Twentieth Century Art

Twentieth Century Art (TWEN) was a CTY Humanities course focused on the impact of different art periods in the 20th Century. It was only offered at Baltimore.

Course Description

From the CTY Course Catalog (2003):

This course investigates European and American works of the 20th century, including paintings, sculpture, architecture, and multimedia works. Within these genres, students contemplate pieces such as Pablo Picasso’s Les Demoiselles d’Avignon, Marcel Duchamp’s Bicycle Wheel, or Andy Warhol’s Marilyn Diptypch that represent pivotal moments, either in technique or philosophy, and which demonstrate the close relationship of art to social history. For example, when looking at Bicycle Wheel, Duchamp’s first "ready-made," students examine the ways World War I sparked the Dada movement. When looking at Marilyn Diptypch, students consider how post-World War II prosperity, mass media images, and an American fascination with fame affected New York Pop artists.

In order to understand the theoretical dialogue surrounding works, students read statements by artists, critical texts, and primary sources such as the Realist and the Surrealist Manifestoes. Students also look at artists who reacted to events in social history and developed discrete styles. Periods including the Harlem Renaissance and the global depression receive particular attention.

Students learn the vocabulary and approaches of art historians and write critical responses to works they see on field trips to the Baltimore Museum of Art and the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC.