Early Modernism 1900 - 1945

Cubism and Abstraction, which developed in Europe in the early twentieth century, represented radical tendencies. The Cubists Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque were considered revolutionaries because they reinterpreted space and form without regard for traditional perspective. They were motivated by a wish to replace objective reality with a subjective approach, triggered in part by their study of ancient Spanish sculpture and African art. The writings of Sigmund Freud freed them to explore the subconscious. Max Weber (1864-1920) visited Paris and emulated the French Cubists. Alfred Stieglitz (1864-1946) opened his New York gallery "291," which became a beacon for radical modernists. He championed the young Georgia O'Keeffe (1887-1986), whom he married in 1924, and together they set about creating a new vocabulary for American art characterized by simplification and strong emotional content. Sculptor William Zorach (1887-1966) was inspired by his study of indigenous art from Africa and Central and South America. Alexander Calder (1898-1976) declared that the underlying concept of his abstract mobiles was the organization of the universe. The American Abstract Artists, a group formed in 1936, espoused completely nonobjective art.