Module 7 Art History Timeline 3

Study Guide in Art Appreciation FM-AA-CIA-15 Rev.
0 03-June-2020
GE 3 Art Appreciation Module 7 Art History Timeline
Module No. 7
MODULE TITLE
ART HISTORY TIMELINE
MODULE OVERVIEW
Stone Age is a term used to describe a period of history when stones were used to
make tools for survival. The term "conjures an image of men and women dressed in
skins, huddling before a fire in a cave" (Fitchner-Rathus, 2013). Though prehistoric
humans would not necessarily possess the complex rational capabilities to tell their story
through written records and accounts, some artifacts in the form of c ave
paintings and sculptures would serve as the "storytellers."
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
By the end of this module, you should be able to:

1. Discuss how art was used by prehistoric people to depict everyday life;
2. Identify the central themes of prehistoric art;
3. Differentiate the techniques used during the three kingdoms of early Egypt; and
4. Explain how art is linked with religion in early Egyptian civilization
LEARNING CONTENTS
Prehistoric Art
In order to talk about the prehistoric art, there is a need to situate them within the context
of three periods of the Stone Age Culture (14,000 – 2,000 BCE): Paleolithic (the late
years of the Old Stone Age). Mesolithic (Middle Stone Age), and the Neolithic (New Stone
Age)
Paleolithic Art is a product of climate change. As the climate got colder, part of the early
humans’ instinct is to look for shelters that would provide them with warmth. Caves became
protective havens for the early humans and these caves paved the way for the birth of their
first attempts to create art.
Hall of Bulls (Lascaux, France)
One cave painting can be traced back to Lascaux, Fance the “Hall of Bulls”. The figures
depicted on the walls were done with a certain level of crispness and life that there were
initial hesitations of the work’s authenticity. However, evidence later on pointed out that
the cave paintings were created during the Paleolithic Period. It is also important to take
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PANGASINAN STATE UNIVERSITY
Study Guide in Art Appreciation FM-AA-CIA-15 Rev. 0 03-June-2020
note that the paintings evoke naturalism, which is evidently seen through the contours of
the animals’ body and their dark colors. Although most people would think that early
humans were primitive, some of their art techniques were considered advanced for their
time.
The early humans created these cave paintings for these purposes:
• Some would say that these caves with paintings all over the walls and ceilings
served as kind of sanctuary for the early humans
• Some believe that there was a linkage between what was drawn and what could
happen in real life
Some of the works found reflected some of the early beliefs of

humans especially with life and fertility. One of the works that
reflected such beliefs would be a sculpture called the “Venus of
Willendorf”. This figure is a highly abstracted woman from
highlighted body parts associated with fertility. It shows that the
woman has oversized breasts, enlarge hips, and round
abdomen.
Figure 2. Venus of Willendorf
Mesolithic Art
During the Mesolithic period, humans developed cave paintings, engravings, and
ceramics to reflect their daily lives. Early human learned to develop agriculture contributed
to the rise of permanent settlements. Art from this period reflects the change to a warmer
climate and adaptation to a relatively sedentary lifestyle, population size, and
consumption of plants.
A number of notable Mesolithic rock art sites exist on the

Mediterranean coast of Spain. The art consists of small painted
figures of humans and animals, which are the most advanced and
widespread surviving from this period in Europe and possibly
worldwide. Notably, this collection is the largest concentration of
such art in Europe. The human figure is frequently the main theme
in painted scenes. When in the same scene as animals, the
human runs towards them. Hunting scenes are the most common,
but there are also scenes of battle and dancing, and possibly
agricultural tasks and managing domesticated animals. In some
scenes gathering honey is shown, most famously at Cuevas de la
Araña en Bicorp.
The Man of Bicorp: The

Man of Bicorp holding
onto lianas to gather
honey from a beehive as
depicted on an 8000-year-
old cave painting near
Valencia, Spain.
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Neolithic Art
As the Neolithic Art drew to a close, it was evident that different elements of civilization
flourished in various parts of the world. It is also notable that most early civilizations
emerged and flourish in river valleys: the Nile in Egypt, Indus in India, Tigris and
Euphrates in Mesopotamia, and Huang Ho River in China.
The invention of pottery and ceramics marked the advent of the New Stone Age in China
around 6,000 years ago. The earliest earthenware was molded with clay by hand and
fired at a temperature of about 500-600 degrees Celsius. Painted pottery emerged during
the Yangshao and Longshan cultures.
Yangshao Bowl: Human-faced fish decoration bowl, 5000-4000 BCE, from Banpo Village, Shaanxi.
Egyptian Art
The Egyptian civilization can be divided into three periods: Old, Middle, and New
Kingdom. Looking at the three periods, it can be noticed that for the Egyptians, art should
be something religious and spiritual.
During the Old Kingdom, it was evident that religion was bound to the afterlife. A concrete
manifestation of this would have to be the erection of tombs. But the tombs were not just
for keeping the dead bodies of important people, particularly the pharaohs; they
also served as a shelter for the next journey, which is the
afterlife. They decorated the tombs with everyday objects that would reflect day -to-
day activities as if the afterlife is a mere continuation of what transpired on earth. The
human figures seen in the tombs were represented in such a way that the profile of
the head was evident, while the pelvis, legs, and upper torso were prominent and the
eyes are in frontal view. Inside the tombs, the walls were also decorated and carved in
very low relief and incised detail. It can be noticed that the use of color was evident
but may have not been widely utilized because of its relative impermanence.
One of the cosmetic palettes found in Egypt was

called the Narmer Palette. It was a palette that utilized
and applied dark colors around King Narmer's eyes.
The palette was also a symbol that commemorates
the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt. The
unification was significant because it marked the
beginning of their
civilization.
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At the back of the palette, King Narmer can be seen wearing the crown of Upper
Egypt looking victorious over a slain enemy. In addition, two more dead warriors can
be seen beneath him. To his right is a falcon, the god Horus perched on papyrus
stalks, which is a symbol of Lower Egypt. The top is sculpted with bull-shaped heads with
human features that is a representation of Hathor. This god symbolizes love and joy.
What is very prominent is the king's size in comparison with the objects in the palette.
Narmer, being the subject, is evidently larger than the people around him. This is a
clear indication and assertion of his royal status. The front palette, on the
,other hand, shows lion-like figures with intertwined necks bound on leashes and
tamed by two men. King Narmer is still present at the front side and he is shown
reviewing the captured enemies. In this portrait, he is seen wearing the crown of
Lower Egypt and holding some objects that denote power. The Narmer Palette is one
of the artifacts that emphasizes the king's supreme and absolute authority. In most
cases, the king is not just an authority figure but can be depicted and revered as a
deity. This common notion among Egyptians is seen in Egyptian tomb sculptures,
which are basically large in dimensions and proportions and made out of hard
materials. The choice of materials is deliberate since they want the sculptures to
endure and withstand any condition. Permanence was important because these
sculptures would serve as the house of the ka or soul once the remains of the
mummy disintegrate. One striking feature of most sculptures is that regardless of the age
of death, the ka figures highlight the prime life of the deceased.
During the Old Kingdom, one of the architectural wonders was also constructed. The
pyramids in Giza served as tombs since their main purpose was to provide a resting
place for the pharaohs. These pyramids are massive in size and were constructed
using roughly more than two million limestone blocks. The stones used for the
pyramids were quarried from a nearby plateau. The construction of the p yramids
highlighted the ingenuity and advancement of the Egyptians for their time. Workers
painstakingly moved the stones from the plateau going to the construction site using
wooden rollers. Stonecutters on the site carved the blocks in a fine way before
'stacking them. The stacking process also showed the advancement of the Egyptians
since they already used a system of ropes and pulleys. They finished it off by
applying the surface with limestone for a more refined and flawless finish. The
construction of the pyramids did not only show the brilliance of the early Egyptians but it
also highlighted the reverence Of the people to their pharaoh at the expense of the
citizens. A lot of the workers died or
punished for not reaching the quota in
the process of constructing these
massive architectural structures.
However, they did not stop ensuring
the excellent quality of the outsides.
The Egyptians also ensured that the
insides of the pyramids would
celebrate the life of their pharaoh by
lavishly decorating them. However, it
posed as a problem since thieves
usually plundered the valuable
objects used to decorate the insides
of the pyramids.
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One of the key features of the Middle Kingdom is a shift in the political hierarchy.
There is an emergence of powerful groups of landlords that threatened the authority
and rule of the pharaoh. Because of the internal struggle between these two
influential sides, art has taken a back seat during the Middle Kingdom. In order for art to
reemerge and flourish, Egypt needed to have a more stable situation. This
happened during the rule of King Mentuhotep when Egypt eventually got back on
track. Art during the Middle Kingdom had some references from the Old Kingdom,
however there were some experimentation in terms of style that transpired during this
period. Portrait sculptures and fresco paintings that were freely drawn are some of the
styles that emerged during this period. To solve the problem of thieves that plunder
the tombs, the Egyptians made rock-cut tombs by carving out a living rock. The
insides of the tombs were still filled with chamber and the hallways were lavishly
decorated to celebrate the life of the deceased.
Egypt was not immune from foreign invaders and eventually fell into the hands of the
Hyksos. This Asiatic Tribe introduced Bronze Age weapons and horses to the Egyptians.
When these foreign invaders were overthrown, the Egyptians formed the
New Kingdom. It was a time of expansionism through territorial acquisition.
Consequently, with the expansion came an increase in wealth leading not only to
economic but also political stability. The art of the New Kingdom had references from
both of the preceding kingdoms. Monuments and sculptures were still linked with
death and reverence for the deceased. During the previous kingdoms, tombs were
just used for worshipping the dead but with the New Kingdom, they started having
mortuary temples. These temples, which were carved out of living rocks, served not
only a sanctuary for the dead but also a place of worship for the living. During this period,
Egypt has established itself as a more advanced and powerful civilization. With this
newly found strength and power comes an inflated ego. Their high regard for their people
can be seen through their sculptures built on massive and monumental scales.
After the New Kingdom, Egypt witnessed the Amarna Revolution led by King
Akhenaton and Queen Nefertiti. He moved the capital to Tel El-Amarna, thus the
name Amarna. During his reign, King Amenhotep wanted
to revolutionize the arts and religion. He later on changed
his name to Akhenaton, which came from Aton who is the sun
god. This changing of names also signified the shift in
religion. During this period, the only god to be revered was
Aton. Egypt became monotheistic and Akhenaton ordered all
to tear down all monuments of other gods. He then
fervently ordered the creation and erection of new
monuments in reverence to Aton. Most sculptures during
this period had curving lines and full-bodied forms. There is
emphasis to life-like features of the face like an elongate jaw
and thick-lidded eyes. Most artists created artworks that
are natural and seemingly real, highlighting the
features of their subjects.
Naturalism was not only used to depict the pharaoh but
also was used for members of the royal family. The bust of
Queen Nefertiti has a long and sensuous neck. This figure
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was enhanced by applying paint to the limestone.

The use of naturalism in artworks was rather short-lived. When King Akhenaton died,
his successors returned to the more rigid and conventional styles they employed
during the period of the kingdoms. They also destroyed images and figures of Aton
and subscribed to monotheism. Probably one of the greatest discoveries from the
Egyptian civilization was the tomb of Tutankhamen. He became king at a very young age
and died at the age of eighteen. Howard Carter discovered his tomb in 1922. They
were astonished to find gold artworks and that the coffin was made out of solid
gold. The body of the young king was covered in linen and a gold mask covered his
face.
History of Art Timeline (2,500,000 BCE - Present)

The Evolution of Visual Art
Here is a selected list of all major periods in the history of
art since the early Stone Age. Dates given are approximate.
Incorporating details of arts and crafts from Prehistory,
Classical Antiquity, The Dark Ages, The Middle Ages, and The
Renaissance, as well as Modern and Postmodern movements,
the timeline includes: styles of painting, as well as sculpture,
and architecture, plus schools of decorative and interior design,
and a variety of 20th century forms of contemporary creative
expression. The names of major artists are also listed, where
appropriate. For specific information
Girl with Braids (1918) about architectural timelines, please see the history of
By Modigliani (1884-1920). architecture. For the history and chronology of East Asian
Nagoya City Art Museum. cultures, see: Chinese Art Timeline (from 18,000 BCE).
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2.5 million PREHISTORY
BCE For a chronological list of important dates concerning prehistoric art and
to 800 BCE culture, from the Lower Paleolithic era of the Pliocene Epoch, plus the
Middle and Upper Paleolithic of the Pleistocene Epoch, and the Mesolithic
and Neolithic eras of the Holocene, along with the Bronze and Iron Age,
see Prehistoric Art Timeline. It includes details of the
earliest civilization and features countless examples of Stone Age art, such
as petroglyphs (rock engravings), cupules (cup-shaped scourings), cave
painting and famous venus figurines. Also includes dates of ancient
art from Egyptian (c.2500 BCE), Minoan (c.2000 BCE)
and Mycenean (c.1000 BCE) civilizations, and charts the rise in religious
art. For a synopsis of the earliest painting and sculpture, see: Oldest Stone
Age Art: Earliest 100 Artworks.
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800 BCE - 400 Art of Classical Antiquity
CE --------------------------------------------------------------------------
Era of Greek art. (Fresco murals, ancient pottery, encaustic paintings, sculpture,
800 - 323 BCE flourish)
For a general guide, see: Greek Sculpture Made Simple. For details, please
see: Daedalic (650-600), Archaic (600-500); Early Classical (500-450), High
Classical (450-400), Late Classical (400-323) Hellenistic Period (323-27). For
architectural designs, see Greek Architecture.
750 BCE Foundation of ancient Rome. Etruscan Kings rule.
700 - 500 BCE Etruscan civilization.
First use of Greek alphabet.
750 BCE
Ancient Persians conquer Mesopotamia (see: Mesopotamian art) and build
539 BCE
Persepolis.
535 BCE
High point of Greek black-figure style of ceramic pottery. Soon followed by red-
500 BCE
figure.
450 BCE
Democracy in Athens. Celtic La Tène art style begins. Roman Republic starts.
447 BCE
Greek sculptor Polykleitos creates Doryphoros statue. Chinese painting begins.
450 BCE Construction of the Parthenon begins. Finished 432.
400 BCE Famous Greek bronze sculpture: Discus Thrower (by Myron).
350 BCE Famous Etruscan works: Capitoline Wolf and Chimera of Arezzo.
340 BCE Greek sculptor Praxiteles produces Aphrodite of Knidos and Hermes.
323 BCE Famous Greek sculpture: Boy From Antikythera.
300 BCE - 400 Death of Alexander the Great. Beginning of Hellenistic art (c.323-30 BCE)
CE Era of Roman art. Heavily influenced by Hellenistic (Greek) painting & sculpture.
246 - 208 BCE Creation of Chinese Terracotta Army Warriors.
232 BCE Famous Greek sculpture: Dying Gaul.
206 BCE Start of Chinese Han Dynasty art which produced the first Chinese porcelain.
Beginning of the cave art at Ajanta, India - see Classical Indian Painting (up to
166-56 BCE 1150 CE).
Famous Greek sculpted frieze: Pergamon Altar of Zeus. Highpoint of
150 BCE the Pergamene school of Hellenistic sculpture in Anatolia.
50 BCE Famous Greek statue: Venus di Milo (by Alexandros of Antioch).
42 BCE Beginning of the Fayum Mummy Portraits. They continued until about 250 CE.
27 BCE
PANGASINAN STATE UNIVERSITY 7

9 BCE Famous Greek sculpture: Laocoon (by sculptors Hagesandrus, Polydorus,

79 CE Athenodorus)
113 Beginning of Roman Empire. See also: Roman Architecture.
200-320 Completion of Ara Pacis Augustae.
Vesuvius errupts, destroying Pompeii.
329 Famous Roman relief sculpture monument, Trajan's Column.
395 Christian mural paintings in catacombs of Rome; early Christian sculpture on
410-450 sarcophagi; early Christian art becomes more widespread, after 313. Period of Late
Roman Art.
Edict of Milan legitimizes Christianity. First Biblical art seen.
St Peter's Basilica in Rome completed (original building). Garima Gospels made in
Ethiopia.
Roman Empire officially splits into West (Rome/Ravenna) and East (Byzantium).
Fall of Rome to repeated invasions by Visigoths and Vandals.
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450-1050 The Period of the Dark Ages
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500-1200 Beginning of Medieval art (c.450-1450). Also the start of Byzantine art. Panel
painting, Orthodox icon painting and mosaic art flourish. See the Ravenna
532-37 mosaics.
550-800 Hagia Sophia built in Constantinople. See Byzantine Architecture.
Celtic/Saxon Illuminated Gospel Manuscripts.
700-50 Cathach of Colmcille (560 CE), Book of Durrow (670), Book of Kells (c.800).
700-900 Oils (walnut, linseed) first used for oil-resin varnishes, and for painting on stone &
glass.
780-900 Early forms of porcelain ceramics appear in China during the era of Tang Dynasty
art. For more details of chronology, see: Pottery Timeline.
Medieval Christian artworks appear during Pre-Romanesque Era of Carolingian
Renaissance under Charlemagne I, Otto I. Byzantine art combines with Western
Christian themes to create Illuminated Bible texts.
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800 The European Revival
900 --------------------------------------------------------------------------
1000 Carolingian Art flourishes 750-900. Charlemagne builds famous Palatine
1017-1029 Chapel in Aachen.
1050-1150 Ottonian Art flourishes 900-1000. See also: German Medieval art (800-1250).
Start of Medieval manuscript illumination, featuring Romanesque art.
1080 Kandariya Mahadeva Hindu Temple (Khajuraho) built in Madhya Pradesh, India.
1115-1145 Height of Romanesque architecture. Religious murals, stained glass. Cathedrals
1150-1450 built at Angouleme, Essen, Mainz, Worms and Pisa, plus Cluny Abbey Church.
Bayeux Tapestry, most famous piece of tapestry art commissioned by Bishop Odo.
Angkor Wat Khmer Temple in Cambodia. Beginning of golden age of Mosan art,
Belgium.
Era of Gothic art and Gothic architecture. Many Gothic cathedrals designed: (eg.
St. Denis (1140), Notre Dame (1160), Chartres (1194), Reims (1211), Canterbury
1250-1400 (1100), Westminster Abbey (1245), Cologne, w. pointed arches, flying buttresses,
1304-1310

1333-1400 huge stained glass windows. New panel paintings (tempera on wood), and
1346 illuminated texts (opaque paint on vellum). Oil paints first used for painting on
1387 panel.
Era of Proto-Renaissance art/architecture, influenced by International Gothic style.
Giotto paints Scrovegni Chapel frescoes at Padua.
Zen Ink-Painting dominates Japanese art.
Black Death plague kills third of European population. Era of Ming Dynasty art in
China.
Medici Family Bank founded in Florence.
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1400- The Renaissance (North of Italy, known as the Northern Renaissance)
1530 --------------------------------------------------------------------------
• Italian Early Renaissance (1400-90);
The three main centres of the Italian Renaissance, were Florence, Rome and Venice.
The Italian Renaissance was the first major expression of classicism in world art.
Florence Cathedral, Brunelleschi and the Renaissance (1420-36). See also the new ideas of
1426-36 the Florentine Renaissance in linear perspective, humanism and the male nude.
Iconic bronze David made by sculptor Donatello, greatest of early Renaissance sculptors.
1444 Famous mythological painting: The Birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelli.
1485 Famous example of linear perspective: Lamentation Over the Dead Christ by Mantegna.
1490 • Italian High Renaissance (1490-1530)
First masterpiece of High Renaissance painting: The Last Supper by Leonardo Da Vinci.
1495 Highpoint of Italian Renaissance sculpture: Michelangelo creates David in Florence.
1501-4 Leonardo paints the Mona Lisa, one of the greatest Renaissance paintings.
1503-6 Vatican Museums open with a display of the sculpture, Laocoon and His Sons. Work begins
on redesign and rebuilding of St. Peter's Basilica, Rome.
1506
Michelangelo paints the Genesis Old Testament Sistine Chapel frescoes.
Raphael works on paintings for the papal apartments.
1508-12
1509-13 • Northern Renaissance
Differences in climate, religion, geography and culture between Italy and Northern Europe
leads to differences in how the Renaissance develops north of Italy.
FLANDERS and HOLLAND (1430-1580)

Technical improvements in oil paints hasten their adoption by Dutch Old Masters. The
technique then spreads to Italy, and is taken up by Leonardo Da Vinci and others.
1400- Golden Age of Flemish painting: Jan Van Eyck paints The Ghent Altarpiece.
onwards Jan Van Eyck paints masterpieces: The Arnolfini Wedding; Man in a Red Turban (1433)
Famous painting: Descent from the Cross (The Deposition) by Roger Van der Weyden.
1432 Moralizing fantasy paintings by Hieronymus Bosch. (eg. The Garden of Earthly Delights).
1433-4 See Netherlandish Renaissance Art (1430-1580).
1435-40
1500-10 GERMANY (1450-1550)
Invention of the screw printing press by the German Johann Gutenberg, along with an oil-
based ink, metal prism matrices, punch-stamped typeface molds and a functional metal alloy
to mold the type. Astonishingly, only minor improvements were made to Gutenberg's press
1450 design until about 1800. Highpoint of the Cologne School under Stefan Lochner.
Tilman Riemenschneider creates greatest wood sculpture of German Gothic art.
Albrecht Durer, greatest artist & printmaker of Northern Renaissance, flourishes.
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1490- Martin Luther starts the Reformation. See German Renaissance Art (1430-1580).
1520 See also: Renaissance Architecture.
1500-20
1517
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1530- Era of Mannerism. Golden Age of Venetian Painting with Giorgione, Titian, Tintoretto
1600 and Veronese. See: Venetian altarpieces (1500-1600). See: Titian & Venetian colour
painting. Also the era of the Fontainebleau School in France, under Francis I (1494-1547).
Michelangelo paints The Last Judgement biblical frescoes in the Sistine Chapel.
1534-41 Council of Trent: Church in Rome launches Counter-Reformation. Fine arts and
1545 architecture used by Catholic religion to promote its authority and public
appeal.
1550 The eminent Renaissance art critic Giorgio Vasari, publishes his Lives of the Artists.
1561 Foundation of the Academy of Art in Florence (Accademia dell'Arte del Disegno) the
first official school of drawing in Europe to promote what is now called Academic Art.
1577 Greek mannerist artist El Greco establishes himself in Spain as religious painter.
1580 Foundation of the Academy of Art in Rome (Accademia di San Luca).
Foundation of the Uffizi Gallery in Florence.
1581
Mannerist sculptor Giambologna creates his famous Rape of the Sabine Women.
1583
Era of Baroque Art and Baroque Architecture, noted for its grandeur. Its bold dramatic and
1600-
often colourful Baroque Painting (by Caravaggio, Rubens, Velazquez) and portraits (by
1700
Van Dyck), as well as sculpture by Bernini, are used by secular rulers to buttress their
absolutism, and by the Catholic Church as a form of propaganda. See Bolognese
School led by Annibale Carracci. See also: Classicism and Naturalism in Italian 17th
Century Painting. See: Painting in Naples (1600-1700). Baroque art in Protestant countries
takes a more down-to-earth style: see the school of 17th century Dutch painting led by Jan
Vermeer and Rembrandt. See also vanitas painting - still lifes with a moral message.
French Academy of Fine Arts founded in Paris.
Building of the Taj Mahal, a monument of Mughal architecture. See also Mughal
1648
painting. Bernini designs the grand theatrical approaches to St Peter's to overawe visitors.
1654
Rise of French tapestry art with the foundation of Gobelin Factory under Charles Le Brun.
1656-67
Era of American Colonial Art (c.1670-1800), New England and the Carolinas.
1667
Era of Rococo Art and interior architectural design. Light, whimsical, decorative style
1670-
reflecting the decadence of the French Kings. See also: French Decorative Arts
1800
(1640-
1700-70
1792), and French Furniture. See also: Rococo Architecture.
Ceramicist Ehrenfried von Tschirnhaus and alchemist Johann Friedrich Bottger discover
a formula (using feldspathic rock) for true porcelain ceramics in Meissen, Germany.
1707
Foundation of Sotheby's art auctioneers by Samuel Baker.
Highpoint of the Grand Tour, and Era of Neoclassicism, a reaction against the frivolity of
1744
the French court. Promoted a return to the values and steadfast nobility of Classical
1750-
Greece and Rome. Neoclassical artists included painters Goya, Ingres and Jacques-Louis
1800
David, sculptors Houdon, Canova and Thorvaldsen. Neoclassical architecture (buildings
decorated by columns of Greek-style pillars, and topped with classical Renaissance
domes) dominate Europe and spread to America (eg. US Capitol building).
Catherine the Great establishes the Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg.
Foundation of Christie's art auctioneers by James Christie the Elder, in London.
Foundation of the Royal Academy of Arts in London.
1764 Beginning of the French Revolution.
1766 Opening of the Louvre Museum, one of the world's greatest art museums.
Napoleon seizes power in France.

1768 Invention of lithography (using a matrix of fine-grained limestone) by the Austrian printer
1789 Alois Senefelder.
1793 Mid-point of English Figurative Painting 18th/19th Century, soon to be followed by the
1799 influential English School of landscape painting.
1799 Era of Romanticism in art, encouraged by the heroic ideals of the French Revolution.
French Romantics led by Eugene Delacroix. Other leading artists included William Blake,
1800 Caspar David Friedrich, JMW Turner, Thomas Cole and John Constable.
Invention of machine made paper (made from linen and cotton rags) by the Frenchman
1800-50 Nicholas Louis Robert.
German painters Friedrich Overbeck and Franz Pforr form the Nazarenes movement. For
the Biedermeier style of Romantic realism and more, see German Art, 19th Century.
1803 Famous painting: Liberty Leading the People, by Delacroix.
Barbizon 'School': School of French landscape painters working near Fontainebleau, led by
1810-40 Theodore Rousseau; paved the way for Impressionism, the ultimate plein-air painting
movement. Other members included Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot and Honore Daumier.
1830 Other landscape plein-air painting schools emerge in Pont-Aven (Brittany) & Concarneau.
1830-70 For other 19th century developments, see: Realism to Impressionism (1830-1900).
Louis Daguerre takes the first photo; see also: History of Photography.
Invention of the revolving perfecting press by American Richard March Hoe, (followed in
1846 by the first rotary press) and the manufacture of paper from wood pulp. Beginning
of Victorian art in Britain.
1839 Collapsible tin paint tube invented by painter John Rand. Boosts plein air painting.
1840 Foundation of House of Fabergé, St Petersburg, famous for Fabergé Easter Eggs.
Romantic Pre-Raphaelite art movement founded by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, London.
High point of Orientalism, a painting school celebrating the exotic Near and Middle East.
1841 Members included: Jean-Auguste Ingres, Sir David Wilkie, Eugene Fromentin.
1842 The emergence of Realist painting, the progressive movement in art and literature.
1848 Spurning the ideal, Realists, such as Jean-Francois Millet and Gustave Courbet, sought to
1850-67 depict the truth: in particular, the everyday social truths of the new industrial
age. Realism continues to spawn variants in the 20th century.
1850- Gustave Courbet paints The Painter's Studio for display at his own exhibition: Le
present Réalisme.
Invention of photo-lithography by the French lithographer, Firmin Gillot, followed in 1872
by his son's invention of zincography, combining photography with etching. Beginning
of Arts and Crafts movement (c.1862-1914) championed by William Morris.
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1870-1970 The Age of Modern Art
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1860-1900 Lesser known modern art movements of the mid-late 19th century
included: Macchiaioli a Florentine style of anti-academy Impressionism (1860-
90); Japonism, popular in UK and France (1875-1900); French Naturalism (Bande
Noire, Brittany) inspired by Emil Zola (1880s-90s); Naive Art, exemplified by Henri
Rousseau (1895-1940); Symbolism, an intellectual form of expressionist painting
(1886-1900); Les Nabis, a mystical religious school of decorative art which spanned
painting, tapestry, mosaics, fans, ceramics, and book illustration (1890s); Verismo, an
Italian school of raw realism, led by Telemaco Signorini. (1890-1900); Intimisme, a
style of intimate genre-painting exemplified by Edouard Vuillard (1890s-1900s).
1862-3 Edouard Manet paints Déjeuner Sur L'Herbe then Olympia, in the style of Goya (The
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Nude Maja 1800), causing a scandal in the French Salon.

c.1869-90 Era of French Impressionism, the name given by French critic Louis Leroy in 1874 to the
works of Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Alfred Sisley, Camille Pissarro and
others, after seeing Monet's painting Impression: Sunrise at the first Impressionist show.
Impressionists focused on the depiction of outdoor light, but within a decade most of
them had turned to painting indoors or in studios. The highpoint of French painting.
1877 France's greatest modern sculptor Auguste Rodin shows The Age of Bronze at the
Salon. Later works include: The Gates of Hell (1880-1917), The Burghers of
Calais (1884-86). In American architecture, the 1870s heralded huge advances
1884 in Skyscraper architecture.
The Pointillist Neo-Impressionist artist Georges Seurat creates Sunday Afternoon on the
Island of La Grande Jatte, employing the optical colour-theory of Divisionism. The
1885-90 1880s also saw the emergence of American Impressionism, led by Chase, Robinson and
Cassatt.
The prolific period of the Dutch Expressionist Vincent Van Gogh, which includes his
1885-1900 masterpieces: Vase With Twelve Sunflowers (1888), Wheatfield with
Crows (1890), Starry Night (1889) and others. See also: History of Expressionist
Painting (c.1880-1930)
Era of Post-Impressionism. Highpoint of Gauguin's Synthetism and Emile Bernard's
1889 cloisonnism. In Australia, the Heidelberg School of Australian Impressionism
1890-1910 flourishes. In America, the latest 19th century architecture saw "skyscrapers" by the
Chicago School of Architecture (1880-1910). Venice Biennale opens (1895).
Completion of the Eiffel Tower, a wonder of 19th century wrought-iron architecture.
Emergence of Secession and Art Nouveau, two art and design movements which sought
to break away from the traditions of the official academies. They also sought to unite
the fine arts of painting and sculpture and architecture with the applied arts of design
and decoration (see History of Poster Art 1860-1980). Their exhibitions caused great
1900-1930 controversy. Art Nouveau affected fine art, architecture, furniture, jewellery art and
1900- glass. The first of the Secession movements was the Munich Secession in 1892: it was
present followed by the Vienna Secession (1897) and the Berlin Secession (1898).
The Classical Revival in Modern Art, a response to the naturalism of Impressionist art.
Emergence of Expressionism. The expressionist art school/style begins with Van Gogh
(d.1890), includes Edvard Munch (eg. The Scream, 1893), and the
French Fauvism movement (1898-1908) led by Henri Matisse; also the Parisian/Italian
painter Amedeo Modigliani. German Expressionism, a major offshoot, included: The
Bridge (Die Brucke) (1905-13) founded by Karl Schmidt-Rottluff and Ernst Ludwig
Kirchner, was an influential expressionist group based in Dresden. The Blue Rider (Der
Blaue Reiter) (1909-14) expressionist group was formed in Munich, the home of the
avant-garde Neue Kunstler Vereiningung (New Artist Association) by the Russian born
1900-07 Wassily Kandinsky. New Objectivity (Die Neue Sachlichkeit), was a 1920s German
Expressionist group led by painters Otto Dix and Max Beckmann. Primitivism/Primitive
art emerges in the West.
Pablo Picasso's early career: characterized by his Blue Period (c.1901-4), Rose Period
(c.1905-7), African Period (c. 1907). During the latter, he created Les Demoiselles
1908-1913 d'Avignon, a landmark painting in the development of modern art which signalled a
radical departure from the artistic ideas of the preceding ages and heralded the coming of
a new artistic movement (Cubism) as well as the birth of modern abstract art.
1913 The Ashcan School founded. It comprised a small number of painters who chronicled
1908-14
12
everyday life in New York City during the pre-war period, producing realistic and
unvarnished pictures and etchings of urban streetscapes and genre scenes.
1914-18 Armory Show, a major exhibition of modern art, is held in America.
Picasso combines with Georges Braque to invent the revolutionary art movement
called Cubism, (overturning conventional ideas of perspective and form) which emerges
in 3 stages: Prototype Cubism (c.1908-9), Analytical Cubism (c.1909-12), Synthetic
Cubism (c.1912-19). Other leading Cubist painters include Juan Gris and Fernand
Leger.
The chaos of World War I and the Russian Revolution (1917) shatter many
conventional ideas in the world of painting and sculpture, leading to numerous avant-
garde movements. These include: Futurism (1909-15), which promoted a worship of
machinery and modernity; Orphism (Orphic Cubism or Simultanism) (1910-13),
founded by French artist Robert Delaunay, which explored the colour phenomena seen
in nature; Rayonism (1912-13), Russian style of painting dominated by pictorialized
'rays of light', invented by Mikhail Larionov, Vorticism (1913-15) the first UK style to
embrace Cubist ideas; Dada (1916-24) which used banal imagery to
Mid-1920s- shock; Suprematism (1913-20s) a Russian abstract art movement led by Natalie
30s Goncharova and Kasimir Malevich; Constructivism (1917-21) a Russian avant-garde
architectural art style; the Bauhaus Design School (1919-33) founded by Walter Gropius
(1883-1969); De Stijl (1917-31), the influential Dutch 'school' of geometric design led
by Theo Van Doesburg and Piet Mondrian, also known as Neo-Plasticism. The Bauhaus
Mid-1920s approach to architectural design was introduced to American architects by Mies van der
on Rohe, with great success.
In America, the era of New Realism, as personnified by Edward Hopper (1882-1967).
In addition, another style known as Social Realism portrays the everyday hardships of
the Depression era. Best known Social Realists include Ben Shahn, Jack Levine and
Jacob Lawrence: all strongly influenced by the earlier Ashcan School of New York
City.
In Europe, the era of Surrealism: a movement emerging out of Cubism, Dada, Freud and
Communist philosophy, which aimed to fuse the conscious with the unconscious to create
1920s-30s
a 'super-reality'. Led by Andre Breton, its major exponents were Salvador Dali,
Joan Miro and Rene Magritte. A parallel art movement to Surrealism was Magic Realism,
whose paintings are anchored in everyday reality, but with overtones of fantasy. The
1928-35 name was coined by the German art historian and critic Franz Roh in 1925, in a book
entitled Nach Expressionismus: Magischer Realismus. Biomorphic
1936-45 abstraction also flourished in the 30s.
High point of Art Deco, a style of design for furniture, jewellery, textiles and interior
decor. The term was coined from the title of the seminal design exhibition in
Paris, Exposition Internationale des Arts Decoratifs et Industriels Modernes.
1937 The period of Socialist Realism: a form of public propaganda art instituted by Joseph
1940s-50s Stalin during the era of forced industrialization in Soviet Russia.
Chaos and war undermines the primacy of Paris as the world centre of art, a title which
soon devolves upon New York. In London (1938), a left-wing modern realist group of
artists establish The Euston Road School, advocating the portrayal of traditional subjects
in a realist manner, to make art more understandable and socially relevant. Pablo Picasso
paints his monumental monochrome masterpiece Guernica.
New York supercedes Paris as the centre of art, Abstract Expressionism emerges as the
dominant new style. Abstract expressionist painting includes gesturalists like Jackson
Pollock, his wife Lee Krasner and Willem De Kooning, and Colour-Field painters, such
1960s as Mark Rothko and Clyfford Still. In Europe, this type of Neo-Expressionism focused
13
on the isolation of man as do the works of Giacometti and Francis Bacon (Study after
Velazquez's Portrait of Pope Innocent X). Other hyper-modern movements
like Spatialism (Italy) also appeared, prefacing later Performance and land artworks. The
40s/50s also saw the Second Chicago School of Architecture. In Europe during the
50s Art Informel blossoms, as does Kinetic art and cutting edge Nouveau Realisme.
The era of Pop-Art, championed by Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Jasper Johns and
Robert Rauschenburg. Pop-Artists employ contemporary iconic images in an anti-art
approach, giving commonplace articles artistic status. Arte Povera appears in Italy.
The 60s also witnesses the rise of Photorealism (aka superrealism), a form of meticulous
photo-like realism, championed by Richard Estes (street scenes with elaborate window
reflections) and Chuck Close (b.1940) (portraits). Minimalism emerges during the
1960s, as does British contemporary painting.
14
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
1970-present The Age of Postmodernist Art
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
From roughly this point onwards, Modern Art (c.1860-1970) or 'Modernism'
becomes superceded by what art-historians like to call 'Post-Modernism'. In a
nutshell, Modernism (ie. the main movements which emerged during the period
1860-mid 1960s) asserted the supremacy of a particular style or interpretation
of reality, normally considerably at odds with the prevailing academic tradition.
In contrast, contemporary art movements take the view that the 'substance' of
Modernism has performed no better, and must be dumped in favour of greater
style. Post-modernism thus represents the triumph of style over substance. Post-
modernist art typically employs new media and materials, stresses the importance
of 'communication' from artist to audience and seeks to renew the big question:
'what is art?' Much of this is reflected in contemporary art forms such as
Conceptual Art, Installation, Video art, Performance, and Happenings, as well as
avant-garde works by Damien Hirst (see Young British Artists), Gilbert and
George, the environmental 'artists' Christo and Joanne-Claude, and the nude
installationist Spencer Tunick. See also postmodernist 20th century architecture,
like Deconstructivism and Blobitecture. While the ephemeral nature of this
contemporary art is consistent with global trends of instant gratification, one
wonders if today's artists will be remembered 50, 100 or 500 years from now, and
if not, whether this reflects adversely on the theory and practice of art in the 21st
century. One major collector who believes strongly in
2000s postmodernist art is Charles Saatchi, noted for his exhibition of Cynical
Realism and other contemporary styles from China.
2004
Growth of digital art, such as G iclee Prints. General expansion of computer art.
2008 Chinese collectors become much more active as China becomes an economic
superpower.
Garçon à la Pipe (1905) by Pab lo Picasso sells at Sotheby's New York for
$104.2 million, making it the highest priced painting ever sold at auction.
2009 Triptych (1976) by Francis Bac on sells at Sotheby's New York for $86.3
million, becoming the most expensive post -war work of art sold at auction, and
2010 the highest priced work by an Irish artist. In the same year, Damien Hirst, one
2011 of the top contemporary artists, sells works worth £111 million at Sotheby's in
London.
2015 While prices for contemporary art plummet, Warhol's 1963 silkscreen
print Eight Elvises, reportedly sells for $100 million to an anonymous buyer.
The sculpture Walking Man I by Alberto Giacometti, sells for $104.5 million.
Rhein II (1999) a photo by Andreas Gursky, is sold for a world record $4.3
million.
Picasso becomes firmly established as the most valuable of all 20th century
painters when his Cubist picture Les Femmes d'Alger (1955) sells at Christie's
New York for $179 million.
15
History of Stone Age Art (2.5 million-3,000 BCE)

Prehistoric art comes from three epochs of prehistory: Paleolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic.
The earliest recorded art is the Bhimbetka petroglyphs (a set of 10 cupules and an engraving or
groove) found in a quartzite rock shelter known as Auditorium cave at Bhimbetka in central
India, dating from at least 290,000 BCE. However, it may turn out to be much older (c.700,000
BCE). This primitive rock art was followed, no later than 250,000 BCE, by simple figurines (eg.
Venus of Berekhat Ram [Golan Heights] and Venus of Tan-Tan [Morocco]), and from 80,000
BCE by the Blombos cave stone engravings, and the cupules at the Dordogne rock shelter at La
Ferrassie. Prehistoric culture and creativity is closely associated with brain-size and efficiency
which impacts directly on "higher" functions such as language, creative expression and
ultimately aesthetics. Thus with the advent of "modern" homo sapiens painters and sculptors
(50,000 BCE onwards) such as Cro-Magnon Man and Grimaldi Man, we see a huge outburst of
magnificent late Paleolthic sculpture and painting in France and the Iberian peninsular. This
comprises a range of miniature obese venus figurines (eg. the Venuses
of Willendorf, Kostenky, Monpazier, Dolni Vestonice, Moravany, Brassempouy, Gagarino, to
name but a few), as well as mammoth ivory carvings found in the caves of Vogelherd and Hohle
Fels in the Swabian Jura. However, the greatest art of prehistory is the cave painting at Chauvet,
Lascaux and Altamira.
RENAISSANCE
Proto-Renaissance:
c.1300-1400
Early Renaissance:
c.1400-90
High Renaissance:
c.1490-1530
North Renaissance:
c.1400-1530
Mannerism: c.1530-
1600
POST-RENAISSANCE
Baroque Art Style:
c.1600-1700
Dutch Realism: c.1600-
1700
Rococo: c.1700-1789
Neoclassicism: c.1790
on
Romanticism: c.1790 on
Realism: c.1830 on
MODERN ART These murals were painted in caves reserved as a sort of prehistoric
Pre-Raphaelites (1848 on) art gallery, where artists began to paint animals and hunting scenes,
Impressionistm (1870s on) as well as a variety of abstract or symbolic drawings. In France,
Neo-Impressionism (1870s) they include the monochrome Chauvet Cave pictures of animals
Newlyn School (1880s) and abstract drawings, the hand stencil art at Cosquer Cave, and the
Art Nouveau (Late 19th C) polychrome charcoal and ochre images at Pech-Merle,
Symbolism (Late 19th C) and Lascaux. In Spain, they include polychrome images of bison
Post Impressionism (c.1880s) and deer at Altamira Cave in Spain. Outside Europe, major
16
Les Fauves (1898-1908) examples of rock art include: Ubirr Aboriginal artworks (from
Expressionist Art (1900 on) 30,000 BCE), the animal figure paintings in charcoal and ochre at
Die Brucke (1905-11) the Apollo 11 Cave (from 25,500 BCE) in Namibia, the Bradshaw
Der Blaue Reiter (1911-14) paintings (from 17,000 BCE) in Western Australia, and the hand
Ashcan School (1892-1919) stencil images at the Cuevas de las Manos (Cave of the Hands)
Cubism (1908-1920) (from 9500 BCE) in Argentina, among many others.
Orphism (1912-16) Mesolithic Art (c.10,000-4,000 BCE)
Purism (1920s) Against a background of a new climate, improved living conditions
Precisionism (1920s on) and consequent behaviour patterns, Mesolithic art gives more space
Collage (1912 on) to human figures, shows keener observation, and greater narrative
Futurism (1909-1914) in its paintings. Also, because of the warmer weather, it moves
Rayonism (1910-20) from caves to outdoor sites in numerous locations across Europe,
Suprematism (1913-1920s) Asia, Africa, Australasia and the Americas. Mesolithic artworks
Constructivism (1917-21) include the bushman rock paintings in the Waterberg area of South
Vorticism (1913-15) Africa, the paintings in the Rock Shelters of Bhimbetka in India,
Dada Movement (1916-1924) and Australian Aboriginal art from Arnhem Land. It also features
De Stijl (1917-31) more 3-D art, including bas-reliefs and free standing sculpture.
Bauhaus School (1919-1933) Examples of the latter include the anthropomorphic figurines
Neo-Plasticism (1920-40) uncovered in Nevali Cori and Göbekli Tepe near Urfa in eastern
Art Deco (1920s, 30s) Asia Minor, and the statues of Lepenski Vir (eg. The Fish God) in
Ecole de Paris (1900 on) Serbia. Other examples of Mesolithic portable art include bracelets,
Neue Sachlichkeit (1920s) painted pebbles and decorative drawings on functional objects, as
Surrealism (1924 on) well as ancient pottery of the Japanese Jomon culture. One of the
Magic Realism (1920s) greatest works of Mesolithic art is the sculpture "Thinker From
Entartete Kunst (1930s)
Cernavoda" from Romania.
Social Realism (1920s, 30s)
Socialist Realism (1929 on) Neolithic Art (c.4,000-2,000 BCE)
St Ives School (1930s on) The more "settled" and populous Neolithic era saw a growth in
crafts like pottery and weaving. This originated in Mesolithic times
Neo-Romanticism: from from about 9,000 BCE in the villages of southern Asia, after which
1930s it flourished along the Yellow and Yangtze river valleys in China
Organic Abstraction (1940- (c.7,500 BCE) - see Neolithic Art in China - then in the fertile
65) crescent of the Tigris and Euphrates river valleys in the Middle
Existential Art (1940s, 50s) East (c.7,000) - the 'cradle of civilization' - before spreading to
Abstract Expressionism India (c.5,000), Europe (c.4,000), China (3,500) and the Americas
(c.1944-64) (c.2,500). Although most art remained functional in nature, there
Art Informel (c.1946-60) was a greater focus on ornamentation and decoration. For
Tachisme (1940s, 50s) Arte example, calligraphy - one of the great examples of Chinese art -
Nucleare (1951-60) Kitchen first appears during this period. See: Chinese Art Timeline for
Sink Art (mid-1950s) details. Neolithic art also features free standing sculpture, bronze
Assemblage (1953 on) statuettes (notably by the Indus Valley Civilization),
Neo-Dada (1950s on) primitive jewellery and decorative designs on a variety of artifacts.
Op-Art (Optical Art) (1960s) The most spectacular form of late Neolithic art was architecture:
Pop Art (1958-72) featuring large-stone structures known as megaliths, ranging from
New Realism (1960s) the Egyptian pyramids, to the passage tombs of Northern Europe -
Post-Painterly Abstraction such as Newgrange and Knowth in Ireland - and the assemblages
(1960s) of large upright stones (menhirs) such as those at the Stonehenge
Feminist Art (1960s on) Stone Circle and Avebury Circle in England. (For more, please
CONTEMPORARY ART see: megalithic art.) However, the major medium of Neolithic art
Conceptualism (1960s on) was ceramic pottery, the finest examples of which were produced
Performance (1960s on) around the region of Mesopotamia (see Mesopotamian art) and the
17
GE 3 Art App reciation Module 7 Art History Timeline
Installation (1960s on) eastern Mediterranean. For more chronology, see: Pottery
Video Art (1960s on) Timeline. Towards the close of this era, hieroglyphic writing
Minimalism (1960s on) systems appear in Sumer, heralding the end of prehistory.
Photo-Realism (1960s, For more about prehistoric painting, sculpture, architecture and
1970s) crafts during this period, see: Stone Age Art.
Environmental Land Art)
(1960s on)
Supports-Surfaces (c.1966-
72)
Postmodernism (1970 on)
Post-Minimalism (1971 on)
New Subjectivity (1970s)
London School (1970s)
Graffiti Art (1970s on)
Transavanguardia (1979 on)
Neo-Expressionism (1980
on)
Britart: YBAs (1980s on)
Neo-Pop (late 1980s on)
Stuckism (1999 on)
History of Bronze Age Art (In Europe: 3000-1200 BCE)

The most famous examples of Bronze Age art appeared in the 'cradle of civilization' around
the Mediterranean in the Near East, during the rise of Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq),
Greece, Crete (Minoan civilization) and Egypt. The emergence of cities, the use of written
languages and the development of more sophisticated tools led the creation of a far wider
range of monumental and portable artworks.
Egyptian Art (from 3100 BCE)
Egypt, arguably the greatest civilization in the history of ancient art, was the first culture to
adopt a recognizable style of art. Egyptian painters depicted the head, legs and feet of their
human subjects in profile, while portraying the eye, shoulders, arms and torso from the front.
Other artistic conventions laid down how Gods, Pharaohs and ordinary people should be
depicted, regulating such elements as size, colour and figurative position. A series of wonderful
Egyptian encaustic wax paintings, known as the Fayum portraits, offer a fascinating
glimpse of Hellenistic culture in Ancient Egypt. In addition, the unique style of Egyptian
architecture featured a range of massive stone burial chambers, called Pyramids. Egyptian
expertise in stone had a huge impact on later Greek architecture. Famous Egyptian pyramids
include: The Step Pyramid of Djoser (c.2630 BCE), and The Great Pyramid at Giza
(c.2550 BCE), also called the Pyramid of Khufu or 'Pyramid of Cheops'.
Sumerian Art (from 3500 BCE)
In Mesopotamia and Ancient Persia, Sumerians were developing their own unique building -
an alternative form of stepped pyramid called a ziggurat. These were not burial chambers but
man-made mountains designed to bring rulers and people closer to their Gods who according
to legend lived high up in mountains to the east. Ziggurats were built from clay bricks,
typically decorated with coloured glazes. See Sumerian Art (c.4500-2270 BCE).
Persian Art (from 3500 BCE)
For most of Antiquity, the art of ancient Persia was closely intertwined with that of its
neighbours, especially Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq), and influenced - and was influenced
by - Greek art. Early Persian works of portable art feature the intricate ceramics from Susa
18
and Persepolis (c.3000 BCE), but the two important periods of Persian art were the
Achaemenid Era (c.550-330 BCE) - exemplified by the monumental palaces at Persepolis and
Susa, decorated with sculpture, stone reliefs, and the famous "Frieze of Archers" (Louvre, Paris)
created out of enameled brick - and the Sassanid Era (226-650 CE) - noted for its highly
decorative stone mosaics, gold and silver dishes, frescoes and illuminated manuscripts as well
as crafts like carpet-making and silk-weaving. But, the greatest relics of Sassanian art are
the rock sculptures carved out of steep limestone cliffs at Taq-i-Bustan, Shahpur, Naqsh-e
Rostam and Naqsh-e Rajab.
Minoan Art (c.2100-1425 BCE)
The first important strand of Aegean art, created on Crete by the Minoans, was rooted in
its palace architecture at Knossos, Phaestus, Akrotiri, Kato Zakros and Mallia, which were
constructed using a combination of stone, mud-brick and plaster, and decorated with colourful
murals and fresco pictures, portraying mythological animal symbols (eg. the bull) as well as a
range of mythological narratives. Minoan art also features stone carvings (notably seal
stones), and precious metalwork. The Minoan Protopalatial period (c.1700 BCE), which
ended in a major earthquake, was followed by an even more ornate Neopalatial period
(c.1700-1425 BCE), which witnessed the highpoint of the culture before being terminated by a
second set of earthquakes in 1425. Minoan craftsmen are also noted for their
ceramics and vase-painting, which featured a host of marine and maritime motifs. This focus
on nature and events - instead of rulers and deities - is also evident in Minoan palace murals and
sculptures.
Bronze Age Metalwork
Named after the metal which made it prosperous, the Bronze Age period witnessed a host of
wonderful metalwork made from many different materials. This form of metallugy is
exemplified by two extraordinary masterpieces: The "Ram in the Thicket" (c.2500 BCE, British
Museum, London) a small Iraqi sculpture made from gold-leaf, copper, lapis lazuli, and red
limestone; and The "Maikop Gold Bull" (c.2500 BCE, Hermitage, St Petersburg) a miniature
gold sculpture of the Maikop Culpture, North Caucasus, Russia. See also: Assyrian art (c.1500-
612 BCE) and Hittite art (c.1600-1180 BCE). The period also saw the emergence of Chinese
bronzeworks (from c.1750 BCE), in the form of bronze plaques and sculptures often
decorated with Jade, from the Yellow River Basin of Henan Province, Central China.
For Bronze Age civilizations in the Americas, see: Pre-Columbian art, which covers the art
and crafts of Mesoamerican and South American cultures.
For more about the history of painting, sculpture, architecture and crafts during this period,
see: Bronze Age art.
History of Iron Age Art and Classical Antiquity (c.1500-200 BCE)

Art of Classical Antiquity witnessed a huge growth during this period, especially in Greece
and around the eastern Mediterranean. It coincided with the rise of Hellenic (Greek- influenced)
culture.
Mycenean Art (c.1500-1100 BCE)
Although Mycenae was an independent Greek city in the Greek Peloponnese, the term
"Mycenean" culture is sometimes used to describe early Greek art as a whole during the late
Bronze Age. Initially very much under the influence of Minoan culture, Mycenean
art gradually achieved its own balance between the lively naturalism of Crete and the more
formal artistic idiom of the mainland, as exemplified in its numerous tempera frescoes,
sculpture, pottery, carved gemstones, jewellery, glass, ornaments and precious metalwork. Also,
in contrast to the Minoan "maritime trading" culture, Myceneans were warriors, so their art was
designed primarily to glorify their secular rulers. It included a number of tholos tombs filled
with gold work, ornamental weapons and precious jewellery.
19
Ancient Greek Art (c.1100-100 BCE)

Ancient Greek art is traditionally divided into the following periods: (1) the Dark Ages
(c.1100-900 BCE). (2) The Geometric Period (c.900-700 BCE). (3) The Oriental-Style Period
(c.700-625 BCE). (4) The Archaic Period (c.625-500 BCE). (5) The Classical Period (c.500-
323 BCE). (6) The Hellenistic Period (c.323-100 BCE). Unfortunately, nearly all Greek
painting and a huge proportion of Greek sculpture has been lost, leaving us with a collection
of ruins or Roman copies. Greek architecture, too, is largely known to us through its ruins.
Despite this tiny legacy, Greek artists remain highly revered, which demonstrates how truly
advanced they were.
Like all craftsmen of the Mediterranean area, the ancient Greeks borrowed a number of
important artistic techniques from their neighbours and trading partners. Even so, by the death
of the Macedonian Emperor Alexander the Great in 323 BCE, Greek art was regarded in
general as the finest ever made. Even the Romans - despite their awesome engineering and
military skills - never quite overcame their sense of inferiority in the face of Greek
craftsmanship, and (fortunately for us) copied Greek artworks assiduously. Seventeen
centuries later, Greek architecture, sculptural reliefs, statues, and pottery would be
rediscovered during the Italian Renaissance, and made the cornerstone of Western art for over
400 years.
Dark Ages
After the fall of the Mycenean civilization (12th century BCE) Greece entered a period of
decline, known as the Dark Ages - because we know so little about it. Sculpture, painting and
monumental architecture almost ceased.
Geometric Period
Then, from around 900 BCE, these arts (created mainly for aristocratic families who had
achieved power during the Dark Ages) reappeared during the Geometric period, named after
the decorative designs of its pottery.
Oriental Period
The succeeding Orientalizing period was characterized by the influence of Near Eastern
designwork, notably curvilinear, zoomorphic and floral patterns.
Archaic Period
The Archaic period was a time of gradual experimentation; the most prized sculptural
form was the kouros (pl.kouroi), or standing male nude. This was followed by the Classical
period, which represents the apogee of Greek art.
Classical Period
Greek architecture blossomed, based on a system of 'Classical Orders' (Doric, Ionic and
Corinthian) or rules for building design, based on proportions of and between the individual
parts. The Parthenon on the Acropolis complex in Athens is the supreme example of classical
Greek architecture: other famous examples include: the Temple of Zeus at Olympia, the
Temple of Hephaistos, the Temple of Athena Nike, the Theatre at Delphi, and the Tholos
Temple of Athena Pronaia. In the plastic arts, great classical Greek sculptors
like Polykleitos, Myron, and Phidias demonstrated a mastery of realism which would remain
unsurpassed until the Italian Renaissance. But painting remained the most-respected art form -
notably panel-paintings executed in tempera or encaustic paint - with renowned Greek painters
like Zeuxis, Apelles, and Parrhasius added new techniques of highlighting, shading and
colouring.
Hellenism
The beginning of the final Hellenistic phase coincided with the death of Alexander and
the

incorporation of the Persian Empire into the Greek world. Stylewise, classical realism was
superceded by greater solemnity and heroicism (exemplified by the massive statue
"The Colossus of Rhodes", the same size as the Statue of Liberty) as well as a growing
expressionism. The period is characterized by the spread of Greek culture (Hellenization)
throughout the civilized world, including techniques of sculpture and mosaic art. Famous
Hellenistic sculptures include: the celebrated "Venus de Milo", "Dying Gaul" by Epigonus;
the Pergamon Altar of Zeus (c.166-156 BCE); "Winged Victory of Samothrace"; and
"Laocoon and His Sons" by Hagesandrus, Polydorus and Athenodorus.
Greek Pottery
Greek pottery developed much earlier than other art forms: by 3000 BCE the Peloponnese was
already the leading pottery centre. Later, following the take-over of the Greek mainland by
Indo-European tribes around 2100 BCE, a new form of pottery was introduced, known as
Minyan Ware. It was the first Greek type to be made on a potter's wheel. Despite this, it was
Minoan pottery on Crete - with its new dark-on-light style - that predominated during the 2nd
Millennium BCE. Thereafter, however, Greek potters regained the initiative, introducing a
series of dazzling innovations including: beautifully proportioned Geometric Style pottery
(900-725), as well as Oriental (725-600), Black-Figure (600-480) and Red-Figure (530-480)
styles. Famous Greek ceramicists include Exekias, Kleitias, Ergotimos, Nearchos, Lydos, the
Amasis Painter, Andokides, Euthymides, and Sophilos (all Black-Figure), plus Douris, Brygos
and Onesimos (Red-Figure).
Etruscan Art (c.700-90 BCE)
In Etruria, Italy, the older Villanovan Culture gave way to Etruscan Civilization around
700
BCE. This reached its peak during the sixth century BCE as their city-states gained control of
central Italy. Like the Egyptians but unlike the Greeks, Etruscans believed in an after-life, thus
tomb or funerary art was a characteristic feature of Etruscan culture. Etruscan artists were also
renowned for their figurative sculpture, in stone, terracotta and bronze. Above all Etruscan art
is famous for its "joi de vivre", exemplified by its lively fresco mural painting, especially in
the villas of the rich. In addition, the skill of Etruscan goldsmiths was highly prized
throughout Italy and beyond. Etruscan culture, itself strongly influenced by Greek styles, had
a marked impact on other cultures, notably the Hallstatt and La Tene styles of Celtic art.
Etruscan culture declined from 396 BCE onwards, as its city states were absorbed into the
Roman Empire.
For more about the history of painting, sculpture, architecture and crafts from Etruria,
see: Etruscan art.
Celtic Art (c.600-100 BCE)
From about 600 BCE, migrating pagan tribes from the Russian Steppes, known as Celts,
established themselves astride the Upper Danube in central Europe. Celtic culture, based on
exceptional trading skills and an early mastery of iron, facilitated their gradual expansion
throughout Europe, and led to two styles of Celtic art whose artifacts are known to us through
several key archeological sites in Switzerland and Austria. The two styles are Hallstatt (600-
450) and La Tene (450-100). Both were exemplified by beautiful metalwork and complex
linear designwork. Although by the early 1st Millennium CE most pagan Celtic artists had
been fully absorbed into the Roman Empire, their traditions of spiral, zoomorphic, knotwork
and interlace designs later resurfaced and flourished (600-1100 CE) in many forms of
Hiberno-Saxon art (see below) such as illuminated Gospel manuscripts, religious metalwork,
and High Cross Sculpture. Famous examples of Celtic metalwork art include the Gundestrup
Cauldron, the Petrie Crown and the Broighter gold torc.
Roman Art (c.200 BCE-400 CE)
Architecture
Unlike their intellectual Greek neighbours, the Romans were primarily practical people with
a

natural affinity for engineering, military matters, and Empire building. Roman
architecture was designed to awe, entertain and cater for a growing population both in Italy
and throughout their Empire. Thus Roman architectural achievements are exemplified by new
drainage systems, aqueducts, bridges, public baths, sports facilities and amphitheatres (eg. the
Colosseum 72-80 CE), characterized by major advances in materials (eg. the invention of
concrete) and in the construction of arches and roof domes. The latter not only allowed the
roofing of larger buildings, but also gave the exterior far greater grandeur and majesty. All this
revolutionized the Greek-dominated field of architecture, at least in form and size, if not in
creativity, and provided endless opportunity for embellishment in the way of scultural reliefs,
statues, fresco murals, and mosaics. The most famous examples of Roman architecture
include: the massive Colosseum, the Arch of Titus, and Trajan's Column.
Painting, Sculpture
If Roman architecture was uniquely grandiose, its paintings and sculptures continued to
imitate the Greek style, except that its main purpose was the glorification of Rome's power
and majesty. Early Roman art (c.200-27 BCE) was detailed, unidealized and realistic, while
later Imperial styles (c.27 BCE - 200 CE) were more heroic. Mediocre painting flourished in
the form of interior-design standard fresco murals, while higher quality panel painting was
executed in tempera or in encaustic pigments. Roman sculpture too, varied in quality: as well
as tens of thousands of average quality portrait busts of Emperors and other dignitaries,
Roman sculptors also produced some marvellous historical relief sculptures, such as the spiral
bas relief sculpture on Trajan's Column, celebrating the Emperor's victory in the Dacian war. For
more about the history of painting, sculpture, architecture and crafts of ancient Rome, see:
Roman art.
Early Art From Around the World
Although the history of art is commonly seen as being mainly concerned with civilizations
that derived from European and Chinese cultures, a significant amount of arts and crafts
appeared from the earliest times around the periphery of the known world. For more about the
history and artifacts of these cultures, see: Oceanic art (from the South Pacific and
Australasia), African art (from all parts of the continent) and Tribal art (from Africa, the
Pacific Islands, Indonesia, Burma, Australasia, North America, and Alaska).
22
History of Medieval Art

Constantinople, Christianity and Byzantine Art
With the death in 395 CE, of the Emperor Theodosius, the Roman empire was divided into
two halves: a Western half based initially in Rome, until it was sacked in the 5th century CE,
then Ravenna; and an eastern half located in the more secure city of Constantinople. At the
same time, Christianity was made the exclusive official religion of the empire. These two
political developments had a huge impact on the history of Western art. First, relocation to
Constantinople helped to prolong Greco-Roman civilization and culture; second, the growth
of Christianity led to an entirely new category of Christian art which provided architects,
painters, sculptors and other craftsmen with what became the dominant theme in the visual
arts for the next 1,200 years. As well as prototype forms of early Christian art, much of which
came from the catacombs, it also led directly to the emergence of Byzantine art. See
also: Christian Art, Byzantine Period.
Art of Byzantium (Constantinople) (330-1450 CE)
Byzantine art was almost entirely religious art, and centred around its Christian architecture.
Masterpieces include the awesome Hagia Sophia (532-37) in Istanbul; the Church of St
Sophia in Sofia, Bulgaria (527-65); and the Church of Hagia Sophia in Thessaloniki. Byzantine
art also influenced the Ravenna mosaics in the Basilicas of Sant'Apollinare Nuovo, San Vitale,
and Sant' Apollinare in Classe. Secular examples include: the Great Palace of Constantinople,
and Basilica Cistern. As well as new architectural techniques such as the use of pendentives to
spread the weight of the ceiling dome, thus permitting larger interiors, new decorative methods
were introduced like mosaics made from glass, rather than stone. But the Eastern Orthodox
brand of Christianity (unlike its counterpart in Rome), did not allow 3-D artworks like statues
or high reliefs, believing they glorified the human aspect of the flesh rather than the divine
nature of the spirit. Thus Byzantine art (eg. painting, mosaic works) developed a particular
style of meaningful imagery (iconography) designed to present complex theology in a very
simple way. For example, colours were used to express different ideas: gold represented
Heaven; blue, the colour of human life, and so on.
After 600 CE, Byzantine architecture progressed through several periods - such as, the
Middle Period (c.600-1100) and the Comnenian and Paleologan periods (c.1100-1450) -
gradually becoming more and more influenced by eastern traditions of construction and
decoration. In Western Europe, Byzantine architecture was superceded by Romanesque and
Gothic styles, while in the Near East it continued to have a significant influence on early
Islamic architecture, as illustrated by the Umayyad Great Mosque of Damascus and the Dome
of the Rock in Jerusalem.
Byzantine Painting
In the absence of sculpture, Byzantine artists specialized in 2-D painting, becoming masters
of panel-painting, including miniatures - notably icons - and manuscript illumination. Their
works had a huge influence on artists throughout western and central Europe, as well as the
Islamic countries of the Middle East.
Irish Christian Art (c.600-1100 CE)
Located on the remote periphery of Western Europe, Ireland remained free of interference from
either Rome or the barbarians that followed. As a result, Irish Celtic art was neither displaced
by Greek or Roman idioms, nor buried in the pagan Dark Ages. Furthermore, the Church was
able to establish a relatively secure network of Irish monasteries, which rapidly became
important centres of religious learning and scholarship, and gradually spread to the islands off
Britain and to parts of Northern England. This monastic network soon became a major patron
of the arts, attracting numerous scribes and painters into its scriptoriums to create a series
of increasingly ornate illuminated gospel manuscripts: examples include: the Cathach of
Colmcille (c.560), the Book of Dimma (c.625), the Durham Gospels (c.650), the
23
Book of Durrow (c.670), and the supreme Book of Kells (also called the Book of Columba),
considered to be the apogee of Western calligraphy. These gospel illuminations employed a
range of historiated letters, rhombuses, crosses, trumpet ornaments, pictures of birds and
animals, occasionally taking up whole pages (carpet pages) of geometric or interlace patterns.
The creative success of these decorated manuscripts was greatly enhanced by the availability
of Celtic designs from jewellery and metalwork - produced for the Irish secular elite - and by
increased cultural contacts with Anglo-Saxon craftsmen in England.
Another early Christian art form developed in Ireland was religious metalwork, exemplified
by such masterpieces as the Tara Brooch, the Ardagh Chalice, the Derrynaflan Chalice, and
the Moylough Belt Shrine, as well as processional crosses like the 8th/9th century Tully
Lough Cross and the great 12th century Cross of Cong, commissioned by Turlough
O'Connor. Finally, from the late eighth century, the Church began commissioning a number
of large religious crosses decorated both with scenes from the bible and abstract interlace,
knotwork and other Celtic-style patterns. Examples include Muiredach's Cross at
Monasterboice, County Louth, and the Ahenny High Cross in Tipperary. These scripture high
crosses flourished between 900 and 1100, although construction continued as late as the 15th
century.
Unfortunately, with the advent of the Vikings (c.800-1000), the unique Irish contribution to
Western Civilization in general and Christianity in particular, began to fade, despite some
contribution from Viking art. Thereafter, Roman culture - driven by the Church of Rome -
began to reassert itself across Europe.
A Word About Asian Art
In contrast to Christianity which permits figurative representation of Prophets, Saints and the
Holy family, Islam forbids all forms of human iconography. Thus Islamic art focused instead
on the development of complex geometric patterns, illuminated texts and calligraphy.
In East Asia, the visual arts of India and Tibet incorporated the use of highly coloured figures
(due to their wide range of pigments) and strong outlines. Painting in India was extremely
diverse, as were materials (textiles being more durable often replaced paper) and size (Indian
miniatures were a specialty). Chinese art specialized in ceremonial bronze sculpture,
calligraphic and brush painting and jade carving, as well as lacquerware and Chinese pottery. In
Japan, Buddhist temple art, Zen Ink-Painting, Yamato-e and Ukiyo-e woodblock prints
were four of the main types of Japanese art.
Romanesque Art (Carolingian, Ottonian) (c.775-1050)
On the continent, the revival of medieval Christian art began with Charlemagne I, King of the
Franks, who was crowned Holy Roman Emperor, by Pope Leo III in 800. Charlemagne's
court scriptoriums at Aachen produced a number of magnificent illuminated Christian texts,
such as: the Godscalc Evangelistary, the Lorsch Gospels and the Gospels of St Medard of
Soissons. Ironically, his major architectural work - the Palatine Chapel in Aachen (c.800) -
was influenced not by St Peter's or other churches in Rome, but by the Byzantine-style
Basilica of San Vitale in Ravenna. The Carolingian empire rapidly dissolved but Carolingian
Art marked an important first step in the spread of Medieval art and the revitalization of
Continental culture. Furthermore, many of the Romanesque and Gothic churches were built
on the foundations of Carolingian architecture. Charlemagne's early Romanesque

architectural achievements were continued by the Holy Roman Emperors Otto I-III, in a style
known as Ottonian Art, which morphed into the fully fledged "Romanesque." (In England
and Ireland, the Romanesque style is usually called Norman architecture.)
The Church Invests in Art to Convey Its Message
The spread of Romanesque art in the 11th century coincided with the reassertiveness of
Roman Christianity, and the latter's influence on secular authorities led to the Christian re-
conquest of Spain (c.1031) as well as the Crusade to free the Holy Land from the grip of
24
Islam. The success of the Crusaders and their acquisition of Holy Relics triggered a wave of
new cathedrals across Europe. In addition to its influence over international politics, Rome
exercised growing power via its network of Bishops and its links with Monastic orders such
as the Benedictines, the Cistercians, Carthusians and Augustinian Canons. From these
monasteries, its officials exercised growing administrative power over the local population,
notably the power to collect tax revenues which it devoted to religious works, particularly
the building of cathedrals (encompassing sculpture and metalwork, as well as
architecture), illuminated gospel manuscripts, and cultural scholarship - a process exemplified
by the powerful Benedictine monastery at Cluny in Burgundy.
Romanesque Architecture (c.1000-1200)
Although based on Greek and Roman Antiquity, Romanesque architecture displayed neither
the creativity of the Greeks, nor the engineering skill of the Romans. They employed thick
walls, round arches, piers, columns, groin vaults, narrow slit-windows, large towers and
decorative arcading. The basic load of the building was carried not its arches or columns but
by its massive walls. And its roofs, vaults and buttresses were relatively primitive in
comparison with later styles. Above all, interiors were dim and comparatively hemmed in
with heavy stone walls. Even so, Romanesque architecture did reintroduce two important forms
of fine art: sculpture (which had been in abeyance since the fall of Rome), and stained glass,
albeit on a minor scale.
Gothic Art (c.1150-1400)
Largely financed by monastic orders and local bishops, Gothic architecture exploited a
number of technical advances in pointed arches and other design factors, in order to awe,
inspire and educate the masses. Thus, out went the massively thick walls, small windows and
dim interiors, in came soaring ceilings ("reaching to heaven"), thin walls and stained glass
windows. This transformed the interior of many cathedrals into inspirational sanctuaries, where
illiterate congregations could see the story of the bible illustrated in the beautiful
stained glass art of its huge windows. Indeed, the Gothic cathedral was seen by architects
as representing the universe in miniature. Almost every feature was designed to convey a
theological message: namely, the awesome glory of God, and the ordered nature of his
universe. Religious Gothic art - that is, architecture, relief sculpture and statuary - is best
exemplified by the cathedrals of Northern France, notably Notre Dame de
Paris; Reims and Chartres, as well as Cologne Cathedral, St Stephen's Cathedral Vienna and,
in England, Westminster Abbey and York Minster.
History of Renaissance Art (c.1300-1620)

Strongly influenced by International Gothic, the European revival of fine art between roughly
1300 and 1600, popularly known as "the Renaissance", was a unique and (in many respects)
inexplicable phenomenon, not least because of (1) the Black Death plague (1346), which
wiped out one third of the European population; (2) the 100 Years War between England and
France (1339-1439) and (3) the Reformation (c.1520) - none of which was conducive to the
development of the visual arts. Fortunately, certain factors in the Renaissance heartland of
Florence and Rome - notably the energy and huge wealth of the Florentine Medici family, and
the Papal ambitions of Pope Sixtus IV (1471-84), Pope Julius II (1503-13), Pope Leo X
(1513-21) and Pope Paul III (1534-45) - succeeded in overcoming all natural obstacles, even if
the Church was almost bankrupted in the process.
Renaissance art was founded on classicism - an appreciation of the arts of Classical Antiquity, a
belief in the nobility of Man, as well as artistic advances in both linear perspective and realism.
It evolved in three main Italian cities: first Florence, then Rome, and lastly Venice.
Renaissance chronology is usually listed as follows:
• Proto-Renaissance (c.1300-1400)
25
This introductory period was largely instigated by the revolutionary painting style
of Giotto (1270-1337), whose fresco cycle in the Capella Scrovegni (Arena Chapel) in
Padua introduced a new realism into painting which challenged many of the
iconographic conventions then in use.
• Early Renaissance (c.1400-1490)
Triggered in part by the unearthing of a copy of De Architectura ("Ten Books Conerning
Architecture") by the 1st century Roman architect Vitruvius (c.78-10 BCE), and Filippo
Brunelleschi's magnificent 1418 design for the dome of Florence's Gothic cathedral (1420-36),
this period of activity was centred on Florence. Major early Renaissance artists included the
architect Filippo Brunelleschi (1377-1446), the sculptor Donatello (1386-1466), and the
painter Tommaso Masaccio (c.1401-28). Later important contributors included Piero della
Francesca (1420-92), Antonio del Pollaiuolo (1432-98) and Botticelli (1445-1510), plus the
Northerner Andrea Mantegna (1431-1506).
• High Renaissance (c.1490-1530)
Regarded as the apogee of the Italian Renaissance and its aesthetic ideals of beauty and
harmony, the High Renaissance was centred on Rome and dominated by the painting
of Leonardo Da Vinci (1452-1519) (eg. "The Last Supper", "The Mona Lisa")
and Raphael (1483-1520) (eg. "The School of Athens"), and the immortal works
of Michelangelo (1475-1564) (including masterpieces of Italian Renaissance sculpture such
as "Pieta" and "David", and the "Genesis" Sistine Chapel fresco). Other leading high
Renaissance artists included members of the school of Venetian painting school, such
as Giovanni Bellini, Giorgione, Titian, Paolo Veronese and Tintoretto.
Renaissance architecture employed precepts derived from ancient Greece and Rome, but kept
many modern features of Byzantine and Gothic invention, such as domes and towers.
Important architects included: Donato Bramante (1444-1514) the greatest exponent of High
Renaisance architecture; Baldassare Peruzzi (1481-1536), an important architect and interior
designer; Michele Sanmicheli (1484-1559), the leading pupil of Bramante; Jacopo Sansovino
(1486-1570), the most celebrated Venetian architect; Giulio Romano (1499-1546), the chief
practitioner of Italian Late Renaissance-style building design; Andrea Palladio (1508-
1580), an influential theorist; and of course Michelangelo himself, who helped to design
the dome for St Peter's Basilica in Rome.
• Northern Renaissance (c.1400-1530)
In Northern Europe (Flanders, Holland, England and Germany), the Renaissance developed in
a different manner. A damper climate unsuited to fresco painting encouraged the early use of
oils, while differing skills and temperament led to the early espousal of printmaking, and the
the invention of the printing press by Johannes Gutenberg in the 1450s. In most countries of
Northern Europe the Reformation caused a serious loss of patronage, and a consequent decline
in large-scale religious works. In its place there emerged new traditions of portraiture,
and other easel-works, which led ultimately to the wonderful still lifes and genre
painting of the Dutch Realism school in the 17th century. The greatest artists of the Northern
Renaissance were: the Dutchman Jan Van Eyck (1390-1441), noted for his luminous colours
and detailed realism; the versatile German Albrecht Durer (1471-1528), noted for his
drawing, self- portraiture, oils, watercolours, woodcuts and engravings; Robert Campin
(1375-1444) the Master of Flemalle, an elusive but outstanding artist who taught Van der
Weyden and was a key founder of the Dutch School; the Belgian Roger van der Weyden
(1400-1464), noted for his powerful religious paintings; the Netherlandish painter
Hieronymus Bosch (1450-1516), noted for his moralizing fantasy works illustrating the
sins of Man; the austere religious fanatic Mathias Grunewald (1470-1528), whose dramatic
style of art influenced later schools of Expressionism; and the portraitists Lucas Cranach
(1472-1553) and Hans Holbein (1497-
1543).

Among the greatest sculptors of the Northern Renaissance were: the German limewood sculptor
Tilman Riemenschneider (1460-1531), noted for his reliefs and freestanding wood sculpture;
and the wood-carver Veit Stoss (1450-1533) noted for his delicate altarpieces.
For more, see: Netherlandish Renaissance Art (1430-1580); German Renaissance Art (1430-
1580) and Flemish painting.
• Mannerism (1530-1600)
This style grew up partly as a reaction against the idealistic forms of the High Renaissance and
partly as a reflection of troubled times - Martin Luther had begun the Reformation, while
Rome itself had just been sacked by mercenaries. Mannerist artists introduced a new
expressiveness into their works, as exemplified by the marvellous sculpture Rape of the
Sabine Women by Giambologna, and Michelangelo's Last Judgement fresco in the Sistine
Chapel. Other important exponents of Mannerism include El Greco (c.1541-1614)
and Caravaggio (1571-1610), whose dramatic use of light and shadow influenced a generation
of Caravaggisti.
History of Post-Renaissance Art
Baroque Art (c.1600-1700)
It was during this period that the Catholic Counter-Reformation got going in an attempt to
attract the masses away from Protestantism. Renewed patronage of the visual arts and
architecture was a key feature of this propaganda campaign, and led to a grander, more
theatrical style in both areas. This new style, known as Baroque art was effectively the
highpoint of dramatic Mannerism.
Baroque architecture took full advantage of the theatrical potential of the urban landscape,
exemplified by Saint Peter's Square (1656-67) in Rome, in front of the domed St Peter's
Basilica. Its architect, Gianlorenzo Bernini (1598-1680) employed a widening series of
colonnades in the approach to the cathedral, conveying the impression to visitors that they are
being embraced by the arms of the Catholic Church. The entire approach is constructed on a
gigantic scale, to induce feelings of awe.
In painting, the greatest exponent of Catholic Counter-Reformation art was Peter Paul
Rubens (1577-1640) - "the Prince of painters and the painter of Princes". Other leading
Catholic artists included Diego Velazquez (1599-1660), Francisco Zurbaran (1598-1664)
and Nicolas Poussin (1594-1665).
In Protestant Northern Europe, the Baroque era was marked by the flowering of Dutch Realist
genre painting, a style uniquely suited to the new bourgeois patrons of small-scale interiors,
genre-paintings, portraits, landscapes and still lifes. Several schools of 17th century Dutch
painting sprang up including those of Haarlem, Delft, Utrecht, and Leiden. Leading members
included the two immortals Rembrandt (1606-1669) and Jan Vermeer (1632-1675), as well as
Frans Snyders (1579-1657), Frans Hals (1581-1666), Adriaen Brouwer (1605-38), Jan
Davidsz de Heem (1606-84), Adriaen van Ostade (1610-85), David Teniers the Younger (1610-
90), Gerard Terborch (1617-81), Jan Steen (1626-79), Pieter de Hooch (1629-83), and the
landscape painters Aelbert Cuyp (1620-91), Jacob van Ruisdael (1628-82) and Meyndert
Hobbema (1638-1709), among others.
Rococo Art (c.1700-1789)
This new style of decorative art, known as Rococo, impacted most on interior-design,
although architecture, painting and sculpture were also affected. Essentially a reaction against
the seriousness of the Baroque, Rococo was a light-hearted, almost whimsical style which grew
up in the French court at the Palace of Versailles before spreading across Europe. Rococo
designers employed the full gamut of plasterwork, murals, tapestries, furniture, mirrors,
porcelain, silks and other embellishments to give the householder a complete aesthetic
experience. In painting, the Rococo style was championed by the French artists
Watteau (1684-1721), Fragonard (1732-1806), and Boucher (1703-70). But the greatest
27
works were produced by the Venetian Giambattista Tiepolo (1696-1770) whose fantastic wall
and ceiling fresco paintings took Rococo to new heights. See in particular the renaissance
of French Decorative Art (1640-1792), created by French Designers especially in the form
of French Furniture, at Versailles and other Royal Chateaux, in the style of Louis
Quatorze (XIV), Louis Quinze (XV) and Louis Seize (XVI). As it was, Rococo symbolized
the decadent indolence and degeneracy of the French aristocracy. Because of this, it was
swept away by the French Revolution which ushered in the new sterner Neoclassicism,
more in keeping with the Age of Enlightenment and Reason.
Neoclassical Art (Flourished c.1790-1830)
In architecture, Neoclassicism derived from the more restrained "classical" forms of Baroque
practised in England by Sir Christopher Wren (1632-1723), who designed St Paul's Cathedral.
Yet another return to the Classical Orders of Greco-Roman Antiquity, the style was
characterized by monumental structures, supported by columns of pillars, and topped with
classical Renaissance domes. Employing innovations like layered cupolas, it lent added
grandeur to palaces, churches, and other public structures. Famous Neoclassical buildings
include: the Pantheon (Paris) designed by Jacques Germain Soufflot (1756-97), the Arc de
Triomphe (Paris) designed by Jean Chalgrin, the Brandenburg Gate (Berlin) designed by Carl
Gotthard Langhans (1732-1808), and the United States Capitol Building, designed by
English-born Benjamin Henry Latrobe (1764-1820), and later by Stephen Hallet and Charles
Bulfinch. See also the era of American Colonial Art (c.1670-1800).
Neoclassicist painters also looked to Classical Antiquity for inspiration, and emphasized the
virtues of heroicism, duty and gravitas. Leading exponents included the French political
artist Jacques-Louis David (1748-1825), the German portrait and history painter Anton
Raphael Mengs (1728-79), and the French master of the Academic art style, Jean Auguste
Dominique Ingres (1780-1867). Neoclassical sculptors included: Antonio Canova (1757-
1822),
Bertel Thorvaldsen (1770-1844), and Jean-Antoine Houdon (1741-1828).
For more about the history of painting, sculpture and architecture during this period,
see: Neoclassical art.
Romanticism Movement (Flourished c.1790-1830)
In contrast to the universal values espoused by Neo-Classicism, Romantic artists expressed a
more personal response to life, relying more on their senses and emotions rather than reason
and intellect. This idealism, like Neoclassism, was encouraged by the French Revolution, thus
some artists were affected by both styles. Nature was an important subject for Romantics, and
the style is exemplified, by the English School of Landscape Painting, the plein air painting
of John Constable (1776-1837), Corot (1796-1875) along with members of the
French Barbizon School and the American Hudson River School of landscape painting, as
well as the more expressionistic JMW Turner (1775-1851). Arguably, however, the greatest
Romantic landscape painter is arguably Caspar David Friedrich (1774-1840). Narrative or
history painting was another important genre in Romanticism: leading exponents
include: Francisco Goya (1746-1828) Henry Fuseli (1741-1825), James Barry (1741-1806),
Theodore Gericault (1791-1824) and Eugene Delacroix (1798-63), as well as later exponents
of Orientalist painting, and moody Pre-Raphaelites and Symbolists.
For more information about the history of Romantic painting and sculpture, see:
Romanticism in art.
Realism (c.1845 onwards)
As the 19th century progessed, growing awareness of the rights of man plus the social impact
of the Industrial Revolution caused some artists to move away from idealistic or romantic
subjects in favour of more mundane subjects, depicted in a more true-life, style of naturalism.
This new focus (to some extent anticipated by William Hogarth in the 18th century,

see English Figurative Painting) was exemplified by the Realism style which emerged
in France during the 1840s, before spreading across Europe. This new style attracted painters
from all the genres - notably Gustave Courbet (1819-77) (genre-painting), Jean Francois
Millet (1814-75) (landscape, rural life), Honore Daumier (1808-79) (urban life) and Ilya
Repin (1844-1930) (landscape and portraits).
History of Modern Art

Impressionism (c.1870-80)
French Impressionism, championed above all by Claude Monet (1840-1926), was a
spontaneous colour-sensitive style of pleinairism whose origins derived from Jean-Baptiste
Camille Corot and the techniques of the Barbizon school - whose quest was to depict the
momentary effects of natural light. It encompassed rural landscapes [Alfred Sisley (1839-
1899)], cityscapes [Camille Pissarro (1830-1903)], genre scenes [Pierre-Auguste
Renoir (1841-1919), Edgar Degas (1834-1917), Paul Cezanne (1839-1906), and Berthe
Morisot (1841-95)] and both figurative paintings and portraits [Edouard Manet (1832-
83), John Singer Sargent (1856-1925)]. Other artists associated with Impressionism include,
James McNeil Whistler (1834-1903) and Walter Sickert (1860-1942).
Impressionists sought to faithfully reproduce fleeting moments outdoors. Thus if an object
appeared dark purple - due perhaps to failing or reflected light - then the artist painted it
purple. Naturalist "Academic-Style" colour schemes, being devised in theory or at least
in the studio, did not allow for this. As a result Impressionism offered a whole new pictorial
language - one that paved the way for more revolutionary art movements like Cubism - and
is often regarded by historians and critics as the first modern school of
painting.
In any event, the style had a massive impact on Parisian and world art, and was the gateway
to a series of colour-related movements, including Post-Impressionism, Neo-Impressionism,
Pointillism, Divisionism, Fauvism, Intimism, the American Luminism or Tonalism, as
well as American Impressionism, the Newlyn School and Camden Town Group, the
French Les Nabis and the general Expressionist movement.
Post Impressionism (c.1885 onwards)
Essentially an umbrella term encompassing a number of developments and reactions to
Impressionism, Post-Impressionism involved artists who employed Impressionist-type
colour schemes, but were dissatisfied with the limitations imposed by merely reproducing
nature. Neo-Impressionism with its technique of Pointillism was pioneered by Georges
Seurat and Paul Signac (1863-1935), while major Post-Impressionists include Paul
Gauguin, Vincent Van Gogh and Paul Cezanne. Inspired by Gauguin's synthetism and
Bernard's cloisonnism, the Post-Impressionist group Les Nabis promoted a wider form of
decorative art; another style, known as Intimisme, concerned itself with genre scenes of
domestic, intimate interiors. Exemplified by the work of Pierre Bonnard (1867-1947) and
Edouard Vuillard (1868-1940), it parallels other tranquil interiors such as those by James
McNeil Whistler, and the Dutch Realist-influenced Peter Vilhelm Ilsted (1861-1933).
Another very important movement - anti-impressionist rather than post-impressionist -
was Symbolism (flourished 1885-1900), which went on to influence Fauvism,
Expressionism and Surrealism. Note also that many post-Impressionist artists adopted the
forms and aesthetics of classicism, as a response to the passive naturalism of Impressionist
art. This led to a widespread Classical Revival in modern art , known as the 'return to order',
between 1900 and 1930.
For more about art politics in France, see: the Paris Salon.
Colourism: Fauvism (1900 onwards)
The term "Fauves" (wild beasts) was first used by the art critic Louis Vauxcelles at the
1905

Salon d'Automne exhibition in Paris when describing the vividly coloured paintings of
Henri Matisse (1869-1954), Andre Derain (1880-1954), and Maurice de Vlaminck (1876-
1958). Other Fauvists included the later Cubist Georges Braque (1882-1963), Raoul Dufy
(1877-1953), Albert Marquet (1875-1947) and Georges Rouault (1871-1958). Most
followers of Fauvism moved on to Expressionism or other movements associated with
the Ecole de Paris.
19th Century/Early 20th Century Sculpture
Sculptural traditions, although never independent from those of painting, are concerned
primarily with space and volume, while issues of scale and function also act as
distinguishing factors. Thus on the whole, sculpture was slower to reflect the new trends of
modern art during the 19th century, leaving sculptors like Auguste Rodin (1840-1917) free
to pursue a monumentalism derived essentially from Neoclassicism if not Renaissance
ideology. The public dimension of sculpture also lent itself to the celebration of Victorian
values and historical figures, which were likewise executed in the grand manner of earlier
times. Thus it wasn't until the emergence of artists like Constantin Brancusi (1876-1957)
and Umberto Boccioni (1882-1916) that sculpture really began to change, at the turn of the
century.
Expressionist Art (c.1900 onwards)
Expressionism is a general style of painting that aims to express a personal interpretation of a
scene or object, rather than depict its true-life features, it is often characterized by
energetic brushwork, impastoed paint, intense colours and bold lines. Early Expressionists
included, Vincent Van Gogh (1853-90), Edvard Munch (1863-1944) and Wassily
Kandinsky (1866-1944). A number of German Expressionist schools sprang up during the
first three decades of the 20th century. These included: Die Brucke (1905-11), a group based
in Dresden in 1905, which mixed elements of traditional German art with Post-Impressionist
and Fauvist styles, exemplified in works by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Karl Schmidt-Rottluff,
Erik Heckel, and Emil Nolde; Der Blaue Reiter (1911-14), a loose association of artists
based in Munich, including Wassily Kandinsky, Franz Marc, August Macke, and Paul
Klee; Die Neue Sachlichkeit (1920s) a post-war satirical-realist group whose members
included Otto Dix, George Grosz, Christian Schad and to a lesser extent Max Beckmann.
Expressionism duly spread worldwide, spawning numerous derivations in both figurative
painting (eg. Francis Bacon) and abstract art (eg. Mark Rothko). See also: History of
Expressionist Painting (c.1880-1930).
Decorative Arts: Art Nouveau (1890-1910) and Art Deco (1920s-30s)

Art Nouveau (Late 19th Century - Early 20th Century)
Art Nouveau (promoted as Jugendstil by the Munich Secession (1892) and Berlin
Secession (1898), as Sezessionstil in the Vienna Secession (1897), and as Stile Liberty in
Italy, and Modernista in Spain) derived from William Morris and the Arts and Crafts
Movement in Britain, and was also influenced by both the Celtic Revival arts movement and
Japanonisme. It's popularity stemmed from the 1900 Exposition Universelle in Paris, from
where it spread across Europe and the United States. It was noted for its intricate flowing
patterns of sinuous asymetrical lines, based on plant-forms (dating back to the Celtic
Hallstatt and La Tene cultures), as well as female silhouettes and forms. Art Nouveau had a
major influence on poster art, design and illustration, interior design, metalwork, glassware,
jewellery, as well as painting and sculpture. Leading exponents included: Alphonse
Mucha (1860-1939), Aubrey Beardsley (1872-98), Eugene Grasset (1845-1917) and Albert
Guillaume (1873-1942). See also: History of Poster Art.
Jewellery Art (c.1880-1917)
For unbelievable examples of authentic artistic jewellery, created by Russia's greatest
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goldsmiths, see: Fabergé Easter Eggs.

The Bauhaus School (Germany, 1919-1933)
Derived from the two German words "bau" for building and "haus" for house, the Bauhaus
school of art and design was founded in 1919 by the architect Walter Gropius. Enormously
influential in both architecture and design - and their teaching methods - its instructors
included such artists as Josef Albers, Lyonel Feininger, Paul Klee, Wassily Kandinsky,
Oskar Schlemmer, Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, Anni Albers and Johannes Itten. Its mission was to
bring art into contact with everyday life, thus the design of everyday objects was given the
same importance as fine art. Important Bauhaus precepts included the virtue of simple, clean
design, massproduction and the practical advantages of a well-designed home and
workplace. The Bauhaus was eventually closed by the Nazis in 1933, whereupon several of
its teachers emigrated to America: Laszlo Moholy-Nagy settled in Chicago where he
founded the New Bauhaus in 1937, while Albers went to Black Mountain College in North
Carolina.
Art Deco (1920s, 1930s)
The design style known as Art Deco was showcased in 1925 at the International Exhibition
of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts in Paris and became a highly popular style of
decorative art, design and architecture during the inter-war years (much employed by cinema
and hotel architects). Its influence was also seen in the design of furniture, textile fabrics,
pottery, jewellery, and glass. A reaction against Art Nouveau, the new idiom of Art Deco
eliminated the latter's flowing curvilinear forms and replaced them with Cubist and
Precisionist-inspired geometric shapes. Famous examples of Art Deco architecture include
the Empire State Building and the New York Chrysler Building. Art Deco was also
influenced by the simple architectural designs of The Bauhaus.
Cubism (c.1908-12)
Invented by Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) and Georges Braque (1882-1963) and considered to
be "the" revolutionary movement of modern art, Cubism was a more intellectual style of
painting that explored the full potential of the two-dimensional picture plane by offering
different views of the same object, typically arranged in a series of overlapping fragments:
rather like a photographer might take several photos of an object from different angles,
before cutting them up with scissors and rearranging them in haphazard fashion on a flat
surface. This "analytical Cubism" (which originated with Picasso's "Les Demoiselles
d'Avignon") quickly gave way to "synthetic Cubism", when artists began to include "found
objects" in their canvases, such as collages made from newspaper cuttings. Cubist painters
included: Juan Gris (1887-1927), Fernand Leger (1881-1955), Robert Delaunay (1885-
1941), Albert Gleizes (1881-1953), Roger de La Fresnaye (1885-1925), Jean Metzinger (1883-
1956), and Francis Picabia (1879-1953), the avant-garde artist Marcel Duchamp (1887-
1968), and the sculptors Jacques Lipchitz (1891-1973), and Alexander Archipenko (1887-
1964). (See also Russian art.) Short-lived but highly influential, Cubism instigated a whole
new style of abstract art and had a significant impact the development of later styles such as:
Orphism (1910-13), Collage (1912 onwards), Purism (1920s), Precisionism (1920s,
1930s), Futurism (1909-1914), Rayonism (c.1912-14), Suprematism (1913-
1918), Constructivism (c.1919-32), Vorticism (c.1914-15) the De Stijl (1917-31) design
movement and the austere geometrical style of concrete art known as Neo-Plasticism.
Surrealism (1924 onwards)
Largely rooted in the anti-art traditions of the Dada movement (1916-24), as well as the
psychoanalytical ideas of Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung, Surrealism was the most influential
art style of the inter-war years. According to its chief theorist, Andre Breton, it sought to
combine the unconscious with the conscious, in order to create a new "super-reality" - a
"surrealisme". The movement spanned a huge range of styles, from abstraction to true-life
31
realism, typically punctuated with "unreal" imagery. Important Surrealists included Salvador
Dali (1904-89), Max Ernst (1891-1976), Rene Magritte (1898-1967), Andre Masson (1896-
1987), Yves Tanguy (1900-55), Joan Miro (1893-1983), Giorgio de Chirico (1888-1978), Jean
Arp (1886-1966), and Man Ray (1890-1976). The movement had a major impact across
Europe during the 1930s, was the major precursor to Conceptualism, and continues to find
adherents in fine art, literature and cinematography.
Early 20th Century American Art (c.1900-45)
American painting during the period 1900-45 was realist in style and became increasingly
focused on strictly American imagery. This was the result of the reaction against the Armory
Show (1913) and European hypermodernism, as well as a response to changing social
conditions across the country. Later it became a patriotic response to the Great Depression of
the 1930s. See also the huge advances in Skyscraper architecture of the early 20th century.
For more, see: American architecture (1600-present). Specific painting movements included
the Ashcan School (c.1900-1915); Precisionism (1920s) which celebrated the new American
industrial landscape; the more socially aware urban style of Social
Realism (1930s); American Scene Painting (c.1925-45) which embraced the work of Edward
Hopper and Charles Burchfield, as well as midwestern Regionalism (1930s) championed by
Grant Wood, Thomas Hart Benton and John Steuart Curry.
Note: Echoes of American Regionalism can be seen in the government approved style
of Socialist Realism (c.1920-80), which flourished in Russia, China and other totalitarian
states during the early (and later) 20th century.
Abstract Expressionism (1945-60)
The first international modern art movement to come out of America (it is sometimes
referred to as The New York School - see also American art), it was a predominantly abstract
style of painting which followed an expressionist colour-driven direction, rather than a
Cubist idiom, although it also includes a number of other styles, making it more of a general
movement. Four variants stand out in Abstract Expressionism: first, the "automatic" style of
"action painting" invented by Jackson Pollock (1912-56) and his wife Lee Krasner (1908–
1984). Second, the monumental planes of colour created by Mark Rothko (1903-70), Barnett
Newman (1905-70) and Clyfford Still (1904-80) - a style known as Colour Field Painting.
Third, the gestural figurative works by Willem De Kooning (1904–1997). Four, the
geometric "Homage to the Square" geometric abstracts of Josef Albers (1888-1976).
Highly influential, Abstract Expressionist painting continued to influence later artists for
over two decades. It was introduced to Paris during the 1950s by Jean-Paul Riopelle (1923-
2002), assisted by Michel Tapie's book, Un Art Autre (1952). At the same time, a number of
new sub-movements emerged in America, such as Hard-edge painting, exemplified by Frank
Stella. In the late 1950s/early 1960s, a purely abstract form of Colour Field painting
appeared in works by Helen Frankenthaler and others, while in 1964, the famous art critic
Clement Greenberg helped to introduce a further stylistic development known as "Post-
Painterly Abstraction". Abstract Expressionism went on to influence a variety of different
schools, including Op Art, Fluxus, Pop Art, Minimalism, Neo-Expressionism, and others.
Pop Art (Late 1950s-60s)
The bridge between modern art and postmodernism, Pop art employed popular imagery and
modern forms of graphic art, to create a lively, high-impact idiom, which could be
understood and appreciated by Joe Public. It appeared simultaneously in America and
Britain, during the late 1950s, while a European form (Nouveau Realisme) emerged in 1960.
Pioneered in America by Robert Rauschenberg (1925-2008) and Jasper Johns (b.1930), Pop
had close links with early 20th century movements like Surrealism. It was a clear reaction
against the closed intellectualism of Abstract Expressionism, from which Pop artists sought
to distance themselves by adopting simple, easily recognized imagery (from TV, cartoons,
32
comic strips and the like), as well as modern technology like screen printing. Famous US
Pop artists include: Jim Dine (b.1935), Robert Indiana (b.1928), Alex Katz (b.1927), Roy
Lichtenstein (1923-97), Claes Oldenburg (b.1929), and Andy Warhol (1928-87). Important
Pop artists in Britain were: Peter Blake (b.1932), Patrick Caulfield (1936-2006), Richard
Hamilton (b.1922), David Hockney (b.1937), Allen Jones (b.1937), RB Kitaj (b.1932), and
Eduardo Paolozzi (1924-2005).
Mid-20th Century Sculpture
From the early works of Brancusi, 20th century sculpture broadened immeasurably to
encompass new forms, styles and materials. Major innovations included the "sculptured walls"
of Louise Nevelson (1899-1988), the existential forms of Giacometti (1901-66), the
biomorphic abstraction of both Barbara Hepworth (1903-75) and Henry Moore (1898-
1986), and the spiders of Louise Bourgeois (1911-2010). Other creative angles were pursued
by Salvador Dali (1904-89) in his surrealist "Mae West Lips Sofa" and "Lobster Telephone"
- by Meret Oppenheim (1913-85) in her "Furry Breakfast", by FE McWilliam (1909-1992)
in his "Eyes, Nose and Cheek", by Sol LeWitt (b.1928) in his skeletal box-like constructions,
and by Pop-artists like Claes Oldenburg (b.1929) and Jasper Johns (b.1930), as well as by
the Italians Jonathan De Pas (1932-91), Donato D'Urbino (b.1935) and Paolo Lomazzi
(b.1936) in their unique "Joe Sofa".
For more about the history of painting, sculpture, architecture and crafts during this period,
see: Modern Art Movements.
History of Contemporary Art

The word "Postmodernist" is often used to describe contemporary art since about 1970. In
simple terms, postmodernist art emphasizes style over substance (eg. not 'what' but
'how'; not 'art for art's sake', but 'style for stye's sake'), and stresses the importance of
how the artist comunicates with his/her audience. This is exemplified by movements
such as Conceptual art, where the idea being communicated is seen as more important
than the artwork itself, which merely acts as the vehicle for the message. In addition, in
order to increase the "impact" of visual art on spectators, postmodernists have turned to
new art forms such as Assemblage, Installation, Video, Performance, Happenings and
Graffiti - all of which are associated in some way or other with Conceptualism- and this
idea of impact continues to inspire.
For the leading postmodernists, see: Top 200 Contemporary Artists.
Postmodernist Painting
Painters since the 1970s have experimented with numerous styles across the spectrum
from pure abstraction to figuration. These include: Minimalism, a purist form of
abstraction which did little to promote painting as an attractive medium; Neo-
Expressionism, which encompassed groups like the "Ugly Realists", the "Neue Wilden",
"Figuration Libre", "Transavanguardia", the "New Image Painters" and the so-called "Bad
Painters", signalled a return to depicting recognizable objects, like the human body (albeit
often in a quasi-abstract style), using rough brushwork, vivid colours and colour
harmonies; and the wholly figurative styles adopted by groups such as "New Subjectivity"
and the "London School". At the other extreme from Minimalism is the ultra-
representational art form of photorealism (superrealism, hyperrealism).
Conspicuous among this rather bewildering range of activity are figure painters like
Francis Bacon, the great Lucien Freud (b.1922), the innovative Fernando Botero
(b.1932), the precise David Hockney (b.1937), the photorealists Chuck Close (b.1940) and
Richard Estes (b.1936), and the contemporary Jenny Saville (b.1970). See also:
Contemporary British Painting (1960-2000).
Postmodernist Sculpture
33
GE 3 Art Appreciatio n Module 7 Art History Timeline
Sculpture since 1970 has appeared in a variety of guises, including: the large scale metal
works of Mark Di Suvero (b.1933), the minimalist sculptures of Walter de
Maria (b.1935), the monumental public forms of Richard Serra (b.1939), the hyper-
realist nudes of John De Andrea (b.1941), the environmental structures of Anthony
Gormley (b.1950), the site-specific figures of Rowan Gillespie (b.1953), the stainless
steel works of Anish Kapoor (b.1954), the high-impact Neo-Pop works of Jeff
Koons (b.1955), and the extraordinary 21st century works by Sudobh Gupta (b.1964)
and Damian Ortega (b.1967). In addition, arresting public sculpture includes the "Chicago
Picasso" - a series of metal figures produced for the Chicago Civic Centre and the
architectural "Spire of Dublin" (the 'spike'), created by Ian Ritchie (b.1947), among many
others.
Postmodernist Avant-garde
The pluralistic "anything goes" view of contemporary art (which critics might
characterize as exemplifying the fable of the "Emperor's New Clothes"), is aptly
illustrated in the works of Damien Hirst, a leading member of the Young British
Artists school. Renowned for "The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of
Someone Living", a dead Tiger shark pickled in formaldehyde, and lately for his diamond
encrusted skull "For the Love of God", Hirst has managed to stimulate audiences and
horrify critics around the world. And while he is unlikely ever to inherit the mantle of
Michelangelo, his achievement of sales worth $100 million in a single Sotheby's auction
(2008) is positively eye-popping.
On a more sobering note, in March 2009 the prestigious Georges Pompidou Centre of
Contemporary Art in Paris staged an exhibition entitled "The Specialisation of
Sensibility in the Raw Material State into Stabilised Pictorial Sensibility". This avant-
garde event consisted of 9 completely empty rooms - in effect, a reincarnation of John
Cage's completely silent piece of "musical" conceptual art entitled "4.33". If one of the
great contemporary art venues like the Pompidou Centre regards nine completely empty
spaces as a worthy art event, we are all in deep trouble.
For more about the history of postmodernist painting, sculpture, and avant-garde art
forms, see: Contemporary Art Movements.
20th Century Architecture
One might say that 19th century architecture aimed to beautify the new wave of civic
structures, like railway stations, museums, government buildings and other public utilities.
It did this by taking ideas from Neo-Classicism, Neo-Gothic, French Second Empire and
exoticism, as well as the new forms and materials of so-called "industrial architecture", as
exemplified in factories along with occasional landmark structures like
the Eiffel Tower (1887-89). In comparison, 20th century architecture has been
characterized by vertical development (skyscrapers), flagship buildings, and post-war
reconstruction. More than any other era, its design has been dominated by the invention of
new materials and building methods. It began with the exploitation of late 19th
century innovations developed by the Chicago School of architecture, such as
the structural steel frame, in a style known as Early Modernism. In America, architects
started incorporating Art Nouveau and Art Deco design styles into their work, while in
Germany and Russia totalitarian architecture pursued a separate agenda during the
1930s. Famous architects of the first part of the century included: Louis Sullivan (1856-
1924), Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959), Victor Horta (1861-1947), Antoni
Gaudi (1852-1926), Peter Behrens (1868-1940), Walter Gropius (1883-1969) and Le
Corbusier (1887-1965). After 1945, architects turned away from functionalism and
began creating new forms facilitated by reinforced concrete, steel and glass. Thus Late
Modernism gave way to Brutalism, Corporate Modernism and High Tech architecture,
34
GE 3 Art Appreciatio n Module 7 Art History Timeline
culminating in structures like the Georges Pompidou Centre in Paris, and the
iconic Sydney Opera House - one of the first buildings to use industrial
strength Araldite to glue together the precast structural elements. Since 1970,
postmodernist architecture has taken several different approaches. Some designers have
stripped buildings of all ornamentation to create a Minimalist style; others have used
ideas of Deconstructivism to move away from traditional rectilinear shapes; while yet
others have employed digital modeling software to create totally new organic shapes in a
process called Blobitecture. Famous post-war architects include: Miers van der
Rohe (1886-1969), Louis Kahn (1901-74), Jorn Utzon; Eero Saarinen (1910-61), Kenzo
Tange (1913-2005), IM Pei (b.1917), Norman Foster (b.1935), Richard Rogers, James
Stirling (1926-92), Aldo Rossi (1931-97), Frank O. Gehry (b.1929), Rem
Koolhaas (b.1944), and Daniel Libeskind (b.1946). Famous architectural groups or
firms, include: Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (est 1936); Venturi & Scott-Brown (est
1925); the New York Five - Peter Eisenman, Michael Graves, Charles Gwathmey, John
Hejduk, Richard Meier; and Herzog & de Meuron (est 1950).
REFERENCES
Bernardo Nicolas Caslib et.al. 2018. Art Appreciation, Manila, Philippines: Rex Bookstore, Inc.
https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-arthistory/chapter/the-mesolithic-period/
http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/history-of-art-timeline.html
PANGASINAN STATE UNIVE RSITY 35

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Study Guide in Art Appreciation FM-AA-CIA-15 Rev.

GE 3 Art Appreciation Module 7 Art History Timeline

ART HISTORY TIMELINE

By the end of this module, you should be able to:

Hall of Bulls (Lascaux, France)

GE 3 Art Appreciation Module 7 Art History Timeline

Some of the works found reflected some of the early beliefs of

Figure 2. Venus of Willendorf

A number of notable Mesolithic rock art sites exist on the

The Man of Bicorp: The

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One of the cosmetic palettes found in Egypt was

GE 3 Art Appreciation Module 7 Art History Timeline

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was enhanced by applying paint to the limestone.

History of Art Timeline (2,500,000 BCE - Present)

GE 3 Art Appreciation Module 7 Art History Timeline

PANGASINAN STATE UNIVERSITY 7

GE 3 Art Appreciation Module 7 Art History Timeline

9 BCE Famous Greek sculpture: Laocoon (by sculptors Hagesandrus, Polydorus,

PANGASINAN STATE UNIVERSITY 8

GE 3 Art Appreciation Module 7 Art History Timeline

FLANDERS and HOLLAND (1430-1580)

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PANGASINAN STATE UNIVERSITY 10

GE 3 Art Appreciation Module 7 Art History Timeline

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Nude Maja 1800), causing a scandal in the French Salon.

GE 3 Art Appreciation Module 7 Art History Timeline

GE 3 Art Appreciation Module 7 Art History Timeline

GE 3 Art Appreciation Module 7 Art History Timeline

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History of Stone Age Art (2.5 million-3,000 BCE)

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GE 3 Art App reciation Module 7 Art History Timeline

History of Bronze Age Art (In Europe: 3000-1200 BCE)

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History of Iron Age Art and Classical Antiquity (c.1500-200 BCE)

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Ancient Greek Art (c.1100-100 BCE)

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PANGASINAN STATE UNIVERSITY 21

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History of Medieval Art

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on the foundations of Carolingian architecture. Charlemagne's early Romanesque

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History of Renaissance Art (c.1300-1620)

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PANGASINAN STATE UNIVERSITY 28

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History of Modern Art

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