Modern Art: Definition and Philosophy

Modern Art is typically considered as the art created from about 1900 to present, however Modern Art technically only encompasses the art beginning with Impressionism in in the late 1800s to the beginnings of Post-Modernism in the mid-1970s. The primary tenet of Modern Art that sets it apart from prior art is the rising need for expressionism in art, and the falling need for photorealism. A rule of thumb for knowing if an author is discussing Modern Art as defined above, or modern art in the sense of contemporary, or current, art, is to notice whether or not “modern” is capitalized. It is understood that in most academic publications, capitalized Modern Art refers to art from Impressionism to Postmodernism while lowercase modern art can be understood as contemporary art.

Modern Art was a label created in 1939 by the important American art critic Clement Greenburg. He was essential as a critic in that he solidified and defined the art movements in the 1940s through 1970s. Clement Greenburg believed that Abstract Expressionism, championed by Jackson Pollock, was the greatest artistic movement in his lifetime. With Clement Greenburg and Jackson Pollock, there was a huge shift in the art world moving the center of the avant-garde from Europe to the , specifically New York City.