced later groups including Surrealism, where artists depicted unsettling, illogical scenes, developing techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. In this seminar, we will explore the works of artists such as Marcel Duchamp, Kurt Schwitters, Hannah Hoch, Man Ray, Max Ernst, Rene Magritte, Frida Kahlo, Dorothea Tanning, Leonora Carrington, Kay Sage, and more.

Lecture Four: Post-War Art
After the horrors of the Second World War, a group of artists attempted to re-establish identity and cope with the trauma of the war, the onset of the Cold War, and the shift in the art world center from New York to Paris. The period saw a multitude of movements appear across the continent—including Tachisme, Art Informel, Nouveau Réalisme, and Arte Povera—but saw the rise of equally important art movements across the ocean such as American Abstract Expressionism. In this seminar we will also explore the global phenomenon of Pop Art which included imagery from popular (as opposed to elitist) culture in art, emphasizing the banal or kitschy elements of any culture. In this lecture, we will discuss the works of such artists as Jean Fautrier, Jean Dubuffet, Karel Appel, Jackson Pollock, Lee Krasner, Hedda Sterne, Barnett Newman, Mark Rothko, Helen Frankenthaler, Andy Warhol, Richard Hamilton, Marisol, David Hockney, and others.

Lecture Five: Contemporary Art
In our last seminar together, we will examine what we call contemporary art refers to art made from the second half of the twentieth century until the present day. The works we will discuss are diverse and eclectic, executed in a variety of media from painting and sculpture to new media and performance art. There will be ample time reserved for Q&A. In this lecture, we will discuss some of the most important names of the contemporary art scene such as Francis Bacon, Lucien Freud, Sigmar Polke, Gerhard Richter, Anselm Kiefer, Luc Tuymans, Marlene Dumas, Yayoi Kusama, Yoko Ono, Nam June Paik, Ulay & Marina Abramovic, Christo & Jean-Claude, and Ai Weiwei.

This is a five-part series held weekly and hosted on Zoom. Please check the schedule for the specific dates and times for each lecture.

No. We will update you in a timely manner if your expert does provide one.

Each lecture is 60 minutes long with time for Q&A.

The course is $175 for five lectures.

Is a recording available?
Yes. All registered participants will be sent a recording within 24 hours of each session's conclusion. The recordings are available to re-watch at leisure until 30 days after the course's conclusion.