302 - Art History

1. Avenue de Gobelins Albumen Print, 1925, Paris. Eugene Atget was attempting to document the city of Paris through photographs. Later his work was discovered by the Surrealists who felt he had captured an otherworldly sense of time and place through his use of reflected glass as a kind of double exposure.

2. Laughing Mannequins Photographic Print, 1932, Mexico. Another photographer championed by the Surrealists, Manuel Bravo depicts mannequins in an outdoor market as a representation of humanity that juxtaposes the false with the real. Like the Cubists and their study of African art, the Surrealists looked to Mexican art for inspiration.

3. Bicycle Wheel Wood and Metal, 1913, New York. The first of Marcel Duchamp's ready-mades or assisted ready-mades, the bicycle wheel mounted onto a wooden stool is a prime example of the Dada movement. Dada attempted to free itself from the contamination of academic "Art" while being playful, clever and intentionally provocative.

4. Storm King Wall Fieldstone, 1998, New York. Andy Goldsworthy uses natural elements in natural environments, such as this meandering New England style stone wall to pay with the notion of purpose. If the wall is not intended to divide property, what exactly is its function?

5. The Old Man's Boat and the Old Man's Dog Oil on Canvas, 1982, New York. A critique of the upper middle class done in a neo-expressionist style, Eric Fischl exposes the seedier side of the upper classes (alcoholism, voyeurism) though physical and psychological nakedness.