Modernism/Postmodernism

Cynthia Patel

Modernism is a movement in art that occurred in the 20th century. Modernism is the evolution in which artists broke away from past forms of art and started discovering a more modern approach of expressing paintings, drawings, photography, sculptures, etc. Modernism did not focus on one precise type of movement. There were various different art expressions that artists focused on, such as Cubism, Futurism, Dada-ism, Surrealism and Realism. "Modernism has also been driven by various social and political agendas. These were often utopian, and modernism was in general associated with ideal visions of human life and society and a belief in progress" (Tate, 1). Women artists like Liubov Popova and Sonia Delaunay focused on abstract expressionism. Popova and Delaunay are both Russian born artists. They just did not focus only on abstract art, they targeted other movements such as Cubism and Fauvism.  Abstract art was directly impacted by Surrealism. "It encouraged their interest in myth and archetypal symbols and it shaped their understanding of painting itself as a struggle between self-expression and the chaos of the subconscious" (The Art Story, 1). Fast forward to modern day, Delaunay's paintings are used as inspiration for fashion designers. "The "post" in postmodern suggests after. Postmodernism is best understood as a questioning of the ideas and values associated with a form of modernism that believes in progress and innovation. Modernism insists on a clear divide between art and popular culture" (Palmer, 1). Before the idea of modernism, we saw the male gaze and how that affected artwork. However, in the 20th century we start to see women artist and the concept of female gaze. Women artists are now painting and drawing their interpretation of the female body. Alice Neel whom created expressionist portraits is just one artist that embraced this idea. Even though there was progress in the feminist movement, there was still not much change.

Works Cited
http://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/m/modernism
http://www.theartstory.org/movement-abstract-expressionism.htm
https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-postmodernism-20791