WHAT'S MODERN ABOUT MODERN ART?

HERE'S nothing modern about Modern Art. Every artist knows this much — that there are only two types of art that ever exist in the normal world outside the confines of the art literate one. One is, of course, the Mona Lisas and the breathtaking landscapes that never cease to amaze with their perfection. The other is the undecipherable Modern Art, the stuff that shows in exclusive art galleries and sells for vulgar jaw-dropping amounts at art auctions.

- JITHA KARTHIKEYAN

To set the record straight, here are the facts. Modern Art does not refer to the art of the contemporary times. Rather, it refers to the art that was produced from the 1860s to the 1970s.

A long, long time ago indeed! Why then, you wonder, is something from the past even called modern? Simply because it was the first attempt at moving away from traditional art styles and indulging in experimentation. The desire to challenge conventional ways of visual representation was at the core of Modern Art. Until then, it was realism and classicism that were being championed. Several factors led to this, the most important being the Industrial Revolution which radically changed the way people worked and existed. The urban population rose rapidly with more people migrating to the cities for jobs.