Modernism

Chronological diagram of Modernism

The term Modernism commonly applies to those forward-looking architects, designers and artisans who, from the 1880s on, forged a new and diverse vocabulary principally to escape Historicism, the tyranny of previous historical styles.

What is Modernism?

Modernism refers to a series of reforming cultural movements in art, architecture, music, literature and the applied arts which emmerged in the three decades before 1914.

It is a trend of thought  that affirms the power of the human beings to create, improve, and reshape their environment apllying scientific knowledge, technology and practical experimentation.

What is it called in different countries?

 -  Jugendstil in Germany, Austria and many other countries, named after the avant-garde periodical Jugend ('Youth')

-   Młoda Polska ('Young Poland' style) in Poland, or skønvirke in Denmark

-   Sezessionsstil ('Secessionism') in Vienna

-  In Spain, the movement was centred in Barcelona and was known as modernisme.

-  Art Nouveau in France.

-   In Italy, Stile Liberty was named for the London shop, Liberty & Co.

When did it start and why?

The first half of the nineteenth century for Europe was marked by a number of wars and revolutions, which reveal the rise of the ideas and doctrines now identified as Romanticism: emphasis on individual subjective experience, the sublime, the supremacy of "Nature" as a subject for art, revolutionary or radical extensions of expression, and individual liberty. By mid-century, however, a synthesis of these ideas with stable governing forms had emerged, partly in reaction to the failed Romantic and democratic Revolutions of 1848. It was exemplified by Otto von Bismarck's Realpolitik and by "practical" philosophical ideas such as positivism.

What are its main characteristics?