Styles and Movements: Modernism

I am going to begin this section at a point where most people begin losing touch with art history, Modernism. The most basic definition of Modernism is that it concerned itself with the innovation of practices, theories, or characteristics during the 19th century.  Most scholars place the beginning of Modernism to be around the 1860s. Modernism was connected to industrial, scientific and political revolutions in European countries, especially in France. However, it spread to almost every discipline.


Artists were also among those revolting. Prior to this time visual artists had undertaken the task of producing commissioned works using traditional (still lifes, portraits, and landscapes), religious, or historical themes. Modernism gave the artist free will to portray the sentiments of the time in new styles, such as the Impressionist style. Artists associated with Impressionism were Éduourd Manet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and Claude Monet. 

From it’s beginning roots in Europe, Modernism eventually spread throughout the Western world and reached Asia. It continued to be the dominant stylistic phenomena, until it was succeeded by Post-Modernism in the late 20th century. However, there is a split among art historians on this subject. I will eventually discuss this shift in art history, but if you are interested at the moment, check the art critic Clement Greenberg’s essays on the subject.

To find out more about Modernism, I highly recommend going to your local library and checking out Gardner’s Art Through the Ages  (I like the 10th Edition).(1) It is a massive reference book on art history and a great place to begin your art education.




(1) Richard Tansey, Fred Kleiner and Horst De La Croix, Gardner's Art Through the Ages, 10th Edition. Fort Worth: Harcourt Brace College Publishers, 1995.