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

This was the country’s first major showing of modern art in the U.S.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 12, 2026

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

In the history of modern art, that honor belongs to Les Demoiselles d’Avignon.

From "The Mona Lisa Vanishes" by Nicholas Day