Until the mid-19th century, artists were considered craftspeople, like barrel makers and carpenters.

3. Until the mid-19th century, artists were considered craftspeople, like barrel makers and carpenters.

4. And artists were always thought of as men.Self-portraitEugene Delacroixc. 1837

5. Although the mid-19th century Romanticists� art was uncontroversial, the artists behaved bizarrely and began the myth of the artist as unconventionaland rebellious.

6. In the 1860s the Impressionists moved the Romanticists� rebellion onto their canvases. Rebellion became a theme of modernism.

7. Modernism�s themes include: 1. Rebellion 2. Increasing abstraction 3. Flattening of space 4. Using color, line and shape  expressively rather than  descriptively 5. Removal of content until  eventually the artwork itself was  removed 6. Linear progression of these ideas from one movement to the next

8. Their �blurry� images of everyday scenes were the first steps toward modernist Abstraction.

9. They also flattened 3-dimensional space, and were the first artists of Western modernism to paint the world abstractly, rather than how they saw it�two themes of modernism.Little girl in a blue armchairMary Cassatt1878

10. In the 1870s the Post-impressionists pushed abstraction farther and flattened space more. Self-portraitPaula Modersohn-Becker1906

11. They began to use color expressively rather than descriptively�another modernist theme.

12. After the turn of the century, Cubism increased abstraction and flattened space even more. It showed objects from multiple sides simultaneously. For these reasons it is a metaphor for the 20th century.Still lifeLiubov Popovac. 1916

13. Each of modernism�s movements logically followed the movement before it by abstracting more and thinning space more. Each removed something more from art. This gives modernism its linear, self-destructive quality.Two girls in front of birch treesPaula Modersohn-Beckerc. 1905

14. Contemporary with the cubists, the futurists depicted movement, pushing abstraction in yet another direction.

15. As the modern world developed, avant garde artists chose to portray it less and less. Each movement removed something and put nothing back in its place.Natal�ia GoncharovaAlexandra Exterc. 1916

16. �The Great War,� World War I, revealed that humans are capable of global violence. In protest, the Dada art movement sought to eliminate all art.Cut with the kitchen knife: dadaHannah Hoch1920

17. In the 1930s the Surrealists resurrected art by painting their inner worlds rather than the more frightening outer one. Self-portrait Leonora Carrington 1938

18. After World War II, artists searched for a new way to paint that suited the modern world.

19. Art became totally abstract. This was called Abstract Expressionism. Recognizable content and 3-dimensional depth were eliminated.

20. Unlike modernism�s other movements, Abstract Expressionism lasted for two generations.When J.J. left for New YorkJoan Mitchell1976

21. The first generation painted in an energetic style calledaction painting.

22. The second generation painted in a style called color field, which removed the emotion of action painting. At this point, the 1950s, there was very little left to Western art.Scarlet sage Alma Thomas1976

23. In the 1960s the minimalists removed everything except the art object itself. Modernism was nearing its end.White flowerAgnes Martin1962

24. Conceptualism, which began in the 1960s,was modernism�s last movement. It removed even the artifact.

25. 

26. Modern art in the West began in the 1860s and ended in the 1960s. During this century artists twice tried to end art. First the Dadaists, disheartened by World War I, tried and failed. Forty years later the Conceptualists tried. They too failed.  Art springs from the human spirit. It cannot end as long as people exist. May both women and men be free to make art forever.