Following world war 1 many artist began to adopt new styles that

Abandoned realism in favor of conveying feelings of anxiety and instability.

Following World War I (WWI), many artists began to adopt new styles that changed forever the history of art. These styles or sub-movements, since they were all part of a very ample and global movement called Modernism, questioned the very nature of art and experimented with, and explored, new ideas and ways of expressing them, with the ultimate goal of reflecting the social values of modern society. Some styles, such as Dada, and some artists, such as Otto Dix, responded more specifically and directly to the devastating effects of WWI, by stressing the horrors, the violence and ultimately the outrage of the conflict.