art history timeline

Art History Timeline30,000 BC- present

Stone Age30,000-10,000

b.c.

• 40,000 years ago• Humans were hunter-gatherers– day revolved around food• Portable art- could take with them• Stationary art- cave walls, stayed forever• Art was about FOOD or FERTILITY• Artists unknown

England Ireland

Egyptian5,000 b.c.- 300 a.d.

• Painting and sculpture• Symbolic: animals, colors, size• Emphasis on life after death

CLASSICAL ARTGreek & Roman1700-1400 b.c.

• Classical Art’s main medium was sculpture• Greek: Athletics, Mythology, Daily life,

Doric/Ionic columns• Athens• Most famous temple: Parthenon (dedicated to Athena)• Perfection, balance, idealism

• Roman: Mythology, Real people, Historical events, Corinthian columns• Rome• Most famous temple: Pantheon (dedicated to 7 gods)• Practical, realism

Roman Art

Sarcófago Ludovisi– The Battle of Rome

Vatican City- St. Peter’s BasillicaColosseum

Pantheon

Ancient RuinsThe Senate

Asian653 b.c-1900 a.d

• Chinese, Japanese, Indian• Oldest and continuous kind of art– traditional• Painting, sculpture, pottery, decorative arts• Ceramic factories showed wealth and power

of emperors (still have today)• Serene, meditative art; Nature• Ink on silk or paper

Chinese Art

Terracotta Soldiers– more than 7,000

totalBuddha- Yungang

Grottoes- over 51,000 Buddha statues in this

cave

Hanshan Temple- bell rings at Chinese New Year- there is one in

Japan too

Hanging Temple- for 3 religions: Buddhism, Confucianism, and

Taoism

Byzantinea.d. 476-

1853• Eastern Rome• More abstract & symbolic than Roman art• Flat or One-dimensional

• Why the change? Debate over whether there was a decline in artistic talent or if there was an oriental influence.

• Artists were members of the religious house

• Long, Narrow, Solemn faces– Bodies faced front

• Religion- icon image of Jesus Christ• Dedication of Constantinople- capitol city,

ruled by Constantine• Illumination of biblical texts• Ivory reliefs, no sculptures-- idolatry

Byzantine Art

Giunta Pisano, Crucifix

in Bologna, Italy

San Vitale Basillica in

Ravenna, Italy

Mosaics

Islamica.d. 476-

1453

• Architecture, calligraphy, painting, glass, ceramics, textiles (rugs) • Maze-like designs, repeating elements- arabesques• Only God is perfect• Infinite and indivisible nature of God

• People were not portrayed in art- idolizing• Secret miniatures

• Architecture: Mosque, Tomb, Palace, Fort

Middle Ages500-1400

• Also known as the Dark Ages: decrease in prosperity, stability, and population

• Art was associated with churches because it was costly, so almost all art was religious

• Over 1,000 years of art in Europe; includes many major art movements: • Romanesque: Piestic paintings- religious, large churches, no portraits, muted

colors• Gothic art: brighter colors, sculptures, realism, naturalism, stained glass,

symmetry

Middle Ages Art

fresco Vaulted ceilings & Flying buttresses

Renaissance1400-1550

• Rebirth of Classical traditions– but apply scientific advancements & religious changes

• Naturalism, 3D, lifelike• “rescuing and restoring art” from the “crude Byzantine style”• Anatomy & human emotion• Themes: religious altar pieces, fresco cycles, and small works for

private collections• Techniques: perspective, foreshortening, sfumato, chiaroscuro,

balance, proportion

Renaissance Techniques

foreshortening

sfumato chiaroscuro

Mannerism1527-1580

• Break rules• Artifice over nature• Intellectual sophistication• Beautiful, “has style”• Compositional tension & instability rather than balance & clarity of the

Renaissance• Elongated proportions, stylized poses, no clear perspective, theatrical

lighting, strange settings

Baroque1600-1750

• Started by Catholic church- the arts should communicate religious themes• Art as a weapon in the religious wars- church wanted to

speak to the illiterate, not just the well informed• To impress visitors– express triumph, power, & control• The name was at first given as an insult– too many

unnecessary details, noisy--translates to “elaborate”• Exaggerated motion, clear details

Romanticism1780-1850

• Not love romance, but GLORIFICATION– glorified concepts such as liberty, survival, ideals, hope, awe, heroism, despair, and the various feelings that nature evokes in humans (views & sunsets)

• First start seeing feelings of the artist, not everyone feels the same

• Creation from nothingness– originality• Characteristics:

• Emotional emphasis• Nature can kill you (shipwrecks, lots of shipwrecks)• Current events• No exact style, technique, or subject matter

The Raft of the Medusa

Sea of Ice, Wreck of HopeLiberty Leading the People

The Nightmare

Wanderer above the Sea of Fog

Realism1848-1900

• Focus on every day life• Represent art truthfully– portray exactly what they saw• Rejected Romanticism– avoided over exaggerated

emotionalism and drama, instead portrayed things as they really were with no emotions involved

• Included all classes of people in all aspects of life (even if it was ugly)

• Ordinary people in ordinary life• Photography was introduced and became popular

The End of the Working Day

Bonjour, Monsiuer Corbet

The Arnolfini Portrait

Impressionism1865-1885

• Began in Paris by a group of artists• Name comes from Monet’s painting, “Impression Sunrise”• Characteristics

• Small, thin, visible brushstrokes• Ordinary subject matter• Capturing effects of natural light & how it changes• Unusual visual angles• Movement• Colors often aren’t mixed, instead laid side by side• Avoids using black paint, grays (complimentary colors to shade)• Didn’t wait for paint to dry• Painted in evenings to create shadows & studied natural colors of light

Haystacks

Lydia Leaning on Her Arms

Post-Impressionism1885-1910

• Continued impressionist style, but emphasized geometric forms• Exaggerated an aspect of

impressionism• Impasto- thick application of

paint– shows off texture and paint marks• Used unnatural color• Pointillism

Fauvism1900-1910

• Led by Matisse and Derain• Only had 3 exhibitions, lasted a short time• Wild brushstrokes• Strong color• Not realistic; abstract; simple• Color theory study

Cubism1905-1920

• Considered most influential movement of 20th century• Objects are analyzed, broken up,

and rearranged• Many viewpoints instead of just

one• Abstract• Inspired movements in other art

forms (music, literature, theatre)

Surrealism

1917-1950• Painting dreams

• Exploring the unconscious– automatic writing• Illogical scenes that looked realistic• Made creatures out of every day objects• Element of surprise

Abstract Expressionism1940-1960

• First American-only influenced movement-- NYC• Spontaneous, automatic, subconscious• “It’s better to catch the spirit of the sea, rather than all it’s

tiny ripples.”

Modernism1960-present

• Freedom of expression• Experimentation• Pop-Art• Consumerism • Radicalism• Startled audiences• Collage, installations• “ready-mades”• Performance art