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

“If you went to Vienna in 1900 or Berlin in 1920, you were in the epicenter of the developments of modern art, and Ronald understood this deeply. It’s a hugely generous gift.”

From The Wall Street Journal • May 14, 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

“So are people that have been obsessing on modern art and modernism all their lives — they’re gonna be confounded by it.”

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 8, 2026

The ground there looked like a really awful piece of modern art, thickly spattered with white, brown, and green chicken poop.

From "The Omnivore's Dilemma" by Michael Pollan