What Are the Four Most Popular Modern Art Styles
20 Revolutionary Art Movements That Accept Shaped Our Visual History
Looking back through Western history, information technology's incredible to encounter how many types of fine art have made an touch on on gild. Past tracing a timeline through dissimilar art movements, we're able to not only come across how modern and gimmicky fine art has developed, only too how fine art is a reflection of its time.
For example, did you know that Impressionism was one time considered an underground, controversial move or that Abstract Expressionism signaled a shift in the fine art world from Paris to New York? Similar building blocks, from Realism to Lowbrow, these different types of art are interconnected. Every bit the creative pendulum swings, creative styles are often reactions against or homages to their predecessors. And by looking back at some of the virtually important art movements in history, we have a clearer understanding of how famous artists like Van Gogh, Picasso, and Warhol have revolutionized the art world.
These twenty visual art movements are fundamental to agreement the dissimilar types of art that shape mod history.
Italian Renaissance Fine art
From the 14th through 17 century, Italy underwent an unprecedented age of enlightenment. Known as the Renaissance—a term derived from the Italian discussion Rinascimento, or "rebirth"—this menstruation saw increased attending to cultural subjects like art and architecture.
Italian Renaissance artists like Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and Raphael plant inspiration in classical art from Ancient Rome and Hellenic republic, adopting aboriginal interests like balance, naturalism, and perspective. In Renaissance-era Italy, this antiquity-inspired arroyo materialized as humanist portrait painting, anatomically correct sculpture, and harmonious, symmetrical architecture.
Artists to Know: Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael, Titian
Iconic Artwork: Birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelli (1486), The Final Supper by Leonardo da Vinci (1495 – 1498),Mona Lisa (c. 1503 – 1506),David by Michelangelo (1501 – 1504), The School of Athens by Raphael (1509 – 1511)
Baroque
Toward the end of the Renaissance, the Baroque movement emerged in Italian republic. Similar the preceding genre, Bizarre art showcased creative interests in realism and rich color. Unlike Renaissance art and architecture, all the same, Bizarre works too emphasized extravagance.
This opulence is evident in Baroque painting, sculpture, and compages. Painters similar Caravaggio suggested drama through their handling of light and depiction of motion. Sculptors like Bernini achieved a sense of theatricality through dynamic contours and intricate pall. And architects beyond Europe embellished their designs with decoration ranging from intricate carvings to imposing columns.
Artists to Know: Caravaggio, Rembrandt, Bernini
Iconic Artwork: The Calling of Saint Matthew past Caravaggio (1599 –1600),The Night Watch by Rembrandt (1642), The Ecstasy of St. Teresa by Bernini (1647 – 1652)
Rococo
Following the extravagance and power of Baroque art came the lighthearted and flirtatious Rococo movement, which blossomed in 18th-century France before spreading to other European countries. The termRococo derives fromrocaille, a method of ornament using pebbles, seashells, and cement to adorn grottoes and fountains in the Renaissance. During the 1730s, the rocaille decoration inspired scrolling curves in ornamental furniture and interior pattern. In painting, this decorative style transferred to a honey of whimsical narratives, pastel colors, and fluid forms.
Artists to know: Jean-Honoré Fragonard, Antoine Watteau, François Boucher
Iconic Artwork: The Swing by Jean-Honoré Fragonard (1767)
Neoclassicism
Neoclassicism is an 18th-century art movement based on the ethics of art from Rome and Aboriginal Hellenic republic. Its interest in simplicity and harmony was partially inspired as a negative reaction to the overly frivolous aesthetic of the decorative Rococo manner. The discovery of Roman archaeological cities Pompeii and Herculaneum (in 1738 and 1748, respectively) helped galvanize the spirit of this movement.
Artists to Know: Jacques-Louis David, Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, Antonio Canova
Iconic Artwork: The Oath o the Horatii past Jacques-Louis David (1784–1785),The Decease of Socrates by Jacques-Louis David (1787), Decease of Marat by Jacques-Louis David (1793), The Grande Odalisque by Ingres (1814)
Romanticism
Romanticism was a cultural motion that emerged around 1780. Until its onset, Neoclassicism dominated 18th-century European art, typified by a focus on classical subject area matter, an involvement in artful austerity, and ideas in line with the Enlightenment, an intellectual, philosophical, and literary movement that placed emphasis on the private.
Artists similar Eugène Delacroixinstitute inspiration in their own imaginations. This introspective approach lent itself to an fine art class that predominantly explored the spiritual.
Artists to Know: Joseph Mallord William Turner, Eugène Delacroix, Theodore Gericault, Francisco Goya
Iconic Artwork: Wanderer To a higher place the Sea of Fog by Caspar David Friedrich (1818), Liberty Leading the People by Delacroix (1830)
Realism
Realism is a genre of fine art that started in France after the French Revolution of 1848. A clear rejection of Romanticism, the dominant style that had come before it, Realist painters focused on scenes of contemporary people and daily life. What may seem normal now was revolutionary afterwards centuries of painters depicting exotic scenes from mythology and the Bible, or creating portraits of the nobility and clergy.
French artists like Gustave Courbet and Honoré Daumier, as well as international artists like James Abbott McNeill Whistler, focused on all social classes in their artwork, giving voice to poorer members of society for the first time and depicting social issues stemming from the Industrial Revolution. Photography was also an influence on this type of art, pushing painters to produce realistic representations in contest with this new technology.
Artists to Know: Gustave Courbet, Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, Jean-François Millet, James McNeill Whistler
Iconic Artwork:The Gleanersby Jean-François Millet (1857), The Burial at Ornans by Gustave Courbet (1849 – 1850)
Impressionism
It may be hard to believe, simply this at present beloved fine art genre was once an outcast visual motion. Breaking from Realism, Impressionist painters moved abroad from realistic representations to use visible brushstrokes, vivid colors with little mixing, and open compositions to capture the emotion of light and movement. Impressionism started when a group of French artists broke with academic tradition by painting en plein air—a shocking conclusion when about landscape painters executed their work indoors in a studio.
The original group, which included Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Alfred Sisley, and Frédéric Bazille, was formed in the early on 1860s in France. Additional artists would join in forming their own society to exhibit their artwork after being rejected by the traditional French salons, who deemed it also controversial to exhibit. This initial cloak-and-dagger exhibition, which took place in 1874, allowed them to gain public favor.
Artists to Know: Claude Monet, Camille Pissarro, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Mary Cassatt
Iconic Artwork: Impression, Sunrise by Monet (1872), Bal du Moulin de la Galette past Renoir (1876), H2o Liliesseries by Monet (1890s – 1900s)
Postal service-Impressionism
Again originating from French republic, this type of art developed betwixt 1886 and 1905 every bit a response to the Impressionist motion. This time, artists reacted against the need for the naturalistic depictions of light and colour in Impressionist art. As opposed to earlier styles, Post-Impressionism covers many different types of art, from the Pointillism of Georges Seurat to the Symbolism of Paul Gauguin.
Not unified by a single style, artists were united past the inclusion of abstruse elements and symbolic content in their artwork. Perhaps the most well-known Post-Impressionist is Vincent van Gogh, who used color and his brushstrokes not to convey the emotional qualities of the landscape, but his ain emotions and land of mind.
Artists to Know: Georges Seurat, Vincent van Gogh, Paul Cézanne, Paul Gauguin, Émile Bernard
Iconic Artwork: A Sunday Afternoon on La Grande Jatte by Georges Seurat (1884 – 1886), The Starry Nightby Vincent van Gogh (1889), The Xanthous Christ by Paul Gauguin (1891)
Art Nouveau
At the end of the 19th century, a movement of "new fine art" swept through Europe. Characterized by an involvement in stylistically reinterpreting the beauty of nature, artists from beyond the continent adopted and adapted this avant-garde mode. Equally a result, it materialized in sub-movements similarthe Vienna Secession in Austria,Modernisme in Espana, and, near prominently,Fine art Nouveau in French republic.
The French Art Nouveau manner was embraced by artists working in a range of mediums. In improver to the fine arts, like painting and sculpture, it featured heavily in architecture and decorative arts of the period. However, perhaps its about indelible legacy can be institute in the poster—a commercial craft that Czech artist Alphonse Mucha helped elevate as a mod art class.
Artists to Know: Alphonse Mucha, Gustav Klimt
Iconic Artwork: The Four Seasons by Alphonse Mucha, The Kiss by Gustav Klimt
Cubism
A truly revolutionary manner of fine art, Cubism is one of the most important art movements of the 20th century. Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque developed Cubism in the early 1900s, with the term existence coined by fine art critic Louis Vauxcelles in 1907 to describe the artists. Throughout the 1910s and 1920s, the 2 men—joined by other artists—would utilize geometric forms to build upwards the final representation. Completely breaking with whatsoever previous art move, objects were analyzed and broken apart, only to exist reassembled into an abstracted form.
This reduction of images to minimal lines and shapes was function of the Cubist quest for simplification. The minimalist outlook likewise trickled down into the color palette, with Cubists forgoing shadowing and using express hues for a flattened appearance. This was a clear break from the apply of perspective, which has been the standard since the Renaissance. Cubism opened the doors for later fine art movements, similar Surrealism and Abstract Expressionism, by throwing out the prescribed artist'south rulebook.
Artists to Know: Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque, Juan Gris
Iconic Artwork:Les Demoiselles d'Avignon by Pablo Picasso (1907)
Futurism
Fascinated by new manufacture and thrilled past what lay alee, the early 20th-centuryFuturists carved out a place in history. Growing out of Italy, these artists worked as painters, sculptors, graphic designers, musicians, architects, and industrial designers. Equally the early manifesto did non directly address the artistic output of Futurism, it took some time before there was a cohesive visual. A authentication of Futurist art is the depiction of speed and movement. In particular, they adhered to principles of "universal dynamism," which meant that no single object is separate from its background or another object.
This is all-time exemplified in Giacomo Balla'sDynamism of a Dog on a Ternion, where the movement of walking the domestic dog is shown through the multiplying of the domestic dog's feet, leash, and possessor'south legs.
Artists to Know: Giacomo Balla, Umberto Boccioni
Iconic Artwork: Dynamism of a Domestic dog on a Leash by Giacomo Balla (1912), Unique Forms of Continuity in Space past Umberto Boccioni (1913)
Dada
Dada was a 20th-century avant-garde art move (oftentimes referred to every bit an "anti-art" motion) born out of the tumultuous societal landscape and turmoil of WWI. It began every bit a vehement reaction and revolt confronting the horrors of state of war and the hypocrisy and follies of bourgeois society that had led to it. In a subversion of all aspects of Western civilization (including its fine art), the ideals of Dada rejected all logic, reason, rationality, and social club—all considered pillars of an evolved and advanced lodge since the days of the Enlightenment.
Artists to Know: Marcel Duchamp, Man Ray, Tristan Tzara
Iconic Artwork: Fountain by Marcel Duchamp (1917)
Bauhaus
Ranging from paintings and graphics to architecture and interiors,Bauhaus art dominated many outlets of experimental European fine art throughout the 1920s and 1930s. Though it is most closely associated with Frg, it attracted and inspired artists of all backgrounds. Bauhaus—literally translated to "structure house"—originated as a High german school of the arts in the early on 20th century. Founded by Walter Gropius, the school eventually morphed into its ain mod art movement characterized by its unique approach to compages and design.
Artists to Know: Wassily Kandinsky, Paul Klee, Joost Schmidt, Marcel Breur
Iconic Artwork: Yellow-Red-Blue by Wassily Kandinsky (1925), Wassily Chair past Marcel Breur (1925)
Fine art Deco
Art Deco is a modernist motion that emerged in 1920s Europe. While many unlike aesthetics compose the move—including different color palettes and a range of materials, from ebony and ivory to woods and plastic—it is about ofttimes characterized by streamlined, geometric forms contrasted by rich ornament and linear decoration.
Paintings produced in the Art Deco manner typically feature bold forms and decorated compositions. Some, like those by Polish-born painter Tamara de Lempicka, depict dynamic portraits of stylish subjects. Typically, these figures are dressed in bright colors and set in abstracted metropolitan locations.
Artists to Know: Tamara de Lempicka
Iconic Artwork: Tamara in a Green Bugatti by Tamara de Lempicka (1929)
Surrealism
A precise definition of Surrealism can exist difficult to grasp, but it's clear that this once avant-garde move has staying power, remaining one of the nearly approachable art genres, even today. Imaginative imagery spurred past the subconscious is a hallmark of this type of fine art, which started in the 1920s. The move began when a group of visual artists adopted automatism, a technique that relied on the subconscious for creativity.
Borer into the entreatment for artists to liberate themselves from brake and take on total creative freedom, Surrealists oftentimes challenged perceptions and reality in their artwork. Part of this came from the juxtaposition of a realistic painting style with anarchistic, and unrealistic, field of study matters.
Artists to Know: Salvador Dalí, Max Ernst, René Magritte
Iconic Artwork: The Treachery of Images past René Magritte (1929), The Persistence of Memoryby Salvador Dalí (1931)
Abstract Expressionism
Abstruse Expressionism is an American art movement—the first to explode on an international scale—that started after Globe War 2. It solidified New York equally the new center of the fine art world, which had traditionally been based in Paris. The genre adult in the 1940s and 1950s, though the term was also used to depict work by before artists like Wassily Kandinsky. This style of art takes the spontaneity of Surrealism and injects it with the dark mood of trauma that lingered post-War.
Jackson Pollock is a leader of the movement, with his baste paintings spotlighting the spontaneous creation and gestural paint awarding that defines the genre. The term "Abstract Expressionism," though closely married to Pollock'south work, isn't limited to one specific manner. Work equally varied as Willem de Kooning'south figurative paintings and Mark Rothko'southward color fields are grouped under the umbrella of Abstruse Expressionism.
Artists to Know: Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, Clyfford Still, Marking Rothko
Iconic Artwork:Autumn Rhythm (Number 30)by Jackson Pollock
Pop Art
Rise upwards in the 1950s, Pop Art is a pivotal movement that heralds the onset of contemporary art. This postal service-war fashion emerged in Britain and America, including imagery from advertising, comic books, and everyday objects. Often satirical, Popular Art emphasized banal elements of common appurtenances and is frequently idea of as a reaction against the subconscious elements of Abstract Expressionism.
Roy Lichtenstein'south bold, vibrant work is an excellent example of how parody and pop culture merged with art to make accessible art. Andy Warhol, the virtually famous of the Pop Art figures, helped button the revolutionary concept of art every bit mass product, creating numerous silkscreen series of his popular works.
Artists to Know: Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Jasper Johns
Iconic Artwork:Campbell's Soup Cans by Andy Warhol (1962)
Installation Art
In the middle of the 20th century, avant-garde artists in America and Europe began producing Installation Art. Installations are three-dimensional constructions that play with space to interactively engage viewers. Often large-scale and site-specific, these works of fine art transform museums, galleries, and fifty-fifty outdoor locations into immersive environments.
Inspired past Marcel Duchamp's DadaistReadymades—a series of found objects contextualized as sculptures— this important genre was pioneered by modern masters similar Yayoi Kusama and Louise Bourgeois. Today, contemporary artists keep his practice alive, crafting experimental installations from mediums like cord, paper, and flowers.
Artists to Know: Yayoi Kusama, Louise Conservative, Damien Hirst
Iconic Artwork:Mirror Rooms by Yayoi Kusama
Kinetic Fine art
The seemingly gimmicky art move actually has its roots in Impressionism, when artists first began attempting to express motility in their art. In the early 1900s, artists began to experiment further with art in motion, with sculptural machine and mobiles pushing kinetic art forward. Russian artists Vladimir Tatlin and Alexander Rodchenko were the commencement creators of sculptural mobiles, something that would later be perfected by Alexander Calder.
In gimmicky terms, kinetic art encompasses sculptures and installations that have movement as their chief consideration. American creative person Anthony Howe is a leading figure in the contemporary movement, using computer-aided design for his big-calibration current of air-driven sculptures.
Artists to Know: Alexander Calder, Jean Tinguely, Anthony Howe
Iconic Artwork: Arc of Petalsby Alexander Calder
Photorealism
Photorealism is a manner of art that is concerned with the technical ability to wow viewers. Primarily an American art movement, it gained momentum in the late 1960s and 1970s as a reaction against Abstract Expressionism. Here, artists were nigh concerned with replicating a photograph to the best of their ability, carefully planning out their work to neat result and eschewing the spontaneity that is the hallmark of Abstruse Expressionism. Similar to Pop Art, Photorealism is often focused on imagery related to consumer culture.
Early Photorealism was steeped in nostalgia for the American landscape, while more recently, photorealistic portraits have become a more common subject. Hyperrealism is an advancement of the artistic style, where painting and sculpture are executed in a manner to provoke a superior emotional response and to arrive at higher levels of realism due to technical developments. A common thread is that all works must first with a photographic reference point.
Artists to Know: Chuck Shut, Ralph Going, Yigal Ozeri
Iconic Artwork: Untitledby Yigal Ozeri
Lowbrow
Lowbrow, too chosen pop surrealism, is an art movement that grew out of an clandestine California scene in the 1970s. Traditionally excluded from the fine art world, lowbrow art moves from painted artworks to toys, digital art, and sculpture. The genre too has its roots in undercover comix, punk music, and surf culture, with artists not seeking acceptance from mainstream galleries. By mixing surrealism imagery with pop colors or figures, artists achieve dreamlike results that often play on erotic or satirical themes. The rise of magazines like Juxtapoz and Hullo-Fructose accept given lowbrow artists a forum to display their work outside of mainstream contemporary fine art media.
Artists to Know: Marking Ryden, Ray Caesar, Audrey Kawasaki
Iconic Artwork:Incarnationby Mark Ryden
This article has been edited and updated.
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