ART
HISTORY STYLE PERIODS
STYLE PERIOD DESCRIPTION
Pre-Historic (before writing)
(15,000 BC) Cave
paintings of animals, loosely done, great vitality and movement. Small, portable sculpture.
Ancient Near East ((3500 to 500
BC) Small Statues,
Ziggurats, carved reliefs. Some violent,
some calm and humble. Narrative.
Egyptian (3500 to 500 BC) Great monuments (Pyramid
tombs) painted tombs, huge statues and small delicate works. Stiff body conventions (twisted torso). Very ordered and strict, lots
of symbolism.
Greek (5th century BC) Beauty,
Harmony, Order. The
Idealized view of man.
Roman ( 2nd century BC to 4th
century AD) Similar to Greek
but more realistic, shows people as they really look. Very narrative. Innovators in architecture.
Christian (West) (Begins: 3rd century AD) Themes from the Bible. Few nudes. Teaching art. Move away from realism toward symbolic form.
Byzantine (East) (6th to 15th
century) Retains
Greek harmony. Themes from Bible. Mosaics. Not very realistic.
Islamic (Begins: 7th century) Decorative art, much based on
calligraphy, word of God. Few figures. Fabulous architecture.
Medieval (Romanesque) (12th
century) Early
medieval--heavy architecture, stiff and often twisted figures, nervous, excited
style.
Medieval (Gothic) (13th-14th century) The
great cathedrals (Notre Dame) French style, which spreads all over
Italian Renaissance (14-16th century) Return to the ideals of
Greek and Roman period. (Re-birth of
Greco-Roman style). Man as a noble,
perfect creature combined with Biblical themes.
Mostly religious art.
Northern Renaissance (14th-16th century) Dutch, Flemish, and German
Renaissance. Move towards greater
realism and more emotion.
Baroque (17th century) Takes
realism from Renaissance and adds more movement, drama, energy, light, passion.
Rococo (18th century) Highly ornamental, busy, light-hearted, rich.
Romanticism (19th century) Highly
emotive, sometimes horrific or sublime imagery.
Images from the mind or psyche - often a literary
connection.
Neo-Classicism (19th century) Severely
linear style - precise line. Cool, calm,
classical.
Realism (19th century) New subject matter: current events and the modern world. Landscapes, still lifes, genre scenes.
Impressionism (19th century) Capturing the effects
of light on surfaces, especially in landscape motifs. Brushwork more loose, painterly effects
giving a sensation or "impression" of the image.
Post-Impressionism (19th century) Sometimes referred to as Neo-Impressionism.
Two wings: One interested more in form and structure, the other interested more
in emotion and symbolism. 1. Cezanne, Seurat. 2. Gaugain, van Gogh.
Art Nouveau (19th century) Decorative,
floral, delicate designs - sensual rhythms and arabesque line.
Expressionism (1905)
Fauvism French
form of Expressionism, intense color. Flattened space, little or no linear perspective. Leader:
Matisse.
German Expressionism -
fauve-like color, more acerbic in mood, angst-filled emotions. Die
Brucke and Der
Blaue Reiter groups. Kirchner, Nolde, Kandinsky,
Marc, Beckmann, Kollwitz
Cubism (1907) Faceted,
broken forms, showing many sides at once. Some African and Oceanic influences. Leader:
Picasso.
International Architectural
Style (1920’s – 1970’s) Clean,
sleek, architecture with no decoration.
Dada (1916) Anti-art,
anti-rationalism. An art focused on ideas and statements. Leaders: Tristan Tzara and
Marcel Duchamp.
Surrealism (1924) Focus
on the subconscious and the world of dreams and visions. Utilized
elements of chance and the accidental.
Influenced by modern psychology: Freud and Jung.
Leaders: Andre Breton, Dali, Miro.
Abstract Expressionism (1940s-50s)
Action Painting Very
personal, expressive imagery and brushwork. Usually completely abstract
(no recognizable forms). A very process-oriented art. Also influenced by modern psychology - More Jung though than Freud.
Gorky,
de Kooning, Pollock.
Color-Field
Painting Saturated
color applied either flatly or using a staining technique. Rothko,
Frankenthaler.
Pop Art (1960s) Using commercial art elements as fine
art. Warhol, Johns, Oldenburg.
Op Art (1960s) An abstract art focusing on optical effects.
Minimalism (really started with the Totally abstract...very few forms. Sometimes associated with
Gestalt Psychology.
Russian Avant Garde around 1910, but
this stylistic term takes hold in the 1960s.)
Totally
abstract...very few forms. Sometimes associated with Gestalt Psychology.
Performance Art (1970’s – present) Art through actions.
Beuys, Anderson.
Earthworks (1970’s – present) Large projects often involving
large spatial areas of an actual landscape and many people. Christo, Smithson, Holt.
Conceptual Art
(1970’s – present) Idea-oriented
art. Kosuth.
Perceptual Art (1970’s – present) Art that changes the way you
"see" a space or form. Irwin,
Turrell.
Post-Modernism (1970’s – present) Eclectic use of past styles.