MODERN ART IN Germany: Kandinksy to Kiefer

COURSE DESCRIPTION

Modern art in Germany has been at the forefront of western art throughout the 20th century, from the foundation of expressionist movements such as The Blue Rider and The Bridge, through Bauhaus and New Objectivity and onto the politically charged works of work of Beuys and Kiefer that have challenge attitudes towards a horrific past.

This four part course takes you in to German art in the 20th century. It begins with a focus on German expressionism and the works of Kandinsky, Münter, Marc and Kirchner, whose use of colour and gestural brushwork brought an internal and subjective world into public attention before WWI. We then follow the story of German art into the Weimar period, with the New Objectivist’s rejection of emotion and sentimentality in the portrayal of contemporary life. But the idea that art could transform society took a new direction in this period with the foundation of the Bauhaus, with its rationalist fusions of art and design.

Ultimately both movements would be suppressed by the Third Reich, whose legacy, including the division of Germany into two countries, continues to affect modern art in Germany. In the second part of the course we look at art in post war Germany. In the third session, we look at different artists’ responses to Nazism and its legacy, including the art of Kollowitz, Beuys and Kiefer. But the new situation German artists faced was equally influential - art in a communist east and a consumerist west. In the fourth session, we look at as Baselitz, Höfer, Womacka and Polke whose works engaged with these new modernities and vastly different experiences.

COURSE CONTENT

Session 1: Expressionism and the birth of modernism in Germany

Session 2: Weimar, New Objectivity and the Bauhaus

Session 3: The legacy of Nazism in the art of Kollowitz, Beuys and Kiefer

Session 4: Communism and Consumerism: art in 1960s and 1970s

LECTURER

Dr Nick Gordon is a cultural historian and artist with an encyclopedic knowledge of European and Australian art. His research on the Italian Middle Ages and Renaissance has won numerous academic scholarships and prizes (including a University of Sydney medal in History and a PhD). He has over fifteen years’ experience speaking about history and art history, from ancient to contemporary, to university and adult audiences, and regularly takes small groups to major modern and contemporary art events, including the Venice Biennale and Art Basel.

COURSE STRUCTURE

4 x 1.5 hour sessions Each session includes an interactive lecture and time for group discussion and analysis.

COURSE DATES

Tuesdays 10:00-11:30am

2 March 2021 | 9 March 2021 | 16 March 2021 | 23 March

REQUIREMENTS

This course does not require any assumed knowledge, only a willingness to learn and an interest in art. Sessions require access to ZOOM (which is free), a device with a camera (such as a tablet or computer with a webcam), and an internet connection.

BOOKING

Please note that all times are in Australian Eastern Daylight Time (UTC +11)