The article analyzes the interaction of creativity and tradition in times of crisis situations in culture. The author took as a basis the crisis situation in culture during the twentieth century in connection with the development of a new artistic trend of modernity, which tried to destroy the canonical foundations in art. The crisis in the culture of the twentieth century was considered on the basis of the analysis of the concepts of O. Spengler, H. Ortega-i-Gasset, V. Weidle, P. Sorokin, and J. Huizinga. It is shown that at the beginning of the crisis of the culture of the twentieth century there was a loss of harmony between creativity and tradition, which was reflected in the creative activity of representatives of modernity. This is largely due to the emergence of mass culture, gave the impulse for dividing cultures into two types, the entrance of which becomes the subject of elite art itself. If the art of XVIII–XIX centuries was focused on educational activities and the revival of the national culture, – modernism was aimed at creating a new model of artificial form, which contributed to the destruction of the canonical foundations in artistic creation. The problem field of the twentieth century is the fact that, in many of its variations, the tradition, which has always ensured the preservation of spiritual values and landmarks, is itself in a crisis in this period and does not ensure the preservation of sociocultural attitudes and landmarks in society. According to the author, disharmony of tradition and creativity contributed to the transformation of the artist into a metaphysically lonely creator, that affected the culture of this period.