Meaning of Modern Art

Art, from the Latin ars, is a concept that makes mention of human creations that reflect the sensible vision of the real or imaginary world. The literature, the painting and theater are some of the disciplines of art, which in prehistory had a ritual function and that eventually morphed into aesthetics and recreation.

From the Latin modernus (“recent”), modern is that belonging to or relating to a recent period or the time of the speaker. Typically, the modern is seen as opposed to the classical.

According to abbreviationfinder, the notion of modern art, therefore, refers to artistic production created since the end of the 19th century. As with the idea of contemporary art, the expression can be linked to different historical times.

There are many figures that we could highlight as representatives of modern art. However, among the most significant are the following:
• Pablo Picasso, the Malaga painter 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 even in literature. Among his most famous works, the table entitled “The persistence of memory” should be highlighted.
• Claude Monet. As a creator of the movement called Impressionism, this French painter is known, who carried out works of great significance and recognition such as “Saint-Lazare station”, “The water lilies” or “The London Parliament at sunset”.
• Marcel Duchamp. This French artist, for his part, has gone down in history as the great inspiration of the pop movement. Without a doubt, his best-known work is the one entitled “The Source”.
• Paul Cezanne. Within post-impressionism, we can say that this French painter is framed, with outstanding paintings such as “The card players”, “The great bathers” or “Still life with apples and oranges”.

For some experts, modern art is the opposite of academic or traditional art. Modern art, in this sense, is related to the avant-garde and experimentation. Other specialists associate modern art with the Contemporary Age, so it would have started in the middle of the 18th century.

At a general level it can be said that modern art is a way of considering the aesthetics and function of art, where the main value is not the literal and exact representation of nature. After the development of photography, which accurately reflects reality, modern artists proposed new points of view on nature.

Given the value of modern art, there are many museums and exhibition centers around the world that specialize in it. Specifically, among the most significant spaces of this type are the following: the MOMA in New York, the Tate Modern in London or the Museum of Modern Art (MAM) in Madrid.

The historical stage that follows modern art is postmodern art, which emerged for many in the 1970s in rejection of the idea of ​​modernity.