Modernism in art triumphed from the 19th century onward and in the early 20th century virtually changed the way art came to be perceived. From the Abstractionists to the Cubists to the Surrealists to the followers of Dada, the modernists continually reinvented themselves with newer and wilder movements, firmly rejecting tradition and all its preoccupations. It was only fitting, however, that modern artists should break so completely with the past: modern society had split from the old world with the Protestant Reformation, the Age of Enlightenment, the Scientific Revolution, and the Romantic Era, all of which followed one on the heels of the other. This paper will trace the history of the final era -- the modernist -- by examining five works of five different painters of the modernist era: Franz Marc's "Fate of the Animals," Pablo Picasso's "Guitar and Violin," Marcel Duchamp's "found" artwork "Fountain," Salvador Dali's Surrealist masterpiece...
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