Modernism

modernism describes the succession of art movements at the turn of the 20th century when people began to believe in civilisation and the goals of civilisation. World War I created a devestation to society and belief systems which created a wave of experimentation in artists, some of these artists presented morality and they tried to define what art should be and do to society.

Some examples of modernist movements

• Post-impressionism - started in the years of 19th century with artists like Paul Cezanne, Georges Seurat and Vincent Van Gogh they focused on the limitations of impressionist art. allowing them to investigate the expressionist side of art with bright colours and short brush strokes. many post-impressionist artists composed their art independently allowing them artists to express and experiment with different techniques and ideas.

• Fauvism - this is an avant-garde movement and was pioneered by Henri Mattise it explored the use of vibrant colours to capture different landscapes and still life compositions they also created emotion through the artworks. they utilised the colours straight out of the tube with blatant brushstrokes which appealed to audiences as it was new and different for the time.

• Cubism - this is the best-known movement of the modernist era with one artist in particular, Pablo Picasso, with his Les Demoiselles d’Avignon as it has a significant African influence, these pieces discarded the ideas of past art movements and mimicked nature and explored flat dimension. these drawings were usually objects like instruments, pitchers, bottles and human figures. Picasso and Braque used a monochromatic scale to focus eyes on the object and structure of the work.

Lester Beall

Lester Beall is a self-taught graphic designer Beall used visual contrast and had information in his designs especially his poster campaigns in the late 1930s such as his art for Scope magazine for Upjohn paramacticals in the 1940s. ball used flat plain blocks of primary colours creating inclusive designs that everybody can understand. Lester had unique creativity and precision with his designs using many different media such as poster design, magazine layouts and corporate identity systems. he was influenced by the European artist's style of the Bauhaus movements especially the experimental typography allowing Beall to develop his unconventional style these designs used flat abstract shapes directional arrows and strong typography.

Saul Bass

An American graphic designer who was best known for his motion picture sequences, film posters and logos. he worked for many farmworkers in Hollywood including Alfred Hitchcock, Stanley Kubrick and Otto Preminger. his most well-known title sequence was an animated paper cut out of the man with the golden arm by Otto Preminger. some of his logo designs included the Greffen record, Hanna-Barbera swirling Star, united Airlines, Warner bros” Big W” and the Warner music group.

Milton Glaser

an American graphic designer who is well known for the artwork I Live New York logo and the Bob Dylan poster but also designs for DC Comics and Stony Brook University.