The characteristics of modern art , understood as a chronological concept as well as aesthetic, are those distinctive features of representative artistic productions of Modernity.
Characteristics of modern art
- Own western art. Modern art emerged in Europe as a consequence of the Industrial Revolution and spread to the United States, remaining as a western phenomenon.
- Contrast to academic artunderstood as the western classical artistic tradition.
- Interest in other cultures. Although modern art is opposed to the western traditions of academic art , one of its sources of inspiration and experimentation is the artistic traditions of other cultures.
- Constant innovation. Experiment with new themes, materials, techniques and processes.
- Development of the art trade. Concepts such as the dealer or the art gallery are born and develop alongside modern art.
- Bourgeois patronage. The role of artists changes as the intellectual bourgeoisie replaces religious and political institutions as the main client.
- New art concept. The limits and functions of art are questioned, expanding the concept of what is art .
- Art for art’s sake. The main function of art is no longer that of transmitting official political and religious messages. Artists seek to create works whose value resides in themselves.
- Independence from nature. With the appearance of photography, plastic artists gradually abandon the imitation of nature and figurative representation.
- Artistic intention. Deliberate deformations occur. These are not technical mistakes, but artistic decisions as a consequence of the artist’s aesthetic introspection.
- Open to multiple interpretations. Once the works move away from the figurative representation and the observer cannot recognize the figures, they introduce the observer to a more imaginative and spiritual plane.
- Prolific. As a consequence of constant experimentation, a multitude of artistic movements and avant-gardes arise .
- Diversity. The only thing that all these new movements of modern art have in common is that there is no general tendency, neither thematic, nor technical, aesthetic that unifies them.
- Deeply revolutionaryand as a consequence often unpopular and rejected by official institutions and the general public.
