Six weeks ago I posted here about an on-line course designed by the Museum of Modern Art and offered through Coursera. The 8-week course, titled In the Studio: Post-War Abstract Painting, focused on the technical approaches of eight individual artists, what made their work distinctive, the trajectory of their careers and their place in that period of art history.
Initially I had no intention of pursuing the course. "Far too busy," I told myself. But since it was available at no cost, I decided to give it a try and was soon completely engaged. Each of the eight units required certain readings and viewing of videos, followed by a quiz, and I'm a sucker for that kind of structured learning. I found the material interesting, and it was presented in an effective variety of formats.
With the course nearing its end, I have now signed on to another of Coursera's free on-line offerings, though I haven't yet begun it. This one is called Modern Art & Ideas. It's a five week course, again designed by MOMA. The course proposes to explore modern art, not chronologically, but through four different themes:
- Places & Spaces
- Art & Identity
- Transforming Everyday Objects
- Art & Society
2 comments:
I signed up for the "In the Studio" course after reading about it on your blog, and found it very interesting. I liked that it focused on how the artists were tried to solve the basic problem of getting paint on canvas to create a unique, different, American art, as a challenge to European art. I have also signed up for the Modern Art and Ideas course!
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