Art History Movements

• Art history movements encompass various styles, philosophies, and ideologies that have characterized art at different periods.
• These movements reflect the cultural, social, and political contexts in which they emerged.
• Studying them provides insight into the evolution of artistic expression and its relationship to society.

Prehistoric Art

• Includes cave paintings, artifacts, and early sculptures from the Paleolithic, Mesolithic, and Neolithic periods.
• Characterized by representations of animals, humans, and geometric shapes.
• Cave paintings, such as those found in Lascaux and Altamira, provide evidence of early human artistic expression and symbolic thought.

Ancient Near Eastern Art

• Developed in Mesopotamia, Egypt, and surrounding regions.
• Includes monumental architecture, sculptures, and decorative arts.
• Egyptian art is characterized by its formal and symbolic representations of pharaohs, gods, and the afterlife.
• Mesopotamian art includes intricate relief carvings, cylinder seals, and monumental structures like ziggurats.

Ancient Greek Art

• Valued humanism, rationalism, and idealized forms.
• Includes sculpture, pottery, and architecture.
• Classical Greek sculpture emphasized perfect proportions, balance, and harmony.
• Notable examples include the Parthenon and sculptures by Phidias, Myron, and Praxiteles.

Roman Art

• Adapted and expanded upon Greek artistic traditions.
• Includes portrait sculpture, architectural innovations like arches and domes, and realistic frescoes.
• Roman art served to glorify the empire and commemorate its leaders.
• The Colosseum and Pantheon are iconic examples of Roman architecture.

Early Christian and Byzantine Art

• Emerged with the rise of Christianity and the Roman Empire's shift to Byzantium (Constantinople).
• Characterized by religious iconography, mosaics, and stylized figures.
• Byzantine art emphasized spiritual symbolism, rich colors, and hierarchical composition.
• Hagia Sophia in Istanbul is a masterpiece of Byzantine architecture.

Medieval Art (Romanesque and Gothic)

• Romanesque art (c. 1000-1200) featured massive stone architecture, rounded arches, and symbolic sculpture.
• Gothic art (c. 1150-1500) introduced pointed arches, ribbed vaults, and stained glass in cathedrals.
• Gothic art sought to create a sense of soaring height and divine light, exemplified by Chartres Cathedral.

Renaissance

• A revival of interest in classical art and learning that began in Italy during the 14th century.
• Renaissance art emphasized humanism, realism, and perspective.
• Key artists include Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Raphael.
• The High Renaissance (c. 1490-1527) represents the peak of Renaissance artistic achievement.

Baroque

• Characterized by dramatic compositions, intense emotion, and elaborate ornamentation.
• Flourished in Europe during the 17th century.
• Artists like Caravaggio, Bernini, and Rembrandt exemplify the Baroque style.
• Baroque art sought to evoke awe and inspire religious fervor.

Rococo

• An 18th-century artistic movement characterized by ornate decoration, pastel colors, and playful themes.
• Developed as a reaction against the grandeur of the Baroque.
• Associated with the French aristocracy and artists like Fragonard and Watteau.

Neoclassicism

• A revival of classical art and architecture inspired by the rediscovery of ancient Roman sites.
• Emphasized order, reason, and moral virtue.
• Prominent in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, with artists like Jacques-Louis David.

Romanticism

• Emphasized emotion, imagination, and individualism.
• Arose in the late 18th century as a reaction against Neoclassicism and the Enlightenment.
• Romantic artists like Eugène Delacroix and Caspar David Friedrich explored themes of nature, heroism, and the sublime.

Realism

• Aimed to depict subjects as they appear in everyday life, without idealization or artifice.
• Emerged in the mid-19th century as a reaction against Romanticism.
• Artists like Gustave Courbet and Honoré Daumier portrayed ordinary people and scenes.

Impressionism

• Focused on capturing the transient effects of light and color in natural settings.
• Developed in France in the late 19th century.
• Artists like Claude Monet, Edgar Degas, and Pierre-Auguste Renoir used broken brushstrokes and vibrant colors.

Post-Impressionism

• A diverse range of artistic styles that followed Impressionism.
• Artists like Vincent van Gogh, Paul Cézanne, and Georges Seurat explored subjective vision and formal experimentation.
• Post-Impressionism paved the way for modern art movements.

Fauvism

• Characterized by bold, non-naturalistic colors and simplified forms.
• Led by Henri Matisse in the early 20th century.
• Fauvist artists sought to express emotion through intense color.

Expressionism

• Emphasized subjective expression and emotional intensity.
• Developed in Germany in the early 20th century, with artists like Edvard Munch, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, and Wassily Kandinsky.
• Expressionist art often depicted feelings of anxiety, alienation, and social critique.

Cubism

• Pioneered by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque in the early 20th century.
• Cubist artists fragmented objects into geometric forms and depicted them from multiple viewpoints.
• Analytical Cubism and Synthetic Cubism are two phases of this movement.

Futurism

• Celebrated modernity, technology, and speed.
• Developed in Italy in the early 20th century, with artists like Umberto Boccioni and Giacomo Balla.
• Futurist art sought to capture the dynamism and energy of the machine age.

Dada

• A protest movement against the absurdity of World War I and bourgeois society.
• Characterized by anti-art, irony, and chance.
• Artists like Marcel Duchamp and Hugo Ball challenged traditional artistic values.

Surrealism

• Explored the realm of dreams and the subconscious mind.
• Led by André Breton in the 1920s.
• Surrealist artists like Salvador Dalí and René Magritte created bizarre and dreamlike imagery.

Abstract Expressionism

• An American post-World War II art movement characterized by non-representational painting.
• Artists like Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, and Willem de Kooning emphasized spontaneous gesture and personal expression.
• Action Painting and Color Field Painting are two main styles within Abstract Expressionism.

Pop Art

• Celebrated popular culture, mass media, and consumerism.
• Emerged in the 1950s and 1960s, with artists like Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, and Claes Oldenburg.
• Pop Art often used irony and humor to comment on contemporary society.

Minimalism

• Emphasized simplicity, geometric forms, and industrial materials.
• Developed in the 1960s, with artists like Donald Judd, Sol LeWitt, and Agnes Martin.
• Minimalist art sought to reduce art to its essential elements.

Conceptual Art

• Emphasized the idea behind the artwork over its physical form.
• Emerged in the 1960s, with artists like Sol LeWitt and Joseph Kosuth.
• Conceptual Art often took the form of written instructions, photographs, or performance.

Contemporary Art

• Encompasses a wide range of artistic practices and styles from the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
• Contemporary art often engages with social, political, and cultural issues.
• Includes movements like Postmodernism, Installation Art, Performance Art, and New Media Art.