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Understanding Modern Art

The term ‘Modern Art’ is primarily used to refer to the artistic works produced during the period extending roughly from mid 18th century to the 19th century. . This was a period of transition from traditional to rapidly changing modern times. Before the 18th-century artists were most often commissioned to make artwork by wealthy patrons and institutions like Church mainly comprising the subjects like mythology, religion, and portraits.

 This was a period when artists started rejecting the traditional forms and practices and began to make art based on their own personal experiences and about the subjects they chose. The impact of the Industrial Revolution birthed the idea of Modernism and Modern art was all about experimenting and finding personal expression. The rapid change in technology and transportation significantly affected the socio-economic conditions as well. Challenging the notion that art must realistically depict the world, some artists experimented with expressive use of colours and new aged materials and techniques. This also included photography which brought new radical possibilities in interpreting the world of Modern Art.  Artists worked to represent their experience of the newness of modern life in appropriately innovative ways. Although the term applies to a vast member of artistic genres spanning more than a century, aesthetically speaking modern art is characterized by the artist’s intent to portray a subject as it exists in the world, according to his or her unique perspective and is typified by a rejection of accepted traditional styles and values. While some artists focused on objective representation, others shifted their artistic focus towards the abstract representation. This shift of focus marked the beginning of abstraction in visual arts.

The history of modern art highlights the achievements and distinct styles of the artists who strived to express their views of the world using visual mediums. The first modern artist to essentially stand on his own in this regard was Gustave Courbet, who in the mid-19th century sought to develop his own distinct style which was later on followed by highly eminent artists like Paul Gauguin, Georges Seurat and Paul Cézanne.

According to many Art historians, Modern art is considered to be the creative world’s response to the rationalist practices and perspectives of the new lives and ideas provided by the technological advances of the industrial age that caused contemporary society to manifest itself in new ways compared to the past.​


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