CLASSICAL ART STYLES:
RENAISSANCE 15th Century
STYLISTIC CHARACTERISTICS
• Very realistic
• No brushstrokes
• Limited colours
• Religious subject matter
ARTISTS: RAPHAEL DA VINCI MICHELANGELO
BAROQUE 17th Century
STYLISTIC CHARACTERISTICS
• Very realistic
• Dramatic lighting (chiaroscuro)
• Sombre, emotional subject matter
ARTISTS: CARAVAGIO VERMEER REMBRANDT
ROCOCO 17th Century
STYLISTIC CHARACTERISTICS
• Light & playful subject matter
• Decorative & charming
• Fascination with Aristocracy
• Pastel colours
ARTISTS: FRAGONARD WATTEAU
NEOCLASSICISM 18th Century
STYLISTIC CHARACTERISTICS
• Return to classical beauty (nudes) & intellectual discipline
• Line & symmetry
• Violent, sombre subjects (war)
• Realistic painting style
ARTISTS: DAVID INGRES
ROMANTICISM 18th-19th Century
STYLISTIC CHARACTERISTICS
• Imagination & expression exalted
• Nature as subject matter
• Depicted grand emotions e.g. fear / love / victory / desolation
ARTISTS:
FREIDRICH GERICAULT BLAKE TURNER
REALISM 19th Century
STYLISTIC CHARACTERISTICS
• Depictions of working class life
• Discarded theatrical or dramatic themes
• Real portrayal of ordinary people / events
ARTISTS: DAUMIER COURBET
IMPRESSIONISM 1860 - 1880
STYLISTIC CHARACTERISTICS:
• Capturing light and atmosphere more important than subject, line or form.
• First to paint outdoors
• Short quick brushstrokes
• Taking an “impression” of the landscape (e.g. like a photo)
ARTISTS: MONET RENOIR DEGAS
POINTILLISM 1880’s
STYLISTIC CHARACTERISTICS:
• Small, distinct dots of pure colour are applied in patterns to form an image
• The eye blends the colours
ARTIST: SEURAT
POST-IMPRESSIONISM 1880 - 1900
STYLISTIC CHARACTERISTICS:
• Inspired by Impressionism but:
• They emphasized geometric forms, distorted form for expressive effect
and used unnatural or arbitrary colour.
• Seen as an introduction to Cubism
ARTISTS: VAN GOGH CEZANNE GAUGUIN
FAUVISM 1889 - 1908
STYLISTIC CHARACTERISTICS:
• French for “Wild Beasts”
• Colour more important than form (subject)
• Wild brushstrokes and unnatural, saturated colours
• Seen as a fusion of Post-Impressionism and Pointillism
• Introduction to Expressionism
ARTISTS:
MATISSE DERAIN VLAMINCK
EXPRESSIONISM (GERMAN) 1905 - 1940
STYLISTIC CHARACTERISTICS:
• Intense, passionate, personal response to the horrors of the war
• Violent, unreal colours, dramatic brushstrokes and distorted forms
• Canvas as a vehicle to express innermost feelings
• 2 groups:
DE BRUCKE who painted the horrors and brutalities of the war and
DIE BLAUE RIETER who turned to nature as a form of escapism from the war
ARTISTS:
KIRCHENER NOLDE
MARC
KANDINSKY
CUBISM 1908 - 1920
STYLISTIC CHARACTERISTICS:
• First abstract style of Modern Art
• Depicted ordinary objects by distorting them e.g. played with perspective / 3d vs 2d forms /
interlocking shapes etc.
• Objects are analyzed, broken up and reassembled in an abstracted form
• Subjects shown from a multitude of viewpoints
• Two types:
ANALYTICAL: limited colour / multiple viewpoints / emphasis on breaking down objects
into 2D shapes
SYNTHETIC: brighter colour / mixed media / collage
ARTISTS: PICASSO BRAQUE
FUTURISM 1909 - 1916
STYLISTIC CHARACTERISTICS:
• Emphasized and glorified modern, city life e.g. speed, technology, youth and violence and
objects such as the car, the airplane and the industrial city
• Angular forms and powerful lines to convey dynamism
• Repeated shapes to convey movement
ARTISTS: BALLA BOCCIONI
DADA 1916 - 1923
STYLISTIC CHARACTERISTICS:
• Born out of negative reaction to the horrors of World War 1
• Dada rejected reason and logic and prized nonsense, irrationality and intuition
• Invented various techniques e.g. assemblage (3d objects used to form a collage) and
photo-montage (collage)
• Inspired by Cubism and Futurism and inspired Surrealism.
ARTISTS: DUCHAMP ARP
SURREALISM 1924 - 1950
STYLISTIC CHARACTERISTICS:
• Inspired by Freud’s theories about dreams and the unconscious inspired their imagination
• Questioned reality
• “Played” with conventional forms and placed them in an unconventional setting
e.g. enlarged forms out of proportion but still kept them realistic
ARTISTS: DALI MAGRITTE
ABSTRACT EXPRESSIONISM 1946 - 1960
STYLISTIC CHARACTERISTICS:
• Combined abstract form with expressionist emotional values.
• Emphasised the spontaneous, automatic and subconscious creation
• Believed the method of painting was more important than the painting itself.
• Two types:
Action Painters conveyed emotional energy and gestural surface marks on the canvas
Colour Field painters (calmer and devoid of any gesture mark-making and focused on
abstraction as an end in itself.)
ARTISTS: POLLOCK DE KOONING ROTHKO
POP 1950 - 1960
STYLISTIC CHARACTERISTICS:
• Short for Popular Art
• Challenged the traditions by including imagery from popular culture.
• Emphasized the banal or kitschy elements of their culture, through the use of irony.
• Inspired by mass media / popular culture / comic strips / advertising and popular entertainment.
• Chose popular subjects to paint e.g. TV models / product labels / cartoons …
rather than classical genres
ARTISTS: WARHOL LICHTENSTEIN
OLDENBURG ROSENQUIST