Modernism, Postmodernism and After
W1 Essay 1 (Introductory Topic)
• Write a critical, contextual analysis of a single artwork made after 1945 by a
significant modern or contemporary artist of your choosing.
W2 Essay 2 (Week 1 Topic)
• Compare and contrast Clement Greenberg and Harold Rosenberg's account of
American abstract painting (making reference to at least three different artists).
• "It seems to me that the modern painter cannot express this age, the airplane, the
atom bomb, the radio, in the old forms of the renaissance or of any other past culture.
Each age finds its own technique." – Jackson Pollock. Discuss.
• Analyse the development of Clement Greenberg's account of Modernist painting.
• Compare and contrast Barnett Newman and Jackson Pollock's painting.
W3 Essay 3 (Week 2 Topic)
• Analyse the cultural politics of Pop art. You should make reference to at least two of
the following three social contexts: European; British; American.
• Gene Swenson: "Is that what Pop art is all about."
Andy Warhol: "Yes. It's liking things."
Discuss the significance of affirmation in Warhol's work.
• Is Pop art a form of cynical realism? Examine both sides of the argument.
• "English Pop Art does not possess the density and rigour of New York Pop Art."
— Lawrence Alloway. Discuss, comparing and contrasting the work of at least one American and
one English Pop artist.
W4 Essay 4 (Week 3 Topic)
• Compare and contrast Donald Judd and Robert Morris accounts of what is at stake in
the new three-dimensional work of the 1960s.
• "The continuing infiltration of Good Design into what purports to be advanced and
highbrow art now depresses sculpture as it does painting."— Clement Greenberg,
"Recentness of Sculpture" (1967). Discuss.
• Is there any merit to the term "Minimalism"? Develop your own position on this issue.
• Give a critical account of Minimal art's relation to industrial technology. Reference the
work of at least three artists.
Modernism, Postmodernism and After | Michaelmas Term 2013 | Dr Luke Skrebowski
W1 Essay 1 (Introductory Topic)
• Write a critical, contextual analysis of a single artwork made after 1945 by a
significant modern or contemporary artist of your choosing.
W2 Essay 2 (Week 1 Topic)
• Compare and contrast Clement Greenberg and Harold Rosenberg's account of
American abstract painting (making reference to at least three different artists).
• "It seems to me that the modern painter cannot express this age, the airplane, the
atom bomb, the radio, in the old forms of the renaissance or of any other past culture.
Each age finds its own technique." – Jackson Pollock. Discuss.
• Analyse the development of Clement Greenberg's account of Modernist painting.
• Compare and contrast Barnett Newman and Jackson Pollock's painting.
W3 Essay 3 (Week 2 Topic)
• Analyse the cultural politics of Pop art. You should make reference to at least two of
the following three social contexts: European; British; American.
• Gene Swenson: "Is that what Pop art is all about."
Andy Warhol: "Yes. It's liking things."
Discuss the significance of affirmation in Warhol's work.
• Is Pop art a form of cynical realism? Examine both sides of the argument.
• "English Pop Art does not possess the density and rigour of New York Pop Art."
— Lawrence Alloway. Discuss, comparing and contrasting the work of at least one American and
one English Pop artist.
W4 Essay 4 (Week 3 Topic)
• Compare and contrast Donald Judd and Robert Morris accounts of what is at stake in
the new three-dimensional work of the 1960s.
• "The continuing infiltration of Good Design into what purports to be advanced and
highbrow art now depresses sculpture as it does painting."— Clement Greenberg,
"Recentness of Sculpture" (1967). Discuss.
• Is there any merit to the term "Minimalism"? Develop your own position on this issue.
• Give a critical account of Minimal art's relation to industrial technology. Reference the
work of at least three artists.
Modernism, Postmodernism and After | Michaelmas Term 2013 | Dr Luke Skrebowski
