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

“So are people that have been obsessing on modern art and modernism all their lives — they’re gonna be confounded by it.”

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 8, 2026

He lives in a company-owned apartment full of dark, polished surfaces and bad modern art; she lives in a rundown apartment furnished with termites.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 18, 2026

It has been instrumental in turning Milan into an art capital, said Nicola Ricciardi, the artistic director of Miart, the city’s annual contemporary and modern art fair.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 4, 2025

Theatre Picasso marks 100 years since the Spanish artist, often referred to as the godfather of modern art, unveiled his famous painting The Three Dancers.

From BBC • Sep. 17, 2025

They would upend the Mona Lisa investigation—and they would change the course of modern art.

From "The Mona Lisa Vanishes" by Nicholas Day