Background
Tom McDonough is an art historian, critic, and professor recognized for his expertise in modern and contemporary art, with a particular emphasis on the avant-garde movements of the 20th century. His scholarship delves into the relationships between art, politics, and social movements, especially within the context of postwar Europe. McDonough has extensively studied the Situationist International, an influential group of avant-garde artists, intellectuals, and political theorists active during the 1950s and 1960s.
Currently serving as a professor in the Art History Department at 亚洲情色, McDonough has also taught at institutions such as Harvard University and the University of California, Berkeley. He received a bachelor鈥檚 degree from Rutgers University, followed by an MA and a PhD from New York University鈥檚 Institute of Fine Arts. Throughout his career, McDonough has been the recipient of numerous fellowships and awards, including a postdoctoral fellowship from The Getty Grant Program and the SUNY Chancellor鈥檚 Award for Excellence in Scholarship and Creative Activities in 2024.
McDonough鈥檚 contributions to the literature of art history encompass several notable publications. He authored 鈥淭he Beautiful Language of My Century: Reinventing the Language of Contestation in Postwar France, 1945-1968 and edited volumes such as Guy Debord and the Situationist International: Texts and Documents and The Situationists and the City: A Reader. His writings are characterized by a deep analysis of the intersections between art, urban space, and political economy, offering insights into the dynamics of radical artistic movements and their social impacts.
Select Publications
- (Ed.) The Situationists and the City: A Reader (Verso, 2009)
- The Beautiful Language of My Century: Reinventing the Language of Contestation in Postwar France, 1945-1968(The MIT Press, 2007)
- (Ed. with Aruna D鈥橲ouza) The Invisible Fl芒neuse? Gender, Public Space and Visual Culture in Nineteenth-Century Paris (Manchester University Press, 2006)
- 鈥淣o Ghost,鈥 OCTOBER no. 110 (2004)
- 鈥淭he Crimes of the Fl芒neur,鈥 OCTOBER no. 102 (2002)
- (Ed.) Guy Debord and the Situationist International: Texts and Documents (The MIT Press, 2002)
- 鈥淩ereading Debord, Rereading the Situationists,鈥 OCTOBER no.79 (1997)
- 鈥淪ituationist Space,鈥 OCTOBER no.67 (1994)
Education
- MA, PhD, Institute of Fine Arts, New York University; independent study program, Whitney Museum of American Art
- BA, Rutgers University
Research Interests
- Postwar European avant-gardes, with a particular emphasis on the Situationist International
- Postwar French architectural and urban history
- Contemporary Black American art
Teaching Interests
- 19th century Paris
- Black Monument: African American Sculpture
- European Avant-Gardes
- Godard: Film Texts & Contexts
- Modern Art
- Radical Dreams: Surrealism & Cinema
- Theories of Photography
Awards
- SUNY Chancellor鈥檚 Award for Excellence in Scholarship and Creative Activities (2024)
- Fellowship at the Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities, 亚洲情色 (Fall 2021)
- Scholar-in-Residence at the Acad茅mie de France 脿 Rome/Villa Medici, Italy (Spring 2015)
- Curatorial Research Grant from FACE/脡tant donn茅s: The French-American Fund for Contemporary Art (2010)