5 most striking features of modernism

Modernism was an artistic movement that emerged at the beginning of the 20th century, both in Europe and in Brazil.

The movement influenced all forms of artistic expression: painting, visual arts, literature and architecture.

Discover the most striking features of modernism:

1. Break with traditional patterns
The desire to break away from formal and traditional aesthetic standards is one of the strongest characteristics of modernism.

Artists who were part of the modernist movement broke the patterns of ancient movements, such as Symbolism and Parnassianism.

In the literature, the break with traditional patterns is very clear due to the presence of an anarchist feeling motivated by a desire for more freedom. The use of a less formal and more colloquial language also represents a break with the tradition of the time.

2. Influence of opinions and thoughts
Another striking feature of the modernist movement is the presence of the thoughts and opinions of artists in their works. In modernism, opinions on politics and other social events became part of the works produced.

Modernism, especially in the second phase (1930 - 1945), was characterized by being a way of expressing ideas and discussing social issues. Thus, the most common and everyday themes were a great influence on the art produced during modernism.

3. Characteristics of Brazilian modernism
Brazilian modernism (1922 - 1960) sought characteristics that were typical of the movement in the country, in an attempt to differentiate itself a little from the movement in the rest of the world.
Examples of modernism in Brazil are the use of a sense of humor and criticism of everyday situations. Another striking characteristic of Brazilian modernism was the constant search for total freedom in the forms of artistic creation and expression.
Radical criticism of social and political issues was also very frequent in Brazil, including the publication of artistic manifestos with a strong character of social criticism, such as the publication of the Manifesto da Poesia Pau-Brasil, Manifesto Antropófilo and the book Casa Grande e Senzala .

4. Use of Curves and Ripples
In modernist architecture and painting, the use of curves is a very striking characteristic.
The Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí is the most famous representative of the architecture of this period. Gaudí's buildings bear the hallmark of many curvilinear forms. In Brazil, the architect Oscar Niemeyer was a famous representative of architecture with curved shapes.

5. Freedom of forms and creation
This characteristic is very present mainly in modernist literature.
Freedom of creation, in addition to the use of free forms, was connected with thematic freedom. In modernist literature there was a kind of permission for any subject to be transformed into a literary work.

Authors began to use punctuation in a different way than what was customary until then, often leaving the text with an almost chaotic aspect.
The authors of this period used an informal written language and closer to the reality of speech. Written verses had more freedom and the use of language with little formality brought poetic texts closer to texts written in prose.