Modern Art ARTH 2210
Homework assignment – Critical thinking
E-mail papers not accepted. Late papers may be downgraded.
Read the Chave article online. Answer each question with a minimum of 2-4 sentences.
Anna C. Chave, “New Encounters with Les Demoiselles d’Avignon: Gender, Race, and the Origins of Cubism”, The Art Bulletin, Vol. 76, No. 4 (Dec. 1994), pp. 596-611 https://www.jstor.org/stable/3046058
| 1. | How does Chave describe the content/narrative of the painting in literal, minimalist terms?
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| 2. | The author’s objective in the article is to explore the painting from, as it were, unconventional perspectives. What unanticipated viewer does she have in mind?
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| 3. | What metaphor or image is most prominent as the women in the painting present themselves on offer?
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| 4. | According to Chave, what is the prototypical male response to the picture and its nude demoiselles?
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| 5. | In what terms does the author describe the pictorial space in the context of the evolution of modern art?
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| 6. | How does Chave handle the relation of the more European-looking figures to two figures in African inspired masks?
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| 7. | What are the conventional, typical hallmarks of prostitutes in Western culture, according to Chave?
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| 8. | How does Picasso change his style from the flagrant, raw nudity, “barbaric” impulses and conspicuous African elements of Les Demoiselles?
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| 9. | What makes Chave lean toward reading Les Demoiselles as a giant cartoon? What does she see as comical in the images and especially in its narrative?
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| 10. | Why does the author call Les Demoiselles “the most apotropaic of all modern images”?
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| 11. | Critical thinking. Summarize the author’s argument/theme concisely and evaluate its success.
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Modern Art ARTH 2210