In your midterm paper, select one artist from the first half of the twentieth century and discuss his/her work in the context of Modernism. You are welcome to choose a Western, non-Western, or Chinese artist but you have to position their work in comparison to Modernism
“Modernism” means much more than simply something “new”. It is a complex philosophical movement linked to rising technology, industrialization, urbanism, world dominance of white male Euro-americans, science, abstraction, etc.,etc.. Look up more background information since your textbook provides very little.
The article about Clement Greenberg. Greenberg was an influential art critic whose views and arguments contributed strongly to defining “Modernism” in the context of Western Fine Art. Greenberg favored abstraction as a purified and universal form of representation which would transcend specific spatial and historical contexts.
The Introduction to Inside Modernity by Harney and Phillips which critically re-evaluates Western Modernism from the perspective of non-Western artists.
