by Jennifer Brinkle

Created on: March 23, 2007   Last Updated: May 08, 2007

Modern art is a generalized term referring to the art created in the late 19th century until approximately the 1970's. Today's art is commonly referred to as post-modern art, contemporary art or modernism.

The beginning of the modern age was influenced by political, economic and social revolutions. Political powers began to shift; many countries began to reorganize their structures; psychiatry and psychology probed deeper into the inner workings of the mind, machines began to replace human labor; radio, television and electronic communication supplanted the printed media. All of this and more brought about a change in art and the way that artists viewed themselves within society. It was during this movement that more artists began to move away from the mainstream and create works based on personal inspiration.

As technology grew, so did art. Photography was invented in the late 1830's providing a new tool of expression. Synthetic pigments were developed along with new theories on color and optics. Paint was packaged in tubes making life a lot easier for the painter. New welding techniques and electronic tools provided new possibilities for architecture. It is with these changes and more that we see splinters form as artists split into separate groups. These groups were then labeled by critics and scholars attempting to describe the content, form or intention of the pieces created by the artists but should be viewed more as markers rather than definitions. Neo-Classicism, Romanticism, Realism, Impressionism and Post-Impressionism are some of the major 19th century movements. Some early 20th century movements include Fauvism, Art Nouveau, Cubism, Expressionism, Futurism, and Surrealism. Each of these movements held a common set of principles and positions involving art.

The collective techniques of the industrial age forced the 19th century artist to analyze their own function and that of the artist's medium. With three major inventions (the camera, the mass-produced print and the printed reproduction) we saw a division within the art world never seen before. On one hand, we see a group linked to the scientific discoveries about the physical world (photography and the motion picture). On the other hand we have a branch connected to the psychological and spiritual world leading toward the abstract.

With photography challenging the function of traditional art, the role of the traditional artist was then transformed. The artist began to use line, shape and color to represent the imagination and their feelings. Regardless of which movement you study, one notable characteristic that can be found in all is the expressive power of each medium. To quote Canadian theorist Marshall McLuhan, "the medium has become the message."

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