20^th Century American Realism was a turn of the century art movement reflecting what was going on in the world. Many images were more urban, to represent the population shift.

Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_realism#America_at_the_turn_of_the_century

Pop Art (1960‘s) was art of the “popular” culture. It was during an era of mass production, expanding commercialism, and materialism. It began in England. In America, it was representative of real life, mocking the commercialism of the year. In England, images of American culture were juxtaposed with the intent to parody or mock through contrast.

Andy Warhol’s “Four Colored Campbell Soup Cans”

Abstract Expressionism was big in the 1940’s. Subject matter was usually non-representational as artists created with the intent to show an emotion. Not all of it is any of these though. Abstract Expressionism was as much about how artists applied paint as what the finished result was. They painted quickly in an effort to release their unconscious minds. A lot of it looks like it relied on chance or accident.

Sources: http://www.artlex.com/ArtLex/a/abstractexpr.html

Surrealism (1924-1930‘s) was an extension of the Dadaist movement. Freud and his psychoanalysis were a huge inspiration and influence. Surrealists wants to paint the impossible, the dream worlds, and the unconscious mind.

Rene Magritte’s “Time Transfixed”

Dadaism (1916-1922) arose out of anti-war sentiment. It began in Zurich, Switzerland and was “art for art’s sake.” The artists who started the movement picked a random nonsense word from the dictionary (dada is French for “hobby horse,“ a child‘s word for dad in English, and “yes yes“ in Russian). The artists were disillusioned with modern society and rejected traditions and rules of art. It was a commentary on the crazy world; the world had lost it’s mind, so art would lo...

Abstraction (1908-1920‘s) began at the same time as cubism. In it, artists basically did whatever they wanted. Most pieces were non-representational, finding some other way to convey an emotion or message. Abstract art still persists today.

America began taking over the art scene in about 1900.

Kandinsky’s “Composition VI”

Picasso's "Still Life With Chain Caning"

Cubism (1908-1914) was a radical new direction for art. It was pioneered by Picasso and Braque and used geometric shapes. Cubism was divided into two main movements, analytic and synthetic cubism.

Analytic cubism was the first phase (Picasso's "Girl With Mandolin" shown below). Artists deconstructed reality, breaking up figures into shapes and looked at things from multiple perspectives. A face, for example, would be show in profile and from a ¾ v...

Fauvism (1905-1907) is derived from the French word “fauves” meaning “wild beasts.” It was an art movement that was incredibly dramatic and that was dominated by bright colors. A break from tradition and the patronage system occurred during this time period called the “vertigo years“ (1900-1914). There were more middle class people.

The father of this movement is Matisse (1864-1954) and most paintings produced during this movement were flat and composed of large splotches of vi...

Post Impressionism (1886-1905) continued with the Impressionist use of light and color but was more individualistic. Artists used similar methods but the art isn’t as unified as impressionist art. Pointillism, for example, was post impressionism.

Van Gogh’s “Starry Night”

Impressionism (c 1865-1880) was incredibly different than realism. It used color and light in new ways. Artists used color very often not found in the scene they were painting to show light. The colors were often divided. Plein air painting (painting outside) was big. The brushstrokes were impressive, often evident and large.

Degas’ “Waiting”

Realism (c 1860-1880) was a return to Enlightenment thinking and humanism to some extent. It was disillusioned with counter enlightenment movements. They wanted historical accuracy as with Neoclassicism. The artists of the realist movement paid attention to detail and made realistic depictions of people. They sometimes dealt with politics and made social commentaries.

Eakins’ “The Gross Clinic”

Romanticism (1830-1848) was Counter Enlightenment and arose after the French Revolution. It was highly emotional an often idealized things. It was anti reason and logic and pro faith and emotion. The Romantic hero (Napoleon, for example) was big. Industry was rising, causing pollution and disillusionment. Revolution, nationalism, and individualism were big themes as was escape from the modern world. The natural world, the past, exotic places, and the imagination were all places to escape to...

Neoclassicism (c. 1750-1830) was a reaction against the frivolous Rococo style and a result of archaeological discoveries that aroused interest in Greek and Roman antiquity. Historical dress was depicted as accurately as possible and discoveries of buried cities like Pompeii added to accuracy of other things shown in paintings. The Enlightenment was in full bloom when this movement began. Early neoclassical works were similar to Rococo excepting content.

During the movement, around the ti...

Rococo (c. 1700-1750) bridged Baroque and Romanticism (1830-1848) and had characteristics of both. It used lighter colors that Baroque art. It was dominated by the French and incredibly sensual, more obviously so than Baroque. “Ennui” or boredom was big during the time. There was a lot of attention to detail at the time and vivid colors. Rococo touched interior design and architecture during this time.

Fragonard's "The Swing"

Dutch Golden Age Painting or 17^th Century Genre painting shares characteristics with Baroque such as realism and chiaroscuro, but lacked the sheer spectacle and idealization common in the Baroque movement. It was incredibly detailed for the most part. There was more secular paintings than in Baroque, religious art only a very small part of this movement. Mostly it was images of common everyday images. Historical paintings, portraits, still lifes, landscapes, and common scenes of the time we...

Baroque (1550-1700) means “odd” or “irregular.” It was similar to mature mannerism. There were secular and religious themes. The paintings and sculptures were realistic but were paired with passion, symbolism and sexuality. It offers more spectacle than ever before and has been described as self-confident.

"Judith beheading Holofernes" by Carvaggio

“Madonna and Child with St. Martina and St. Agnes” by El Greco


Mannerism (c 1500-1550) was the painting and sculpting in the Rennaisance manner, but they were not the same. According to Honour and Fleming (2005), mannerism has been characterized “as an expression of the spiritual crises of the time or as a sophisticated art created solely for art’s sake.” The artists dealt with people in various poses in experimental ways. The neck and torso were often elongated.

Foreshortening...

The Renaissance (c. 1300-1550) was a cultural movement, a “rebirth.” Humanism, rediscovery of the value of humanity, was big and contributed to the rise of scientific naturalism/realism in art. Classicism, the Greek and Roman styles of art, was reawakened. Classicism preached solemnity, order and balance. Style and balance ruled the architecture influenced by classicism. Chiaroscuro, dramatic light and shade, began to be used.

Men were trying to make sense of the world during the Renai...

Medieval Art (circa 900-1300 {1} or 300-1400 {2}) was highly iconic and often religious. Artists needed patrons and the most important was the Roman Catholic Church. The art produced during this time wasn’t necessarily realistic. This was caused, at least partly, by the second commandment in the bible: “Thou shalt not make graven images.”

Most people were illiterate so they learned through visual instruction. Art was heavy on symbolism and color coding*. Size was important; the divi...