Peter from ctvadim asks,
what is the difference between modernism anti-modernism, post-modernism, and contemporary art?
Modernism deals with artworks produced roughly from
1860s to the 1970s. It is characterized by
throwing out of the old, embracing the new. There is more experimentation, new ways
of seeing, new ideas about how art functions. Historically it can be tied to the
industrial revolution
where there is a rapid changes in manufacturing transportation technology
which influenced the social economic and cultural conditions of Western Europe
and North America. People are moving out urban spaces traveling and having new world views
and access to new ideas. The invention of photography also sent painting into an identity crisis.
With this new technology that can perfectly replicate scenes
what can painting do that photography can not?
No more frou-frou mythological or religious scenes for wealthy patrons,
Modern art was about the people places and ideas that
artist had direct contact with.
Along with the publication of Sigmund Freud
The Interpretation of Dreams in 1889 artists became more interested in dreams
symbolism and iconography as ways to depict subjective experiences.
Anti-modernism or counter-modernism refers to a number of
parallel movements that spread throughout Europe following the end of World War I
Given the collective name of Le rappel a lordre
meaning return to order, they rejected the extreme
avant-garde art and took notes from traditional art instead.
In particular futurism was brought into focus.
They were a group of anti-traditionalists who celebrated technology to the point of
praising machinery in violence and power and condemned the culture of the past
in defiance of history and tradition. However there is a break when Futurist follwers
broke off from the pack. In particular Severini and Carra
became followers of Giorgio de Chirico.
Picasso and Braque abandoned cubism.
Picasso produced work in a neoclassical style that recalled
the work of Raphael and Ingres. This trend was evident in many
artists working in the nineteen twenties including Deran,
Metzinger, artists of the New Objectivity and the Novecento Italiano movement.
Postmodern art is a body of art movements around 1960s
Dates can be hard to pinpoint
The idea of what is considered
art is expanded to mixed media, installation, conceptual art
and video art. We begin to see Bricolage, collage,
simplification, appropriation, performance art.
The distinction between high and low art and popular culture is blurred
There is a sense of immediacy and the present that you do not see in modern art.
Perhaps it is easiest to see in
Pop art of Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein.
Now is the hardest part of this video which is defining what
contemporary art is. Contemporary art is basically
art since modernism, but then you have the problem of: Well,
when did modernism end? Some may define it as art made within our lifetime, but lifetime
is a variable so that is not very useful
and some will also say that contemporary art is a large umbrella
that postmodernism fits under.
The first use of the term contemporary art can be traced to 1910
by critic Roger Fry for the Contemporary Art Society in London.
As Modern art became more of a historical art movement,
modern ceased to mean contemporary art, and they needed a new
term to talk about art made in the present.
There is not a clear cut from one to another, and many institutions actually use the term
Modern and Contemporary Art to avoid this distinction altogether.
In the end, not everyone is going to agree and people are constantly proposing and refining ideas.
In the meantime I hope you learned something new
thanks again to Peter for asking this question. If you do not know who he is
I will go ahead and his channel down below. He is also doing this fantastic project
called Go Verb and Noun. It is just awesome interviews with all these creators
making educational content on YouTube
so if you are interested in that, definitely check that out. If you have not watched last weeks video
about the creepy and fascinating history of Mummy Brown Paint.
Thanks so much for watching, and I will see you next time!