Modernism was a cultural and artistic movement that began around the early twentieth century. It was a reaction against the rational thinking that came out of the Enlightenment era and the classic forms of art and literature. With the end of World War I, the old order was broken and new forms of art and expression were needed.

Specifically, the Modernist movement covers a lot of distinct art movements from that era, such as Fauvism, Cubism, Futurism, Dada, Surrealism, and Expressionism. What they all share in common is their motion away from the realistic lines and colors of classic painting in favor of something new. What they created was a more abstract and expressive kind of art. This in turn set the basis for what we now call "modern art."

One of the central themes of Modernism is subjective experience. Much like the Impressionists experimented with color in non-realistic ways, Modernist art often breaks the classic rules on perspective to both highlight the personal feelings of the artist and provoke a personal reaction from the audience. In some cases, this was purely done for aesthetics, but in other cases, it was a critique or rejection of traditions and social conventions like religion, politics, and industrialized capitalism. Objectivity was rejected in light of the chaos and personal suffering that science, new technologies, and two World Wars had created in the "modern" age.

You can find many examples of Modernist art and see how different artists experimented with color and perspective to show life and fantasy in remarkable new ways. In La Femme au Cheval ("Woman with a Horse"), Jean Metzinger used Cubist angles to portray multiple aspects of a single subject simultaneously. Marcel Duchamp challenged the very concept of art as a Dadaist, using common objects as sculptures known as "readymades." Later on, even more revolutionary styles would emerge, such as the work of Jackson Pollock. With liquid paint applied chaotically onto a canvas, Pollock developed a mode of art that was less of an object and more of an event for the audience to wonder at. Some of his best known pieces include No. 5, 1948 (now part of a private collection)and Blue Poles (on display at the National Gallery of Australia).

Although Modernism as a movement came to an end in the 1960s, it has continued to inspire new generations of artists and kept a strong cultural impact toward freedom of expression.

Image by Tony Hisgett on Flickr