Art History Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Art History - Assignment Example There are 5 characteristics of modern. First is capitalism, which created the modern through creating a new economic system of labor and fixed wages, wherein these wages are used to buy more and cheaper consumer items. The second is urban culture, wherein agriculture was replaced by industrialization. The third is technological advances, which created dramatic changes in the lifestyles of people. The fourth is secularism, wherein the traditional religious authority is not as strong as before. The fifth is the optimism of the people, wherein all changes are deemed positive. These changes definitely affected the art audience, therefore affecting the artists themselves. The artists, having a change in their audience, embraced the innovations of the era, and tried to participate in the changing times by merging the new ideas in their art works. The modern artists thus began to acquire new audience from among the modern people who made their money out of these modern changes such as indus trialization, etc. Slowly, modern art is in, and the traditional art is obsolete. It is possible that artists, more and more, began embracing the modern ideas because it is through that that they will have audience for their art pieces. The connection between the avant-garde and the modern is actually quite interesting. Firstly, during the first half of the modern era, there were still some artists who cannot be considered truly modern because their styles still resemble the traditional and conservative ones. Still, modern artists are called â€Å"avant-garde,† which is a term originally used in the military to describe the front liners or point men, similar to any individual who takes the most risk. A Burial at Ornans Gustave Courbet's â€Å"A Burial at Ornans† is a realist art, and it is antithetical to romantic art. First, the painting shows the realistic life, painted with no sugar-coating --- life as it is. Second, it does not aim to evoke ideal feelings or emotio ns, rather, it just shows things from an objective point of view. Third, it can be seen that the full disclosure of even the smallest details are depicted in the painting, and there is no information denied to or hidden from the audience. Fourth, there is the depiction of the everyday, regular individuals that one encounters on a daily basis. Fifth, the setting of the scene is