The secret of success of a piece of art lies in its ability to connects with the audience. When an artwork is able to convey its message well, it is considered to be a masterpiece. We see most of the successful artistic works of art in the 19th century till 1970. Then comes the era of modern art, when artists started drift from the traditional practices and started to give emphasize more on portrayal of emotion on canvas. And post 1970, modern art were being called contemporary art, which includes any art that has been created after 1970 till the today.

However, we can not say modern art as contemporary art. Because, modern art comprises only those works that have been created in the first half of the 20th century. Cubism, Futurism, Constructivism are all examples of modern art. On the other hand, contemporary art encompasses those works that are done at the present time or in the very recent past. In contemporary art, there is no rigid tradition and it has the liberty to experiment with various styles.

After the two World Wars, there has been a surge of art movements, including Abstract Expressionism, Pop Art, Post-modernism, Minimalism, and Feminist Art. According to the followers of the Abstract Expressionism art movement, art was created just to convey their own feelings and had no relation with the external world.

There are also a section of people who who feels that modern art is not true art. There are people who consider landscape and nature portrayals as the true art form. When modern and contemporary artists create something that challenges their imagination, and they question the idea of their being an art.