The period 1900–1940 is marked by two world wars and technological, industrial, political, and social transformations that unfold and intersect, fundamentally altering the relationship with the world. It is also a period of artistic upheavals and renewals in form and thought that continue to shape current definitions of art in its broadest sense and inform contemporary artistic practices.
From Auguste Rodin's 1900 exhibition to Marcel Duchamp's ready-mades, from chronophotography to the Italian futurists, from Dada to surrealism, passing through cubism, constructivism, or Russian suprematism, from figuration to abstraction, this lecture course situates European artistic movements and certain singular figures within their historical contexts. It emphasizes convergences and ruptures and is grounded in major works and events that mark the construction of modernity. It also presents the various receptions of these creations both in their time and beyond.
This panorama, which cannot be exhaustive, offers the clearest possible view of a segment of art history. It provides the foundational tools to explore specific questions and to begin a critical analysis of the narrative of modernity as it has been written and continues to be questioned and challenged.