Modern art is called a current of artistic renewal developed in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, being the most prolific in the history of art. During those years, many more or less structured trends and movements were happening at a dizzying pace, with an international character.
Modern art in this sense values different types of experience that to a great extent distance it from the search for abstract beauty; First, it will seek to represent all the experiences that everyday life would have in the context of a new society. A full expression of this trend can be found in avant - garde experimental artistic pursuits that had a strong attempt at breaking and even transgression.
Modern art as an aesthetic concept. In this sense, modern art is the opposite of ancient, classical or traditional art. In other words, they are avant-garde, experimental and innovative artistic productions.
Modern art as a chronological concept within a cultural movement. Modern art is also called those artistic productions created in the representative styles and theories of modernity from the late 19th century to the mid or late 20th century.
Its name can cause confusion and lead to the misunderstanding of locating modern art as representative of the Modern Age (from the middle of the 15th century to the end of the 18th century), when in fact it falls within its successor, the so-called contemporary age.
There are many figures that we could highlight as representatives of modern art. However, among the most significant are the following:
- Pablo Picasso, the painter from Malaga, stood out for being one of the fathers of Cubism and has bequeathed such important works as "The young ladies of Avignon", "El Guernica" or "The dream ".
- Salvador Dali. This Catalan stood out both in the field of painting and sculpture and in literature. Among his most famous works, the box entitled "The persistence of memory" should be highlighted.
- Claude Monet. As the creator of the movement called Impressionism, this French painter is known for having made works of great importance and recognition such as "The Saint-Lazare station", "The water lilies" or "The Parliament of London at sunset".
Modern art is, to a large extent, the child of the profound changes that took place as a result of the industrial revolution, changes that had an immense impact on society and the economy in general. In this context, the artists sought to account for this new reality, putting old resources aside and trying to generate their own. It is from this perspective that the experimental character of modern art is understood.
In architecture, this trend focused on moving away from old forms, looking for structures that reflect the development experienced by the new urban landscape; In literature, we seek to account for intimacy, leaving aside a rational discourse, appealing to various postulates of psychoanalysis, such as the unconscious; In painting, forms that strayed from a mimetic representation of reality began to prevail, leading to experiences such as cubism or abstract art.
