MODERNISM DEFINED

A roughly 100 year period beginning with Realism

Courbet rejects the Academy

Invention of Photography demands a new style of “truth” in painting

Ends with WWII

When modernists become disillusioned with the hopes and broken promises of Modernism

Leads to Postmodernism!

MODERNISM

general term

to describe

different

styles and

reactions ,

which we will

explore in

subsequent

chapters

MODERNISM

Impressionism and Postimpressionism

Abstract Expressionism

CubismDada

Surrealism

Modernism

MODERNISM MOVES FROM A…

Truth Centered World

1. Existence of meta-narratives

2. God as creator

3. Truth is absolute

4. There is order to the world

World of Individuation

1. Meta-narratives collapse

2. Individual is creator

3. Truth is contextual

4. Order is false; the world is disordered

Meta-Narrative is a “little story”, but it is one that explains human experiences through religion, political theory, historical discourse

EXAMPLES OF META-NARRATIVESLIGHT

Pre-Modernism

The Sun was created by God

The Sun (and so God) gives us light

Light is a symbol for life, divine

MODERN SCIENCE CHANGED WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT LIGHT

Modernism

Light does not, in fact, exist

“Light” is my eyes’ perception of electric and magnetic fields

So I am the Creator of “light”

Light will become a modern symbol for the individual

EXAMPLES OF META-NARRATIVESCOLOR

Pre-Modernism

Color comes from natural materials created by God

Colors can combine to create other colors to create the illusion of reality

God is the creator, the artist is an imitator of God’s reality

Light is a symbol for life, divine

MODERN SCIENCE CHANGED WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT COLOR

Modernism

Color does not, in fact, exist

“Color” is my eyes’ perception of electric and magnetic fields colliding with objects of different electric and magnetic makeup

So I am the Creator of “color”

Color will be used more subjectively, with more consideration of the science of color, and more emotionally

MODERNISM

Focuses on the World of Individuation

1. Traditional ways (Meta-narratives) of explaining the world collapse

2. With God “dead,” the Individual /Artist is creator

3. If the individual is creator, then Truth depends on context; it is no longer absolute

Some artists will face Modernism with confidence—Monet. Other will face it with anxiety—Van Gogh.