Modern Sculpture

This course charts the history and theory of modern sculpture from the 1870s to the 1970s as it tacked between two poles, the monument and the commodity. While our focus is European and American art, we examine how sculptures, artifacts, and objects made outside these regions expanded the terms of sculpture and challenged its claim to modernity. Topics include intersections of sculpture and modern technologies; the display and circulation of modern sculpture; the material turn in art historical scholarship; sculptural representations of race and nation. This seminar engages significantly with Yale art collections.