Duchamp & Warhol

Modernism – the art direction of the 20th century, characterized by: a break with the historical experience of artistic creativity, the desire to adopt the new beginning of art, a conventional style, continuous updating of artistic forms. Modernism incorporates a variety of relatively independent of ideological and artistic currents: expressionism, cubism, constructivism, Imagism, Surrealism, abstract art, pop art. The majority of artists of the 20 century have moved away from the image of the world such as we see it. The world seemed distorted, sometimes beyond recognition, because the artists were guided more by their imagination. The artists wanted to say: the world is not such as we see it: it is inherently meaningless and absurd; it is as we show on paintings.

Postmodernism - a set of structurally similar phenomena in the social life and culture of the industrialized countries, ages 20-21. In architecture and the visual arts for the 1970-1980 period of post-modernism is characterized by the union under a single work styles, figurative motifs and artistic techniques borrowed from the arsenals of different ages, regions and subcultures. Postmodernism refers to an artistic approach which surfaced in the late twentieth century to counter the ideologies and persuasion of its predecessor 'modernism '. Postmodern art departs from the conventions of structure and organization central to modernism , and instead welcomes and incorporates chaos , clutter , and disorder as key elements of its formation. Although the term is also widely used in areas such as culture and philosophy, postmodernism in the arts runs evident in the works of artists along the lines of Marcel Duchamp, Andy Warhol.

Marcel Duchamp - French painter and art theorist.  Thanks to the originality of his ideas, Duchamp is considered one of the most influential figures in the art of 20 century. Experimenting with shapes and colors, the artist created one of the most controversial of his works, “Nude, running down the stairs”, where the motion passed with the following one after another, intersecting planes. The author explained the concept of painting as "the organization of kinetic elements, the transfer time and space through the abstract image of the movement." No later, he coined the term "Ready-Made" ("finished product"), which consisted in the fact that any ordinary object, selected from among their number or group of items, signed and exhibited by the artist can be called a work of art. Duchamp believed that the only factor that determines a particular object as a work of art, the act of perception. That proves us his presented a urinal entitled "Fountain". Ironic name of this object gave it the status of "art". "Ready-Made" Duchamp is often questioned the existence of the concept of "taste." Nevertheless, the work of Duchamp had a tremendous impact on such trends in art, like surrealism and, later, conceptualism.

Moreover, Duchamp's artistic theories have been very influential on other artists and are sometimes seen as anticipating postmodernism. Pop artists, such as Andy Warhol, have been particularly influenced by Duchamp's provocative questioning of the nature of art, particularly the relationships between an original and a copy and between utilitarian objects and works labeled art. Andy Warhol is best remembered as the avatar of Pop Art. Pop art instantly gaining a reputation of its availability. Using real objects, pictures, advertisements, packaging products, etc., taken out of the natural existence of pop art created reinterpreted, ironic images. His famous works are – “Merilyn” and “200 cans of soup”. Andy's work is inseparable from such a thing as "mass culture". He did much to ensure that art has become the most popular masses, which people have learned to see the beauty of everyday things, realizing that everything that surrounds man, well in its essence. For Warhol's art was a way to love the superficial nature of things. It is this insight helped him to understand that this is what makes art unlimited. 

Duchamp and Warhol’s artworks share the characteristics of a collage effect, mixed media type of art in what appears to be a number of appropriated materials meshed together to form a medley of colors, chaos, deviance and irony beautifully combined .Postmodernism covers a great extent of other art movements which rose under its influence among them , Dadaism , abstract expressionism , pop art , and so on .