Art history

Picasso to Kahlo: Transatlantic Dialogues

Module code: V4118BD
Level 5
15 credits in spring semester
Teaching method: Seminar
Assessment modes: Computer based exam, Coursework

You will explore around 50 years in the history of 20th-century art and visual culture. During this period, the exchange between European and American artists intensified.

We start with the shocking art of Dada artists in New York (Marcel Duchamp, Francis Picabia, Man Ray and the Baroness Elsa von Freytag). Then, to Paris to examine the queer enclave of American artists and critics (Romaine Brooks and Gertrude Stein).

Passing via the Degenerate Art exhibition in Munich, we’ll return to New York and discuss the significant role of Peggy Guggenheim in supporting artists who fled from Nazi Europe (Leonora Carrington, Salvador Dalí, Max Ernst, Joan Miró).

We’ll also examine the works of African-American artists in Paris and Berlin (Josephine Baker), the anti-colonial manifestos written by artists in Latin America and the controversial murals of socialist Mexican artists in New York and Detroit (José Clemente Orozco, Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo).

Module learning outcomes

• Demonstrate a broad knowledge of art works and the essential characteristics of art production in this period.
• Demonstrate a broad knowledge of art works and the essential characteristics of art production in this period.
• Apply underlying concepts to independently researched topic.