Modern Art
Modern Art
 Refers to the period that began
in the 1880s and lasted until the
1960s.
 “Modern art” label refers to the
late 19th and early-to-mid 20th
century art.
Impressionism
• There are no sharp
lines or clear
images here, just
an impression of a
building.
• Light, shadow, and
color are the most
important elements
in this painting.
House of Parliament by
Claude Monet, 1904.
Impressionism
• This painting
started the
Impressionistic
movement.
• Light and color
were more
important than
clear, sharp
images.
Impression, Sunrise by Claude
Monet, 1872.
Impressionism
a. “Everyday” Subjects- impressionists
ventured into capturing scenes of life
around them, household objects,
landscapes and seascapes, houses, café
sand buildings.
b. Painting Outdoors- still life’s, portraits,
and landscapes were usually painted inside
a studio.
Impasto
Impasto
Impressionism
c. Open Composition- the impressionists
painting also moved away from the formal,
structured approach to placing and
positioning their subjects.
Sample Artworks
Sample Artworks
Post-Impressionism
• This style is less
relaxed and more
emotional than
Impressionism.
• Notice the bold
colors, twisted
forms, and
course
brushstrokes.
The Starry Night by Vincent
van Gogh, 1889.
Post-Impressionism
• Used of vivid
colors, heavy
brush strokes,
and true-to-life
subjects.
The Starry Nigh
by Vincent van Gogh, 1889.
Sample Artworks
Sample Artworks
Surrealism
• Images in this
style are not
logical.
• Metal attracts ants
like rotting flesh.
• Limp watches
suggest that time
has lost all
meaning.
• Can you see a
face in the center?
The Persistence of Memory
by Salvador Dali, 1933.
Surrealism
The Persistence of Memory by Salvador
Dali, 1933.
Surrealism
The Persistence of Memory by Salvador
Dali, 1933.
Surrealism
• The idea of a
man looking
into a mirror
and seeing
the back of
his own head
is absurd.
Portrait of Edward James
by Rene Magritte, 1937.
Cubism
• This style use
geometric shapes like
circles, squares, and
triangles.
• There is no realistic
detail.
• The image is flat,
two-dimensional, and
fragmented.
Head of Marie-Therese
by Pablo Picasso, 1938.
Cubism
Head of Marie-Therese by
Pablo Picasso, 1938.
Cubism
• Geometric
shapes were
used with this
modern style of
painting.
• How many
triangles can you
count?
Girl With a Boat
by Pablo Picasso, 1938.
Pop Art
• Everyday items are the
subjects of this style.
• Television, magazines,
and comic books gave
the painters of this
style most of their
ideas.
• Pop means popular.
Campbell’s Soup Can by Andy
Warhol, 1964.
Pop Art
• This woman was
a famous movie
star, so she
made a perfect
subject for this
style of painting.
Marilyn Monroe
by Andy Warhol, 1964.
Pop Art
• the pop artists seemed to enjoy
nonsense for its own sake and simply
wanted to laugh at the world.
• Their works range from paintings, to
posters, to collage, to three
dimensional “assemblages” and
installations.
Pop Art
• These made use of easily recognizable
objects and images from the emerging
consumer society. Their inspirations
were the
• celebrities, advertisements, billboards,
and comic strips that were becoming
common place at that time.
Can You
Identify
These
Styles?
Op Art
• also known as “optical art”
• a form of “action painting,” with
the action taking place in the
viewer’s eye
• In op art, lines, spaces, and colors
were precisely planned and
positioned to give the illusion
of movement.
Performance Art
• is a form of modern art in which the
actions of an individual or a group
at a particular place and in a
particular time constitute the work
• involves four basic elements;
Performance Art
 Time
 Space
 The performer’s body
 A relationship between the
performer and the audience.