Modern Art Essay

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Modern art refers to an array of consecutive art movements and particular artistic tendencies that bring them all together. It also refers to the era that included the elimination of previous art styles and a disregard for the past. Modern art is about the experimentation and new ideas. It points towards forward thinking architects, designers and artists from the mid 19th century who created new and diverse ideas. But history shows that these ideas and beliefs weren’t always that way. The artists of the time became frustrated with the inability to express emotion and real meaning in their art. Modern artists began pulling away from tradition and a new art movement was developed. There is no definitive date that determines when modern art was established. A new out- look didn’t suddenly appear. Instead there was a gradual change that took place over the course of a hundred years. There were a number of shifts in art that took place. “Artists are, like everyone else, affected by changes in society – sometimes, as in the case of David or Courbet, quite directly.” (History of Modern Art, pg 17) With the industrialization of the western worlds, the way people lived at that time changed, which brought about changes in thinking as well at art. Artists began to look for ways to express themselves. With the use of varied applications of paint artists were able to produce works that evoked emotion and showed examples of everyday life, leaning away from the more formal, exact paintings of the previous generations. “Social changes lead to inevitably to changes in attitudes toward artistic means and issues – toward subject matter and expression, toward the use of color and line, and toward nature and purpose of a work of art and the role it plays vis-à-vis its diverse audience.” (History of Modern Art, pg17) Artists began to do art the way they wanted them done and not the way
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