modernists

Modernists are adherents of Modernism, a broad cultural movement that emerged in the late 19th century and flourished into the mid-20th century. The label covers writers, artists, architects, and musicians who sought to break with traditional forms and embrace new techniques suited to modern life.

In literature, modernists experimented with narrative form and language, using stream of consciousness, fragmented plots, and shifting perspectives to depict complexity, alienation, and urban life.

In the visual arts and architecture, modernists stressed abstraction, experimentation with materials, and a belief that art should reflect modern industrial society. Movements such as Cubism, Expressionism, and Bauhaus fostered new ways of seeing and designing. In architecture, figures like Le Corbusier and the International Style emphasized function and simplified forms.

In music, modernists explored atonality, new scales, and rhythmic freedom, with figures like Schoenberg, Stravinsky, and Webern redefining tonality and form.

The movement grew out of responses to industrialization, urbanization, and upheavals of the early 20th century, with key centers in London, Paris, Berlin, and New York.

Although the term covers diverse currents, modernists share a commitment to innovation, skepticism toward tradition, and a wish to capture the experience of modern life.