During the 20th century, art schools had shifted their focus from earlier movements within the community that followed a pattern of styles and similar themes in their representations, such as that of the early Renaissance and post-Impressionist periods, to a more open, multi-layered and multi-interpretative vision of art that took the world by storm after World War II and which is seen in more recent movements which all serve to break down the barriers of what is and is not considered art by largely formal critics and arts organizations who overestimate the significance of earlier, "old-fashioned" movements and their centrality in setting unreasonably high standards about what qualifies as art and what is simply speculative rubbish, so to speak. Often finding itself at a crossroads regarding more avant-garde artistic endeavors that challenge representation, the art world diverges between those still fixated on the big picture of established ideas found in pre-modern art and the progressive schools that are at the helm of the 'new art'. Groundbreaking artists such as Théodore Géricault, Vincent Van Gogh, and Pablo Picasso, while not traditionally considered avant-garde, actually shook the art world to its core after being recognized for their contributions and set the stage for future artists who would came. reform and revolutionize art through their talents. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Théodore Géricault challenged representation through his superrealism in tragedy-oriented scenes, such as the one in The Raft of the Medusa that portrays the few surviving castaways, shipwrecked and on the brink of death itself; but only when some stranded men discover a ship not too far away does their last hope sail towards them. Géricault's use of darker tones conveys a more serious and inherently negative atmosphere, which only adds to the portrayal and emphasizes the dark atmosphere that has taken over the scene. Along with the fine details of the sailors and their emaciated bodies, as if they have been starving for weeks and are dancing a very fine line between life and death as they seem to drift in and out of consciousness. Because the devil is in the details, so to speak, Géricault places the corpses on the ends of what remains of the ship, as they slide into the oblivion of a grave at sea to give off an otherworldly effect, as if death literally surrounds them. and including them one by one, until there is no one left to call for help and they all end up in Davy Jones' locker. With an increasingly dark sky and waves crashing against the wreck, Géricault simulates real-world catastrophe through his changing background, which inadvertently sets the stage for modern visual artists to do the same in their own fields, such as cinema , whereby a slow change is necessary from a calm background to something more threatening to get a sense of what is happening. Géricault Van Gogh is perhaps one of the most famous artists of the modern period, although his fame took hold until after his untimely death. Celebrated for his "strange" twists on common, everyday scenes, Van Gogh sought to reimagine these same scenes through his perspective and personal understanding of the world around him. Specifically, his famous vortices seen in Thatched Cottages in Cordeville and in other paintings such as Starry Night, indicate that the world is just a series of twists and turns for him, an incessant spiral that is at the same time.