During the first 30 years of this century Paris was the art capital of the Western world. It attracted expatriates from afar, gave birth to Fauvism, Cubism, Purism, and Surrealism-and to the "classics" of early modernism by Picasso, Matisse, Leger, Brancusi, and others. We will look at a small selection of artists who achieved fame, but we will also look further to work by lesser known artists, especially women such as Paula Modersohn-Becker, Suzanne Valadon, and Sonia Delaunay, and we will
explore the city's generative pockets of artistic activity, from Montmartre to Montparnasse.  Our primary focus will be the visual arts, but we will also consider the Ballets Russes, performances by Josephine Baker, and selected works by such writers as Alfred Jarry, Guillaume Apollinaire, Gertrude Stein, and Colette.  Other readings for the course
will explore the complex historical forces that shaped artistic production: colonialism, the New Woman, technological changes, a world war, and a "return to order"-with a special focus on women's experience in the much celebrated "City of Art."