20th Century Art

    20th-century art and what it became as — modern art — began with modernism in the late 19th century. Nineteenth-century movements of Post-Impressionism (Les Nabis), Art Nouveau and Symbolism led to the first twentieth-century art movements of Fauvism in France and Die Brücke ("The Bridge") in Germany.

    There is no precise definition of the term "Modern Art", although it usually refers to works produced during the approximate period 1870-1970. Typically, modern artists rejected previous Renaissance-based traditions, in favor of new forms of artistic experimentation. They used new materials, new techniques of painting, and developed new theories about how art should reflect the perceived world, and what their functions as artists should be. In addition, entirely new types of art were developed during the period.

    The century between 1860 and 1960 encompassed so many differing styles (from realistic portraiture to whimsical Dada and Pop-Art) that it is difficult to think of any unifying theme which defined the era. But if there is anything that separates Modern artists from both the earlier traditionalists and later postmodernists, it is their self-belief that art mattered: it had real value.

    Modernism didn't just stop, it faded gradually during the late 1960s - a period which coincided with the rise of mass pop-culture and also with the rise of anti-authoritarian challenges (in social and political areas as well as the arts) to the existing orthodoxies. As Modernism faded, a new general idiom emerged, usually referred to as Postmodernist art. In simple terms, Postmodernist schools advocate a new philosophy of art characterized by a greater focus on medium and style. They emphasize style over substance (eg. not 'what' but 'how'; not 'art for art's sake', but 'style for style's sake'), and place much greater importance on artist-communication with the audience. This new direction is closely intertwined with the spread of TV, video and the Internet, which now exerts a significant influence on the development of popular iconography.

    Although the 1960s is the basic cut-off point between "Modern" and "Contemporary" art, the world did not become post-modernist overnight. Some movements (eg. Pop-Art, Minimalism) included artists who were more forward-looking, and developed a more postmodernist or contemporary style. The same goes for new forms like Conceptual, Performance,Installation and Video Art, all of which can be classified as either "Modern" or "Contemporary". We happen to consider them under "Contemporary Art" because this is the era during which they were fully explored.

Reference: (N.d.). "Modern ArtDefinition, Characteristics, History, Movements." visual-arts-cork.com. Retrieved March 15, 2015 from http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/modern-art.htm#collections