Decades of Change: American Art and Culture 1950–70

About the Class

Art is a product of its time, and between 1950 and 1970, American art captured an era of rapid technological, political, and social change. The Cold War ignited powerful creative expression, fueling a culture of experimentation and improvisation—Jackson Pollock’s drips flowing to the same beat as Jack Kerouac’s poetry, Martha Graham’s choreography, and Charlie Parker’s jazz pieces.

This course explores how the Space Age, suburban expansion, and mass media inspired new styles like pop art. It also examines the influence of electronic-age theorists such as Marshall McLuhan and the ways the turbulent 1960s—marked by counterculture, Vietnam, and civil rights struggles—were vividly depicted in art and design. By the 1970s, bold experimentation with themes of identity and gender emerged against a backdrop of energy crises and societal shifts. This class reveals how art both shaped and responded to a transformative era of innovation, unrest, and cultural change in America.

The class is online-only. More about online classes.

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Barnes classes will:

• Sharpen your observational and critical thinking skills.
• Improve your ability to communicate about art.
• Deepen your appreciation for cultures and histories outside your own.

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What Our Students Say

“The instructor is a gifted individual who is able to [engage] with all different kinds of learners and motivate us to want to learn more, see more, and experience more. I would highly recommend any course by this instructor.” —Collection Concentration: Medieval Modern with Kaelin Jewell

“Martha Lucy knows how to balance her lecture with fact, excellent painting selections, and inclusion of the students.” —The Art and Life of Toulouse-Lautrec with Martha Lucy

“The best class to understand the elements of art. The instructor’s expertise and warmth, along with the excellent discussions with my classmates, made it a truly wonderful experience.” —The Elements of Art with William Perthes

“This class offered rich insight into Picasso and his contemporaries—the gallery scene, turn-of-the-century politics, Catalan culture, along with Picasso’s approach to composition and contemporary European culture. It was so informative.” —Picasso in Focus: New Discoveries at the Barnes with Christine Romano and Naina Saligram

“Caterina loves the material she presents and infuses all her classes—of which I have taken many—with that infectious enthusiasm.” —Rendez-vous au Café: Café Culture in 19th-Century Art with Caterina Pierre