Cassandra Nissi
EGL215
Serge Tampalini
Art Movement Essay
1. Romanticism: [1770s-1850] Beginning in Germany and England during the Industrial Revolution,
Romanticism was connected with the politics of the time. It rejected the traditional values of social
classes and religion. Influenced by the ideas of the Enlightenment, it encouraged individualism,
emotions and nature. 1
Artists:
-Eugene Delacroix, Liberty Leading the People (28th July 1830), 1830
http://www.romanticism-in-art.org/Liberty-Leading-the-People-(28th-July-1830)-1830.html
-Horace Vernet, Stormy Coast Scene after a Shipwreck, 1825
http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/2003.42.56
-Marguerite Gerard, Artist Painting a Portrait of a Musician, c. 1830
http://www.arthermitage.org/Marguerite-Gerard/Artist-Painting-a-Portrait-of-a-Musician.html
2. Impressionism: [1874-1920s] Scandalizing the public when it first exhibited in 1874, Impressionism
was characterized by “broken brushstrokes of pure colour.” Impressionism aimed to capture the
way the eye sees light and colour in nature and the everyday of bourgeois life. 2
Artists:
-Claude Monet, Houses of Parliament, London, Sun Breaking through the Fog, 1904
http://www.claudemonetworks.com/painting/houses-of-parliament-london-sun-fog
-Mary Cassatt, Young Girl in a Garden, 1926
http://musee.louvre.fr/bases/lafayette/notice.php?lng=1&idOeuvre=2&vignette=oui&nonotice=1&no_pa
ge=1&total=27&texte=&titre=&localisation=&periode=&artiste=%22CASSATT,%20Mary%22&date=&dom
aine=&f=3110&images_sans=images&nb_par_page=36&tri=Nom&sens=0
-Vincent Van Gogh, A Wheatfield with Cypresses, 1889
http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/vincent-van-gogh-a-wheatfield-with-cypresses
3. Expressionism: [1905-1933] Expressionism was deeply rooted in self-expression. This was a
departure from depicting the external world. It encouraged distortion, strong colours, and swirling,
exaggerated brushstrokes. These techniques were meant to convey the artist’s anxieties toward the
modern world.3
Artists:
-Edvard Munch, The Scream, 1893
http://www.edvard-munch.com/gallery/anxiety/scream.htm
-Egon Schiele, Self-Portrait with Chinese Lantern Plant, 1912.
http://www.theartstory.org/artist-schiele-egon.htm#schiele_egon_3_data_big
-Kathe Kollwitz, Self-Portrait.
http://www.all-art.org/art_20th_century/kollwitz1.html
4. Abstract Art: [1910-2000s]4 Abstract art includes many different aesthetics, but ultimately portrays
objects or scenes that are unrecognizable. In theory, it is detached from reality. However, there is a
spectrum of abstraction (semi –abstract to wholly abstract) so distinguishing between abstract and
non-abstract can be difficult.5
Artists:
-Wassily Kandinsky, Composition VII, 1910.
http://faculty.txwes.edu/csmeller/HumanProspect/ProData09/02WW1CulMatrix/WW1PICs/Kandinsky1866/Kand1913CompVII444.htm
-Renata Bernal, Strange Land, 1980s.
http://renatabernal.com/acrylic
-Norman Bluhm, Acheron, 1971.
http://abstractartist.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/norman-bluhm-acheron.jpg
5. Conceptual Art: [mid 1950s-Current] Conceptual art grew out of concern that the standards by
which art was usually judged – aesthetics, expression, skill and marketability – were irrelevant.
Therefore, it is difficult to define the stylistic aspects of conceptual art. However, it is usually
objective. 6 Conceptual art finds the idea of the work more important than the actual
representation. 7
Artists:
-Robert Rauschenberg, Erased de Kooning Drawing, 1953.
http://www.sfmoma.org/explore/collection/artwork/25846
-Joseph Kosuth, One and Three Chairs, 1965.
http://www.moma.org/collection/browse_results.php?criteria=O%3AAD%3AE%3A3228&page_number=1
&template_id=1&sort_order=1
-Jenny Holzer, Melbourne, 2009
http://www.jennyholzer.com/Projections/site/Melbourne2009/
6. Tachisme: [Late 1940s-1950s] Emerging during the post-WWII period, Tachisme was a movement
that used spots, blotches and stains of colour. It was a type of European “action-painting” and
focused on the expressive gesture used by the artist. Tachisme was a style of abstract art, but more
expressive.8
Artists:
-Jean Dubuffet, The Busy Life, 1953.
http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/dubuffet-the-busy-life-t00867
-Maria Helena Vieira da Silva, L’invasion.
http://uploads0.wikipaintings.org/images/maria-helena-vieira-da-silva/l-invasion.jpg
-Jean Paul Riopelle, Untitled, 1948.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/28/JeanPaul_Riopelle%2C_1948%2C_untitled%2C_oil_on_canvas%2C_97.5_x_130_cm.jpg
7. Primitivism: [Late 19th century- current] Primitivism is used to describe any art that is influenced by
primitive art (e.g. African, Oceanic, Aboriginal and Tribal art). It emerged from anxieties about
technological innovations and from the “Age of Discovery.” Some stylistic characteristics include
simple outlines, absence of linear perspective, use of symbolic signs and repetitive ornamental
patterns.9
Artists:
-Pablo Picasso, Les Demoiselles d’Avignon, 1907
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_Demoiselles_D%27Avignon
-Paul Gauguin, Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?, 1897-98
http://www.mfa.org/node/464
-Natalia Goncharova, Women with rakes, 1907
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Babi_s_grablyami.jpg
8. Pop Art: [mid 1950s-early 1970s] Pop art utilized imagery from mass media and popular culture to
celebrate people and objects of everyday life. Originating in London, it blurred the line between
“high” art and “low” culture. It aimed to heighten popular culture to the level of fine art. 10
Artists:
-Andy Warhol, Campbell Soup Can, 1962
http://www.christies.com/Features/2010-october-andy-warhol-campbells-soup-can-tomato-1022-1.aspx
-Roy Lichtenstein, The Kiss, 1962
http://www.lichtensteinfoundation.org/thekiss.htm
-Martha Rosler, Vacuuming Pop Art, 1966-72
http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/exhibitions/seductive_subversion/#
9. Post Modernism: [1960s- 2000s] Post Modernism art is a direct challenge to the purity of form and
technique of Modernism. It uses a mix of aesthetics from the past, but also popular film and
magazines, and delivers them to spare modern forms with ironic effect. 11
Artists:
-Cindy Sherman, Untitled #96, 1981
http://www.moma.org/interactives/exhibitions/2012/cindysherman/gallery/4/#/6/untitled-96-1981
-Sherrie Levine, Fountain (after Marcel Duchamp), 1991
http://www.oxfordartonline.com.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/subscriber/popup_fig/img/grove/art/F02316
3
-Robert Longo, Men in the Cities – Untitled, 1980
http://www.robertlongo.com/work/view/1118/5821
10. Modernism: [late 19th century-1970s] Modernism includes many styles and art movements, but
began as a reaction to the rapid growth of cities and industrialism, as well as WWI. Modernist art
aimed to be inventive and to “create previously unimagined objects and new ways of seeing
them.”12
Artists:
-Tamara de Lempicka, Young Lady with Gloves, 1930
http://www.tamara-de-lempicka.org/Young-Lady-with-Gloves,-1930.html
-Francis Bacon, Triptych, 1970
http://artsearch.nga.gov.au/Detail-LRG.cfm?IRN=36332&PICTAUS=True
-Clyfford Still, 1949-A-No.1, 1949
http://arte.archivoros.com/wp-content/themes/isotherm/images/Clyfford-Still-1949-A-No-1.jpg
11. Dada: [1916-1924] Dada, originating in Zurich, Switzerland, was a denouncement of WWI and the
entire European political and social structures that had started it. It was characterized by its
mockery of materialistic and nationalistic attitudes.13 The most important movement came out of
Berlin, where artists used their work as anti-fascist propaganda.14
Artists:
-Hannah Höch, Cut with the Dada Kitchen Knife through the Last Weimar Beer-Belly Cultural
Epoch in Germany, 1919
http://arthistory.about.com/od/dada/ig/Dada-at-MoMA---Berlin/Cut-with-the-Kitchen-Knife.htm
-Francis Picabia, The Child Carburetor (L’Enfant carburateur), 1919
http://www.guggenheim.org/new-york/collections/collection-online/artwork/3409
-George Grosz, Republican Automatons (Republikanische Automaten), 1920
http://www.moma.org/collection/browse_results.php?criteria=O%3AAD%3AE%3A2374&page_number=1
49&template_id=1&sort_order=1
12. Surrealism: [1924-1966] Influenced by Sigmund Freud, Surrealism aimed to channel the
unconscious. Surrealists believed the conscious mind repressed imagination. The emphasis on
imagination was similar to Romanticism, but Surrealists focused their revelations on everyday life. A
major aesthetic was collage because it was believed to tap into the subconscious. 15
Artists:
-René Magritte, Ceci n’est pas une pipe (“This is Not a Pipe”), 1929
http://www.mattesonart.com/the-treachery-of-images-.aspx
-Dorothea Tanning, Birthday, 1942
http://www.dorotheatanning.org/life-and-work/view-work/work-63/
-Salvdor Dali, The Accommodations of Desire, 1929
http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/1999.363.16
13. Formalism: [late 19th century-1970s] Formalism is a modern art concept that stresses form (e.g.
colour, line, composition and texture) over content. Formalists look to achieve a cohesive balance in
their work.16 It was a concept that played a huge role in the development of abstract art.17
Artists:
-Mark Rothko, Four Darks in Red, 1958
http://www.markrothko.org/four-darks-in-red.jsp
-Jasper Johns, Flag, 1954-55
http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/john/hd_john.htm
-Georgia O’Keefe, Above the Clouds I, 1962-63
http://contentdm.okeeffemuseum.org/cdm/singleitem/collection/gokfa/id/342/rec/7
14. Realism: [1830-1860s] Realism depicted subjects from real life in a straightforward manner. It is
most well known as a movement in French painting, and focused on portraying contemporary
themes (e.g. urban or rural life, landscapes, still lifes and portraits).18
Artists:
-Gustave Courbet, Storm at Sea, 1865
http://www.gustavecourbet.org/Storm-at-Sea,-1865.html
-Jean-Francois Millet, Springtime, 1868
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/KLSP5C4KS5g/TgCo6tUNRsI/AAAAAAAAAQA/Pxbh_t0iMJ8/s1600/Millet_springtime_rainbow.jpg
-Rosa Bonheur, The Horse Fair, 1852-55
http://www.metmuseum.org/Collections/search-the-collections/110000135
15. Cubism: [1907-1922] Cubism, one of the first truly modern movements, experienced two stages,
‘Analytic’ Cubism and ‘Synthetic’ Cubism. ‘Analytic’ Cubism was characterized by fragmented forms.
‘Synthetic’ Cubism featured newspaper and other foreign materials collaged as ‘synthetic’ signs for
depicted objects.19 Cubism multiplied perspectives and depths, and objects were broken down into
oddly angled shapes.20
Artists:
-Pablo Picasso, The Three Musicians, 1921
http://www.moma.org/collection/object.php?object_id=78630
-Sonia Delaunay, Electric Prisms, 1914
http://www.artexpertswebsite.com/pages/artists/delaunay_s.php
-Georges Braque, Bottle and Fishes, 1910-12
http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/braque-bottle-and-fishes-t00445
16. Fauvism: [1905-1908] From the French word “fauve”, meaning “wild beast”, Fauvism was
characterized by its spontaneous manner and use of bold, unmixed colours. It featured raw paint
usually applied as smears or with aggressive brushstrokes.21 However, Fauvism leaned toward more
traditional subjects such as landscapes and scenes of bourgeois leisure.22
Artists:
- André Derain, Mountains at Collioure, 1905
http://www.nga.gov/feature/artnation/fauve/influences_5.shtm
-Henri Matisse, Woman with a Hat, 1905
http://www.henri-matisse.net/paintings/ao.html
-Alice Bailly, Self-Portrait, 1917
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bailly_Self_Portrait.jpg
17. Abstract Expression: (1943-late 1965) Originating in New York, Abstract Expressionism is
characterized by fields of colour, abstract forms and painters who “attacked their canvases with a
vigorous gestural expressionism.” Shaped by Surrealism, it explored emotion and American postwar culture, politics and power.23
Artists:
-Jackson Pollock, Number 1 (Lavender Mist), 1950
http://www.nga.gov/feature/pollock/painting1.shtm
-Willem de Kooning, Excavation, 1950
http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/artwork/76244
-Lee Krasner, Untitled, 1949
http://www.moma.org/collection/object.php?object_id=79836
18. Altermodernism: [late 2000s – present] Altermodernism, an international movement, is fuelled by
the non-stop communication and globalization present in our world today. Curator Nicolas
Bourriaud describes it as a “sort of dream catcher attempting to capture the characteristics of a
modernity specific to the 21st century.”24
Artists:
-Subodh Gupta, Line of Control, 2008
http://www.culture24.org.uk/asset_arena/2/97/05/150792/v0_master.jpg
-Bob and Roberta Smith, Off Voice Fly Tip, 2009
http://artobserved.com/2009/02/go-see-tate-triennial-altermodern-at-the-tate-modern-london-throughapril-26-2009/
-Franz Ackermann, Gateway-Getaway, 2008-09
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3607/3456224471_ebe466eaef.jpg?v=0
1
http://www.artandculture.com/categories/709-romantic-art. Accessed on 7/4/13.
http://www.artandculture.com/categories/706-impressionism. Accessed on 7/4/13.
3
http://www.theartstory.org/movement-expressionism.htm. Accessed on 10/4/13.
4
http://www.museum.state.il.us/ismdepts/art/Abstract/htmls/timeline.html. Accessed on 10/4/13.
5
http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/abstract-art.htm. Accessed on 10/4/13.
6
http://www.theartstory.org/movement-conceptual-art.htm#. Accessed on 7/4/13.
7
http://www.theartstory.org/movement-conceptual-art.htm#. Accessed on 7/4/13.
8
http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/history-of-art/tachisme.htm. Accessed on 10/4/13.
9
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primitivism. Accessed on 10/4/13.
10
http://www.theartstory.org/movement-pop-art.htm. Accessed on 7/4/13.
11
http://the-artists.org/artistsbymovement/Postmodernism/. Accessed on 10/4/13
12
http://www.oxfordartonline.com.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/subscriber/article/grove/art/T058785?q=
modernism&search=quick&pos=1&_start=1#firsthit. Accessed on 10/4/13.
2
13
http://www.theartstory.org/movement-dada.htm. Accessed on 8/4/13.
http://www.artandculture.com/categories/648-dada. Accessed on 8/4/13.
15
http://www.theartstory.org/movement-surrealism.htm. Accessed on 8/4/13.
16
http://www.theartstory.org/definition-formalism.htm. Accessed on 10/4/13.
17
http://www.oxfordartonline.com.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/subscriber/article/opr/t4/e743?q=formali
sm&search=quick&pos=2&_start=1#firsthit. Accessed on 10/4/13.
18
http://www.oxfordartonline.com.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/subscriber/article/opr/t4/e1422?q=realis
m&search=quick&pos=2&_start=1#firsthit. Accessed on 10/4/13.
19
http://www.theartstory.org/movement-cubism.htm. Accessed on 9/4/13.
20
http://www.artandculture.com/categories/653-cubism. Accessed on 9/4/13.
21
http://www.artandculture.com/categories/660-fauvism. Accessed on 9/4/13.
22
http://www.theartstory.org/movement-fauvism.htm. Accessed on 9/4/13.
23
http://www.the-artists.org/artistsbymovement/Abstract-Expressionism. Accessed on 9/4/13.
24
http://www.psfk.com/2009/02/the-death-of-postmodernism-and-emergence-ofaltermodernism.html. Accessed on 11/4/13.
14