Over the last 30 years, Britain has become a vibrant and fertile center for the visual arts. This course attempts to relate the recent confusing range of artistic styles and media, both in Britain and internationally, to the development of "modernism" at the beginning of the 20th century. Because of the speed of communication and travel, new ideas in art spread rapidly and it is therefore impossible to look at modern art in Britain without reference to the art developments in the wider Western world. Consequently, we will look at art in Europe and North America during this course. The course will begin with a look at the state of art in Britain and France in the last part of the nineteenth century. Some reference will also be made to parallel developments in architecture.