Da Vinci was an artist he could quite clearly paint and sculpt...modern art well not to decry it all there are some good atrists out there but Tracy Emmen (Sp?) an unmade bed for gawd's sake really....and the guy with the pile of brick at the Tate that got dumped in a skip by mistake? To many pretentious twits who can't actually do anything these days who throw together anyold jumble of ideas and call it art.....rant over!
It really depends on what you think art is. If you think art is about craft - i.e. how well an artist can illustrate in different mediums, then you're going to be more inclined towards the earlier movements of art. Where as if you like to see an idea or "concept", as tartan rightly said, then you are going to like the work of the modern movement more. Personally, i think art is about life and so I like any art that hits you in the proverbial face with it.