Modernism: A Graphic Guide

Modernism is usually thought of as a shock wave of innovations hitting art, architecture, music, cinema and literature – the work of Picasso, Joyce, Schoenberg, movements like Futurism and Dada, the architecture of Le Corbusier, T.S. Eliot’s The Wasteland and the avant-garde theatre of Bertolt Brecht or Samuel Beckett.

But what really defines modernism? Why did it begin and how long did it last? Is Modernism over now?

This graphic tour through 20th-century culture interprets modernism as a set of responses to the phenomenon of modernity itself – the political and social upheavals presented by industrialisation and the rise of consumer capitalism (and the command economies of socialism); mass democracy, mass literacy and the rise of mass media and the relentless advance of science and technology.

Chris Rodriguez and Chris Garratt’s brilliant graphic guide is a brilliant exploration of the last century’s most thrilling artistic work – and what it’s really all about.