Course Description

The world we live in today is full of ideas, beliefs, and social systems that are distinctly modern. But what is “modernity”? How did we get here? And why is modernity disintegrating today? This course examines art’s role in the rise and spread of modernity, from its 18th-century origins in western civilization to its global predominance today. We will study art in relation to multiple aspects of modernity – including philosophy, economics, politics, psychology, science, technology, and media – and explore how art has supported, facilitated, resisted, and critiqued these systems of thought and behavior. While focusing on western art, the course draws links with modern art in Asia and helps illuminate contemporary modes of visual communication that now permeate the globe. Students will discover a rich range of remarkable artworks in a variety of media; develop proficiency in visual analysis and interpretation; and gain a broad historical understanding of modernity and modern art. Issues related to gender, race, class, and sexual orientation are discussed throughout the course.

Course Learning Outcomes

On completing the course, students will be able to:

1. Outline major artists and artistic themes in the development of modern art.
2. Interpret modern and contemporary works of art in relation to various social, economic, and ideological aspects of modernity.
3. Describe and analyze the visual effects of modern and contemporary art.
4. Analyze and interpret works of art in written form.
5. Apply knowledge from the course to students’ own life and experience in Hong Kong or elsewhere.

Offer Semester and Day of Teaching

Second semester (Wed)

Study Load

Assessment: 100% coursework

Required Reading

All readings are short and highly focused, with a maximum of 20 pages in total per week. Readings include brief writings or interviews by artists or art critics (including some video interviews); brief readings from art historians or art critics to provide historical context and critical ideas; and excerpts from interdisciplinary readings in history, philosophy, science, and psychology.

Reading list from 2025-26:

Week 1

• Giddens, A. (1991). Modernity and Self-Identity: Self and Society in the Late Modern Age. In F. Frascina & J. Harris (Eds.), Art in Modern Culture: An Anthology of Critical Texts (IconEditions, 1992) (pp. 17-22). [pp. 17-20]
• Stokstad, M. (2008). Art History: A View of the West (3rd ed.). Pierson Prentice Hall. [pp. 680-681]

Week 2

• Crow, T. E. (1985). Painters and Public Life in Eighteenth-Century Paris. Yale University Press. [pp. 104-105]
• Diderot, D. (2000). The Salon of 1763. In C. Harrison, et. al. (Eds.), Art in Theory, 1648-1815: An Anthology of Changing Ideas. Blackwell. [pp. 604-605]
• Habermas, J. (1989). The Public Sphere. Jürgen Habermas on Society and Politics: A Reader. Beacon Press. [pp. 231-233]

Week 3

• Hall, S. (2013). The Work of Representation. In S. Hall, et. al., Representation (2nd ed.). Sage. [pp. xvii-xix; xxv-xxvi]
• Kunst, E. (n. d.). The Nazis’ inventory of ‘degenerate art’. [An article on the website of the Victoria & Albert Museum in London] [Excerpt PDF pp. 1-9]
• October (Association of Artistic Labour). (1993). ‘Declaration’ 1928. In C. Harrison & P. Wood (Eds.), Art in Theory, 1900-1990. Blackwell. [pp. 465-466]
• Rousseau, J. -J. (1762). On the Social Contract. Amsterdam. [Online version from earlymoderntexts.com] [pp. 6-7]

Week 4

• Eitner, L. (Ed.). (1989). Neoclassicism and Romanticism, 1750-1850: An Anthology of Sources and Documents. Harper & Row. [pp. 122-123, 144-145, 264-266, 291-292]
• Schenk, H. G. (1966). The Mind of the European Romantics: An Essay in Cultural History. Oxford University Press. [pp. 3-8]
• Stokstad, M. (2008). Art History: A View of the West (3rd ed.). Pierson Prentice Hall. [pp. 857-860 & 871-873]
• The Complete Letters of Vincent Van Gogh (3rd ed., vol. 3). (2000). Bulfinch Press. [pp. 86-87]

Week 5

• Christie’s Auction House. A Moment of Stillness: Edward Hopper’s ‘Chop Suey’. From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-GtGnFwg-Q [2.5-minute video]
• Chu, P. t. -D. (2012). Nineteenth-Century European Art (3rd ed.). Prentice Hall. [pp. 385-387]
• Nochlin, L. (1977). Realism. Penguin Books. [pp. 28-34]
• Nochlin, L. (Ed.). (1966). Realism and Tradition in Art, 1848-1900: Sources and Documents. Prentice Hall. [Gustave Courbet, writings of 1855 and 1861 (pp. 33-36)]
• Smarthistory. Jacob Lawrence, The Migration Series (short version). From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLC8xRNcJvE [5-minute video]
• The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Diane Arbus: In the Beginning, Photography. From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3ScB85Gm8g [1.5-minute video]
• Wilkins, D. G., et. al. (2009). Art Past Art Present (6th ed.). Pearson Prentice Hall. [pp. 472-477]

Week 6

• Clunas, C. (1997). Art in China. Oxford University Press. [pp. 199-209]
• Mitter, P. (2001). Indian Art. Oxford University Press. [pp. 171-177]
• Stanley-Baker, J. (2000). Japanese Art (2nd ed.). Thames & Hudson. [pp. 188-197]
• Tagore, R. (1917). Nationalism. Macmillan and Co. [pp. 49-50]

Week 7

• Boccioni, U., et al. (1910). Manifesto of the Futurist Painters. In U. Apollonio (Ed.), Futurist Manifestos. Thames & Hudson. [pp. 24-27]
• Einstein, A. (1961). Relativity: The Special and the General Theory (15th ed., trans. Robert W. Lawson). Bonanza Books. (Originally 1916) [pp. 113-114] 
• H. B. Chipp (Ed.). (1968). Theories of Modern Art: A Source Book by Artists and Critics. University of California Press. [Statements by Georges Braque and Pablo Picasso (pp. 259-260 & 263-264)]
• Hughes, R. (1991). The Shock of the New: Art and the Century of Change (New ed.). Thames & Hudson. [pp. 15-17].
• Hutson, J., et al. (2024). Creative Convergence: The AI Renaissance in Art and Design. Springer. [pp. 1-5].
• Stokstad, M. (2008). Art History: A View of the West (3rd ed.). Pierson Prentice Hall. [pp. 814-824].

Week 8

• Chipp, H. B. (Ed.). (1968). Theories of Modern Art: A Source Book by Artists and Critics. University of California Press. [pp. 132, 135, 321-322, 341, 548-549].
• Hughes, R. (1991). The Shock of the New: Art and the Century of Change (New ed.). Thames & Hudson. [pp. 310-314]
• Kandinsky, V. (1977). Concerning the Spiritual in Art, 1911. Dover. [pp. 24-26]
• Stokstad, M. (2008). Art History: A View of the West (3rd ed.). Pierson Prentice Hall. [pp. 804-814]

Week 9

• Frascina, F., & Harris, J. (1992). Art in Modern Culture: An Anthology of Critical Texts (Icon Editions). [Excerpt from “Capitalism, Modernism and Postmodernism” (pp. 92-93)] 
• Stiles, K., & Selz, P. (Eds.). (1996). Theories and Documents of Contemporary Art: A Sourcebook of Artists’ Writings. University of California Press. [Statements by Pop artist Andy Warhol (pp. 340-343)]
• Stokstad, M. (2008). Art History: A View of the West (3rd ed.). Pierson Prentice Hall. [pp. 888-892]

Course Co-ordinator and Teacher(s)