Chronological summary of major movements, styles, periods and artists that have contributed to the evolution and

development of visual art.

STONE AGE ART (c. 2,500-3,000 BCE)

/Prehistoric Art (3,000 BC to 400)

 Stick figures of man and animals

 Hunting scenes
 Venus of Willendorf (believed to be fertility goddess)

Mesolithic Period, or Middle Stone Age, is an archaeological term describing specific cultures that fall between the
Paleolithic and the Neolithic Periods. While the start and end dates of the Mesolithic period vary by geographical region, it
dated approximately from 10,000 BCE to 8,000 BCE.
(https://www.britannica.com/event/Mesolithic)

-Neolithic or New Stone Age, is characterized by the beginning of a settled human lifestyle. People learned to cultivate plants
and domesticate animals for food, rather than rely solely on hunting and gathering. That coincided with the use of more
sophisticated stone tools, which were useful for farming and animal herding. In China, this period began around 7000 BCE
and lasted until 1700 BCE.
(https://asia-archive.si.edu/learn/for-educators/teaching-china-with-the-smithsonian/explore-by-dynasty/neolithic-period/)

BRONZE AGE ART (3,000 – 1200 BCE)

Egyptian
Sumerian
Persian
Minoan
Bronze Age Metal Work

ANCIENT ART -3,000 BC TO 400

Advance civilization happened in:
-Mesopotamia - Greece - Persia
-Egypt - China - Rome

 Creation of the earliest naturalistic images of human beings

 Enforcing religious and political ideologies
 Included symbolic imagery, mythological stories & texts to tell stories of gods and rulers,
Example: The Code of Hammurabi ( a piece of stone carved with a set of laws and an image of King Hammurabi & the
Mesopotamian god Shabash.

IRON AGE ART (c.1500 -350 CE)

Mycenean
Ancient Greek Art
Etruscan
Celtic Art
Roman Art

MEDIEVAL ART (c.350-1300 CE) (500 – 1400)

-people were believing in one God
-Medieval artists conveyed religious messages in their Art
-they are not concerned with Realism
Byzantine Art
Irish Early Christian Art
Romanesque Art (Carolingian, Ottonian
Gothic

THE RENAISSANCE (c.1300-1620) (1400s to 1600s)

- Period of Enlightenment
- People started to appreciate cultural subjects; Art, Music, theater, religion
- “Renaciemento” means Rebirth
- Works include portraits paintings, anatomically correct sculptures and symmetrical architecture
- Printing press was invented
-
Proto-Renaissance
Early Renaissance
High Renaissance
Northern Renaissance
Mannerism

POST RENAISSANCE ART (c. 1600-1850)

Baroque Art (1600s to 1730s)

- Characterize by extravagance & emotion; theatrical; opulent

- Giani Lorenzo Bernini (marble sculptor; works include: Ecstasy of St. Teresa (1652), Apollo and Daphne (1625), The
Rape of Proserpina (1622), etc.)
-
Rococo Art (1700s to 1770s)

- a flamboyant yet light-hearted form of art often characterized by whites and pastel colors, gilding, and curvaceous
lines, has fluid asymmetrical forms, elaborate ornamentations and whimsical narratives. The Rococo style typically
depicts scenes of youth, love, and nature, and elicits motion and drama.
- “Rocaille” – a method of decorating furniture and interiors with pebbles and sea shells
Neoclassicism (1770s to 1840s)

- Renewed interest in the simplicity, principles and subject matter of the Art from Ancient Rome and Greece.
- Distinguished by classic-looking subjects, minimal use of color, attention to lines and symmetry and clear definitions
of forms and figures.

Romanticism (1800s to 1850s)

- Predominantly looked into the spiritual side of humanity, exploring the essence of the natural world and the value of
personal freedom and expression
- FRENCH REVOLUTION – (1848) brought the anti-institutional art movement of Realism.

Realism (1850s to 1880s)

- Focused on depicting real people in everyday life.

- was the first Art movement that gave a voice to the members of society that were overlooked because of their social
and financial circumstances
- Real artists depicted contemporary life and nature, completely embellished.

MODERN ART (c. 1850-1970)

Impressionism (1860s to 1880s)

- A style which captures the transient presence of sunlight and movement resulting to an intense and vibrant scene of
modern life, its brush strokes are visible and small, there is little blending and the colors are vivid.
- Artists began to break academic traditions by painting outside.
- en-Plein air- the art of painting outside
- Founding Members: Claude Monet, Berthe Morisot, Edgar Degas, Auguste Renoir.

Post Impressionism (1880s to 1905)

- Extension of Impressionism; it rejects some of its limitations

- Artists continued using bold colors and painting scenes of modern life but left behind their predecessors’ spontaneous
and naturalistic rendering of light and movement. Art styles also include neo-imressionism.
- MAJOR FIGURES: Paul Cezanne, Vincent van Gogh, Paul Gauguin, Georges Seurat
- ART TECHNIQUES: Pointillism, Divisionism
- Artists incorporated Science and imagination into their art as a way to convey more owerful scenes.

Colorism: Fauvism

- style of painting that flourished in France around the turn of the 20th century. Fauve artists used pure, brilliant
colour aggressively applied straight from the paint tubes to create a sense of an explosion on the canvas.
-
19th century/Early 20th Century Sculpture

Expressionism

- Was found in poetry and paintings presenting the world solely from a subjective point of view.
- Expressionist artists radically distorted the scenes on their canvases to align with their mood, emotions and ideas.
Imbuing their works with power through emotional experiences as a response to the rapid changing world.
- Characterized by vivid and lurid colors and centered around disfigured subjects.
- Offered the viewers a new meaning to what is considered beautiful.
- Not concerned itself with recreating the physical reality, but instead celebrated the internal chaos of what it is truly
like to be a free-spirited human, the good and the bad of it all.

Art Nouveau (near the end of the 19th)

- A movement of “new art” spread across the European countries

- In Austria it is called Vienna Secession”
- In Spain it was “Modernisme”
- In France it is popularly known “Art Nouveau”
- Was heavily featured in paintings, architecture, decorative arts and posters.
- Characterized by long sinuous lines, almost like the stems and petals of flowers.
-
Cubism (1907 to 1914)

- Two-dimensional, filled with geometric forms and flat

- it completely breaks down the art movement that came before it.
- One of the most important art movements of the 20th century
- FOUNDERS: PABLO PICASSO and GEORGES BRAQUE – they analyzed the subjects that
they wanted to paint, broke it apart and put it back together on the canvas in an abstract form. They wanted to show
 different viewpoints of the subject on the same plane.

FUTURISM (1909 to 1914)

- While Cubism was picking up steam in France, another movement was growing out of Italy.
The energy and the dynamism of the modern world, excited many artists about the future.
- FILIPPO TIMMASO MARINETTI the poet who launched Futurism.
- Futurist artist of all mediums passionately denounced the oppressive culture of the past and welcomed the modern
world of technology and industry.
- “We will free Italy from her innumerable museums which cover her like countless cemeteries.”
- Characterized by the power of machines and the restless energy of modern life.

AFTER THE WORLD WAR I

DADAISM (1916 TO 19240)

- an Art movement which rejected all logic, reason and order of Western Civilization that caused the horrors of war.
- Dada is often referred to as an “anti-war” movement to follow anything set by the bourgeois society
- Artists produced works that are satirical in nature; they wanted to destroy traditional artistic values and create
something new to replace it.

Surrealism (1920 to 1960)

- This art movement explored the inner workings of the mind, aiming to revolutionize the human experience; this can be
difficult to grasp.
- Led by ANDRE BRETON, a French writer and poet
- Influenced by the writings of psychologist Sigmund Freud, Surrealist artworks show us the uninhibited works, free of
the boundaries of the rational mind as they tap into their subconscious.
- SURREALIST ARTISTS like Salvador Dali use Automatism to draw inspiration from this subconscious mind
- AUTOMATISM – a method of Art-making in which the artist releases conscious control over the creation process, to
allow the unconscious mind to take over.
- Surrealist artworks challenges perceptions and reality by juxtaposing unrealistic subject matter with realistic painting
styles.

Bauhaus (1920s to 1930s)

- Established by Walter Gropius in 1919 Germany

- Aimed to show art in everyday life and not just in fine arts museums.
- Its name came from the term which means building and house.
- Well-known artists include: Wassily Kandinsky, Paul Klee
- Characterized by abstract styles, geometric shapes and aesthetics that include no historical, mythical or emotional
sources.

FOLLOWING THE WORLD WAR II

Abstract Expressionism (1940s to 1950s)

- The first American art movement which become popular internationally.

- The movement incorporated the dark trauma of the war that lingered with the spontaneity of Surrealism.
- Two groups of Artist: Action painters and the Color field painters
- Jackson Pollock- action painter
- Mark Rothko – Color field painters

Pop Art (1950s to 1960s)

- Artists began to revolt to the traditional views of what Art should be

- Artists turned to what surrounded them for inspiration
- Hollywood movies, product packaging comic books and advertisement posters that even today is unique and
recognizable.
- Pop artists were imaginative. They used repetition, bold imagery and bright color palettes to introduce art to new
demographics.

Minimalism (1960s to 1970s)

- Extreme form of abstract art that was developed in the US in the 1960s.
- Embraces literalism, rejecting self-referential narratives to instead highlight the characteristics of the artwork,
believing art should have its own reality.
- MINIMALIST ARTISTS: Carl Andre, Frank Stella and Donald Judd, use factory-made objects, precise hard-edged forms
and geometric shapes to create pieces free of outside influence.
- “What you see is what you see.” – Frank Stella
- The viewer is to only observe what is in front of them.

CONTEMPORARY ART (c. 1960 - present)

- Commonly known as “The ART of TODAY”

- Often about ideas rather that aesthetics
- No clear visual styles for viewers to hold on to like some other movements that have recognizable features
- ARTISTS include: Jean-Michel Basquiat, Yayol Kusama and Damien Hirst create art of all mediums that reflect the
issues of our societies.
- These artworks are part of a bigger cultural dialogues around identity, community and nationality