Modern Art the Movement

Famous Painters

Modern art includes artistic work produced in the period between the 1860s and the 1970s, and refers to the movements and styles of art produced during that period. The term modern is usually associated with art, in which the traditions of the past (movements and styles) were cast aside in an experimental spirit. Modern artists have been experimenting with new ways of seeing and new ideas about the nature of art materials and functions. 

 
A tendency toward abstraction away from the narrative, which was characteristic of traditional art, is characteristic of much modern wall art. New art production is often referred to as contemporary art or post-modern art. For more information please see: International and modern contemporary art - exhibitions, free displays and events daily.

The birth of modernism and modern art can be traced back to the revolution of the industry. This period of rapid changes in production, transport and technology began around the middle of the eighteenth century and lasted through the nineteenth century, profoundly affecting the social, economic and cultural conditions of life in Western Europe, North America and the world. One of my favorite to visit: The TIME Magazine Modern Art - Archive Collection presents editor picks of the best covers and articles.

New transport forms, including the railroad, the steam engine and the metro, changed the way people lived, worked and traveled, broadened their worldview and gained access to new ideas. With the development of urban centers, workers flocked to cities for industrial jobs and urban populations.

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What is modern art?

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Movement and style in modern art

Modern art begins with the heritage of painters such as Vincent van Gogh, Paul Cézanne, Paul Gauguin, Georges Seurat and Henri de Toulouse- Lautrec, who were all essential to modern art.

At the beginning of the 20th century, Henri Matisse and several other young artists, including the pre- Cubist Georges Braque, André Derain, Raoul Dufy, Jean Metzinger and Maurice de Vlaminck, revolutionized the art world of Paris with wild, multicolored, expressive landscapes and figure paintings known as Fauvism by critics.

The two versions of Matisse's The Dance represented an important point in his career and the development of modern painting. It reflected Matisse's early fascination with primitive art: the intense warm color of the figures against the cool blue - green background and the rhythmic succession of the dancing nudes convey the emotional liberation and hedonism feelings.

Before the 19th century, artists were most often commissioned by wealthy patrons or institutions such as the church to create artworks. Much of this art depicted religious or mythological scenes telling stories to teach the viewer.

In the 19th century, many artists began to create art based on their own personal experiences and themes they selected. With the publication of the psychologist Sigmund Freud’s The Interpretation of Dreams (1899) and the popularization of the idea of an unconscious mind, many artists began to explore dreams, symbolism and personal iconography as a way to portray their subjective experiences.

Challenging the idea that art must represent the world in a realistic way, some artists have experimented with the expressive use of color, nontraditional materials and new techniques and media. Among these new mediums was photography, the invention of which offered radical possibilities for representing and interpreting the world in 1839.

Initially influenced by Toulouse- Lautrec, Gauguin and other innovators of the late 19th century, Pablo Picasso made his first cubist paintings based on the idea of Cézanne that all representations of nature can be reduced to three solids: cube, sphere and cone.

Weeping Woman

Picasso dramatically created a new and radical picture with the painting Les Demoiselles d'Avignon (1907) depicting a raw and primitive brothel scene with five prostitutes, violently painted women, reminiscent of African tribal masks and his own new Cubist inventions. Analytic cubism was developed jointly by Picasso and Georges Braque, illustrated by Violin and Candlestick, Paris,
between 1908 and 1912.

In the 1920s, analytic cubism, the first clear manifestation of cubism, was followed by synthetic cubism by Braque, Picasso, Fernand Léger, Juan Gris, Albert Gleizes, Marcel Duchamp and a number of other artists. Synthetic cubism is characterized by the introduction of various textures, surfaces, collage elements, paper collé and a wide range of fused subjects.

What are the characteristics of modern art movements?

Modern art is the same as contemporary art. At least that's how the Modern Art Museum categorizes these terms.
Modern necessarily doesn't mean contemporary. Modern art is more closely related to the philosophical movement of modernism.

What is "modernism" style?

This movement emerged in the western world during the industrial revolution of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. A new socio economic and political climate was emerging in view of the rapid growth of the cities. Modernism viewed traditional forms of art, architecture, literature, religious faith, philosophy and social organization as outdated in this landscape.

Modernism rejected the assurance of the thinking of enlightenment, and many modernists rejected religion. The self - consciousness and the rejection of the ideology of realism are an important feature of this movement. Themes of recovery, incorporation, rewriting, parody, revision and recapitulation are common in much modernism inspired by art and literature.

What are the different types of modern art movements and styles?

With the beginning of the Industrial Revolution in the second half of the 19th century, new art styles and movements emerged and disappeared more and more rapidly, reflecting the increasing rate of change in our society. Here's a short overview of major movements of modern art from impressionism to Op Art.

Modern Art Movements

The most significant movements of modern art from the end of the 19th to the end of the 20th century are as follows:

• Expressionism 
• Art Nouveau 
• Art Deco 
• Cubism 
• Surrealism 
• Abstract Art 
• Pop Art 8. Op Art

Impressionism

Modern art’s history began with impressionism. Everything began in Paris as a reaction to a very formal and rigid painting style- made in studios and set up by traditional institutions such as the Academy of Beaux- Arts in Paris.

The exhibition of the famous painting of Edouard Manet, Dejeuner sur l'herbe, in 1863 at the Salon des Refuses (organized by those painters who were rejected by the Academy of Fine Arts) caused a scandal. It can be seen as the start of impressionism.

The Impressionist painters preferred painting outside and studied light effects on objects. Their favorite topics were landscapes and daily life scenes. Edouard Manet, Claude Monet, Edgar Degas, Camille Pissarro and Pierre Auguste Renoir in France and Alfred Sisley in England are the most well-known names in Impressionist painting.

Fauvism

The term Fauvism is derived from the French word fauve, meaning wild animals. This new style of modern art was a little wild with strong and lively colors. Paul Gauguin and the Netherlands painter Vincent van Gogh used expressive colors to bring Impressionism to its limits.

Fauvism took a step further in combining simplified designs with an orgy of colors characterized by their critics. Fauvist artists ' first exhibition was held in 1905. Henri Matisse, Andre Derain, Maurice de Vlaminch, Kees van Dongen, and Raoul Dufy are the most famous fauve artists.
Expressionism

Expressionism was, in a simplified sense, a modern German version of the Fauvism. The movement of expressionists was organized into two groups of German painters. The group of artists Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Erich Heckel, Emil Nolde, Max Pechstein, Otto Müller and Karl Schmidt-Rottluff was based in Dresden.

The second Expressionist artists gathering were in Munich. The band is called Der Blaue Reiter, which means The Blue Rider. Franz Marc, August Macke, Gabriele Münter, Wassily Kandinsky, Paul Klee and Alexei Yavlensky are well- known names.

Art Nouveau Movement

Art Nouveau means new art, French. Its highly decorative style and its dedication to natural forms are characteristic. Art Nouveau was a popular art movement between 1880 and 1910. It was named by the Germans Jugendstil, the Italians Liberty, the Austrians Secessionsstil and the young Spanish art. Art Nouveau was not limited only to painting and printing. It included all art forms, architecture, furniture, jewelry, glass and illustration.

Fine examples of Art Nouveau are the Paris subway entrances, the glass works of Emille Galle and Louis Comfort Tiffany in the USA or the Alphonse Mucha posters. Gustav Klimt is a famous painter. Art Nouveau did not survive World War I, perhaps due to the high prices of objects in Art Nouveau. Art Nouveau was nothing for mass production with its philosophical roots in high - quality craftsmanship.

Art Deco Movement

Art decoration was primarily a design style, famous in the 1920s and 1930s. The Art Deco movement can, in simplified terms, be regarded as the Art Nouveau style that is simpler and closer to mass production.

Mode, furniture, jewelry, textiles, architecture, commercial printing and interior decoration dominated the Art Deco movement. René Lalique, a jeweler and glass-maker, is the most famous name. The Chrysler building in 1930 in New York is an example of the architectural style of Art Deco.

Cubism

Cubism, another movement of modern art, was mainly confined to painting and sculpture. It nevertheless had a major influence on modern art. Cubism was initiated in Paris before the First World War by the Spaniard Pablo Picasso and the Frenchman Georges Braques. Paul Cezanne, who is usually classified as a post-impressionist, can be regarded as his predecessor.

In African tribal art, cubism had strong roots. Geometric forms and fragmentation are favored in cubism. It's all reduced to cubes and other geometric shapes. Many aspects of one subject are shown simultaneously. Not only Pablo Picasso and Georges Braques, but also Robert Delaunay, Marcel Duchamp, Juan Gris and Lyonel Feininger are renowned artists. Abstract art paved the way for Cubism.

Surrealism

Surrealism is one of the many movements of modern art in the 20th century. His philosophical dad was Andre Breton, a French poet and writer who published in 1924 in Paris the Surrealist Guidelines Manifesto.

Surrealism stresses the unconscious, the significance of dreams and the psychological aspect of the arts. Surrealism has become a major movement in Spaniard Bunuel’s fine arts, literature and films.
The best- known names for the fine arts are Salvador Dali, the Italian Giorgio de Chirico with his weird and bizarre views of the city, Marcel Duchamp, Max Ernst, Joan Miro, Yves Tanguy, Rene Margritte and the Russian Marc Chagall.

Abstract Art

It is said that the Russian born painter Wassily Kandinsky is the father of abstract art. If you want to visit Munich, don't miss a visit to the Lenbachhaus Museum. It displays many Wassily Kandinsky paintings and you can see very well how his style developed from time to time to semi - abstract and then to abstract painting.

Another dominant feature in the establishment of abstract painting is Piet Mondrian, a Dutch painter. In Paris, Mondrian had experienced cubism. During the Second World War, many leading artists, such as Max Ernst, Marcel Duchamp and Marc Chagall, immigrated to the USA. New York has thus become a new center for contemporary art and abstract art.

Pop Art Movement

Pop Art is a popular art abbreviation. The name says everything. The Pop Art movement wanted to bring art back into people's daily lives. It was a reaction to abstract painting considered by pop artists to be too sophisticated and elite. The favorite images of pop artists were everyday objects such as Andy Warhol soup cans or Roy Lichtenstein comics.

Andy Warhol 's use of serigraphy, a photo- realistic, mass production technique of printmaking, was typical of the attitude of the Pop Art movement. Pop Art fell into the media and advertisements. Differences between fine arts and commercial arts have been torn down voluntarily.

Examples are the music album cover designs of the 1960s. Andy Warhol was the undoubted cultural figure of Pop Art between 1928 and 1987. Jaspar Johns, Robert Rauschenberg, David Hockney, Claes Oldenburg, Roy Lichtenstein, Georg Segal, Wayne and James Rosenquist are also well-known names. The Pop Art Movement was primarily a movement of American and British art.

Op Art Movement

It was Op Art after Pop Art, a short form for optical art. Op Art expressed itself in reduced geometric shapes, sometimes in black and white contrasts and sometimes in brilliant colors. The most prominent artist is Vasarely, born in Hungary.

In the 1970s, Op Art even developed into fashion design. But Op Art has never managed to become a popular modern art mass movement like Pop Art.

Who is the father of modern art? What was the style?

Paul Cézanne

Paul Cézanne, an oil painter from France, became the first artist of his generation to deliberately and successfully break away from Impressionism in the late 19th century. Cézanne was a precursor to Picasso's cubism, and his work became a catalyst for 20th century abstract art.

His earlier work tended to be darker and more roughly painted, but we still see the development of some of his personal style. For example, in the above detail of his painting Skull and Candlestick, you can see dark outlines around many of the objects, a feature that in most of his later works remained to some extent.

Cézanne did not want to paint like the Impressionists throughout his life; his work was too loose and chaotic for him. At the same time, however, the idea of painting classically structured works, like the Renaissance work, did not attract him.

In the end, Cézanne found a balance between the two creating solidly anchored forms and figures, using the bold and vivid colors of the Impressionists. He was also prepared to sacrifice an accurate representation of reality if the painting was strengthened.

Cézanne has been successful in all genres in landscapes and portraits, as well as in the still life work for which he is best known. Mont Sainte- Victoire is one of his many paintings around his home, with cubic houses and large, round trees.

Although the structures and figures of Cézanne differed greatly from the Impressionists, he certainly plunged into their palette.
With dark shadows to hold the shape of his subject, Cézanne put in his paintings brushstrokes of purple, green and bright reds. They don't fit the skin tone, but Cézanne, like the Impressionists, created a sense of immediacy by using vivid colors.

This painting, Still life with Plaster Cupid, Cézanne ignored the physical space to create a dynamically interesting composition.
T
he plaster cupid was perfect for the cold blues and greens of Cézanne, while Cézanne's rounded anatomy reflected the scattered onions and apples. The amount of light and darkness in the painting is perfectly balanced, and I love how the whole painting is energized by the many strong diagonals it contains.

The work of Cézanne always ignores the rules of color or changes on the fly the perspective. His paintings, however, are still wonderful, solid and truly incredible.

Additional information on modern art movements and styles

National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA), the premier institute in the country that houses modern and contemporary Indian art

The term "Modern Art" has no precise definition it is still an elastic term that can contain a variety of meanings. This is not too surprising, as we are constantly moving forward in time, and what is now considered "modern painting" or "modern sculpture" may not be considered modern in 50 years.

Modern art includes works of art created between the late 19th and the 1970s, which are characterized by the rejection of traditional concepts and techniques of art. This rejection of past traditions has led to a variety of art movements, including Expressionism, Abstract Art, Cubism, Futurism, Dada, Surrealism and Conceptual Art, to name but a few. Many of them have been of short duration but have had a lasting influence on the later developments, including modern art.
Postmodern art is a body of art movements which seek to contradict certain aspects of modernism or aspects which emerged or developed afterwards.