modern art

American  

noun

1. art that was produced in the late 1860s through the 1970s and that rejected traditionally accepted forms and emphasized individual experimentation and sensibility.

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Etymology

Origin of modern art

First recorded in 1800–10, for an earlier sense

Example Sentences

The album is experimental, merging modern art with Romanticism.

From Salon • Jun. 5, 2026

Many modern art historians, such as Dr Bendor Grosvenor, accept the label on this drawing is correct and that it is a surviving contemporary likeness of her.

From BBC • May 1, 2026

He lives in a company-owned apartment full of dark, polished surfaces and bad modern art; she lives in a rundown apartment furnished with termites.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 18, 2026

Spanish philosopher José Ortega y Gasset called modern art, way back in 1925, “antipopular.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 18, 2026

He’s so frustrated with his bosses, who won't let him sell modern art in the gallery.

From "Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers" by Deborah Heiligman