Art in the 20th Century

Modernization/Modernity/Modernism

the transformation of society by industry and cities; art responding to it

Baudelaire is key author of this

Art for Art’s Sake

belief that art’s value lies in its form, not its function

Autonomy

art’s independence from politics or morality

Self-Reflexivity

art aware of and referencing its own making (e.g., Cézanne’s brushwork as well as Braque’s Violin and Pitcher)

Form/Facture/Content

facture = handling of materials; how form produces meaning

Analytic Cubism

fragmented, geometric forms; focus on perception and structure

Picasso and Braque founded this idea

Salon Cubism

decorative, colorful, more legible Cubism

Semiotics (icon, symbol, index)

how images signify meaning

Braque and Picasso use this to show how paintings function as signs

Passage

Use of short, parallel brushstrokes that created areas of transition in both value and hue

A technique associated with Cezanne and picked up by Picasso and Braque

Primitivism

A movement that focuses on the styles of indigenous and African art styles. The idea of appropriating their art to show a level of authenticity and purity that pre industrial cultures portray

Picasso used this but was kinda racist

Decorative (Landscape)

Focuses on the blurring of the style of a realistic landscape, going from a simple depiction of landscape to an expressive, colorful, depiction of nature in its beauty.

Ornementation

German Expressionism (2 groups)

Die Brucke and Der Blaue Reiter

A modernist movement that emphasized emotional intensity, distortion, and vivid color over realistic representation. It aimed to convey inner feelings and psychological states rather than depict the external world objectively.

Abstract (non-objective) Art

no reference to natural forms

Futurism

An Italian avant-garde movement  celebrating modernity, speed, machines, violence, and urban life. It sought to capture movement and energy in art

Marinetti Futurist Manifesto

Merging of human body and machine

De Stijl

Dutch art and design movement (1917–1931) that sought universal harmony through abstraction and reduction to essentials — vertical/horizontal lines and primary colors.

Using dynamic equilibrium

Piet Mondrian and Theo van Doesburg were two examples

Bauhaus

A German school of art, design, and architecture founded by Walter Gropius. It united fine arts and crafts, emphasizing functionalism, simplicity, and mass production

Form follows function

Dynamic Equilibrium

visual balance through opposition (Mondrian)

Primary colors and horizontal and vertical lines creating a grid are examples

Constructivism

 Russian avant-garde movement  that emphasized art as a tool for social purpose and construction rather than expression. It combined geometric abstraction with an industrial, material-based aesthetic

Popova is an example

Defamiliarization

presenting familiar objects or scenes in unfamiliar ways so viewers see them anew, questioning habit and perception

Purism

An early 20th-century movement  reacting against Cubist fragmentation. It sought clarity, order, and “purity” of form, aligning art with the aesthetics of the machine age

Leger is a common example

Dada

An anti-art movement born during World War I in Zurich as a protest against rationalism and the violence of modern society. Dada embraced absurdity, chance, and nonsense to challenge traditional art

Machine Aesthetics

An approach to art and design that celebrates the look, precision, and functionality of machines and industrial forms. It often emphasizes smooth surfaces, geometric structure, and impersonal execution.

Surrealism (in Europe and Latin America)

A 1920s avant-garde movement aiming to unlock the unconscious mind through dream imagery, automatic writing, and irrational juxtapositions

Fetish

In art, a fetish object carries excessive symbolic or emotional power — often linked to sexuality, desire, or the anthropological idea of spiritual charge in objects

object of obsessive or repressed desire

Assemblage

A 3D composition made by combining found or everyday objects — essentially a sculptural collage

Ready-made / Found Objects

Ordinary manufactured objects presented as art, chosen and recontextualized by the artist

Social and “Nativist” Art in Latin America

Art that expressed national identity and indigenous heritage while addressing social and political issues, especially after independence or revolutions

Muralism

Large-scale wall paintings intended for public spaces, often promoting social or political messages accessible to all

Ashcan School

A group of American Realist painters depicting gritty scenes of urban life, working-class subjects, and New York streets

Precisionism

An American modernist style that celebrated industrial America through clean, geometric forms and smooth, machine-like surfaces.

Southwest Modernism

An American regional modernism that merged abstraction and modern form with the landscape, cultures, and light of the American Southwest.

The New Negro Movement

A cultural and intellectual movement of the 1920s celebrating African American identity, creativity, and resistance to racial stereotypes.

Foundation of the Harlem Renaissance.

Harlem Renaissance

A flowering of African American art, music, and literature in 1920s Harlem emphasizing racial pride and cultural achievement.

Social Realism (WPA)

An American art movement (1930s–1940s) depicting everyday working-class life and social struggle, often supported by the New Deal’s Works Progress Administration (WPA).

Socialist Realism

The official Soviet state art style (1930s–1980s), promoting Communist ideals through heroic, idealized depictions of workers, soldiers, and leaders.

De-Figured Art

Art that distorts, abstracts, or eliminates the human figure to convey psychological tension or emotional truth rather than realistic form.

Impasto

A painting technique using thick layers of paint that stand out from the surface, emphasizing texture and brushwork.

Haute Pâte

Technique where thick paint or mixed materials create a sculptural, heavily textured surface.

Art “Informel”

A post–WWII European movement emphasizing spontaneous gesture, raw emotion, and formlessness — parallel to Abstract Expressionism.

Deskilling

The deliberate rejection of traditional artistic skill or craftsmanship to critique art institutions and redefine creativity.

Formlessness

Aesthetic rejection of stable form, embracing disorder, decay, or ambiguity.

Alienation

A feeling of isolation or estrangement, often depicted in postwar and modernist art responding to modern society, war, and industrialization.

Postwar Humanism

An art trend after WWII emphasizing the endurance and fragility of humanity amid trauma and destruction.

Internationalism vs. Nationalism

Tension in modern art between universal, global modernist styles (internationalism) and localized, culturally specific expressions (nationalism).

Abstract Expressionism

Postwar American movement emphasizing spontaneous, expressive abstraction and the artist’s gesture as a trace of self.

Art Brut

(“Raw Art”) Term coined by Jean Dubuffet for art made outside the academic or cultural mainstream — by children, the mentally ill, or “outsiders.”