Modern Art

It doesn't exist an official beginning of Modern art; according to some it starts in 1863, when Manet shows his “The luncheon on the grass”in Paris, others believe that it began in 1855 thanks to Goustav Courbet with his “The Painter's Studio”.

Modern Art was influenced above all by philosophy, indeed Immanuel Kant was considered the first “modernist”. Generally, we can speak about three different movements of modern art: romanticism, realism and impressionism.

Romanticism: Delacroix, Heyez and Friedrich based their art on principles about romance, nationalism and the sublime, showing the vastness and the power of nature and proposing gloomy landscapes where come up the famous feeling called spleen, a feature of this movement.

Realism chose to represent every-day life scenes, denouncing the evils of society like poverty and exploitation; artworks like “Des Glaneuses” by Jean-Francois Millet or “Le wagon de troisieme classe” by Honorè Daumier are very representative.

Lastly, the Impressionism enclosed some parts of previous movements. Starting from XIX century, different movements are considered “modern art” like: pointillism (Georges Seraut), post-impressionism (Cezanne) and symbolism, a current born in France, that shows the reality through symbols, metaphors and dreams.