37 Surprising Modern Art Facts That You Haven't Heard Before

Modern art is all about expressing new ideas in a way deemed fit without conforming to the accepted traditional values and styles.

Several artistic movements have remained associated with modern art since its inception. Famous artists experimented with colors and how they perceived a subject, be it human beings, nature, or any object, as a way to present people with unique art pieces.

Though most people think modern art is the same as contemporary art, they are both very different art forms. The modern period began after a long period of suppression by Renaissance-inspired academic art. The Modern Art era specifies the work produced approximately between 1870 and 1970, and it was followed by Contemporary Art and Postmodern Art.

History And Origin Of Modern Art

Although modern art is said to have started at a later stage of the 19th century, the first paintings of modern art can be traced to the 18th century. After World War II, the U.S. began to witness a rise of new artistic movements. Check out these interesting art history facts.

1863 is commonly regarded as the year that saw the birth of modern art after French painter Edouard Manet showcased his out-of-the-time and irrelevant painting at a salon in Paris.

Art historians believe that each date plays a significant role in the evolution of modern painting, but none solely mark the beginning.

During the industrial revolution, modern painting too underwent transformative changes. The concepts of romanticism, realism, and impressionism were conceived during this time.

During this revolution, painters started to paint everyday scenes, people, places, and any fresh ideas that intrigued them. The growing cities, factories, railway lines, new slums, and holidays spots soon became the subjects.

Several developments during that era led to the establishment of various new artistic movements. The discovery of tin paint tubes and the advancement of photography benefitted a new style of visual arts, which later came to be known as Impressionism.

The 19th century saw many political and philosophical movements that influenced modern art.

Artists started promoting realist paintings, truthfully depicting an actual situation without marring it with fiction.

New painting themes and bold new methods largely dominated the visual arts of the 19th century. Architecture and sculpture was also influenced. From Japanese prints to coloristic innovations, everything created an impact on modern art.

Successful young artists and artist groups used to exhibit their art. Governments also used to hold public exhibitions for decorative arts. This period also saw the rise of art critique.

The 20th century saw movements like Fauvism, Expressionism, Cubism, and Futurism. From 1910 to the culmination of World War I, several art movements found roots in Paris.

One noteworthy mention is of the painter Giorgio de Chirico, who came to Paris in 1911 and showcased many of his mysterious and compelling paintings.

World War I hinted at the beginning of several anti-art movements like Dada. Artist groups became keen on developing ideas and concepts about the interrelation of arts, design, architecture, and art education.

Though modern art was introduced to the U.S. in 1913, the end of World War II saw the U.S. emerging as the base for new art movements.

The National Gallery of Art was founded in 1937 in Washington D.C. 

The '50s and '60s saw movements like Abstract Expressionism, Pop Art, Op Art, Minimal Art, Hard-edge Painting, Fluxus, Lyrical Abstraction, Photorealism, Abstract Art, and Postminimalism, among others.

The '60s and '70s art periods witnessed movements like conceptual art, performance art, land art, and other new art forms that found admirers at the expense of traditional media.

By the end of the '70s, new media art emerged as a separate category, where artists experimented with video art, among other technological means.

Paintings reassumed significance in the '80s and '90s with the rise of the Neo-Expressionism movement and the revival of figurative painting.

Towards the end of the 20th century, art rebels started questioning the actual concept of modern and produced postmodern works.

Famous Artworks Of Modern Art

It wouldn't be wrong to say that it was initially the European artists who began this trend of modern art. After World War I, European artists introduced the United States to modern art, which later became the focal point of modern art. Read on to learn more interesting facts about modern art.

'Olympia' by Édouard Manet, completed in 1863, is one of Manet’s famous works. He painted a nude woman in a reclining position, who is attended to by her maid.

This modernist art stirred controversy, not because of Olympia’s nudity but because of several details that identified her as a high-class prostitute, not any court lady or goddess. The most famous feature of this artwork was Olympia’s confrontational gaze, often considered as defiance towards patriarchy.

'The Young Ladies of Avignon' by Pablo Picasso, done in 1907, is one of the 20th century’s most influential and revolutionary paintings. This artwork was first named 'The Brothel Of Avignon', but was later renamed to reduce its scandalous impact.

Avignon, in Barcelona, is a street famous for its brothels. The painting contains five female prostitutes posing nude and staring in a confrontational and disconcerting manner.

'The Starry Nights' of 1889, by Vincent Van Gogh, one of the most famous European artists, painted this masterpiece after he admitted himself to an asylum for his mental illness. Though this art piece depicts the night sky as seen by Gogh through his asylum room, he made this painting during the daytime.

Later, a study made by an observatory showed that Van Gogh placed Venus, the moon, and several other stars in the exact position as they have appeared in a clear sky.

'The Scream' by Edvard Munch (1893), is regarded as a famous artwork of the German Expressionism movement. In this painting, a figure is shown with an agonized expression against a backdrop of a tumultuous orange sky.

Munch produced four versions of The Scream' during 1893-1910. This painting is so famous that it was widely parodied and imitated in popular culture and used in films and advertisements.

In 'The Persistence Of Memory' by Salvador Dali (1931), Dali uses the 'hard and soft' concept to paint melting clocks on tree branches and hard surfaces with the ocean in the backdrop. While melting watches represent the soft aspects of the world, the rocks represent the hard aspects.

This painting is considered a famous artwork of Surrealism in the 20th century.

'The Two Fridas' by Frida Kahlo (1939) is a famous artwork of Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, known for her self-portraits symbolizing psychological and physical wounds. Frida made this painting at the time of her divorce from Mexican painter Diego Rivera, supposedly portraying her loss.

Other notable mentions are 'Marilyn Diptych' by Andy Warhol, 'The Treachery Of Images' by Rene Magritte, 'Water Lilies' by Claude Monet, and 'Guernica' by Pablo Picasso.

Features And Painting Styles Of Modern Art

Modernist art is about portraying the nuances of modern society of the 19th and 20th centuries. It was uplifted by fresh ideas about nature, materials, and functions of art. Here are some of its features:

Use of new materials: Artists fixed several objects on their canvasses to depict their idea, like fragments of newspapers. Sculptors started using found objects to make their junk art. Assemblages were formed out of the most common and ordinary items like suitcases, wooden items, clocks, and cars.

Abstract Expressionism and Contemporary Art, among other movements, guided artists to make art using new and unique materials.

Experimenting with colors: From natural light to warm and cool colors, modern artists experimented with them to reveal their emotions. Color field painting, Fauvism, and Expressionism were the first styles that used the exploitation of colors.

New art types: Modern artists were the first to move away from canvasses and create collage arts, figure paintings, assemblages, kinetic art, genres of photography, earthworks, animation, and performance art.

New techniques: Several new techniques like Chromolithography, Frottage, Decalcomania, and action painting were introduced in this era. Pop artists introduced Ben Day's process and silkscreen painting. In this era, artists experimented with colors, shapes, and forms and included objects to represent their ideas through art.

By the early 20th century, several young artists revolutionized the Paris art world with wild, intense warm colors, multi-colored, expressive landscapes, and figure paintings.

Famous Painters Of Modern Art

• Several modern artists broke free from the notions of the past to create impressive artworks that defined the beginning of a new era. Their artwork introduced new concepts like Realism, Impressionism, Abstraction, and Surrealism.
• Sigmund Freud is a famous artist who, through his painting, introduced people to the concept of the subconscious mind and inspired modernist artists to explore another art form called 'Symbolism', and later 'Surrealism'.
• Pablo Picasso was a Spanish painter. Picasso contributed significantly to the Cubism movement and modern art at large. Picasso began drawing from his early years and made approximately 1,900 paintings in his entire life. His famous artworks include 'Guernica', 'The Young Ladies Of Avignon'', and The Weeping Woman', among others.
• Vincent Van Gogh was a Dutch national. Van Gogh became famous in the early 20th century, almost a decade after his demise. During the decade of his career, he created over 2,000 artworks, including still life, landscapes, self-portraits, and portraits. He is notable for using intense warm colors and his expressive and impulsive brushwork. His masterpieces include 'The Starry Night', the 'Irises' series, and the 'Sunflower' series.
• Salvador Dalí was a Spanish national. Dali is a notable figure of the Surrealism movement. His art mostly channelized the subconscious and unconscious mind to utilize imagination’s power. Dali used symbolism to depict several concepts, like an ant, to represent decay and death and elephants with brittle legs to show weightlessness. His famous works include 'The Persistence Of Memory', 'Lobster Telephone', and 'Swans Reflecting Elephants'.
• Several other famous painters of modern art are Frida Kahlo, Claude Monet, Andy Warhol, Wassily Kandinsky, Henri Matisse, Jackson Pollock, Georgia O’Keeffe, and Edgar Degas.