The Modernism movement is referred to the thoughts, expression or practice that adopts a modern approach. In the art discipline it describes an approach which reacts to the elements of realism where it deviates from the likes of traditions and such. Apart from rejecting the elements of reprise, recapitulation and such, Modernism also rejected the existence of religious virtues like God and other elements.
As such, Modernism is seen as a the type of art that encircles around the use of unconventional and abstract form of production as well as modernistic values. This is most prominently seen during the times when technology was very strong where the artwork produced through this movement were carried out by those who thought that the traditional approach to the arts that included literature, architecture and even religious faith were outdated. Thus, Modernism paved the way for a new way of thinking and philosophy that embraced technology and industrialization.
The term modern would perhaps invoke the most confusion among those who are not well-versed with art history because it is very subjective. In fact, all art can be considered to be modern at the time it was being produced because it is newer than the old. Hence, one must be able to fathom the very nature of Modernism as an era in art which dates between the 1860s to 1970s which predominantly is the ideology of art which was produced during that time.
To fully comprehend Modernism, one must be able to learn about what is known as the ‘modern era’.
This period actually began around the 16th century which is known as the Early Modern Period and goes all the way to the 18th century. The modernism ideology actually started to come about during the Renaissance period when the theory that man is the measure of all things and not God. This was at a time when the utopian society which is a perfect one started to emerge.
This will then continue to grow where the Enlightenment movement In the 18th century became stronger which came about through the Scientific Revolution in the 2 centuries before that. Basically, these movements were strong advocates of the belief of that which is more practical and less spiritual which have governed countries and ideologies before. People like Isaac Newton, Johannes Kepler and Galileo Galilei are some of the most renowned names that have embraced or produced these schools.
When taken into context, Modernism deviates very much from the likes of Da Vinci whose works were religious and it was most prominent at the times when humans were starting to question the existence of God and other celestial beings. The Scientific revolution brought about a strong sense of logical thinking which exudes that everything happens for a reason as well as a logical explanation. The open-mindedness at that time will continue until present day where the search for the ‘truth’ were all compounded through scientific theories. This gave rise to more artistic freedom where the artists were able to express themselves better through their imagination instead of being confined to certain societal rules which when deviated were condemned and criticized. Artists in the Modernism genre include the likes of Yaacov Agam, Constantine Andreou, Milton Avery, Balthus, Carlo Carrà, Tony Cragg, Robert Delaunay and Otto Dix while Gustav Klimt is also known to be an advocate of this movement.
