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

“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

But its theft sparked a series of events that would threaten to derail the highest achievements of modern art.

From "The Mona Lisa Vanishes" by Nicholas Day