1910s: Cubism, one of the most influential art movements in the early twentieth century, presents multidimensional views of reality. Cubist painters render these views by incorporating cylinders, spheres, and cones in abstract visions of the human form or of landscapes or still lifes.

Today: Contemporary art often engages political and social themes, such as human rights or gender issues. Artists do not limit themselves to traditional artistic techniques but instead experiment with performance and multimedia works.

1910s: Poetry often presents an austerely pessimistic view of contemporary society as a reaction to industrialization and war. Poets such as T. S. Eliot (“The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”) and William Butler Yeats (“The Second Coming”) express pessimism most often through the depiction of general, social experience rather than in specific, personal terms.

Today: Poets such as Sharon Olds (“Taking Notice”) and Margaret Atwood (“They Eat...