Modernism is sexy. And not just because Mad Men is set during the period of the style’s apex, the early 1960s, though there’s no denying the show’s appeal. No, Modernism conjures up an era, one in which father still knew best, women knew their place, and the thought of an African-American president was as fantastical –– and frightening — to white Americans as a night of the living dead. At auction recently, a Serra from the late ’60s went for $1.98 million (the highest amount ever paid for a Serra), a Pollock sold for $8.7 million, exceeding its $6 million estimate, and a signature color-field Rothko went through the roof to the tune of $31.4 million. People are not only still paying for Modernist masters but paying more than ever.