Modern Art
History, Movements/Periods, Styles, Artists: Modernist Visual Arts, Painting, Sculpture, from Impressionism to Pop-Art.
Encyclopedia of Irish and World Art - HOMEPAGE

Weeping Woman (1937) Picasso.

GREATEST ARTISTS
For a list of the Top 10 and Top 20
of the finest painters & sculptors:
Best Artists of All Time: Top 10.

Modern Art (c.1870-1970)

Contents

• What is Modern Art?
• When Did Modern Art Begin?
• What Was the Main Modernist Trend in the Visual Arts?
• Why Did Modern Artists Reject the Past?
• What is the Main Characteristic of Modernism?
• When Did Modern Art End? And What Replaced it?
• Does Modern and Contemporary Art Overlap?
• What are the Most Important Movements of Modern Art?
• Who are the Top Artists?
• What is the Most Expensive Painting of the Era?
• Who are Currently the Top-10 Best-Selling Modern Artists?
• Where Can You See Outstanding Collections of Modern Art?

Madonna (1894) Edvard Munch

MEANING OF ART
For more about the different types,
of traditional and contemporary
visual art, see: Definition of Art.

What is Modern Art?

There is no precise definition of the term "Modern Art", although it usually refers to works produced in the period roughly 1870-1970. Typically, modern artists rejected previous Renaissance-based traditions, in favour 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.

When Did Modern Art Begin?

Modernism in the fine arts is usually considered to start with Edouard Manet (1832-83) and the French Impressionists, although we have decided to include the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood as an early forerunner of modernism, for its rejection of traditional academic art forms of the 18th and early 19th century.

Woman III (1953) Willem de Kooning

MOVEMENTS, PERIODS, ARTISTS
For more information, see:
History of Art
Famous Artists.

After the Pre-Raphaelites, the modern era encompasses ground-breaking movements like Art Nouveau, Cubism, Expressionism, Dada, Surrealism, Abstract Expressionism and Pop-Art, as well as a host of smaller schools like Der Blaue Reiter, Die Brucke, Bauhaus, Magic Realism, Social Realism, Futurism, Organic Abstraction, Op-Art, Hard Edge Painting and Feminist art, to name but a few. Modern Art also features new media developed during the 20th century, like Collage and its 3-D variant Assemblage, and saw the beginnings of entirely new forms like Conceptual and Performance art.

What Was the Main Modernist Trend in the Visual Arts?

Not surprisingly, given the time span, Modern Art is characterized by no single trend, although it is fair to say that after Cubism it witnessed a significant rise in non-representational or abstract art, in both painting and sculpture, which was fully explored during the modern era by such diverse movements as Constructivism, Suprematism, De Stijl, Colour Field, Op-Art, Post Painterly Abstraction, Minimalism and the St Ives School.

Movement In Squares (1961).
By Bridget Riley, Op-Art Movement.

EVOLUTION OF FINE ART
For details about the development
of Western painting and sculpture
see: History of Art Timeline.

Why Did Modern Artists Reject the Past?

Basically because they considered that the "official" view of art - represented by the established European Academies - was too backward-looking and no longer relevant to their careers as artists or to the development of their art. The social transformation wrought by the Industrial Revolution had triggered the emergence of new ideas in all areas including fine art, and artists were eager for change. Modernism reflected this new mood and engendered new forms of artistic expression on the grounds that they were more appropriate to modern life. These artforms often reflected a number of political agendas, frequently associated with utopian visions of human society, together with a strong if intermittent belief in progress. Indeed, the history of art in the first two thirds of the 20th century is closely interwined with the politics of the age, as exemplified by the demise of Paris (1940s onwards) as the centre of Western art, and the corresponding rise of New York.

GREATEST MODERN ART
For a list of masterpieces
of painting & sculpture,
by famous artists, see below:
Greatest Paintings Ever
Oils, watercolours, acrylics,
by the best painters.
Greatest Sculptures Ever
Top 3-D art in marble, stone,
bronze, wood, steel and
other media.
Best Art Books Publishers
List of top publishers of
books about modern art.

PERIODS/STYLES
For a list of art movements
during the "modern" era,
see: Modern Art Movements.
For later styles and schools,
see: Contemporary Art Movements.

What is the Main Characteristic of Modern Art?

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.

In comparison, their precedessors simply "assumed" that art had value. They didn't even think about it. After all they lived in an era governed by religious meaning. Thus they simply "followed the rules." Those who came after the Modern period (mid-60s onwards), the so-called "postmodernists", largely rejected the idea that art (or life) had any intrinsic value. This is not a defining characteristic of modern art: merely a difference between the periods.

QUESTIONS ABOUT ARTS
For answers to popular queries:
See: Art Questions.
On the development of painting
and sculpture, see:
Art History Questions.
For a survey of periods/styles,
see: Art Movements Glossary.

When Did Modern Art End? And What Replaced it?

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 Post-Modernism. In simple terms, Post-modernist 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. Since the mid-to-late 1960s, paintings, sculptures and other artworks are classified as Postmodern or Contemporary Art.

Does Modern and Contemporary Art Overlap?

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 ("Contemporary-style") as well as more traditional "Modernist" types. 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.

Modern Art Movements/Periods

Here is a list of Modern art movements, styles or schools, with a very short introduction to each, arranged in a rough chronological order. In some cases, movements have been grouped together for explanatory purposes.

• Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (Flourished 1848-55)
• Impressionist Art (Flourished 1860s-1880s), see also Impressionism
• Neo-Impressionism (1870s)
• Newlyn School (1880s onwards)
• Art Nouveau/Jugendstil (Fin de Siecle), see also Art Nouveau
• Symbolism (Late 19th Century)
• Post Impressionist Art (1880s onwards), see also Post Impressionism
• Les Fauves (1898-1908), see also Fauvism
• Expressionist Art (1900-now) see Expressionism and German Expressionism
• Die Brucke (1905-11) (The Bridge)
• Der Blaue Reiter (1911-14) (The Blue Rider)
• Ashcan School, New York (c.1892-1919)
• Cubist Art (Europe, 1908-1920), see also Cubism
• Orphism (1912-16)
• Purism (Early, mid-1920s)
• Precisionism (1920s, 1930s)
• Collages (1912 onwards), see also Collage Art
• Futurism (1909-1914)
• Rayonism (c.1910-20)
• Suprematism (1913-1920s)
• Constructivism (c.1917-21)
• Vorticism (c.1913-15)
• Dada Style (Europe, 1915-1924), see also Dada Anti-Art Movement
• De Stijl (1917-31)
• Bauhaus (Germany, 1919-1933), see also Bauhaus Design School
• Neo-Plasticism (1920-40)
• Art Deco Design Style (1920s, 1930s), see also Art Deco
• Ecole de Paris (Paris School)
• Neue Sachlichkeit (Germany, 1920s)
• Surrealist Style (1924 onwards), see also Surrealism
• Magic Realism (1920s)
• Degenerate Art (Entartete Kunst) (1930s, Germany)
• Social Realism (late 1920s, early 1930s)
• Socialist Realism (1929 onwards)
• St Ives School (late 1930s onwards)
• Neo-Romanticism (1930s, 1940s, 1950s)
• Art Brut
• Organic Abstraction (1940s, 1950s)
• Existential Art (1940s and 1950s)
• Abstract Expressionist Art (1940s, 1950s), see also Abstract Expressionism
• Art Informel (mid-1940s, 1950s)
• Tachisme (late-1940s, 1950s)
• Arte Nucleare (c.1951-60)
• Kitchen Sink Art (mid-1950s)
• Assemblages (1953 onwards), see also Assemblage Art
• Neo-Dada (1950s, early-1960s)
• Optical Art (1950s-1960s), see also Op-Art
• Pop Art (1950s, 1960s), see also Pop Art Movement
• New Realism (1960s)
• Post-Painterly Abstraction (Early, mid-1960s)
• Feminist Art (late 1960s onwards)

Smaller Modern Art Movements

Other minor or splinter contemporary art groups, or styles, listed in rough chronological order, include: Kapists, Japonism, Bande Noire, Les Vingt, Rose + Croix, School of Pont-Aven, Cloisonnism, Les Nabis, Formists, Synchronism, Eat Art, Metaphysical Painting, Elementarism, Muralism, Sau Al Set, Art Non Figuratif, Madi, Cobra, Spatialism, Funk Art, The Calligraphers, Nuagism, Gutai Group, El Paso Movement (Spain), Grav, Exat 51, Nul, Zero, Gruppo T, Gruppo N, Equipo 57.

The Most Important Modern Artists

The period from 1860 to the mid-1960s has witnessed a pantheon of brilliant painters, sculptors, and other creative practitioners. Here is a short selection of the most famous.

Painting

Impressionism Movement (flourished 1873-1880)
One of the most revolutionary movements of modern representational art, its leading members included: Claude Monet (1840-1926); Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919); Edgar Degas (1834-1917); Camille Pissarro (1830-1903); Alfred Sisley (1839-1899); Edouard Manet (1832-83); Berthe Morisot (1841-1895); John Singer Sargent (1856-1925).

Post-Impressionism Movement (flourished 1880-1900)
Modern artists who separated from mainstream Impressionist painting included: James Abbott McNeill Whistler (1834–1903); Georges Seurat (1859-1891); Paul Cezanne (1839-1906); Vincent Van Gogh (1853-1890); Paul Gauguin (1848-1903); Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864-1901); Edouard Vuillard (1868-1940); Henri Matisse (1869-1954).

Primitive/Fantasy Style of Art
This umbrella category of modern painting includes the naive Henri Rousseau (1844-1910) (Le Douanier), and the versatile "symbolist", "expressionist" and "surrealists"; Paul Klee (1879–1940) and Marc Chagall (1887-1985).

Modern Realist Style
Modern realism flourished outside Europe and included these supreme masters of the idiom: Winslow Homer (1836-1910), Thomas Eakins (1844-1916), Ilya Repin (1844-1930), and Edward Hopper (1882-1967).

Art Nouveau (Late 19th/early 20th century)
Gustav Klimt (1862-1918) and Aubrey Beardsley (1872-98).

Expressionism Movement (flourished 1905-1933)
This movement was dominated by German expressionist painters, notably members of Der Blaue Reiter (Blue Rider), Die Brucke (The Bridge) and Neue Sachlichkeit (New Objectivity). Leading expressionists included: Wassily Kandinsky (1844-1944), Edvard Munch (1863-1944), Amedeo Modigliani (1884-1920), Egon Schiele (1890-1918), Ernst Ludwig Kirchner (1880-1938), Max Beckmann (1884-1950), Oskar Kokoschka (1886-1980), Kurt Schwitters (1887-1948), and Otto Dix (1891-1969).

Cubism Movement (flourished 1908-14)
This revolutionary abstract art movement was co-founded by Georges Braque (1882-1963) and Pablo Picasso (1881-1973), and received valuable contributions from modern artists like: Juan Gris (1887-1927), Fernand Leger (1881-1955), Robert Delaunay (1885-1941) and Marcel Duchamp (1887-1968).

Geometric Abstraction Style
The two greatest abstract painters of the modern art era were Kasimir Malevich (1878-1935); Piet Mondrian (1872-1944).

Surrealism
The dominant fine art movement during the late 1920s and 1930s, owing much to the metaphysical paintings of Giorgio De Chirico (1888-1978), its leading painters included: Joan Miro (1893-1983), Rene Magritte (1898-1967) and Salvador Dali (1904-89).

Abstract Expressionists
The first great American art movement, centred in New York, its leading members included: Willem De Kooning (1904-97); Mark Rothko (1903-70); Clyfford Still (1904-1980); Jackson Pollock (1912-56).

Pop-Art
This popular style of modern art superceded the more intellectual Abstract Expressionism and was exemplified by painters such as: Roy Lichtenstein (1923-97); Robert Rauschenberg (1925-2008); Andy Warhol (1928-87).

Modern Sculptors

Leading exponents of sculpture during the modern era include: Auguste Rodin (1840-1917), Ernst Barlach (1870-1938), Constantin Brancusi (1876-1957), Umberto Boccioni (1882-1916), Ossip Zadkine (1890-1967), Naum Gabo (1890-1977), Henry Moore (1898-1986), Alexander Calder (1898-1976), Alberto Giacometti (1901-66), and Barbara Hepworth (1903-75).

Modern Printmaking

Modern exponents of printmaking - engraving, etching, lithographics and silkscreen - include: James Abbott McNeill Whistler (1834–1903), Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864-1901), MC Escher (1898-1972), Willem de Kooning (1904-97), Robert Rauschenberg (1925-2008), Andy Warhol (1928-87).

Modern Stained Glass Art

Among the top exponents of stained glass art included: Marc Chagall (1887-1985), Joan Miro (1893-1983), Harry Clarke (1889-1931), Sarah Purser (1848-43) and Evie Hone (1894-1955).

Modern Photgraphy

Modern lens-based art is exemplified by the fine art photography of Man Ray (1890-1976), and the black-and-white landscapes of Ansel Adams (1902-84).

What is the Most Expensive Modern Art Painting?

Measured by auction sales prices, the world's most valuable painting of the modern era is: Garçon à la Pipe (1905), painted by Pablo Picasso, which sold in 2004 for $104.2 million at Sotheby's, New York. In second place, is Dora Maar with Cat (1941) also by Picasso, which sold in 2006 for $95.2 million at Sotheby's, New York. Reportedly, however, these world records have been exceeded by three paintings sold privately. (See below)

Who are Currently the Top-10 Best Selling Modern Artists?

(1) No. 5, 1948 (1948) By Jackson Pollock. ($140 million) Private Sale
(2) Woman III (1953) By Willem de Kooning. ($137.5 million) Private Sale
(3) Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I (1907) Gustav Klimt. ($135 million) Private
(4) Garçon à la Pipe (1905) By Pablo Picasso. ($104.2 million)
(5) Dora Maar with Cat (1941) By Pablo Picasso. ($95.2 million)
(6) Adele Bloch-bauer II (1912) By Gustav Klimt. ($87.9 million)
(7) Portrait of Dr. Gachet (1890) By Vincent Van Gogh. ($82.5 million)
(8) False Start (1959) By Jasper Johns. ($80 million)
(9) Bal Au Moulin de la Galette (1876) By Renoir. ($78.1 million).
(10) White Center (1950) By Mark Rothko. ($72.8 million).

Best Selling Contemporary Artists
For the most successful postmodernist painters and sculptors, see: Top 20 Contemporary Artists.

World Record Art Prices
For information about the world's most highly priced works of art and record auction prices, see: Top 10 Most Expensive Paintings.

Where Can You See Outstanding Collections of Modern Art?

Here is a selected list of some of the best art museums and galleries whose collections include works by "Modernist" painters and sculptors. Note however, that museums sometimes use the term "Modern Art" in a narrower sense, meaning works by 20th Century artists only.

Europe

Amsterdam: Rijksmuseum
Amsterdam: Van Gogh Museum
Berlin: Nationalgalerie
Berlin Guggenheim
Bilbao Guggenheim
Budapest: Museum of Fine Arts
Dublin: Irish Museum of Modern Art
London: Tate Britain
London: Tate Modern
London: National Gallery
Madrid: Museo del Prado
Milan: Galleria d'Arte Moderne
Moscow: Pushkin Museum
Munich: Neue Pinakothek
Munich: Pinakothek der Moderne
Paris: Musee d'Orsay
Paris: Rodin Museum
St. Petersburg: Hermitage
Venice Guggenheim
Vienna: Osterreichische Galerie
Vienna: Kunsthistorisches Museum

USA

Baltimore: Museum of Art
Boston: Museum of Fine Arts
Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago
Cleveland: Museum of Art
Los Angeles: J Paul Getty Museum
Minneapolis: Institute of Arts
Guggenheim Museum New York
Metropolitan Museum of Art New York
Museum of Modern Art MoMA New York
Philadelphia: Museum of Art
Washington: DC National Gallery of Art

• For more contemporary art in Ireland, see: Irish Art Encyclopedia.
• For information about painters and sculptors, see: Famous Irish Artists.