Course Description

 Ever wonder how modern abstract art became a thing? Why the big canvases and sculptures of abstract shapes, splatters of color, etc. after picturesque landscapes and people appeared for centuries in Western art? Join art historian Dr. Hannah Wong and a wonderful community of fellow learners for an interactive Zoom course on this intriguing topic! Together, we’ll trace art movements from Romanticism to Abstract Expressionism to explore the rise of abstraction, especially during the nineteenth to mid-twentieth centuries. Along with lectures, this course features hands-on “Art Labs”, including an optional outdoor, in-person class on modern art sculpture.

Check out the course’s preview lecture on YouTube:

Two Keys to Understanding Modern Art in Under an Hour!

Class topics, schedule, format, and pricing are listed below.

Part One is now complete! Students may now register for Part Two, which begins Nov. 10th, 2021.

Still not sure? Check out past student testimonials! Also, watch the course’s preview lecture on YouTube: Two Keys to Understanding Modern Art in Under an Hour!

Lecture Topics, Class-By-Class

*Specific subject matter focus, artwork, and artists subject to change

PART ONE: 19th CENTURY’S MANY PATHS TO MODERN ART

#1 Lecture: Romanticism, Impressionism, and Expressions of Color and Brushstroke

Wednesday, October 6, 2021. 12-1:30 pm (Central). Zoom.

Selection of possible artists considered: Eugène Delacroix vis-a-vis Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres (Neoclassicist), Théodore Géricault, J.M.W. Turner, Berthe Morisot, Mary Cassatt

#2 Lecture: Post-Impressionism, Symbolism and Inner Visions

Wednesday, October 13, 2021. 12-1:30 pm (Central). Zoom.

Selection of possible artists considered: Paul Cézanne, Gauguin, Gustav Moreau, Odilon Redon, Henri Rousseau, Henry Ossawa Tanner

#3 Lecture: Auguste Rodin & The Beginnings of Modern Sculpture

Wednesday, October 20, 2021. 12-1:30 pm (Central). Zoom.

#4 ART LABS: Figurative Vs. Abstract Storytelling

2 Art Lab Options:

Saturday, October 23, 2021. 10:30 am-12:00 pm (Central). In-Person, Outdoor.
OR
Wednesday, October 27, 2021. 12-1:30 pm (Central). Zoom.

Part-One-only subscribers may choose one Art Lab option. Full course subscribers are entitled to attend both 10/23/21 and 10/27/21 Art Labs, which differ in skill-building focus.

• In-Person & Outdoor Art Lab: Saturday, October 23, 2021. 10:30 am-12 pm (Central).
  We’ll examine two twentieth-century sculptures on the University of Texas campus. Requires about 1/2 mile of walking. Join us as we compare our experience of an abstract sculpture versus a naturalistic (or “realistic”) one depicting the human figure. What does each evoke mentally, physically, and emotionally? Why? How do these artworks tell a story, if they do at all?

OR

• Online/Accessible/Distance-Learning/Rained Out Option: Wednesday, October 27, 2021. 12-1:30 pm (Central). Zoom.
  ZOOM conversation comparing an abstract and “realistic” painting and considering the questions above but with a more conscious focus on the formal analysis process. (Formal analysis will be addressed more extensively in our #8 class.)

Lecture Topics, Class-By-Class

*Specific subject matter focus, artwork, and artists subject to change

PART TWO: 20th CENTURY & EARLY MOVES INTO COMPLETE ABSTRACTION

#5 Lecture: Expressionism and the “Spiritual in Art”

WEDNESDAY, november 10, 2021. 12-1:30 PM (CENTRAL). ZOOM.

A selection of possible artists considered: Wassily Kandinsky, Paula Modersohn-Becker, Ernst Kirchner, Käthe Kollwitz, Edvard Munch

#6 Lecture: The Role of Chance in Dada, Surrealism and Early Abstract Expressionism

Wednesday, November 17, 2021. 12-1:30 pm (Central). Zoom.

A selection of possible artists considered: Marcel Duchamp, Man Ray, Arshile Gorky, Jackson Pollock, Lee Krasner

#7 Lecture: Comparing the Square in De Stilj, Suprematism, Minimalism, and More

Wednesday, December 1, 2021. 12-1:30 pm (Central). Zoom.

A selection of possible artists considered: Kazamir Malevich, Olga Vladimirova Rozanova, Piet Mondrian, Josef Albers, Donald Judd

#8 ART LAB: Shaping Your Own Interpretation

Wednesday, December 8, 2021. 12-1:30 pm (Central). Zoom.

Level up your skills with this Art Lab created for the novice and connoisseur alike! After an introductory lecture, students will practice a foundational skill for visual art interpretation: formal analysis. This tool is the key to developing a nuanced interpretation of any visual work, especially abstract art. We’ll begin the formal analysis process on at least one modern abstract artwork and exercise this skill in real time as a class and in small groups. (Students will also have an optional opportunity to prepare ahead of time.)

Course Schedule, Format & Pricing

Schedule

Classes are 1.5 hrs. each and held over Zoom on Wednesdays from 12:00-1:30 pm (Central).
Exception: Outdoor, in-person Art Lab option on Saturday, October 23rd, 10:30 am-12:00 pm (Central).

• Part One: The 19th Century’s Many Paths to Abstract Art (Romanticism to Post-Impressionism/Rodin)

  Three, live Zoom Lectures: Wednesdays, 12:00-1:30 pm (Central), 10/6, 10/13, 10/20
  + Art Labs (10/23 & 10/27).

  Part-One-only subscribers may choose either of the following Art Lab options:

  1) Saturday, October 23, 2021. 10:30 am-12:00 pm (Central). In-Person, Outdoor.
  OR
  2) Wednesday, October 27, 2021. 12-1:30 pm (Central). Zoom.

  Full course subscribers are entitled to attend both 10/23/21 and 10/27/21 Art Labs, which differ in skill-building focus.

• Part Two: The 20th Century & Early Moves into Complete Abstraction (Expressionism to Abstract Expressionism)

  Three, live Zoom Lectures: Wednesdays, 12:00-1:30 pm (Central), 11/10/21, 11/17/21, 12/1/21
  + Art Lab (12/8/21).

Format

Primarily an interactive lecture course with small group discussions used to enhance content retention and to create a lively, participatory learning environment. Also includes a primarily experiential or hands-on new feature—Art Labs—designed to cultivate students’ visual interpretive skills and encourage students’ independence around art. With the exception of one optional, outdoor, in-person Art Lab, all classes will be conducted online via Zoom. Video recordings of the live classes will be posted weekly on the course’s private web page and made available to students. (The 10/23/21 in-person Art Lab will not be recorded.)

Pricing

• Any single course unit = 3 lectures + 1 Art Lab = 6 hrs. total = $179

• Full course = 6 lectures + 3 Art Labs (10/23/21 in-person/outdoor sculpture lab + 10/27/21 Zoom Art Lab + 12/8/21 Zoom Formal Analysis Art Lab) = 13.5 hrs. total = $349

Benefits Specific to this course

• Great value: College-level content & teaching for much less than the cost of a college course.

• Engaging & In Real Time: Live, interactive lectures that are not pre-recorded, plus in-person and experiential learning components.

• Community of Thoughtful Fellow Participants: Many of the students are curious, life-long learners just like you!

• Convenient & Accessible: Designed to fit into your workday over a long lunch; video recordings posted after each live lecture and available to students for the duration of the semester.