Literature and the visual arts

Part 1 : Art in the USA since 1945 (Véronique Béghain)

The aim of this course is to introduce students to American art and artists, with a focus on the second half of the 20th century. It will include a survey of American art from Abstract Expressionism to Land Art, through Minimalism, Conceptual Art, Pop Art, Graffiti Art, Hyperrealism, Body Art. The course will highlight the interplay between artistic practices and discourses. It will bring to the fore the textual dimension or discursive component in a selection of postwar American artistic practices and artworks while examining the status of commentaries in their relationship to the artwork, be they statements by artists or by other commentators (reviewers, critics, writers, scholars). It will be particularly useful to students who consider preparing for the CAPES and agrégation externe, which include examinations relying on a comparative study of texts and images.

Part 2 : The Ekphrastic Poetry of Dante Gabriel Rossetti (Béatrice Laurent)

The main focus will be on Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882), the leading figure of the
Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, particularly on some of his most significant double works. Close reading will also be essential in showing the fruitful relations between art and poetry in the
Victorian Age.

Session 1 :

Étudiants régimes général et spécial  : examen écrit en 3h – commentaire de document(s) ou dissertation

Session 2 (« rattrapage ») :

Étudiants régime général et régime spécial : oral de 15 mn (préparation 1h) – document(s) à commenter

Organisation des enseignements

1h CM et 1h30 TD

Part 1 : Art in the USA since 1945 (Véronique Béghain)

Ouvrages au programme :

Les supports de cours et de TD seront déposés sur la plateforme e-campus.

Bibliographie complémentaire :

• Bosseur, Jean-Yves. Vocabulaire des arts plastiques du XX^e siècle. Paris : Minerve, 2008.
• Collectif. L’art peut-il se passer de commentaire(s) ? Vitry-sur-Seine : MAC/VAL, 2006.
• Goliot-Lété et al. Dictionnaire de l’image. Paris : Vuibert, 2006.
• Guilbaut, Serge. Comment New York vola l’idée d’art moderne. Nîmes : Ed. J. Chambon, 1996.
• Heller, Nancy G.. Why a Painting Is Like a Pizza. A Guide to Understanding and Enjoying Modern Art. Princeton and Oxford : Princeton University Press, 2002.
• Jimenez, Marc. La querelle de l’art contemporain. Paris : Gallimard (Folio Essais), 2005.
• Johnson, Ellen H.. American Artists on Art from 1940 to 1980. New York : Harper & Row, 1982.
• Manolescu, Monica. Cartographies of New York and Other Postwar American Cities. Art, Literature and Urban Spaces. New York : Palgrave Macmillan, 2018.
• Mitchell, W. J. T.. Iconology. Image, Text, Ideology. Chicago : The University of Chicago Press, 1986.

Part 2 : The Ekphrastic Poetry of Dante Gabriel Rossetti (Béatrice Laurent)

Ouvrages au programme :

Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Collected Writings, edited by Jan Marsh, London, J.M. Dent, 1999. Also available at http://www.rossettiarchive.org/racs/doubleworks.rac.html.

Bibliographie complémentaire :

• Keane, Robert N., “Ut Pictura Poesis: Rossetti and Morris: Painting into Poetry.” Journal of Pre-Raphaelite Studies, 7,2, 1987, 74-79.
• McGann, Jerome, “The poetry of Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882)”, in Elizabeth Prettejohn, The Cambridge Companion to the Pre-Raphaelites, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2012, pp. 89-116.
• Mitchell, W.J.T. “Ekphrasis and the Other”, in ID., Picture Theory: Essays on Verbal and Visual Representation, Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 1994, pp. 149-180.