Art Final Exam

General directions for the exam:  Discuss any work of art that you think is relevant to the question.  You are not restricted to the works of art in the slide:  those are just there as a prompt.  Refer to your notes, to the text, and to the content in your elearn site as needed.  Do not plagiarize!  Changing a few words in somebody else’s sentence is still plagiarism.  Use your own words!  You may use up to three quotes for the entire exam.  If you must quote, put the quote in quotation marks and put the source of the quote in parentheses.  Plagiarism will result in a zero for the exam.  Due Dec 7 at 11:30 pm.

1. During the Renaissance in Europe, a new humanism influenced the way in which artists represented the world and humans in the world. Discuss the evidence for this new humanism in the painting and sculpture of Europe, and explain how it differed from medieval representations of humans in space. What inventions and new understandings led artists to develop this new style? Who were the most important artists of the Italian Renaissance?

2. In the 19^th century in France, a series of movements in painting moved painting away from Renaissance illusionism toward a more modernist style of painting. Explain these 19^th century movements and how they changed representation and moved painting further toward abstraction.

3. In the early decades of the 20^th century, there were two main “strands” of advanced modernist painting in Europe. Explain these two main styles how they differed, and who their main practitioners were.

4. After World War I, a different kind of modernism arose in cities around the world, in response to the war. Explain what these two styles of art were, and who the artists were that invented and used these styles.  How did these styles influence artists of the postmodern era?

5. Explain how, after World War II, American artists created a new kind of artistic practice distinct from European modernism.

6. In the 1970s artists began to question the rules of modernism. Discuss the new genres and themes of postmodernist art practice. Explain how postmodernist art diverged from and contested modernism.

7. Read this excerpt from an article in The New York Times and then write a short essay based on the questions following the article.

            Kehinde Wiley’s Times Square Monument: That’s No Robert E. Lee

The sculpture, of an African-American man in streetwear and mounted on a horse, was unveiled Friday and will eventually move to Richmond, Va., home to a number             of Confederate memorials.

“Rumors of War,” Mr. Wiley’s largest sculpture to date at a towering 27 feet high and          16 feet wide, was inspired by the heroic, equestrian statues of Confederate generals            in Richmond, Va., that line its famous Monument Avenue. After the sculpture leaves   Times Square in December, it will be permanently installed in Richmond.

“Today,” he said, “we say yes to something that looks like us. We say yes to   inclusivity. We say yes to broader notions of what it means to be an American.”

In 2017, after white nationalists in Charlottesville, Va. — protesting the planned       removal of a Robert E. Lee statue there — ignited a deadly melee that sent shock    waves throughout the country, Mr. Wiley redoubled his commitment to what             became “Rumors of War.”—Reggie Ugwu

What do you think the sculpture might represent or symbolize? What could its title, “Rumors of War,” mean?

Next, consider some of the decisions the artist made: the figure’s facial expression, his clothing, the fact that he is on horseback, the size of the sculpture along with the base it sits on, its title, the colors, materials used and anything else you notice.

Now consider the sculpture’s original placement in Times Square in New York City. Why do you think it’s there?  On December 10, the sculpture was moved to Richmond, VA.  How will its placement there change its meaning?

Finally, read the headline of the featured article. Do you recognize the name Robert E. Lee? What might the headline writer be suggesting by saying the work is “not Robert E. Lee”? What about the choice of “monument” over “statue” or “sculpture”?

To what degree, if at all, do you think it’s possible for a work of art to accomplish something like changing a conversation in the larger culture or the world at large? Explain.