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In our examination and assessment of our ancient ancestors, should we continue to embrace their creative accomplishments as the proper inspiration...

Contemporary art should, one might argue, continue to be influenced by the classical past while experimenting with the new. To draw a distinction between ancient and modern forms is in fact impossible, as modern forms are inspired by classical forms. 


For example, as the Ted-Ed talk whose link is below explains, the pioneers of the modern art movement drew on ancient art for inspiration. Both Picasso and Matisse were inspired by an ancient African mask from the Ivory Coast. Picasso went on to explore African masks and to copy ancient forms in his art. For example, his painting of five nude women, Demoiselles d'Avignon (1907), included two women whose faces were modeled on ancient African masks. Its sense of space and shapes were primitive, and yet the painting was celebrated as one of the first masterpieces of the 20th century. Modigliani was another artist who was inspired by ancient African art, and British sculptor Henry Moore drew on ancient Toltec forms to craft his modernist bronze sculptures. Josef Albers, a modernist painter and print maker, modified Pre-columbian forms in his geometric abstract art works such as in his series Homage to the Square. Therefore, it could be argued that contemporary artists never let go of classical forms for their inspiration, so to choose contemporary art over classical art does not mean jettisoning classical art. Classical forms are found within contemporary art, so we can continue to get inspiration from both classical and contemporary works. 

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