Twentieth-century Modernism
Bridget Riley | England b.1931 | Big Blue 1981-82 | Oil over synthetic polymer paint on linen | 234.5 x 201cm | Purchased 1984 | Collection: Queensland Art Gallery © The artist
Developing in the 1860s and declining in the 1960s, Europe’s modernist period was one of particular richness and variety. It coincided with the development of the modern state and the birth of a series of diverse and experimental art movements including Impressionism, Fauvism, Cubism, Constructivism, Futurism, Dada, Surrealism and the art nouveau style. The idea of Modernism evolved in tandem with the growth of metropolitan cities such as Paris and London. In contrast to previous periods, modern artists looked to the present and the future for its subjects: spurred on by developments in technology such as photography and later cinema, Modernism challenged the religious, classical and historical models of the past. City life, informal portraits and images of transport and technology became increasingly popular.
The rise of museums, private dealers and avant-garde groups freed artists from the exclusive patronage of the royal courts of Europe and wealthy collectors. New subjects, techniques and materials characterised the modern era and the arts, in all their forms, became the arena for experimentation with language, meaning, philosophy and other systems of representation. Artists, declaring that paintings should exist as independent objects rather than as imitations of the world, challenged the conventions of perspective, illusionism and subject matter.
The development of abstraction in the early years of the twentieth century was perhaps the most radical element of European Modernism. Abstract art was partly a response to a new world, one in which traditional meanings and social values were being disrupted by mechanisation; to new forms of communication; and to startling discoveries in physics and science.
In recent decades, other forms of modern art, whether in South America, Asia, Eastern Europe or Africa, have been widely recognised as integral to a broader understanding of multiple art histories and diverse expressions of Modernism.
