Modern Artwork Summary for Art Enthusiasts

At The Imitate Modern, we are Modern artwork fanatics who love to support artists whose career has seen a rounded close and emerging artists who are still figuring out their unique style. We champion those who seek to disrupt the industry. Therefore, this diary entry is all about Modern art and design, comparing Modern and Contemporary styles and suggesting some famous works to study if you are just starting to learn more about this era. 

What is a Modern art design?

Modern art refers to pieces created between the 1860s and the 1960s-1970s. The style during this 110-year era was progressive, and many artists utilized new techniques and styles. This led to the Modern era becoming less traditional than the last few centuries worth of art. For example, art became more abstract and symbolic rather than descriptive. 

Revolutionary painters, such as Vincent van Gogh and Henri de Toulouse, helped define this new style at the beginning of the modern art era. Then in the early 1900s, pre-cubist artists started experimenting with expression, landscapes, and portraits in more outlandish colours than was used in previous periods. 

Then Picasso came along to challenge ideas yet again with his cubist ideas when he decided to paint nature with just three shapes (cubes, spheres, and cones). Other 20th-century artists used new techniques, including Cubism, Futurism, and Expressionism. 

After the First World War, some people also noted that modern art was being more heavily connected with architecture and education. The Second World War also signified a change in styles and defined the next decades with a surge in art in Expressionism, Minimalism, Conceptualism, and Pop Art (to name a few). 

At the end of the Modern Art era, artists also began to experiment with new media, and many creatives moved away from focusing solely on painting as their main form of expression. This say risen to new movements, including Photorealism, video art, performance part and more. 

Postmodern art began near the end of the 1900s, with many people reinventing ways to use painting in Neo-expressionism and Figurative techniques. 

Modern Artwork Vs. Contemporary Art

Amateurs often ask our experts how to define the difference between modern wall art prints and contemporary wall prints. As mentioned, Modern art includes the work that was created between the 1860s and the 1970s. Although it is ‘modern’ in terms of the extensive history of art itself, and therefore this period is more modern than other eras, such as Renaissance and classical. 

Contemporary art encompasses current forms of artists’ expression and includes work from the end of the Modern era till the present day. Therefore, most of the artists we represent at The Imitate Modern are contemporary artists who are still working on their craft and creating new pieces. 

Contemporary artists are often at the forefront of change and hope to seek their own styles while using complex social, economic, and political themes in their work. They also often use a multi-media disciplinary approach to art. 

Influential types of Modern Art

As mentioned, Modern art was a rapidly changing movement which says new types of movements have become the forefront of art and design over the years. Some of the most influential art styles during the Modern era include:

• Cubism 
• Futurism
• Line art
• Symbolism 
• Impressionism
• Art Deco
• Pointillism 
• Surrealism 
• Abstract Expressionism 
• Pop Art 
• Minimalism 

Many of the artists represented by the Imitate Modern use one or a combination of these techniques. On the same side of this coin, some of our contemporary artists use Modern artists as the key inspiration for their current work. For example, Romero Britto has cited Pablo Picasso, Andy Warhol and Henri Matisse as inspirations for his work. 

What is the most famous piece of modern art?

As Modern art spans several decades, it is hard to choose just one or two pieces to sum up this era and answer the question: who is most famous for modern art? 

Therefore, we must rephrase the question to ‘what is an example of modern art?’ and offer just a handful of possible famous examples of modern art:

• Vincent van Gogh produced famous works, including the Country Road in Provence, The Starry Night and Portrait of Père Tanguy
• Edvard Munch, with his famous work The Scream 
• Henri Matisse is often known for his creations such as The Dance, The Piano Lesson and The Rose Marble Table
• Pablo Picasso created his work, including Les Demoiselle d’Avignon 
• Salvador Dalí and his melted clockwork piece, The Persistence of Memory
• Paul Cézanne and his contradictory work, including The Bather
• René Magritte and his stunning work, including the Surrealist artwork The Lovers

Of course, we could list countless other Modern artists who have created influential modern art pictures, so this is by no means an extensive list of all the Modern artists who made that era so memorable. 

Contemporary Artist Gallery  

The Imitate Modern is a contemporary art gallery in London that works with international artists in multiple media. The Imitate Modern is well-known for collaborating with sensation artists whose careers have spanned much of the latter part of the 20th century and who have created a name for themselves in the contemporary artwork that will live on for generations. However, what makes this gallery unique is the gallerists’ ability to spot emerging talents in the world of modern artwork UK. Hence, you can find a collection of well-established and emerging artists within this gallery, from painters to sculptors to photographers to printmakers. 

Take a look at the artists’ gallery to see every artist currently under representation with this fine art gallery in London, or browse through our virtual shop to find a selection of modern wall prints for your home.