On top of the features of modernism that I listed in my earlier post, I realize there's another that I omitted to mention. I've made up a new word for it, too: inventionism.
I noted in the previous post, almost as an aside, that the individual style is often characterised by a novel process. That comment deserves to be more than an aside, as inventionism is a key features of modernism, and it is to a degree independent of individualism. Devising a new method, and then "exploring the possibilities" of that method in a potentially career-long series of works is fundamental to what modernist artists do.
The inventions are of the sort that might be covered by patents, not by copyright -- i.e., it is the process, not the expression that matters. For instance, Jackson Pollock had an effective patent on painting by his drip method, while Rachel Whiteread has the patent on casting the spaces under or within furniture. This is quite different from what obtained before modernism. If a contemporary successfully imitated da Vinci's technique of sfumato, or Rubens' brush drawing, it would be counted a considerable accomplishment, whereas mimicking Pollock's technique would be practically taboo, and render one's work unworthy of serious critical consideration.
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