Write a historical account of the period from the beginning of the Twentieth Century to the
The beginning of the twentieth century was an important period of change in European history and art. ... An international exhibition in Paris exhibition in 1900 marked the last year of the nineteenth century. It reflected the sense of “extraordinary” material progress in the previous century and provided visions of new technological developments that were in store for the next. ... It included displays of real live `natives from the colonies and real camels, a moving footpath, an elevated electric railway surrounded the site, and it held examples of what the general public considered to be the last word in modern architecture and design. ... Art of the late 19th century had anticipated many of the characteristics of modern art such as a focus on originality, the celebration of modern technology and a fascination with the primitive and an engagement with popular culture. ... It was a signal that artists were starting to depart from a practice of trying to portray the real world. ... The abstract prismatic shapes that make up the bodily features of the figures in the painting also reflect the style of formal cubism, as does the attempt to portray the figures from a number of angles at the same time on a flat surface. ... Because some of the paintings of this period are at first hard to read this is sometimes referred to as the hermetic phase of cubism. It lasted approximately two years from mid 1910 until the end of 1912. ... In this phase, which lasted from 1912 to 1915, Braque and Picasso brought letters, fragments of words, musical notes, and material elements such as sand or sawdust or materials with patterns imitating wood, marble or newsprint into their works to make their pictures more physically an object. ... Years after Picasso died his work, and cubism in particular was lauded as one of the most influential break throughs in visual art during the 20th Century.