Write an essay on ONE of the following topics:
Comment on Linda Nochlin’s ‘Mary Cassatt’s Modernity’. What is particular about her approach there? How does it contrast to other scholarship on Cassatt and Impressionism more generally?
Comment on the ‘Introduction’ to Yve-Alain Bois’ Painting as Model, ‘Resisting Blackmail’. What is Bois saying there? How does it contrast with other approaches to modern art?
Comment on T.J. Clark’s essay ‘Jackson Pollock’s Abstraction’. What is Clark saying there? How does it contrast with other approaches to Pollock?
Comment on the Griselda Pollock’s essay ‘Modernity and the Spaces of Femininity’. What is Pollock saying there? How does it contrast with other approaches to artistic modernism?
The comedian Hannah Gadsby says: “Picasso said, ‘You can have all the perspectives at once — from above, from below. All the perspectives at once!’ What a hero. But tell me, are any of those perspectives a woman’s? Well, then, I’m not interested”. What do you make of what Gadsby says here? How are we to look at and understand Picasso today in the light of a social movement like #metoo?
Comment on Michael Fried’s essay ‘Art and Objecthood’. Do you agree with the critique of Minimalism he offers there?
Comment on Rosalind Krauss’ essay ‘The Originality of the Avant-Garde’. What is she saying about the logic of modernism there? How might it relate to another essay by her, ‘Grids’?
Criteria for marking:
The essay will be assessed according to the following criteria:
(1) Quality of research undertaken (books, journal articles, etc.);
(2) Comprehension of key art-historical and theoretical arguments and interpretative frameworks;
(3) Ability to construct your own argument informed by the relevant literature;
(4) Quality of visual analysis;
(5) Demonstrable ability to provide evidence in support of your arguments and assertions;
(6) Quality of written expression (spelling, grammar, referencing and bibliography).
