modern art movements

Modern art movements are the various schools, styles, and collective tendencies that emerged in Western art from roughly the 1860s through the 1970s—Impressionism, Cubism, Surrealism, Abstract Expressionism, and dozens of others.

Each movement typically shared aesthetic principles, techniques, or philosophical stances that distinguished it from what came before.

The term implies a succession of revolutionary breaks: She studied the major modern art movements in her survey course.

Contemporary usage sometimes blurs "modern" with "contemporary," though art historians maintain the distinction.