What is Modern art?
[[Image:Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec 028.jpg|thumb|200px|[[Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec]], ''At the Moulin Rouge: Two Women Waltzing'', 1892]] [[File:Vincent van Gogh - Road with Cypress and Star - c. 12-15 May 1890.jpg|thumb|200px|[[Vincent van Gogh]], ''Country road in Provence by Night'' 1889]] [[Image:Les Grandes Baigneuses, par Paul Cézanne, Yorck.jpg|thumb|200px|[[Paul Cézanne]], ''The Large Bathers'' 1898–1905]] [[Image:Paul Gauguin- Manao tupapau (The Spirit of the Dead Keep Watch).JPG|thumb|200px|[[Paul Gauguin]], ''The Spirit of the Dead keeps watch,'' 1892]] [[Image:Georges Seurat - Les Poseuses.jpg|thumb|200px|[[Georges Seurat]], ''The Models'' 1888]] '''Modern art''' refers to [[art|artistic]] works produced from the 1860s to about the 1970s. It refers to the [[style]] and [[philosophy]] of the art produced during that era.<ref>Atkins, Robert. 1990. ''Artspeak: a guide to contemporary ideas, movements, and buzzwords''. New York: Abbeville Press. {{ISBN|1-55859-127-3}}</ref><sup>p102</sup> The period coincides with the [[invention]] of mechanical means of recording images: [[photography]] and [[photographic film|film]].<ref>Scharf, Aaron 1974. ''Art and photography''. Penguin, Harmondsworth. {{ISBN|0-14-021722-3}}</ref> The term ''modern art'' is usually associated with art in which the traditions of the past have been thrown aside in a spirit of experimentation.<ref>Gombrich E.H. 1958. ''The Story of Art''. London: Phaidon.</ref><sup>p419</sup> Modern artists experimented with new ways of seeing and with fresh ideas about the nature of materials and functions of art. A tendency toward [[abstract art|abstraction]] is characteristic of much modern art, including [[minimalism]] . More recent artistic production is often called [[Contemporary art]] or [[Postmodern art]]. == History == Modern art begins with the heritage of painters like [[Vincent van Gogh]], [[Paul Cézanne]], [[Paul Gauguin]], [[Georges Seurat]] and [[Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec]] all of whom were essential for the development of modern art.