modernism
Embracing the new
Modernism is a broad cultural movement of the late 19th and early 20th centuries that broke with traditional forms in art, literature, architecture, and music.
Writers like Joyce and Woolf, painters like Picasso, and architects like Le Corbusier rejected established conventions in favor of experimentation and abstraction.
More generally, modernism can mean any embrace of contemporary ideas over traditional ones: His modernism clashed with the church's conservative teachings. (Capitalized Modernism often refers specifically to the historical movement.)
Philosophy stressing self-created meaning
- phenomenologyStudy of subjective experience
- positivismPhilosophy demanding verifiable evidence
- structuralismAnalysis through underlying systems
- nihilismRejection of objective meaning
secularism · rationalism · humanism · pragmatism · materialism · relativism · absurdism · skepticism
Testing new methods
- avant-gardeInnovative cultural pioneers
- pioneeringFirst to explore territory
- radicalRoot-indicating symbol
- unconventionalDeparting from standard practice
breakthrough · revolutionary · originality · novelty · transgressive · nonconformity · rupture · manifesto
Geometric, fragmented visual style
- surrealismIrrational, dreamlike aesthetic
- expressionismDistorting reality for emotion
- dadaismAbsurdist artistic movement
- futurismStudy of tomorrow's possibilities
constructivism · suprematism · post-impressionism · art nouveau · art deco · purism · imagism · formalism
Emotional separation between people
- anomieBreakdown of shared standards
- disconnectionState of being severed
- fragmentationBreaking into smaller pieces
- disillusionmentBitter loss of faith
isolation · rootlessness · displacement · outsider · antihero · stream-of-consciousness · wasteland · angst
Not depicting reality
- geometricRelating to mathematical shapes
- nonfigurativeNot depicting reality
- fragmentationBreaking into smaller pieces
- distortionTwisting from original state
simplification · biomorphic · deconstruction · conceptual · formlessness · amorphous · reduction · monochrome
Aesthetic of reduction
- functionalismTheory emphasizing purposes and roles
- simplicityLack of complexity
- austerityEnforced economic stringency
- geometricRelating to mathematical shapes
unadorned · asymmetry · openness · transparency · spareness · restraint · purist · reductionism
Transition to factory-based economy
- urbanizationPopulation shift toward cities
- mechanizationConverting to machine operation
- technologyApplied scientific methods
- automationSelf-operating system design
electrification · mass-production · skyscrapers · machinery · efficiency · rationalization · standardization · functionalism
existentialism
Philosophy stressing self-created meaning
- phenomenologyStudy of subjective experience
- positivismPhilosophy demanding verifiable evidence
- structuralismAnalysis through underlying systems
nihilism · secularism · rationalism · humanism · pragmatism · materialism · relativism · absurdism · skepticism · determinism
experimental
Testing new methods
- avant-gardeInnovative cultural pioneers
- pioneeringFirst to explore territory
- radicalRoot-indicating symbol
unconventional · breakthrough · revolutionary · originality · novelty · transgressive · nonconformity · rupture · manifesto · iconoclasm
cubism
Geometric, fragmented visual style
- surrealismIrrational, dreamlike aesthetic
- expressionismDistorting reality for emotion
- dadaismAbsurdist artistic movement
futurism · constructivism · suprematism · post-impressionism · art nouveau · art deco · purism · imagism · formalism · op art
estrangement
Emotional separation between people
- anomieBreakdown of shared standards
- disconnectionState of being severed
- fragmentationBreaking into smaller pieces
disillusionment · isolation · rootlessness · displacement · outsider · antihero · stream-of-consciousness · wasteland · angst
nonrepresentational
Not depicting reality
- geometricRelating to mathematical shapes
- nonfigurativeNot depicting reality
- fragmentationBreaking into smaller pieces
distortion · simplification · biomorphic · deconstruction · conceptual · formlessness · amorphous · reduction · monochrome · streamlined
minimalism
Aesthetic of reduction
- functionalismTheory emphasizing purposes and roles
- simplicityLack of complexity
- austerityEnforced economic stringency
geometric · unadorned · asymmetry · openness · transparency · spareness · restraint · purist · reductionism
industrialization
Transition to factory-based economy
- urbanizationPopulation shift toward cities
- mechanizationConverting to machine operation
- technologyApplied scientific methods
automation · electrification · mass-production · skyscrapers · machinery · efficiency · rationalization · standardization · functionalism · utopian
- -ismsatomism, feminism, Marxism, Darwinism, realism
- Art & Culturepainting, sculpture, music, dance, theater
- art formspainting, drawing, sculpture, photography, music
- literaturebooks, book, fiction, poetry, stories
- architectureEiffel Tower, buildings, architects, design, thatching
- art stylesimpressionism, surrealism, cubism, realism, pop art
modernismtraditionalism
Adherence to inherited customs
classicism · academicism · historicism · Victorian style · neoclassicism
modernismtraditionalism
Adherence to inherited customs
fundamentalism · antimodernist · conservatism · archaism · reactionism
modernismpostmodernism
Skepticism toward universal truths
pre-modern · Victorian era · antiquarianism · retro · revivalism
- modernist artExperimental early-twentieth-century aesthetics
- modernist designStripped-down, geometric aesthetic movement
- modernist architectureSpare, functional building design
- modernist furnitureTwentieth-century design movement pieces
- modernist styleArt movement rejecting ornamentation
- modernist homesTwentieth-century design residences
modernize, modernized, modernist, modernity, modernization, modernizer, modernizes, modernists, modernistic