A beginner's guide to 20th century art
If abstract art puzzles you, this is a great place to start.
Early abstraction: Fauvism, Expressionism, and Cubism
Matisse, Kandinsky, Picasso all used abstraction to invent new systems of representation.
World War I, Futurism and Dada
Boccioni and the Futurists responded very differently than did Duchamp and the Dada artists to the violence of the Great War.
Art between the wars: the avant-garde and the rise of totalitarianism
Utopia and the dream preoccupied artists during the depression and the rise of dictators like Hitler.
Figuration and abstraction in post-war Britain
In the years of recovery after WWII, British artists explored both abstraction and figural representation as we see with Henry Moore and Anthony Caro.
Abstract Expressionism and the New York School
After WWII, Pollock, de Kooning, Rothko and other abstract artists reinvented painting.
Pop
Wham! Warhol, Lichtenstein and Oldenburg crashed the gates of high culture asking what authentic art looks like in a society filled with tawdry commercial images.
Minimalism and Earthworks
Minimalism isn’t simple, although Judd, Smithson, Christo and others did use simple forms to convey complex issues about the nature of art.
Architecture
What about architecture? F.L. Wright’s Guggenheim and Mies’ Seagram Building each drew on classical precedents to create beauty in the modern city.