Modern Art

As "masters", the artists were commissioned, usually by the church, to create art. The subject was provided and the artist used their talent. But in the Modern Era, the role has changed for artists. Modern artists wanted to break about from conventional art and they wanted to create something new and never seen before. Artists got tired of the old ways and wanted to create new ones. The new role for artists were to expand ideas and expectations of art. Art shifted because artists wanted to show reality and not a glamourized image like Ancient Greece art and sculpture. Artists started to push the boundaries of what could be accepted. Art started to show the hardships of life, like in Gustave Courbet's "The Stone Breakers". This piece of art shows two men working and the view can tell it is hard labor. Life for these subjects was not easy and showed the reality of the common people, the poor. Artists also started to experiment with color and pushed the envelope with that. Artists like Vincent Van Gogh used color to express emotion never seen before in art. Examples of his incredible include "The Night Cafe" and "Starry Night", which both evoke emotions. Modern artists wanted to stretch the idea of reality and they made their own. The viewer now had to think and question the art they were seeing.