About Modern Artist Paintings

Modern art began in the late 1860s all the way to the 1970s. It was an era of art that sparked the interest of originality and experimentation. It loosened the chains of traditional paintings and gave many artists a new outlook.

Modern Painting Beginnings

Modern art began in the 1860s contrary to the belief that it started at the turn of the 20^th century. One of the first modern art paintings, Spirit of the Dead Watching, by Paul Gauguin, marked a new revolution in art. It used bright colors and abstract shapes while representing a young girl sleeping on a neon bed.

All of Vincent von Gogh’s paintings marked the true start of modern art, with some prime examples being The Blooming Plumtree and The Courtesan. Some historians believe the beginnings of modern painting came to during the Enlightenment age of 1650 to 1700. This is because painters started to express themselves widely with their art as they have begun to get bored with traditional style art.

Early 20^th Century Paintings

This marked the official time era in which modern paintings became more popular. Forms of the art included expressionism, fauvism, and cubism. Edvard Munch’s The Scream started expressionism to the extreme because of its emotional value. Marc Chagall’s I and the Village was one of the most known abstract paintings of the early 1900s. It featured a man and a sheep staring at each other with a complete background of trees and houses cluttered around. This conceptual piece of art brought about a new style of painting called surrealism.

Mid 20^th Century Paintings

Towards the end of the modern art era, color field painting and vibrant pop art became popular in the 50s and 60s. Minimal art featuring dim colored backgrounds with bright shapes or dots cost a fortune because of the emotions it brought out of onlookers. Soon the art became post modern, meaning that in the mid 70s video and media art took the place of the earlier modern paintings.