Modernism had been developing for an entire century and can be commended for a variety of art movements ffrom the school of Dada to post-impressionism. In general, modernism is a global art movement that appeared in the late 19th century and lasted until the end of the 20th century (Childs, 2016). The development of the new modes of expression was mainly caused by social and technological change driven by industrialization. Moreover, developments in the social science, particularly in philosophy, political theory, and psychology, made newly emerged art abandon “outdated” realism and other traditional forms to find something that will better reflect modern societies.
The modern art movement was so broad that it is difficult to define its typical characteristics. Modernism is well-known for being experimental, elliptical, for combining creation and decreation techniques,and for its goal to tie an artist’s freedom from materialism, traditional forms with ideas of cultural collapse (Childs, 2016). The main unifying characteristic is the artists’ belief in the value of art and their “self-consciousness,” as they were sure that it matters. Despite slightly different timeframes, almost the same avant-garde movements prevailed around the world. They all applied new imagery, new materials, and techniques to rewrite, reprise, and revise achievements of realism.
The main differences which can be spotted among Asian, Latin American, and Western modernism development lies in region-specific political and social conditions of that time. For instance, Asian countries were dealing with colonialism striving to become independent; thus, prominent modernism artists mixed Western ideas with techniques and motives of the local culture. According to O’Brien et al. (2012), Asian and Latin American modernism was not entirely copied from North America or Europe, as it was adapted and revised according to local conditions and political dimensions. The political idea to challenge the colonial authority was often more important than aesthetic concerns in the works of Asian nationalistic artists. In Latin America, avant-garde artists also created pieces of art that comprised elements of local histories and culture and was against imperialism.
The main problem is that the Western world perceived the whole process as they “creawere while others “copy and replicate.” Modernist artists from different parts of the world assisted the development of avant-garde movements in Europe. It is not fair to label artists who found inspiration in Western modernism as derivatives. In reality, it was “multimodernism” that was possible only because of the mutual interchanging of ideas and concepts.
References
- O’Brien, E., Nicodemus, E., Chiu, M., Genocchio, B., Coffey, M. K., Tejada, R. (Eds.) (2012). Modern art in Africa, Asia, and Latin America: An introduction to global Modernisms. Wiley-Blackwell.
- Childs, P. (2016). Modernism. Taylor & Francis.