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Semester 2

Europe 1900: Nationalism and Decadence at the Fin-De-Siecle (HIAR10029)

Course Website

http://www.arts.ed.ac.uk/fineart

Subject

History of Art

College

CAHSS

Credits

20

Normal Year Taken

3

Delivery Session Year

2023/2024

Pre-requisites

Visiting students must have completed 3 History of Art courses at grade B or above, and please note that we will not consider History courses unrelated to Art, or practical Art courses, towards these pre-requisites. We will only consider University/College level courses. Please see Additional Restrictions below.

Course Summary

The course will cover the period c.1885-1910. This is an exciting field with an increasingly challenging bibliography. The course deals with a wide variety of media - painting, drawings, prints, posters, sculpture, and to a certain extent the decorative arts - in a variety of primarily western European countries, including France, Spain, Belgium, The Netherlands, Germany, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Switzerland, and Austria-Hungary. This range introduces art in unfamiliar countries and by little known artists. The course is organised around themes. Nationalism, internationalism, and regionalism are considered as rivals and counterparts; the notions of centres (e.g. Paris) and peripheries (e.g. Switzerland and Scandinavia, via Hodler, Gallen-Kallela, and Hammershoi) is also considered. Different nations' rivalries over the classical tradition is a key area (Puvis de Chavannes, Gustave Moreau, Cezanne, Von Stuck). Public health and its counterpoint, decadence (Toulouse-Lautrec, De Feure), is dealt with, particularly with reference to the social Darwinism which was such a prevalent contemporary discourse. Both these themes link with notions of city and country, the former growing and becoming dangerous (Kollwitz), the latter seen increasingly as a repository of nostalgic values (Zorn). Spirituality was widely acknowledged to be a fin-de-sicle concern, and this is considered not only in relation to explicitly Christian art (Corinth, Maurice Denis) but also to Theosophy (Mondrian, Kandinsky, Kupka), which encouraged artists to find new expression in abstraction. Music is also considered, as an 'abstract' form capable of expressing deep emotion and also a vehicle for nationalism (Klinger, Klimt). Finally, the course plays off artist's fascination with modernity and its articulation as anxiety (Ensor, Munch, Spilliaert).

Course Description

Assessment Information

Written Exam 50%, Coursework 50%, Practical Exam 0%

Additional Restrictions

Unless you are nominated on a History of Art exchange agreement, visiting students are only permitted to enrol in one 3rd year History of Art course each, per semester, before the start of the relevant semester’s welcome period – and spaces on each course are limited so cannot be guaranteed for any student. Enrolment in a second course from this group will depend on whether there are still spaces available in the January Welcome Period, and cannot be guaranteed. It is NOT appropriate for students to contact staff within this subject area to ask for an exception to be made; all enquiries to enrol in these courses must be made through the CAHSS Visiting Student Office. This is due to the extremely limited number of spaces available in this very popular subject area.

view the timetable and further details for this course