Civilisations - Season 1 Episode 9

As the world changed thoroughly, industrialized, globalizing, science-driven, art was to follow and even striving to lead. Instead of serving rich and powerful patrons, many artists would seek individual (media) fame and/or spread a social message, or rather declared art itself the highest purpose. New schools would follow rapidly, often with innovation as primary concern, deliberately questioning or even ditching every historical rule, including aestheticism itself. Thus abstract art was explored by pioneering artists like Mondriaan.