20th Century Art History
Art 263-01
Professor Joanna Inglot
'When Professor Joanna Inglot suggested that we go to New York for our 20th
Century art history final, we really couldnıt believe she was serious. But she
was, and from Friday December 8 through Sunday December 10 we went museum hopping
in New York City. After a quick tourist overview on Friday night visiting Times
Square and Rockefeller Center, we threw ourselves into the museums. We started
Saturday with our final: walking around the Museum of Modern Art, we saw and
discussed works by artists we had studied in class. Marc Chagall, Rene Magritte,
Meret Oppenheim, Marcel Duchamp, Jackson Pollock, Eva Hesse... It was amazing
how much we knew and recognized after a semester of lectures and discussions!
And the art meant so much more to us seeing it in person- there is something
about a slide that canıt convey the power and magnitude of a Jackson Pollock
painting or the spirituality of a Constantin Brancusi sculpture. Later that
day we visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where we saw even more of the
works we studied as well as their precursors such as Degas, Cassatt, and Renoir.
We spent the evening in Soho, getting a feel for the galleries where working
artists' work is on display. Suddenly it was Sunday, and we had our last museum
visit to the Guggenheim, where we wound our way up the spiral gallery recognizing
Picassos, Braques and Kandiskys Studying art means so much more when it is
in context. Of course the museums themselves show artıs context in how they
are curated, but New York itself is an amazing environment in itself having
been the center of the western art world for a large part of the 20th century.
New York City and its museums made the art we have studied come alive in a new
way, and made us appreciate art history even more. Not a bad way to take a final.
' Raina Fox Class of 2008 Art History, Humanities and Cultural Studies

20th Century Art class with Prof. Inglot in the NYC metro, December 2006.

Prof. Inglot and 20th Century Art class at MoMA, NYC, Dec. 2006, (One: Number
31, 1950, by Jackson Pollock)
Debating Duchamp at MoMA
Dinner at Carly's parents' home.