Modernism Definition |
| Feb 16 2012 |
 |
| Pablo Picasso, Les Demoiselles d'Avignon, 1907 |
Modern, Modernism: In art, the terms modern and modernism are used in a variety of ways. Sometimes the term "modern art" is used, very roughly, to encompass 20th century art up to the 1970s. Sometimes, modern art is considered to begin with Picasso (specifically with his Les Demoiselles d'Avignon); in this sense "modern" is associated with "avant-garde". In still another usage, modernism begins in the 19th century around the end of Realism and the beginning of modernist subsets like Impressionism, Post-Impressionism, Surrealism. Some textbooks will include Realism under modernism, some will not.
Key to any notion of modernism is the challenge to traditional aesthetic assumptions. Modernist art challenges formal and stylistic conventions; it questions the need for narrative and allegory; it rejects the requirements of illusionism and representation; it explores the expression of emotion with formal elements. Modernist artists are self-aware, questioning the role of the artist.
"Modernism used art to call attention to art. The limitations that constitute the medium of painting–the flat surface, the shape of the support, the properties of pigment–were treated by the Old Masters as negative factors that could be acknowledged only implicitly or indirectly. Modernist painting has come to regard these same limitations as positive factors that are to be acknowledged openly." -Clement Greenberg
In the late 19th century, the role of the artist and art starts to change dramatically. Before modernism, art is displayed by traditional salons; these salons, through the act of including or excluding artworks, form the general definition of "art". However, as rejected artists pushed back against this convention, the definition of "art" becomes contentious, fluid, and politicized. Edouard Manet (1832-1883) and Gustave Courbet (1819-1877), although their works may look conventional when compared to postmodern art of the 20th century, scrutinized and criticized artistic conventions
Tags: Clement Greenberg .. Modernism .. Pablo Picasso