The Story of Modern Art

Norbert Lynton, in narrating the Story of Modern Art from 1900 to the present day, also aimed for the reader to engage with this art in a warm and sincere manner. Lynton demonstrates that the fundamental developments in modern art were serious and skillful attempts to restore art to an honorable and significant status after a century of emphasis on the "empty" and the "ostentatious." While clarifying the ideas behind these endeavors, the author also highlights the movements that persist in modern art today and the important differences among the artists associated with these movements. Modern art remains surprising for those who find it difficult, ugly, random, and indifferent. In the author's belief, some explanations supporting modern art exacerbate the problem by exaggerating rebelliousness and novelty, as if change itself were a virtue. However, there is fundamentally no separation or opposition between modern art and the art of previous eras. Attention should be paid to the content of artworks rather than their stylistic features and superficial material. In this edition, a new chapter has been added to the Story of Modern Art, covering the developments in 1980s art and art criticism. The Short Biographies and Bibliography sections have been updated, new illustrations have been added, and color versions of some previously black-and-white images have been used. Thus, with its further enriched content, the Story of Modern Art continues to be a book that anyone interested in the art of our age should read.