MODERNISM VS POSTMODERNISM
Before modernism, the leading style of arts in society was Art Nouvaeu, it was a style of decorative art, architecture, and design which was prominent in western Europe and the USA from about 1890 until around 1914 and the out break of World War One.
the age they were in so they came up with art nouvaeu, inspired by the arts and crafts movement that came before them, world famous artists today such as Vincent van Gogh and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec were involved in the rise of art nouvaeu.
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec was Art Nouvaeu as a a very famous Art style of art can be Nouvaeu artist in the very easily recogmid 1800s, during nized by its linear his childhood Laudesigns and flowing curves based on nat- trec was fragile, afural forms, it came to ter breaking his legs when he was very be when artists and designers wanted to young as Henri grew his legs stayed undercreate a style of art more appropriate for developed meaning
that in his growing years he would have limited career choices, as author George Heard Hamilton says in the book ‘Painting and sculpture in Europe 1880-1940’ (Yale University Press, 1993, pg 113-114) Lautrec became a precocious draughtsman, and during his long convalescence turned seriously to drawing and painting, and although attending the studio of the portraitist Leon Bonnat in 1881 Henri de Toulouse Lautrecs early paintings were unsparingly direct studies of the model.
Author George Heard Hamilton also goes on to explain that Lautrec later went on to discover the ways of ‘Impressionist vision and colour’ and learned something of the new attitudes towards art and design.
1
2
hot spots like theatres and dance halls, including the world famous Moulin Rouge.
in the book ‘Paintings and sculpture in Europe 1880-1940’ (Yale University Press, 1993, pg 114) Lautrec took inspiration from the works of older artists and in the works of Japanese print, all of the characters in Lautrec’s work can As Lautrec grew up he be seen to be in the practiced and expersame pose, glancing imented with many sideways on a diagodifferent styles of art nal slant which allows including realism and him to really capture impressionism, his the movement and journey led him to expression in his illuslead a new life in Par- Henri’s simplified his trations, I think that art works and his style simplifying and refinis which is where he really found style and became very illustra- ing his style like he tive and less formal became extremely did gave him a real than his past works, successful creating target audience and posters for some of and as author George made it extremely Heard Hamiltion says easy for him to be Paris most notorious
. One change in particular was the industrial revolution, which was a period of time Modernism however, during the 18th, and 19th century in which as a movement was our western society a modern thought, character or practice, became incredibly industrial and urban its is an extremely with the hasty growth broad term used to encompass modernist of cities. movements specifAfter the time of the ically in the arts, as author Mana Mohm- industrial revolution saw the break out of madi explains in the World War One which ebook ‘modernism and postmodernism’ ran through from 1914 to 1918 and was a (ISSUU, 2013, pg 2). major contributor to the rise of the modIt originally came to ernist movement. be in the late 19th and 20th century, In art, modernism was when the world began to see changes in very much a kind of rebellion, it very obviwestern society. recognised and become as popular as he did at that time.
ously and explicitly rejected and rebelled against the ideology of realism and began using the works of the past, it rejected the idea of enlightened thinking and the idea of a compassionate all powerful creator, it uses reprise, incorporation, rewriting, recapitulation and parody in new forms to do this, says Author Mana Mohmaddi in the ebook ‘modernism and postmodernism’ (ISSUU, 2013, pg 2). As a whole, the kind of people that practiced the arts in the modernist movement
3
4
very much felt that the usually traditional and original ways of art and design in art, illustration, architecture, literature etc. were very much out dated and over used and that there was nothing new to be created in this new industrialised society, in retaliation to this thought, modernist thinkers began to create a new way of thinking when it came to the arts, everything was to be broken down to its most basic from, in painting, illustration, editorial work and architecture, whatever practice it may be, it was
to be simplified to it most basic components.
would say that dada was one of the more rebellious movements in modernism, unlike A huge part of the most works, Dadamodernist movement ism was nothing subwas Dada. Dada was jective, it was not a a creative movement painting or a poem or during World War One a genre of music, but originating in Zurich in much rather a way of 1916 at Cabaret Vol- thinking, as Dada’s taire. leading theorist Tristan Tzara ensued ‘Dada In the book ‘Painting was, and is, a state and sculpture in Euof mind’, it was not a rope 1880-1940’ autechnique or a style. thor George Heard Hamiltion quotes Dada was created es‘Dada is said to have sentially as a rebellion been one of the most against the horrors of ‘violent, disruptive the first world war, it and controversial’ was a way for people movements in 20th to express their disapcentury art’, in terms proval in some way of what it` stood for I and brought together
upon contact arose questions about various topics including society, it was very much anti-art and went against everything art is supposed to be. The art that Dadaists created very much Dadaist practices in the arts included po- embarrassed and etry, painting, sculp- mocked people with nationalistic and mature, performance art, photography and terialistic views. collage, as well as many other forms of The majority of Dadaists were of workarts and crafts, and The Dadaists wanted to put into practice a although the Dadaists ing class origin and new kind of mentality practiced these crea- more often than not by including fine art in tive things, the inten- the artworks they cretrying to create a new tion was not to create ated were made up aesthetically pleasing of every day objects ethic, they believed pieces of art as other that realistically anythat in both art and artists would, but rath- body could get their society, reason and er making pieces that hands on, only the logic had driven the all people with this new way of thinking, this new state of mind, all people who, in Zurich in particular, agreed that this brutal war taking place was in fact eradicating the very heritage and culture that their country was fighting to protect, and in involving themselves in dada intended express their defiance.
objects that realistically anybody could get their hands on, only the chosen objects would be changed and manipulated by the artist to create a work of Dadaist art, the purpose of this was to make people question the creativity and in turn, question the place of art itself in society at that time.
world to what it had become, so in protest to this the Dadaists cast out and rejected reason and logic and dedicated themselves to randomness and irrationality.
5
6
Another big part of the growth of modernist art was the De Stijl movement. De Stijl was originally a publication that came about around the year 1917, it was founded by Piet Mondrian and Theo van Doesburg, the magazine was a vessel in which Mondrian could share his artistic thoughts and ideas, it was in one of the very first publications of the De Stijl magazine that the term neo-plasticism was used, this term later became a common and widely used name for the style of art that the artists in the De Stijl
consistent promotion of geometric abstract The De Stijl movement art. came to be in light of this new magazine Some members of this community were Bart showing people this van der Leck, Vannew unique style of art, it was a communi- tongerloo and Vorty of Dutch artists who dermberge Gilderwart as well as the archipromoted a style of tects Gerrit Rietveld art based on a strict geometry of horizon- and JJP Oud. Mondrian withdrew tals and verticals, as author Michael White from De Stijl in 1923; Van Doesburg consays in the book ‘De tinued the publication Stijl and Dutch Moduntil 1931. ernism’ (Manchester University Press, The intention of the De 2003, pg 12) if there Stijl style was to comwas one single feature that distinguished municate a message with a visual style De Stijl from other based on a kind of competing versions rebellion towards the of modernism in the Netherlands it was the more traditional and
detailed styles of art which came before it such as Art Nouveau, in opposition of this a simple and logical style was formed that looked both functional and constructive, a style that could be used in every day modern society.
movement created.
7
8
Visually the De Stijl style was very geometric, it used geometric shapes and
and linear principles, the straight line, the square, the rectangle, combined with the use of flat pure primary colours and black and white. There is a very obvious pattern in De Stijl artwork of thick black straight lines and block colours creating the shapes De Stijl is so well known for and the colours are arranged by weight, distributing the light and dark colours as light and heavy to create the perfect balance in the space. De Stijl had a profound influence on
the development of both abstract art and modern architecture and design.
After modernism came the post-modernism movement. Post-modernism came to be in the early 1960s as a rebellion against modernist art which had dominated the art world since the beginning of the 20th century, it intended to rid society of the boundary between art and everyday life in which modernism had created. As a movement in the arts, post-modernism was made up of a wide variety of styles and techniques, it did not have a set style or theory and intended
to change the things in which people saw art should be, as apposed to sticking to one particular style in one piece of art, post-modernist artists often combined several styles and techniques into one piece, which made it very popular among many creative minds that did not belong to one practice. One very influential form on post-modern art was ‘pop art’. Pop art is an art movement that emerged in the 1950s and flourished in the 1960s in America and Britain, drawing inspi-
One of pop arts most successful artists was Andy Warhol, Warhol’s original works were mostly pieces of art depicting every day objects and consumer goods, celebrating the average object, taking something that has no particular ora about it and celebrating it.
ration from sources in popular and commercial culture such as advertising, Hollywood movies and pop music, pop art as a style was described as being, popular (designed for a mass audience), Transient (short-term solution), Expendable (easily forgotten), Low cost, Mass produced, Young (aimed at youth), Witty, Sexy, Gimmicky, Glamorous, Big business at that time according to the movements collection ‘De Stijl – The style; Holland 1917’ on Guggenheim.org.
9
10
As Andy’s career as an artist grew and he became increasingly more popular, he became borderline with fame and celebrity culture, which in turn, changed the objects of his art, instead of creating art celebrating averageness, he began painting the rich and famous. He went on to be one of the most famous and influential pop artists of his era.
postmodernist art had some kind of rules as to what it is your piece should look like as a piece of post-modern art, modernist art was also very diverse in the sense that low forms of art were often a part of modernism and were very basic and simple, where as post-modernist art was complex and decorative, it was In terms of the art be- very much all about ing created, modern- the aesthetics, works ist art was very much of postmodernist art are very often very new and unique, it detailed and would created a new style have took huge that left you free to amounts of effort create pretty much and time to plan and whatever it is you complete, modernist wanted where as I think that as movements, modernism and post-modernism, although opposites aesthetically, are quite similar in the sense that both movements stood up against something, modernism was rebelling against the ideology of realism and post-modernism was rebelling against modernism itself.
art on the other hand could take minutes, hours or days, there was no limit on what you could create, whether it be extremely minimal and quick to make or a lot of effort to create.
BIBLIOGRAPHY Hamilton, G.H.H. (1993) Painting and sculpture in Europe, 1880-1940. 6th edn. New Haven: Yale University Press.
I think that in conclusion, modernist and post modernist art share some unique similarities especially morally but are opposites aesthetically.
Mohammadi, M. (2013) Research modernism and Postmodernism. Available at: https://issuu.com/mana.typeface/docs/a3_landscape_research_mana_mohammadi (Accessed: 18 April 2016). White, M. (2003) De Stijl and Dutch modernism. Manchester: Manchester University Press. :http://www.guggenhiem.org.new-york/collections/movements/195212 (Accessed: 18 April 2016).
11
12
KIRA SHELTON