HUM 201 Module 1 & 2

Premodernism How did our culture become Modern?

Premodern Thought 4th Dimension Poincare New physics Imagists Cubism Futurist & Fauv Kandinsky Stravinsky

Premodernism• The primary way

of knowing is based upon revealed knowledge from authoritative sources

• Ultimate Truth could be known and the way to this knowledge is through direct revelation

• revelation was generally assumed to come from God or a supernatural force

Bernardo Strozzi (Italian, 1584-1644) Adoration of the Shepherds



Newton and Jefferson

1. What is the “American Philosophy” and how does this compare to the “American Dream”?

2. How does Newton’s understanding of authority change the perception of a God-anointed King?

3. How does this influence the Founding Fathers?

The Ancient of Days and Newton the Geometer, William Blake, 1794



The 4th Dimension1. What is the 4th

Dimension?2. How does Edwin

Abbott Abbott’s Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions (1884) teach us how to consider the 4th dimension?

3. What does the tesseract teach us about the transition to the modern period?

Henri Poincaré (1854 – 1912)



1. Einstein and Picasso both read Poincare’s treatise on the 4th dimension

2. Einstein sees space and time as a single dimension leading to relativity

3. Picasso represents all views at once leading to cubism

Afficionado by Pablo Picasso, 1912

4D in Science and Art



New physics 1. The macro and

micro change the world – understanding the expanse of the universe and quantum physics

2. How does this change our perspective?

3. How does this change meaning?



Imagists 1. The Imagists

favored precision of imagery and clear, sharp language

2. free verse and were devoted to “clarity of expression through the use of precise visual images”

3. How do the Imagists represent the transition to the Modern era?

Hilda Dolittle (HD), Ezra Pound, most influential movement in English poetry since the activity of the Pre-Raphaelites



Cubism1. objects are

analyzed, broken up and reassembled in an abstracted form

2. instead of depicting objects from a single viewpoint

3. the artist depicts the subject from a multitude of viewpoints to represent the subject in a greater context

Pablo Picasso, Les Demoiselles d'Avignon, 1907Pablo Picasso, 1910, Girl with a Mandolin (Fanny Tellier)



Futurism and Fauvism

1. Fauvists: emphasized painterly qualities and strong color over the representational or realistic values retained by Impressionism

2. Futurism: artistic and social movement that originated in Italy in the early 20th century

3. emphasized speed, technology, youth, and violence, and objects such as the car, the aeroplane, and the industrial city

Henri Matisse. Woman with a Hat, 1905Umberto Boccioni, sketch of The City Rises (1910)Giacomo Balla, Abstract Speed + Sound, 1913–1914



Wassily Kandinsky

1. What is pure abstraction?

2. How does Kandinsky use art to explore spiritualism?

3. How is the artist the forerunner of society – moving a culture from one era to the next?

Wassilyevich Kandinsk, 1866 – 1944



Stravinsky

1. “It began with a bassoon and ended in a brawl”

2. debuted The Rite of Spring before a packed theater in Paris, with a ballet performance that would go down as one of the most important — and violent — in modern history

Igor Stravinsky, Russian-born composer, pianist, and conductor; widely considered one of the most important /influential composers of the 20th century

Art & Photos

HUM 201 Module 1 & 2