The transitional phase that came with the sudden growth in the Industrial Era was disappearing, and the Modern Era represented the shift in focus from pent up emotion in society into a more passive era where thought triumphed action. The works of artists like Rembrandt demonstrated a yearning for the real, where emotions were poured into the subject of the art rather than the style of the art. The Modern Era, however, brought about many changes in society and innovations. With this growth in technology came the continual strive for difference.
Picasso is just one example of an artist who tried to stray from the realism that existed in the past with his use of cubism and surrealism. The avant-garde movement he popularized was a symbol of the advancement and experimental Modern age. Cubist art is the use of geometric shapes, strongly defined angles, and abstract objects conglomerated into one, and the result of such a piece of art contrasted sharply with the “what you see is what you get” paintings of past artists like Rembrandt. Such works encouraged differing opinions and left much to the audience to decide rather than promoting a specific viewpoint the artist had intended. Picasso’s painting “Guernica” looks at first like a smattering of disjointed shapes with faces, but upon further investigation reveals layer after layer of symbolism and stories about the Spanish Civil War. The depth and emotion conveyed with a few simple shapes and colors inspires thought that lasts long after a look at the art of the Modern Era.
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