Modernism in Art

The book Modernism’s History is a analyzation of twentieth-century perceptions of art and it’s focuses. One of the aims of the book is to explain the history of modern art over time since the beginning of the Modernization Era. The reader is able to learn more about Descartes, also known as the ‘father of modern philosophy.’ The book also focuses greatly on who the modernists were and their influence on fifteenth century art and it’s fascists. "Viewed in this way the concept of the avant-garde is better understood as a metaphor for generational change in 'fine' art, which by its implicit nature is dynamic, rather than a metaphor for a small group of talented individuals networking for artistic reform against philistine majorities during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries." (Smith 26)

Smith, Bernard. Modernism's History. New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press, 1998.

Impressions of French Modernity by Richard Hobbs focuses just as much on art as in Modernism’s History, but also on literature in France beginning around 1850 up until the 1900’s. The beginning of the book describes how a painter sees and understands the adjustment of modernity on his own, in the case of Delacroix. Later on in the book, the reader can find thorough analysis of paintings and sculptures influenced by the contemporary and futuristic time. The book focuses on the era of Impressionism, originating from France. Paintings and other work done in this realm of art focused on light itself, compared to just focusing on objects themselves. Symbolism, the other art form from France, was influenced by the view that language is defined by it’s national identity. "Conventional accounts tell us that modernism begins within the context of Symbolism during the late nineteenth century." (Smith 15)

Hobbs, Richard. Impressions of French Modernity. Manchester: St. Martin's Press, 1998.