Modern art is a period of art making that has been analyzed in hundreds of different ways by numerous talented individuals. Another page that overviews the work of Picasso is not a very valuable contribution to the field of art education. After 4 years of daily work on writing, analyzing, and publishing analysis pages on artists, movements and ideas, The Art Story has a fairly good grasp of our organizational purpose and reason for being.


We define modern art as the history of artistic achievements in the age of modernism, approximately between the years of 1850 and 1980.

In particular:
history: just as there is the history of the world, we discuss the particular settings surrounding developments in the arts
artistic achievements: similar to physics, where one scientist makes a breakthrough upon which future scientists build upon, we approach art as the progression of artistic discoveries


Every one of our topic pages is meant to be an analysis that would convince the most passionate skeptic in the importance of the particular artist, movement, and idea they are reading. This is the mission that we strive for in the daily publication process and with every logical argument, artist quote, or supporting resource.

In addition, as we aim to bring the arts to a broad audience, we make sure that every page is complete in itself. Each idea is developed clearly, succinctly, and without reliance on fancy art terms or "advanced" concepts.


We ultimately aim to sort through all the noise of the art world and shed clear light on modern and contemporary art.

Now that you have insight into the purpose of The Art Story, please visit the hundreds of pages we have published on our website and please tell us where we are successful, and more importantly, where we need to work further. If you agree with our approach and want to see us succeed, please recommend us to your friends, and if you are in the position to do so, please make a donation.

The below notes deal with miscellaneous topics related to this website and The Art Story Foundation as a whole.

Although the creators of TheArtStory.org understand that breaking down movements and influences into simple statements is a form of simplification, we believe that this step is a required one to make the complex concepts in Modern art palatable for the larger audience that this website is trying to accommodate. Users with advanced understanding of Modern art may find the breakdowns too general, but for those people the website offers further in-depth analysis and references to original sources.


Whenever we look at web images of artworks, it is important to remember that much of the effect that these images have is completely lost when viewed on our computer monitor. This is invariably the case with Abstract Expressionist works where the size, color and surface are key to the appreciation and the experience. Please do not forget this at any point while using this site.


The goal of our organization is to introduce the arts, and art history to a broad audience. We believe that technical writing, including extra terms and citations take away from the reader's experience. We attempt to be as friendly and as aesthetically pleasing as possible. The problem in maintaining interested readers is further amplified on the internet, where our audience's ability to read off the screen and overall length of attention span is generally limited.

The Art Story Foundation's official statement of purpose is to: "Educate, inform, and introduce people to modern art through speaker series, educational workshops, and online educational resources". We understand that modern art requires much from the viewer, but a large time commitment and some kind of a indoctrination into "the art world" should not be a prerequisite. Also, The Art Story is about ideas for people, not citations for academics. Read more on Our Approach.


The Art Story Foundation is an educational 501(c)(3) non-profit organization established in 2009. The organization is led by 4 senior personnel that are responsible for the everyday management and long-term planning. A staff of approximately 12 freelancers include content writers and researchers, art professors, graphic artists, and programmers that continue to create and publish content on a regular basis.


This website's mission is to make modern art more accessible and digestible to the general public by providing information that is easy-to-understand, professionally designed, and logically presented. The Art Story is continues to cover all the major movements, artists, and ideas in modern art. We are also providing coverage of the modern art exhibitions and events in the New York City area.


"The Art Story Foundation is a result of my interest in trying to understand the art that was all around me. After developing a serious interest in learning about modern art, I found the available sources of information too limited. Many excellent art books are too narrow in their scope, and are hard to reconcile with each other. Online, it was nearly impossible to find quality information that is organized in a consistent manner. I believe the Internet is the medium that can address all these problems, and bring art education into the 21st century. This website, and the Foundation as a whole, strive to achieve this goal."
- Michael Zurakhinsky

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