A challenging exploration of the early decades of modernism in the arts, published to accompany the first of three cycles of centennial exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, beginning in October 1999. Modern Starts focuses on art from 1880 to 1920, juxtaposed with examples from later periods, and is organized around three themes. People treats the great period of early modern figurative art from Matisse, Rodin and Munch; Places features landscapes and cityscapes by such artists as Atget, Cezanne, de Chirico and Leger; and Things addresses the importance of object-like works, from Rietveld's and Wright's chairs to Duchamp's Readymades and Brancusi's sculpture, and representations of things from Picasso's still lifes to advertising posters. Perceptive contrasts, new contexts and inventive interplay of mediums provide a study of the beginning of modernism. All works are illustrated from the collection of The Museum of Modern Art.