The purpose of this article is twofold. First, it examines the modern art history survey textbooks currently being used for art survey courses in Korean colleges. Secondly, it suggests some alternative ideas and methodologies to envision and rewrite the modern art survey text in order to provide a more comprehensive overview of modern art for Korean undergraduate students.
More than two decades have passed since modern art survey courses were first included in Korean college curricula. But almost all the modern art texts being utilized in classrooms represent European and American art, with a focus on its white male masters and their masterpieces, while paying little or no attention to the others from the rest of the world. This situation owes much to the fact that these texts are mostly direct translations of Western texts written mainly from a Western-centered point of view.
Most instructors in the academic field of art history prefer utilizing their own methods, lecture notes and visual images to any particular textbook. While this approach has some merit, many undergraduates express difficulties in approaching modern art without a textbook. New survey texts suitable for Korean students need to be developed. These texts should deal with not only the art of the West, but also that of the East, in particular, of Korea and its neighboring countries. In this era of globalization and glocalization, there should also be some introduction to diverse methodologies and perspectives including gender, race, and less-represented arts, artists, geographies, and culture.