Modernism and Post-Modernism History
In the arts, modernism refers to the rejection of Victorian era traditions and exploration of industrial-age issues, while post-modernism refers to the dismissal of Modernism’s rigidity in favor of an “anything goes” approach to subject matter in the 1960s and 1970s.
MODERNISM IN ART
With leaders like Claude Monet and Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Impressionism is considered the first Modernist art movement. The Impressionists used brief, fierce brush strokes and the changing effect of light to distinguish their work from what came before it, and their focus on modern scenes was a direct rejection of classical subject matter.
DADA
Marcel Duchamp exemplified the haughty playfulness of the Dadaists with his pieces Fountain and L.H.O.Q., which both turn their backs on the very idea of creating art.
Abstract Expressionism
Abstract Expressionism, which began in the 1940s and was made famous by Jackson Pollack for his method of dripping paint onto canvas from above, served as a record of the artist’s subconscious as well as a map of the physical movements required to create the art.
NEO DADA AND POP ART
Pop Art, which began in England in the late 1950s but was popularized in America, was a transitional period between Modernism and Post-Modernism, inspired by former Abstract Expressionists such as Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg. Andy Warhol’s famous Campbell’s Soup cans pre-dated Pop artists.
POST-MODERNISM
There was little to unite Post-modern art in the 1970s other than the idea that “anything goes.” At the heart of Post-Modernism was conceptual art, which proposed that the meaning or purpose behind the making of the art was more important than the art itself. The 1980s saw the rise of appropriation as a widely used practice, with artists like Sherrie Levine lifting the actual work of other artists to utmost utmost utmost utmost utmost u
SOURCES
Michael Wood, H.H. Arnason, and Marla F. Prather, Modern Art: Impressionism to Post-Modernism, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Michael Wood, History of Modern Art, Michael Wood, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Michael Wood, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Michael Wood, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Michael Wood, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Michael Wood, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Michael Wood, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Michael Wood,
What came before postmodernism?
History. The basic features of what is now known as postmodernism can be found in the work of artists as early as the 1940s, most notably in the work of artists such as Jorge Luis Borges; however, most scholars today agree that postmodernism began to compete with modernism in the late 1950s and eventually surpassed it in the 1960s.
What has replaced postmodernism?
Other recent literary trends, such as the popularity of historical fiction, the revival of realism, and fiction’s increased engagement with visual and digital culture, are also emblematic of this shift. 10.04 is just one example of contemporary fiction that expresses a sentiment beyond the postmodern; other recent literary trends, such as the popularity of historical fiction, the revival of realism, and fiction’s increased engagement with visual and digital culture, are also emblematic of this shift.
What gave birth to postmodernism?
Modernism was a reaction to idealism and a utopian vision of human life and society, as well as a belief in progress; whereas modernism was founded on idealism and reason, postmodernism was founded on skepticism and suspicion of reason.
What came first modern or postmodern?
Modernism spanned the late nineteenth century to the middle of the twentieth century, peaking in the 1960s; Post-modernism refers to the period that followed in the 1960s and 1970s.
Who is the father of postmodernism?
Following in the footsteps of the great American modernist poets of the first decades of the twentieth century — Pound, Eliot, and Williams — Charles Olson is the father of the “postmodernists” of the second half of the century, bridging Pound and Co. to major poets like Robert Duncan and Robert Creeley.
What are examples of postmodernism?
Postmodern Literature Examples
- Gravity’s Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon. Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino. Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov. Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace. White Noise by Don DeLillo. American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis. Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot by Margaret Atwood.
Why is postmodernism bad?
While postmodernism has a wide range of critics, they all agree that it lacks coherence and is hostile to absolutes such as truth; postmodern philosophy is also frequently criticized for obscurantism and resistance to reliable knowledge.
Are we living in postmodernism?
Yes, we now live in a postmodern society, if we take the term at its most basic level, which is true in the sense that the modern era is generally defined as occurring between the dawn of the industrial revolution and the end of World War II.
Is the 21st century postmodern?
Music, sculpture, painting, film, and theater can all co-exist and combine in the Post-Modern era, which has no boundaries and separate disciplines.
What are the three key principles of postmodernism?
Many postmodernists believe that (1) there is no objective reality; (2) there is no scientific or historical truth (objective truth); (3) science and technology (and even reason and logic) are suspect instruments of established power; and (4) reason and logic are suspect instruments of established power.
What is the main idea of postmodernism?
Postmodernism, which arose in western secular conditions, has the following characteristics: it emphasizes pluralism and relativism while rejecting any absolute belief or value; it opposes essentialism and considers human identity to be a social construct; and it rejects the idea that values are based on one’s personal beliefs.
What is difference between modernism and postmodernism?
Postmodernism recovers the preoccupation with the external and the construction of worlds, using pastiche, black humour, and parody to contest traditional literary conventions, whereas modernism focuses on interiority and psychological concerns.
What defines postmodernism?
Postmodernism is “post” because it denies the existence of any ultimate principles and lacks the optimism of the so-called “modern” mind that there is a scientific, philosophical, or religious truth that will explain everything to everyone.
Is Picasso modern or postmodern?
Pastiche and discontinuity are endemic to modernist art, according to Art and Language’s Charles Harrison and Paul Wood, and are effectively deployed by modern artists such as Manet and Picasso.
Why is it called the modern era?
The term “modern history” refers to the history of the world since the advent of the Age of Reason and the Age of Enlightenment in the 17th and 18th centuries, as well as the beginning of the Industrial Revolution.