Early Modern Art Overview

Juan Gris Newspaper and Fruit Dish, 1916

Because this time period from roughly 1910 - 1935 occurs post Industrial Revolution, art movements during the Early Modern period boil up and simmer down quickly due to the newly, fast pace of life... especially compared to the previous 400 years since the Renaissance.  This time period includes MANY "ISMS!!"  Get ready...

• Post-Impressionism (arguably!)
• Cubism
• Futurism
• Dada
• Surrealism
• Expressionism
• Suprematism
• Constructivism
• ... and other movements!

Many of these movements are happening simultaneously throughout Europe, Russia, and the United States with a great deal of overlap and shared collaborations.  Art no longer needed to depict life as it was.

Early Modern defined a transitional period where life was changing quickly due to social, political, and economical changes, technological and scientific improvements, World War I upheaval, and yes... even a pandemic - the Spanish flu of 1918.  Megg's History of Graphic Design textbook in Chapter 13 quotes, "the history of the world was shattered."

Eerily, the time period in which Early Modern art develops doesn't feel like such a different time from our lives in 2020... what do you think?