J. Meyer ARTH 492 Contemporary Art
ESSAY STUDY QUESTIONS FOR TEST #1
Please note: Only two of the three questions below will appear as choices on the upcoming exam. You will be asked to write on only one from those two.
1. One of the most significant American critics to formulate a concept of what defined “Modern Art” in the mid-20th century was Clement Greenberg. Discuss and summarize the individual contributions of Jackson Pollock, Barnett Newman, Helen Frankenthaler, Morris Louis, Frank Stella, and Agnes Martin to evolving American Modernism, defining and applying the terminology and descriptive terms used by Greenberg and other critics to these artists in the period from the early 1950s through the decade of the '60s. Mention specific paintings, time periods, and techniques where appropriate and include also references to the types of content the artists may themselves have emphasized as aspects of their work, perhaps outside of the qualities thought important by Greenberg.
2. Discuss the use of images, content, and techniques found in the paintings and constructions of David Hockney, Robert Rauschenberg, Jasper Johns, Roy Lichtenstein, and Andy Warhol in the larger context of Pop Art in the period from the mid-1950s through the 1960s. Are there similarities in the various work of these three artists? What are some of the differences, and how do these artists relate to the larger definition of Pop Art? Include references to influences and mention specific works as examples where you can.
3. Discuss the evolution of Structuralist and Minimalist sculpture in the decade of the 1960s by contrasting and comparing the work of David Smith, Mark di Suvero, Anthony Caro, Robert Morris, and Donald Judd. To which of these five artists does the term Minimalism best apply? How would you characterize the work of those artists where the term Minimalism does not seem to fit and where the term Structuralist is more appropriate? Mention specific works, techniques, influences, and chronology where you can.
Arth 492/essay1e