How can art from 100 years ago be considered modern?

"It's modern because it was a new way of representing a subject," said Patrick McGrady, display curator at the Palmer Museum of Art. "It was a step away from realism. Artists achieved freedom in terms of how they took advantage of form and imagery."

An exhibit showcasing works from artists of the late 19th century, European Modernism, will be featured through May 21 in the Palmer Museum of Art.

This technique was a revolutionary divider between an old perception of art and a new one, thus deeming it "modern" McGrady said.

"Take for instance Picasso and cubism. He was playing with line and form, and exploring personal possibility rather than realistic representation," McGrady said. "What I think students will find most interesting is how the artists chose a plethora of mediums to represent their subjects."

Feature displays include prints of lithographs, drawings, etchings and various forms of woodblock print.

"One of the woodblock prints is called "Christ and Judas." It's a very important modernistic piece and very representative of the fact that the artist is focusing more on the medium than the actual subject is," McGrady said.

Ian Bucher (sophomore-information sciences and technology) said the variety of art in the exhibit appeals to him.

"I like that it's free to express itself without constraints," Bucher said.

He said despite the fact that he doesn't know much about art, the concept of more abstract expression would be much more appealing to him than realism. Bucher said he can relate more to this kind of art than to realistic art and is interested in the freeing concept of abstract styles.

Nancy Locke, art history professor at Penn State, said she feels students can discover and appreciate how the artists of this time searched to define a "modern" style of art.

"Students can really look critically at the early manifestations of the 'modern,'" Locke said. "It wasn't about, 'Oh let's all use this style.' Modernism is about the awareness of the present and wanting the importance of the present to come through."

Locke also said artists often did this by putting the focus more on abstract qualities, drawing more attention to emotion.

"They would focus more on he fact that this is a painting, and draw attention to this more than whatever the subject was," Locke said.