Art Movements

The –ismsThe Remixing of Art

Renaissance• 1400-1550 (includes early, high, Venetian, and

Italian Renaissance)• “Renaissance” means rebirth – a return of

classical ideas from Ancient Rome and Greece.• Natural approach to depiction of the human figure

– anatomically and scientifically correct. • Raised the status of artists in society to be on par

with writers and philosophers.• Classical content – human figure, religious figures

(Madonna, baby Jesus, angels).

Rennaisance

Mannerism• 1520-1580• Personalized and idealized interpretation of

figures, rather than “true to nature” depiction of Renaissance artists.

• Exaggerated and elegant representation of figures.

Mannerism

Baroque• 1600-1700• Reaction against artificial stylization of the

Mannerists.• Realistic interpretation; figures in action;

emotional.• Religious, mythical, historical subjects. • Used as propaganda for the Church and State.

Baroque

Art as a weapon in religious wars.

Rococo• 1700-1775• Decorative response to Baroque.• Said to be refined and elegant by some, pompous

and pretentious by others.

Rococo

NeoClassicism• 1765-1850• Reaction to the pompous-ness of Rococo. • Age of the Enlightenment; political, social, and

cultural revolutions.• Needed/wanted serious art that reflected more

serious times. • Historical scenes of heroism and virtuosity for

political propaganda.

NeoClassicism

Romanticism• 1765-1850• Valued expression of emotion over the control of

Classicism.• Emotive and sensual subjects.

Romanticism

Imagination and individuality.

Romanticism

Imagination and individuality.

Realism• 1840-1880• Focused on everyday reality of subject.• Reaction against heightened emotions of

Romanticism.• Objective truth; social realities.• Inspired by “visual reality” theme brought about

by the invention of photography in 1840s.

Realism

Revolted against typical subjects; painted “real” life and ordinary subjects.

Impressionism• 1870-1890• Analyzed color and light in nature.• Lost much of the outline and detail of their

subjects.• Strayed from realistic portrayal of subjects.

Impressionism

Painted light rather than a subject.

Post-Impressionism• 1885-1905• Rebelled against Impressionism.• Not one set style – collection of many artists and

styles that were all reacting to Impressionism’s formless, unstructured style.

Post Impressionism

Revolted against Impressionism; reintroduced structure to the paintings.

Expressionism• 1905-1925• Emotional or spiritual vision of the world.

Expressionism

Used emotion to distort form.

Cubism• 1907-1915• Show many views of the subject at the same

time. • Referenced other cultures as inspiration –

specifically African art.

Cubism

Experiments; new art forms to reflect modern times.

Dada• 1916-1922• Not a style, per se, more of a reaction to the

social, political, and cultural things going on at the time that led Europe to WW1.

• “Anti-art” stance. Attempted to provoke other artists by doing things “wrong.”

Dada

Surrealism• 1924-1939• Positive response to Dada’s negativity.• Goal was to liberate an artist’s imagination by

tapping into the unconcious and fine a “superior reality” – a sur-reality.

Surrealism

Painting dreams and exploring the unconcious.

Abstract Expressionism

• 1946-1956• First American art style that influenced art

globally.• Physical act of painting is as important as the

result.

Abstract Expressionism

Abstraction and expression without form.