Final answer:
Modern art is best characterized by its movement towards abstraction, a departure from traditional representational art to focus on basic elements and personal experiences.
Step-by-step explanation:
Modern art is often characterized by its embrace of abstraction. Compared to the representational art of the past, which sought to mimic reality, the modern art movement is marked by a deliberate departure from traditional forms and styles. For example, whereas Realists focused on illustrating everyday life and social classes without idealization, and Romanticism celebrated nature and emotion, modernism introduced new ways of expression through abstract notions and fantasy.
With the emergence of modernism, art transformed from a reproduction of the natural world into a focus on the basic elements of line, color, and shape. Artists during this period were reacting to the changing dynamics of a rapidly modernizing society, creating work that reflected contemporary life and their personal experiences within it. Ultimately, the fragmentation of the established world order at the beginning of the 20th century led to innovative and experimental artistic expressions, including abstraction.