ON MODERN ART

You have all probably heard by now of a famous artwork sold for $120,000 and later
eaten by a „hungry artist”. I am talking about the ripening banana duct-taped to a wall. The
founder of the Miami-based gallery where the banana was displayed said that: “The artist’s
work is not just about objects, but about how objects move through the world.” This makes us
question, is the banana truly a piece of art? If so, what happened in the history of humanity
and how did we get from Botticelli’s “Venus” to a banana stuck to a wall?

It is worth mentioning here that the evolution of art is closely linked to the history of
the world. Modernism began in the 18th century with industrialization and the French
revolution and brought fundamental change to all areas of society. Artists started to challenge
the traditional rules of art. Therefore they sought out time and time again new and
uncomfortable territory, expanding the boundaries of artistic media – from painting and
sculpture to installation and purely conceptual art. Their works were influenced by major
historical events, like the invention of photography, Sigmund Freud’s “The Interpretation of
Dreams”, the First World War and the transition from commissioned artwork to paintings
purely based on the artist’s personal experiences. Vincent van Gogh, Edgar Degas or Paul
Cézanne were some of the first and most important artists that embraced this new ideology.

In 1917, Marcel Duchamp achieved what was perhaps the most brilliant and absurd art
event of the 20th century. The Society of Independent Artists’ salon in New York claimed
that they would accept any work of art, so long as the artist paid the application fee. So
Duchamp presented an upside-down urinal signed as “R. Mutt, 1917” and titled “Fountain”.
The Society’s board rejected the “Fountain” claiming that it was not a true work of art. Later,
a magazine article defended the “Fountain”, stating that it didn’t matter whether the fountain
was really made by Mr Mutt or not: “He CHOSE it. He took an ordinary article of life, placed
it so that its useful significance disappeared under the new title and point of view - and
created a new thought for that object.” The artwork, Duchamp’s most popular “ready-
made”, tested beliefs about art and the role of artists, shaping the idea that artistic authority
belonged to the artist. Conceptual art was born.

Today, Marcel Duchamp is viewed as a pioneer in the art world, a man whose attitude
towards art and society led the way to Pop art, postmodernism and other movements
embraced by young artists everywhere. Not only did he change the visual arts, but he also
changed the mind of the artist.