Masaryk University

Faculty of Arts

Department of Art History

Autumn Semester 2021



                  Art after the End of Art: Postmodernism in the 1970s and 1980s


                                      Code: DU2367 Credits: 4


                                          Essay Questions


For this course will be assessed on the basis of an essay of 7-10 pages on one of a list of set
questions.

The submission deadline for the essay is Monday 10 January 2022. The essay must be written in
English. You are asked to answer one of the following:


1.              What do you understand by Arthur Danto’s idea of the ‘end of art’? How accurate is
it as a description of art in the 1970s and 1980s?

2.              In what ways did the art of the 1970s and after challenge traditional categories
used for describing and interpreting art?

3.              What made post-modern art ‘post-modern’?

4.              Write a critical analysis of the role of memory and history in the work of 2 or 3
artists of architects working in the period covered by this course.

5.              Is there anything to learn from Las Vegas? If so, what are the lessons?

6.              Choosing the work of 2 or 3 artists, describe how traditional ideas of gender,
sexuality or ethnic identity have been challenged in art since the early 1970s.

7.              This course has mostly been concerned with the art and architecture of western
Europe. How relevant is it when considering art and architecture in Czechoslovakia of the same
period? Is it meaningful to talk of post-modernism in socialist Czechoslovakia?

8.              Devise a topic of your own on a theme related to the course. Before you commit
yourself to it, please check with me for approval first.


Essays will be assessed using the following criteria:


1.              Research – is the essay well researched and does it use appropriate primary and
secondary sources?

2.              Visual analysis – does the essay undertake appropriate detailed analysis of visual
source material? Does this go beyond description and identification and include interpretation (in
keeping with one or other method)?

3.              Textual analysis – does the essay undertake an appropriate critical appraisal of
the written primary and secondary source material?

4.              Argument – does the essay present a clearly constructed argument, with a
conclusion? Is the argument supported by examples and evidence?

5.              Relevance – are the material selected and the arguments used relevant to the topic
of the essay question and to the course as a whole?

6.              Language – is the essay written in clear and correct English?


Essays will be assessed as a simple pass / fail.