Who is the American artist? Though a tantalizing question even before 1776, at no time was this question so hotly debated as in the decades following the Civil War. As new technologies and ideologies transformed the political, economic and social fabric of the country, changes in the arts were equally as rapid and as dramatic, culminating in the introducation of abstraction after 1900. Indeed who was the American audience during an era of increased immigration? Did a person have to be born in the United States to be an "American" artist? Conversely, was the artist who lived out his or her career in a foreign country no longer "American"? And how might an artist's gender or ethnicity impact on his or her access to the art market? In this course, we shall seek to answer these questions by studying how some men and women involved in the visual arts in the United States responded to the rapid rate of change and diversity of new ideas to create what is commonly called "modern" art.
COURSE FORMAT: Lecture
Level: UG Credit: 1.00 Gen Ed Area & Dept: HA ART
Prerequisites: None
Last Updated on MAR-10-1997
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