The turn of the 20th century marked the beginning of a period of global metamorphosis. As the Victorian Era ended with Queen Victoria’s death in 1901, decolonization left the status of many realms under English rule uncertain. The next hundred years would bring remarkable technological advances, two World Wars, economic collapse and rebirth, social transformations and even space travel.

As artists responded to their changing times, the type of art they produced began to reflect new aesthetic, social and artistic interests. Color palettes evolved, new subjects were introduced and techniques changed in all visual art forms.

The 20th century also experienced the birth of several art styles, including abstract art movements like action painting and Abstract Expressionism.
It is difficult to select only a handful of influential artistic movements from the last hundred years; as the world ebbed and flowed, many artists rose to the challenge of creating something new and fresh. It is hardly surprising that such a formative period produced some of art history’s most visionary artists.

While the following will outline a timeline of American and European modern art movements, many of these movements do not fit neatly within years or decades. This movement in art styles fully represented the societal changes that were molding and shaping modern day civilization.

Influences from earlier periods always remained part of a cultural milieu, even as artists forged new creative pathways. These 20th-century greats left a lasting legacy, and laid the foundations for the emergence of contemporary art movements in the last decades of the century.