Byzantine: (330 - 1453)
The Byzantine Empire succeeded the Roman Empire. The artwork of the period focuses mainly on religious subjects that were portrayed conservatively and with little room for artists’ personal expression. Domed churches and decorative mosaics were characteristics of Byzantine architecture.
Byzantine art originated in Eastern Roman Empire, specifically Constantinople, present day Istanbul. Based on the Orthodox Church, it was primarily seen in the painting of icons and in church decorations, frescoes, and mosaics. The Byzantine style fell out of fashion when Constantinople fells to the Turks in 1453. However, it continued to have some influence in other Orthodox nations such as Russia.
Byzantine paintings are identified by their rich colors and flat, large-eyed figures. Backgrounds were typically painted gold. The intention of Byzantine artists was to teach the viewer religious lessons, therefore the images were clear and easily understood.
Gothic: (1100 - 1450)
Beginning in the twelfth century, Gothic painting, sculpture, and architecture quickly became dominant in Europe and remained popular until the Renaissance. The Gothic style originated in Italy and quickly spread throughout Europe, staying dominant for the next 200 years. During the Renaissance, writers criticized it as vulgar and hence named it Gothic art after the Gothic tribes that destroyed the Roman Empire and classicism during the fifth century.
The Gothic Style was dominated by dark oil paintings that represented a shift from the Dark ages into a more prosperous and civilized society. The movement was typified by its increased naturalism. At the same time, Christianity was entering a new predominant phase, which encouraged Gothic artists and architects to apply the style to large cathedrals and churches. Gothic art and architecture consisted primarily of religious works and was characterized by arches, stained glass, and illuminated manuscripts.
In the late 14th century, Gothic art began reflecting Renaissance ideas and became known as the International Gothic style. During this period, Italian and Northern European styles had integrated, resulting in a style that was a combination of both of their ideas, thoughts, and techniques. The International Gothic Style became popular in Frances, Italy, England, Germany, Austria, and Bohemia.
At the end of Gothic art’s reign, some artists in the North resisted the Renaissance developments and continued with Gothic style. Thus, the end of the Gothic era overlaps with the Italian and Northern Renaissance periods. There were Gothic revivals in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Renaissance: (1400 - 1600)
The Renaissance began in Italy because of its location in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea. It became a center of commerce between Europe and Eurasia, thus a Cultural Diffusion point between the Europeans and the Muslims. Also, Italy was home to many wealthy families, willing to finance education. The Medici family ruled Florence and advocated the arts and sciences. These aristocrats among others would pay people to learn and create for them, spreading knowledge into the lower classes. With this rebirth of intellect came the greater interest in Ancient Greek and Roman culture that inspired the revival of Classicism.
The Italian Renaissance is divided into three major phases: Early, High, and Late Renaissance. The Early Renaissance was lead by sculptor Donatello, architect Filippo Brunelleschi, and painter Masaccio. They began the movement on the foundations that development and progress was integral to the evolution and survival of the arts. They found their inspiration form antiquity, creating realistic figures that portrayed personality and behavior. They focused on the laws of proportion for architecture, the human body, and space. The term Early Renaissance encompasses most 15th century art. The High Renaissance sought to create a generalized style of art that focused on drama, physical presence, and balance. The major artists of this period were Leonardo Da Vinci, Donato Bramante, Michelangelo, Raphael, and Titian. The period lasted only a short time from 1495 to 1520. The Late Renaissance was put into motion by the sack of Rome in 1527, forcing artists to relocate to other artistic centers in Italy, France, and Spain. During this time, anti-classical sentiments began to emerge, eventually developing into the Mannerist movement.
Throughout the Renaissance period, artists first began to experiment with oil-based paints, mixing powdered pigments with linseed oil. The slow-drying nature of the medium allowed the painter to edit his work for several months. Perspective and attention to light became important to artists, as well as architectural accuracy in backgrounds. Popular subject matter included Biblical characters and subjects from Greek and Roman mythology. Renaissance art placed a large emphasis on the importance of the Madonna in art. Taking inspiration from classical Roman and Greek art, Renaissance artist were also interested in the human body, particularly the nude. They attempted to idealize the human form and were shown in physical perfection and purity with expression and unique personality. During this period, the gap dividing other creative thinkers such as poets, essayists, philosophers and scientists from artists began to decrease. All of there people were seen as visionaries and began to share ideas and learn from each other.
Baroque: (1600 - 1750)
Early Baroque art appeared in Italy in the late 16th century, while some countries such as Germany and colonial South America did not adopt the style until as late as the 18th century. It was the popular style during the Counter-Reformation in the 17th century. Some of its characteristics are evident in Dutch art, but it was mainly limited to Catholic countries. Not solely associated with religious art, the Baroque style can also be seen in other forms such as Dutch still-life paintings.
At the beginning of the 17th century, the Baroque style spread from Rome and migrated to varying countries, evolving as artists fused it with the traditions of their native countries. Spain and Latin America added extravagance to the style, while other countries made it more conservative. The movement never gained popularity in Holland or England, but was successful in Flanders, supported by Peter Paul Rubens. In France, the Baroque style was favored by the monarchy and used in architecture, sculpture, painting, and decorations, making way for its successor, the Rococo movement.
Baroque painters, sculptors, and architects sought to portray emotion, variety, and movement in their works by appealing to the senses. Other qualities include drama, grandeur, richness, vitality, movement, tension, exuberance, and a tendency to blur distinction between the various arts. Baroque Style was typified by strong contrasts in value and bold ornamentation that added action and drama to the art.
The leading figures of the Italian Baroque style were Caravaggio and Annibale Carracci, who departed from High Renaissance style to bring more substance to Italian paintings. Baroque took movement and emotion from the Mannerist style and grandeur and solidity from the Renaissance to create a new movement. The pinnacle of Baroque art was Gianlorenzo Bernini, who dominated the High Baroque Period with his energetic and virtuous paintings.
Classicism: (1600 - 1800)
Classicism refers to the appreciation and imitation of Greek and Roman literature, art, and architecture. Although the term is normally used to describe art derived from ancient influences, it can also mean excellence, high artistic quality, and conservatism.
Classical art encompasses antiquity and later works inspired by it, the latter normally referred to as Neoclassical. Adherence to traditional aesthetic formalities was favored over expressionism and individuality. Classic art is distinguished by clarity, order, balance, unity, symmetry and dignity.
The first major classic revival occurred during the Renaissance period in Italy. In the 18th century, the Neoclassical movement was established following the archaeological discovery of ancient ruins at Herculaneum and Pompeii. The style’s leading artists included Michelangelo, Raphael, Correggio, and Mantegna during the Renaissance and Mengs and Winckelman during the Neoclassical period.
Rococo: (1700 - 1760)
Based in France, Rococo was a decorative style most often used in interior design, painting, architecture, and sculpture. Normally associated with the reign of King Louis XV, the movement actually began in the 17th century. With the rise of the middle class, the death of Louis XIV at this time, the high society in Paris became the pinnacle of fashion. Louis XIV was succeed by the Duke of Orleans in 1715, who was know for enjoying the privileges of his office, moving social life away from the formal courts and into salons. This attitude was continued with the following reign of Louis XV. Rococo was manifested out of this new era of thought where society abandoned the formality of the earlier years and began pursuing personal amusement and happiness. One of the first Rococo painters was Jean-Antoine Watteau, whose work began to epitomize the movement with its idyllic and charming approach. Another artist that represented the Rococo period was Francois Boucher, who created paintings and designed tapestries for the French royalty and nobility.
The term Rococo was derived from the French word, rocaille, meaning rock and shell garden ornamentation. The style appealed to the senses rather than intellect, stressing beauty over depth. The movement portrayed the life of the aristocracy, preferring themes of romance, mythology, fantasy, every day life to historical or religious subject matter. Rococo was a light, ornamental, and elaborate style of art, identified by elegant and detailed ornamentation and the use of curved, asymmetrical forms. Other elements of the style included graceful movement, playful use of line, and delicate coloring. Dominated by feminine taste and influence, the lively colors and playful subject matter made it suitable for interior decoration. The Rococo style was also used in portraiture and furniture and tapestry design.
The Rococo style is sometimes considered to be the end of the Baroque period and was eventually replaced by Neoclassicism during the American and French Revolutions at the end of the eighteenth century.
Neoclassicism: (1750 - 1830)
The term Neoclassicism refers to the classical revival in European art, architecture, and interior design that lasted from the mid-eighteenth to the early nineteenth century. This period gave rebirth to the art of ancient Rome and Greece and the Renaissance as an opposition to the ostentatious Baroque and Rococo art that preceded the movement. Although the movement spread throughout Western Europe, France and England were the countries that used the style most frequently in their arts and architecture, using the classical elements to express ideas of nationalism, courage, and sacrifice. The movement was inspired by the discovery of ancient Italian artifacts at the ruins of Herculaneum and Pompeii. Also influential in the development was the cultural studies of German art historian Johann J. Winckelmann who claimed that the most important elements of classical art were "noble simplicity and calm grandeur."
Neoclassicism emphasized rationality and the resurgence of tradition. Neoclassical artists incorporated classical styles and subjects, including columns, pediments, friezes, and other ornamental schemes in their work. They were inspired by the work of Homer and Plutarch and John Flaxmann’s illustrations for the Illiad and Odyssey. Other classic models included Virgil, Raphael, and Poussin among others. Neoclassical painters took extra care to depict the costumes, settings, and details of classical subject matter with as much accuracy as possible. Much of the subject matter was derived from classical history and mythology. The movement emphasized line quality over color, light, and atmosphere. The height of Neoclassicism was displayed in the paintings of Jacques-Louis David and Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres.
Romanticism: (1800 - 1850)
The Romantic Movement spread from art into literature and philosophy. It emphasized emotional, spontaneous and imaginative approaches. In the visual arts, Romanticism came to signify the departure from classical forms and an emphasis on emotional and spiritual themes. Caused by the sudden social changes that occurred during the French Revolution and the Napoleonic era, Romanticism was formed as a revolt against Neoclassicism and its emphasis on order, harmony, balance, idealization, and rationality. Romanticism began in Germany and England in the 1770’s, and had spread throughout Europe by the 1820’s. Not long after, its influence had spread overseas to the United States.
The movement focused on imagination, emotion, and freedom by way of subjectivity and individualism. Artists believed in spontaneity, freedom from boundaries and rules, and living a solitary life free from societal boundaries. Romantic artists believed that imagination was superior to reason and beauty. They loved and worshipped nature and were dedicated to examining human personality and moods. Romantics were inherently curious, investigating folk cultures, ethnic origins, the medieval era. They admired the genius and the hero, focusing on one’s passion and inner struggle. Romantics also were interested in anything exotic, mysterious, remote, occult, and satanic. As a movement that began as an artistic and intellectual movement that rejected the traditional values of social structure and religion, it encouraged individualism, emotions, and nature.
Artists held personal spirit and creativity above formal training and saw the artistic process as a transcendental journey and spiritual awakening. Romantic techniques were developed to produce associations in the mind of the viewer. These foundations of the Romantic Movement were influential in the development of Symbolism and later Expressionism and Surrealism.
Realism: (1850 - 1880)
Realism is defined by the accurate, unembellished, and detailed depiction of nature or contemporary life. The movement prefers an observation of physical appearance rather than imagination or idealization. In this sense, Realism can be found in movements of many other centuries.
The mid 19th century Realist movement chose to paint common, ordinary, sometimes ugly images rather than the stiff, conventional pictures favored by upper-class society. It was an opposition to the traditional approach to Neoclassicism and the drama of Romanticism. Furthermore, advocates of the style were no longer preoccupied with the expectations of the Salons, Academies, or other art institutions. Realists strived to paint scenes as they actually appeared. Often the artists depicted ugly and common subjects that normally alluded to a social, political, or moral message. Never really becoming a solid, unified movement, the closest Realist group was the Barbizon School of landscape painting, headed by Corot and Millet in France. American realists included Thomas Eakins and Henry Ossawa Tanner, who both studied in France. Realism was influential in the development of many later movements including The Ash Can School, the American Scene Painters, and much later Contemporary Realism.
Impressionism: (1865 - 1885)
The history of modern art begins with Impressionism, a movement founded in Paris as an opposition to the rigid traditions favored by institutions such as the Academie des Beaux-Arts. In 1863, Edouard Manet exhibited his painting "Dejeuner sur l’herbe" at the Salon des Refuses. The painting caused commotion, thus founding the Impressionist movement. Although Manet is the proclaimed leader and founder of the group, he was not present at the first group exhibition or any of the other eight collective Impressionist shows. The movement gained more attention in April of 1874 when a group of artists called Societe Anonyme des Artistes, Peintres, Sculpteurs, Graveurs began exhibiting outside of the official Salon. The same year, the term Impressionism was coined by criticizing journalist Louis Leroy, who worked for the magazine, Le Charivari.
The Impressionist style of painting emphasized loose imagery rather than finely delineated pictures. The artists of the movement worked mostly outdoors and strived to capture the variations of light at differing times throughout the day. Their color palettes were colorful and they rarely used blacks or grays. Subject matter was most often landscape or scenes from daily life. Impressionists were interested in the use of color, tone, and texture in order to objectively record nature. They emphasized sunlight, shadows, and direct and reflected light. In order to produce vibrant colors, they applied short brush strokes of contrasting colors to the canvas, rather than mixing hues on a palette.
Many critics found Impressionist work seemingly incomplete. Post-Impressionism emerged in the 1880’s, which adopted Impressionism’s use of contrasting colors but found other aspects of the movement to be too restricting. Another offshoot of the movement was Post (Neo)-Impressionism.
Post-Impressionism: (1885 - 1905)
The Post Impressionist period came when several former Impressionist painters became dissatisfied with the movements insistence on light and color. The post-Impressionists aspired to fine more depth in the roles of color, form and solidity in painting.
Post Impressionism was a continuation of the Impressionist movement, but rejected the limitations of its predecessor. The terms was first used by English art critic Roger Fry describing the work of painters such as Paul Cezanne, Georges Seurat, Paul Gauguin, Vincent van Gogh, and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec among others. The term does not define a singular style or approach, it encompasses all artists that whose main goal was to express more than a visual interpretation. Their aim was to portray emotion and intellect in addition to imagery.
Also related to Pointillism, a technique associated with Paul Signac and Georges Seurat, this partition of the movement called themselves the Neo-Impressionists because of their impressionist revival.
Modernism: (1890 - 1940)
Modernism is a term used to describe the style and theory of art from the period beginning in late 19th century and lasting into the mid 20th century. The modernist movement is closely associated with the term modern art, both characterized by a departure from emphasis on literal representation. With invention of photography, the realistic approach to painting and sculpture became unnecessary, thus artists began searching for new ways of visualizing and thinking about the nature, materials and function of art.
Modernism rejects tradition and advocated a return to the basic fundamentals of art. Artists embraced their newfound freedom of expression, experimentation, and radicalism. They believed that art should stem from color and form and not from depiction of the natural world. Paul Cezanne is often considered the "Father of Modernism."
Expressionism: (1905 - 1945)
Originating in Germany, Expressionism encompasses all art in which the artist is free to move beyond the limitations of objective subject matter and to concentrate on the feeling and impact derived from the artist’s inspiration. Expressionist sought to reveal inner, spiritual and emotional foundations of human existence, rather than the external, surface appearances depicted by the Impressionists. The Expressionist movement took inspiration from Symbolism, Fauvism, and Cubism in its departure from accurate subject matter. Expressionism found its roots in two groups of German painters, Die Bruecke and Der Blaue Reiter.
Die Bruecke, meaning "the Bridge" was centered in Dresden and included artists Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Erich Heckel, Emil Nolde, Max Pechstein, Otto Mueller, and Karl Schmidt-Rottluff. The group held formation from 1905 to 1913. The group set up their studios in a working-class neighborhood on the edge of Dresden’s boundaries. Their isolation led to their shared stylistic and thematic development. Die Brucke’s art was typically violent and emotional in its imagery. They favored themes that explored the relationship difference between city and country. Finding some of their inspiration from the art of tribal cultures in Africa and the South Seas, Die Brucke favored distorted lines and enhanced forms, vibrant color, and flattened perspective. They rejected conventional gallery procedures and organized a series of traveling exhibitions in order to present their work to the public. The group fell apart due to artistic differences and the onset of World War I. Following their break up, the group’s successors called themselves the Dresdner Sezession.
The other German Expressionist group, Der Blaue Reiter, meaning The Blue Rider, began in Munich in 1911 and lasted until 1913. Der Blaue Reiter took its name from a painting by Kandinsky title "Le cavalier bleu." The group was united more by their common goal of portraying spirituality rather than stylistic similarities. Der Blaue Reiter opened the doors fro abstraction because of its ideas of experimentation and originality. Artists involved were Franz Marc, August Macke, Gabriele Munter, Wassily Kandinsky, Paul Klee, and Alexei Yavlensky among others.
Cubism: (1908 - 1920)
The Cubist emphasized a flat, two-dimensional surface and rejected the idea that art should imitate nature, refusing traditional techniques such as perspective, foreshortening, modeling, and chiaroscuro. Spanish painter, Pablo Picasso and French artist Georges Braques in Paris founded the movement before World War I. The movement is considered to have its roots in the work of Post-Impressionist, Paul Cezanne. It also took from African tribal art, reducing everything to cubes and other geometrical forms. Cubist artists depicted drastically fragmented objects, sometimes showing multiple sides simultaneously. Cubism was the forerunner of abstract art.
Abstract Art: (1910 - )
Abandoning the late 19th century European idea that art should imitate nature Abstract art does not strive to create accurate representations of any forms or objects. Artists employing the style take an object and either simplify or exaggerate it by altering its color shape and form. Abstract art developed before the twentieth century abstract patterns have roots in ancient history showing up in early decorations for textiles and pottery.
Abstraction reached its pinnacle as an accepted form of fine art in the twentieth century. Wassily Kandinsky was the original abstract artist producing the first completely abstract work of art in 1910. Two years later he wrote a theory on abstract art called On the Spiritual in Art. In this publication he emphasized the general theory among Abstract artists that art should portray the spiritual realm and not just the visual world. Abstract Art encompasses many different styles including Cubism, Neoplasticism, Expressionism, Futurism, Fauvism and Abstract Expressionism.
Vorticism: (1912 - 1915)
English art movement, Vorticism is sometimes called the English version of Cubism. Founded by abstract artist Percy Wyndham Lewis, members of the movement focused on themes that incorporated modern machinery and industry. The movement was a mixture of Futurism and Cubism, lasting from 1912-1915. The movement began growing in 1913 when the Rebel Art Centre was founded, formed by Wyndham Lewis, Edward Wadsworth, Frederick Etchells, and Cuthbert Hamilton. The group’s name lasted only several months, later re-titled Vorticism by Ezra Pound. Two Vorticist manifestoes were published in the movement’s newspaper, Blast, in 1914 and 1915.
Vorticists rejected traditional academic institutions and looked to the future with fear. They recognized the power of technology, particularly the machine and anticipated that it would result in a bleak, purposeless life for humankind. Vorticism was the first English art movement dedicated to abstraction. Artists worked primarily in two-dimensional form, employed the fragmentation and multiple viewpoints of Cubism. Their work was defined with flat, bold colors, and simple geometric shapes.
Vorticism died out at the onset of World War I since many of its artists enlisted in the armed forces. In addition, there were disagreements within the group at the end of 1915 that also contributed to its demise.
Dadaism: (1916 - 1924)
Dada began as an anti-art movement, in the sense that it rejected the way art was appreciated and defined in contemporary art scenes. Founded in Zurich, Switzerland, the movement was a response to World War I. It had no unifying aesthetic characteristics but what brought together the Dadaists was that they shared a nihilistic attitude towards the traditional expectations of artists and writers. The word Dada literally means both "hobby horse" and "father", but was chosen at random more for the naive sound. What After finding its origins in Zurich, the Dada movement spread the Berlin, Cologne, Hanover, Paris, some parts of Russia, and New York city.
In Zurich, the movement was centered in Hugo Ball’s Cabaret Voltaire, where many of the founding Dadaist gathered to express their ideas. In the United States, Dada found its central location at Alfred Steiglitz’s gallery "291" and the studio of the Walter Arensbergs. Neutral during both World Wars, Switzerland was an ideal place for objectors to the war, those avoiding military service, and those who wished to find a place for free expression.
Other elements integral to the Dada movement were the non-attempt to underlie work with any reference to intellectual analysis. Dada was also a reaction the bourgeois Victorian values of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The work was also absurd and playful but at times intuitive and even cryptic. Methods of production were unconventional, employing the chance technique, and found objects. Dadaists rejection of these values was an attempt to make a statement on the social values and cultural trends of a contemporary world facing a devastating period of war.
Art Deco: (1920 - 1935)
Also called art moderne, Art Deco was characterized by linear decorative designs that were reminiscent of modern technology. It emphasized long, thin forms, curved surfaces and geometric patterns in order to symbolize the expanse of the machine age. Although it was popular in the 1920’s and 1930’s, the movement received its name in the 1960’s derived from the 1925 Paris Exposition of Decorative Arts.
Art Deco was a modernization of many different artistic styles and themes from the past. It borrows from Far and Middle East design, Greek and Roman themes, and also Egyptian and Mayan influence. Emphasizing abstraction, distortion, and simplification by use of geometric shapes and intense colors, the movement derived these characteristics from the avant-garde painting styles of the early twentieth century, including Cubism, Constructivism, and Italian Futurism. Similar to the Art Nouveau and Precisionist movements of the same time period, Art Deco is distinguished by a more modern look.
Modern concepts such as machine and automobile patterns and stylized gear and wheel shapes were used to celebrate the rise of commerce, technology, and speed. Art Deco was influential in the arts and architecture, primarily the decorative, industrial, and graphic arts. It was also a popular style in fashion, furniture, jewelry, and textiles. The most renowned Art Deco artist is glassmaker and jeweler, Rene Lalique. Two well-known U.S. buildings executed in the Art Deco approach include Rockefeller Center and the Chrysler Building.
Magic Realism: (1920 - 1950)
Magic Realism received its name in the 1925s by German art critic, Franz Roh. Artists working in this style attempt to depict reality in a different way—works possessed a resemblance to reality while also retaining a dream-like or fantastical quality. The style was popular in Europe and the United States from the 1920’s to the 1940’s and retained several practitioners during the 1950’s. Often seen as a combination of Realism and Surrealism, the paintings portrayed representational subjects but often incorporated flat tones, strange perspectives, and unusual arrangements to give the piece an imagined quality.
Surrealism: (1924 - 1955)
A literary and art movement inspired by Freudianism, Andre Breton founded Surrealism in Paris in 1924. Breton authored the Manifesto (Manifeste du surrealisme), which advocated the expression of imagination revealed in dreams. He later wrote two other manifestoes, published in 1930 and 1934. Surrealism was the successor the Dadaist movement and attracted many Dadaist artists. Other Surrealist origins came from painters such as Paolo Uccello, William Blake, and Odilon Redon. Its origins in literature were traced to French poets Baudelaire, Rimbaud, and Apollinaire and the literary side of the movement remained primarily in France. In the visual realm, Surrealism became popular in the 1920’s and 30’s with the help of internationally renowned painter, Salvador Dali.
Also similar to the 19th century Symbolist movement, Surrealism was based on the psychoanalytic theories of Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung, emphasizing imagination and subconscious imagery. Work usually contained realist imagery arranged in a nonsensical style in order to create a dreamlike state. Surrealist painting incorporated a lot of content and technique. Surrealism incorporated and celebrated the art of children and primitive art. They appreciated the innocent eye in that the untrained artist was more liberated to depict their actual imaginative ideas.
Artists used spontaneous techniques based on the “free association” concept, also called automatism, in which conscious control was surrendered to the unconscious mind. . The Surrealist movement can be divided into two groups of differing expressive methods, Automatism or “Absolute” Surrealism and Veristic Surrealism. While Automatism was focused on expressing subconscious ideas, Veristic Surrealists wanted to represent a connection between abstract and real material forms. In other words, Verists transformed objects from the real world in their paintings, while Automatists derived their imagery purely from spontaneous thought.
Surrealism paved the way for later movements such as Abstract Expressionism and the Magic Realism. Surrealism offered an alternative to geometric abstraction and kept expressive content alive in the 20th century.
Pop Art: (1958 - 1975)
Abbreviation of Popular Art, the Pop Art movement used common everyday objects to portray elements of popular culture, primarily images in advertising and television. The term Pop art was first used by English critic, Lawrence Alloway in 1958 in an edition of Architectural Digest. He was describing all post-war work centered on consumerism and materialism, and that rejected the psychological allusions of Abstract Expressionism. An attempt to bring art back into American daily life, it rejected abstract painting because of its sophisticated and elite nature. Pop Art shattered the divide between the commercial arts and the fine arts.
The Pop Art movement originated in England in the 1950s and traveled overseas to the United States during the 1960s. Richard Hamilton and Eduardo Paolozzi, both members of the Independent Group, pioneered the movement in London in the 1950s. In the 1960s, the movement was carried by Peter Blake, Patrick Caulfield, David Hockney, Allen Jones, and Peter Phillips. In the early sixties, Pop art found its way to the United States, seen in the work of Jim Dine, Roy Lichtenstein, and Robert Rauschenberg. It developed in the United States as a response to the wealth of the post World War II era and the growing materialism and consumerism in society. The most recognized Pop Artist, Andy Warhol, used a photo-realistic, mass production printmaking technique called seriagraphy to produce his commentaries on media, fame, and advertising.
Pop Art made commentary on contemporary society and culture, particularly consumerism, by using popular images and icons and incorporating and re-defining them in the art world. Often subjects were derived from advertising and product packaging, celebrities, and comic strips. The images are presented with a combination of humor, criticism and irony. In doing this, the movement put art into terms of everyday, contemporary life. It also helped to decrease the gap between "high art" and "low art" and eliminated the distinction between fine art and commercial art methods.
The movement inspired a later related style named Capitalist Realism, led by German artist Gerhard Richter.
Conceptual Art (Conceptualism): (1960 - 1975)
Conceptual art is based on the concept that art may exist solely as an idea and not in the physical realm. For advocates of this movement, the idea of a work matters more than its physical identity. The movement began in the early 20th century, but was based on the European Dada movement and the writings of philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein. Conceptual art also had roots in the work of the father of Dadaism, Marcel Duchamp, who was also the creator of the "ready-made." Conceptual art became an international movement, beginning in North America and Western Europe and spreading to South America, Eastern Europe, Russia, China, and Japan. It was a major turning point in 20th century art, challenging notions about art, society, politics, and the media with its theory that art is ideas. Specifically, that art can be written, published, performed, fabricated, or simply thought.
Conceptual art emerged in the 1960’s, the term first used in 1961 by Henry Flynt in a Fluxus publication. It later evolved into a different meaning when the Art and Language group, headed by Joseph Kossuth, adopted it. This group believed that Conceptual art was created when the analysis of an art object succeeded the object itself. The term gained public recognition in 1967, after journalist Sol LeWitt used it to define their specific art movement. Conceptual artists began forming around the theory that the knowledge and thought gained in artistic production was more important than the finished product. The first Conceptual art exhibit, titled "Conceptual Art and Conceptual Aspects" took place in 1970 at the New York Cultural Center.
Conceptual art was intended to convey a concept to the viewer, rejecting the importance of the creator or a talent in the traditional art forms such as painting and sculpture. Works were strongly based on text, which was used as much as if not more often than imagery. Conceptual art also typically incorporates photographs, instructions, maps, and videos. The movement challenged the importance of art traditions and discredited the significance of the materials and finished product. Rather, Conceptual works were meant to be proactive and questioning to the nature of art.
A controversial movement, supporters believe that Conceptual art expanded the boundaries of art and stopped the influence of commercialism. Critics see the movement as dull and pretentious. Although some Conceptual artists attempted to make serious political and social statements, more often than not they were preoccupied with analyzing the nature of art. Conceptual art was the forerunner for installation, digital, and performance art, more generally art that can be experienced.
Minimalism: (1960 - 1975)
Minimalism rejects the need for social comment, self-expression, narrative, or any other allusion to history, politics, or religion. It is based on creating objects of interest and beauty. Minimalists reduced their work to the smallest number of colors, values, shapes, lines, and textures. David Burlyuk first used the term in an exhibition catalogue for John Graham’s paintings at the Dudensing Gallery in New York in 1929. The term was later applied to the movement in the 1960’s. Other names for the movement include ABC art, minimal art, reductivism, and rejective art. Minimalism was a reaction against the formal overkill and pretentiousness of Abstract Expressionism. It had roots in Pop art, Cubism, and Conceptual art and was also inspired by Russian Suprematists such as Kasimir Malevich.
An American-born movement, Minimalism stemmed mostly from the work of Frank Stella, whose Black Paintings were first exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 1959, inspiring many artists to turn away from the expressive art of the past. Although it was never an organized, self-proclaimed movement, Minimalist art became dominant in sculpture and installation work, although there are multiple Minimalist painters. The 1966 exhibition in New York entitled "Primary Structures" was a key event in the history of the movement.
Minimalist art was normally precise and hard-edged. It incorporated geometric forms often in repetitive patterns and solid planes of color, normally cool hues or unmixed colors straight from the tube. Often based on a grid and mathematically composed, the use of industrial materials was common in order to eliminate the evidence of the artist’s hand. Minimalist art strived to create an object with presence, something that can be seen at its basic physical appearance and appreciated at face value.
Minimalists wanted their viewer to experience their work without the distractions of composition, theme, and other elements of traditional work. The medium and materials of the work was its reality, and was what Minimalist artists wanted to portray. The basis being on a work’s literal presence, the materials used were not intended to symbolize anything else. Color was not used to express feeling or mood, but it simply to delineate space. The work strived to evoke a response from the viewer in terms of the relationship between the various elements of the work. Minimalist artists rejected the idea that art should reflect the personal expression of its creator. There was a lack of emotion and subconscious decision-making in minimalist art, hiding the presence and feelings of the artists. Rather, the artists believed that the viewer’s personal reaction to the object was of higher importance, and thus strove to eliminate the presence of the creator in their work.
Minimalism questioned the nature of art and its place in society. Although some deemed Minimalist art to be unapproachable and barren, others saw the revolutionary concept of pure aestheticism and the strong affect that Minimalist theory had on post-modern art.
Neo-Expressionism: (1970 - 1990)
Neo-Expressionism developed in the late 1970s as a reaction against Conceptual art and Minimalism. During the 1980s, it became the dominant style of avant-garde art primarily in the United States, Germany, and Italy. Although the Neo-Expressionists tended to draw their influence from many sources, the late aggressive paintings of Pablo Picasso were a major inspiration. It also is rooted in the German Expressionism and Abstract Expressionism movements of the earlier 20th century. The Neo-Expressionist movement was controversial in its quality and the way it was over-marketed to the art-buying world.
Neo-Expressionist paintings were characterized by a rough, violent approach and the return to more conventional formats such as easel paintings. Quite often, Neo-Expressionist works contained the human figure but also were sometimes abstract. Neo-Expressionist paintings were normally large and created quickly, occasionaly incorporating found objects. Other tenets of the movement included slashing brushstrokes, strong color contrasts, and distorted subject matter. Neo-Expressionist paintings were more concerned with displaying spontaneous emotion rather than traditional conventions.
Post-Modernism: (1975 - )
Postmodernism was a late 20th century movement that opposed the Modernist preoccupation with purity of form and technique, and aimed to eradicate the divisions between art, popular culture, and the media. Postmodern artists employed influences from an array of past movements, applying them to modern forms. Postmodernists embraced diversity and rejected the distinction between "high" and "low" art. Ignoring genre boundaries, the movement encourages the mix of ideas, medias, and forms to promote parody, humor, and irony.
