Post 3: Modernism

Modernism takes place during the late ninetieth century to the middle of the twentieth, mostly following the years after World War I. Modernism defined "refers to the broad movement in Western arts and literature that gathered pace from around 1850, and is characterized by a deliberate rejection of the styles of the past; emphasizing instead innovation and experimentation in forms, materials and techniques in order to create artwork that better reflected modern society"(Tate). To understand it better, Modernism was in contrast to everything in the traditional culture. It was the art period where everything that was set up in the past in terms of what was right and what was wrong was thrown away to start experimenting with new ideas. It brought out ideas that people would not have done before this time period because of religion, family life, etc. Chadwick states, "Modernity is both linked to the desire for the new that fashion expresses so well, and culturally tied to the development of the new visual language for the twentieth century--- abstraction"(Chadwick 253).  Some of the movements that developed during the Modernism time period were cubism, fauvism, expressionism, and futurism. During this time period painting and art in general became more abstract, it was less about the figurative representation and it was more about what you thought of the art.

Post-modernism takes place from mid to late twentieth century. Postmodernism defined, "specifically a reaction modernism which had dominated art theory and practice since the beginning of the twentieth century. The term Postmodernism is also widely used to describe challenges and changes to established structures and belief systems that took place in Western society and culture from 1960s on wards"(Tate). Postmodernism is the art period that contradicts aspects of modernism that were brought up during the modernism art period. Postmodernism included movements such as installation art, conceptual art, performance art, and multimedia, involving in videos.  The type of art produced during this time pop art, collages, simplistic, the use of past styles and themes in a modern day context and the breakup of the fine and high art and low art and popular culture. Postmodernism left behind the idea that there was one meaning to each work of art and brought the idea that the viewer decided what it meant to them.

Female artist during Modernism was Sonia Delaunay. Delaunay spent most of her life in Paris with her husband, Robert Delaunay, her work consisted of paintings, textile design, and stage set design. She was one of the primary artist that focused on Orphism, a movement that her husband founded. Chadwick states,"Like her husband, Delaunay soon became firmly convicted that modernity could best be expressed through a dynamic interplay of color harmonies and dissonances which replicated the rhythms of modern urban life" (Chadwick 260). Delaunay's  used a lot of colors and shapes in work. The colors brought out the emotion behind the shapes, the shapes all together made something that on it's own is nothing but when put together created a beautiful piece of art. Guerrilla Girls state, "art pushed the enveloper between art and life" (Guerrilla Girls 60). Delaunay was able to turn her art into everyday life. Her textile design were spread out into fashion, home decor, and the theater. Delaunay made art more reachable to people. Art was always something that people of the upper class were into and her work made the people from the middle and lower classes something that they could enjoy also.






Delaunay's textile designs extended the range of her influence into fashion, home decor and the theater. Her ability to introduce art into regular life by creating and wearing clothing, and living in spaces that were of her own design, can be seen as an early form of performance art, inspiring contemporary artists such as Marina Abramovic.


her work extends to painting, textile design and stage set design. She was the first living female artist to have a retrospective exhibition at the Louvre in 1964, and in 1975 was named an officer of the French Legion of Honor.

Her work in modern design included the concepts of geometric abstraction, the integration of furniture, fabrics, wall coverings, and clothing.

http://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/m/modernism
http://www.theartstory.org/definition-modern-art.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_art