Programme

The course will discuss, through reflection on specific avant-gardes of the early twentieth century, the relationship possibilities between artists from different European regions, especially Italy and the Balkans. We will proceed from Futurism to New Plastic, as germinal moments of a network whose joints go from West to East, then move on to the Constructivism that from East has gone to West. Furthermore, a central hub will be the reflection on the role of the Bauhaus, as an intersection point between the two geographical areas. The aim is to highlight some of the features of continuity that emerged in the avant-gardes of the first half of the Twentieth century.

Core Documentation

Van Doesburg & The International Avant-garde. Constructing a New World, edited by Gladys Fabre, Doris Wintgens Hötte, exhib. catalogue, Leiden: Stedelijk Museum De Lakenhal, 20 October 2009 – 3 January 2010/London: Tate Modern, 4 February – 16 May 2010, Tate Publishing, London, 2009.

Between worlds: a sourcebook of central european avant-gardes, 1910-1930, edited by Timothy O. Benson, Éva Forgàcs, The MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachussets and London, 2002.

During the lessons, further bibliographical indications will be provided.
For non-attending students, an individual program will be evaluated.

Type of delivery of the course

The course will base on lectures as well as workshop groups, where some of the study cases shown in the lessons will be accurately analyzed, always applying a comparative method. The reference textbooks will allow students to have a vast iconography of the visual landscape and therefore offer the first orientation to understand the art of Eastern Europe.

Type of evaluation

Knowledge of the history of contemporary art in the period considered.