Okay so today I was putting together this art history thing for my wall, right? Wanted to spice up the boring beige paint. Figured early 1900s art is super important, but honestly, knew jack squat beyond Van Gogh eating paint or whatever. Needed to pick the top 5 movements folks should actually know about now.
The Deep Dive Chaos
Started like I always do – grabbing whatever dusty books were still on my shelf after last year's "minimalism phase." Hauled like ten massive art history tombs onto my kitchen table. Coffee went cold immediately. Dove into Chapter One: The Wild 1900s. Tried reading about Fauvism first. Big mistake. The author used words longer than my arm. Closed that book real fast. Decided maybe the internet knew better.
Spent like two solid hours just stumbling around online. Every website said something different. One claimed Cubism was basically just Picasso being messy. Another said Futurism was all about fast cars (kinda true, actually). My head was spinning. Made a huge mistake clicking on "art philosophy deep dive." Nearly fell asleep at 3 PM. Finally said screw it, picked five that kept popping up everywhere and actually seemed to matter for stuff people make now. My shortlist:
- Fauvism (Those wild colors man)
- Cubism (Picasso & Braque breaking stuff)
- Futurism (Everything GOES FAST!)
- Dada (Because the world's crazy, why not art?)
- Surrealism (Dreams are weird, let's paint them)
Felt good having a list. Time to make it real.
The IRL Art Hunt & Wall War
Decided posters were the way to go. Cheap, cheerful, easy to swap. Went hunting online for prints that screamed each movement. Found a Fauvism landscape – seriously, looked like someone exploded a rainbow onto some trees. Clicked "buy" instantly. Cubism was trickier. Found one with a violin... kinda? Looked like it got hit by a truck then glued back wrong. Perfect!
Futurism was easy – found a poster of a speeding train with like, blurry lines everywhere. Pure speed vibes. Dada? Picked one that was literally just random newspaper clippings and shapes glued together. Made zero sense. Loved it. Surrealism took ages. Found this melting clock one by Dali. Everyone knows it, but yeah, it nails the whole "what am I looking at?" vibe.
Waited a week biting my nails. Posters arrive. Opened the tube and almost cried. Cubism print was way smaller than I pictured! Fauvism one had a crease right down the middle! Kicked myself for not checking sizes properly. Went back online, grumbling, ordered replacements.
Second batch comes. Better. Now the wall battle begins. Cleared a space. Got my framing tape (the sticky kind). Started sticking them up trying to look artistic. Put Fauvism next to Cubism. Bad idea. The clash of wild colors and broken shapes gave me a headache. Moved Cubism next to Futurism – jagged shapes meeting speed lines? Meh. Ended up spending an hour shifting them around the wall like puzzle pieces I lost the box for. Surrealism accidentally ended up near my light switch. The melting clock looked kinda funny next to the "ON/OFF". Kept it. Finally stood back. Tape blobs visible? Yeah. Is it perfectly spaced? Not even close. But damn, that wall has soul now. Mission accomplished.
Why This Mess Even Matters Today
Doing this wasn't just for pretty walls though. Seeing these crazy styles actually explained a lot about the stuff I scroll past daily. Like, those weird filters people slap on photos? Total Fauvism color madness vibes. Games with wild, impossible angles? Cubism's broken perspective echo. All that chaotic meme art, random stuff glued together? Pure, unadulterated Dada spirit, baby. Surrealism? That's half the weird TikTok trends right there. And all the speed and blur stuff in digital art? Futurism called it a century ago.
Yeah, the research sucked. Yeah, the ordering was dumb. Yeah, the wall looks a bit like a toddler attacked it. But seeing these old movements scream back at me from modern stuff? That clicked. They weren't just old guys messing around. They cracked the code on how to break rules and make it stick. You see their fingerprints everywhere now, whether folks realize it or not. Worth the headache.
