ARTS 236   Art and Politics in the 19th Century (AH)

From the early 19th to the turn of the 20th century, artists working in traditional media such as painting and sculpture as well as emerging technologies in photography and film, engaged subjects and themes of everyday life in an environment transformed by urbanization, industrialization, and imperialism. During this period, modern art developed some of its characteristic strategies: an emphasis on and critique of artistic originality, ambivalent relations with tradition, problematic ties with cultural and economic institutions, and a strained allegiance to radical politics. This course explores the art works, exhibitions, institutions, and discourses of 19th century art and politics with particular attention paid to the impacts of nationalism and globalization on the production, reception, and dissemination of art objects and the developments of global modernisms.