Picasso's name has come to stand for "modern art." His paintings
are sought after for museum collections; his work commands multi-
million dollar prices; every detail of his life is a matter of
public interest; he has even been the subject of a recent movie
starring Anthony Hopkins!  His work exemplifies many
characteristic features of our twentieth-century imagination:
restlessness, intensity, emotional excess, self-assertion, and
self-revelation. Picasso also follows a typical twentieth-century
pattern in his desire to explore new forms of expression while
still keeping one foot still firmly planted in tradition.
This course will provide you with an opportunity to sample
various approaches to interpreting Picasso's art and to consider
how the legend of his "greatness" was formed. Despite his fame,
Picasso is still a controversial artist whose paintings challenge
our ideas of how art should look. Even the educated art lover may
well find certain aspects of Picasso's art "difficult." Others
may question his greatness. Therefore his work is a natural
starting point for discussing more general questions having to do
with twentieth-century art: What are the boundaries of art? What
purposes can it serve? What are the conditions (social, cultural,
personal) that shape a work of art? What sort of information is
useful to us in interpreting an artist's work?

Course Requirements: There will be two exams (mid-term and
final), two group projects (these may be done individually if
preferred), and a series of in-class writing assignments. For
more information on specific aspects of these course
requirements, please see the end of this syllabus.