Modern Art and Mass Culture
MIT OpenCourseWare offers this introduction to modern art and the theories of modernism and postmodernism, focusing on how artists exploit the tension between fine art and mass culture to critique both. The course examines paintings, sculpture, architecture, photography, prints, performance, and video alongside advertising, caricature, comics, graffiti, television, fashion, folk art, and so-called primitive art. Materials include the full syllabus, weekly readings, lecture notes, and assignments as published by MIT's Department of Architecture. The course traces how artists borrowed from and pushed back against commercial imagery, treating mass culture not as a background to art history but as one of its central subjects. No certificate is offered, but all course materials are free to access under MIT's open license.