Art History Timeline

1. Art History Timeline A study guide produced by Higher & Intermediate 2 Art & Design students for ‘at a glance’ information on all the major art movements of the 19th & 20th Century Vision After the Sermon by Paul Gaugin from 1888. You can see this painting in the National Galleries of Scotland in Edinburgh

2. Impressionism WHEN The Impressionist movement took place in 1870’s and 1880’s in France. WHAT The main focus of the movement was to capture the play of light upon objects. They worked outside and showed landscape, everyday people outdoors as well as industry . This was very different from the indoor portraits or religious paintings of the time. LOOKED LIKE Used small sketchy brush strokes, without the use of blending or glazes. Texture was built up to show distance and colours sat side by side to create an illusion. KEY ARTWORK Impression Sunrise, 1872 by Claude Monet. Name of the movement derived from this painting which was meant as an insult by an art critic. WHO It was originated in Paris with a group of artists. Some of the people involved where Renoir, Cezanne and Claude Monet. LN/RP

3. Post-Impressionism WHEN The Post-Impressionist movement took place around 1910 in France. WHAT Unlike Impressionism, Post-Impressionism wanted to show more defined shape and colour and not look ‘sketchy’. LOOKED LIKE Brighter colours than in Impressionism, flatter and more structured shapes. Some Post-Impressionist artists used a technique called ‘Pointillism’ using hundreds of dots to create colours and shapes. KEY ARTWORK Vase with Twelve Sunflowers, 1889 by Vincent Van Gogh WHO Vincent Van Gogh is probably the most well-known as well as Paul Gaugin who travelled outside of Europe and painted the people and places he saw, mostly in places like Tahiti. George Seurat was famous for using Pointillist dots in his paintings. CY/BS

4. Fauvism WHEN 1905 WHAT Fauvism is an expressive, colourful style mainly using a lot of oils and oil pastels. Their aim wasn’t to reproduce reality but rather create something interesting. LOOKS LIKE It used strong, unnatural colours and stressed the surface instead of perspective depth in a painting, it also used colours to symbolise things. WHO Paul Gauguin, Vincent Van Gough , Henri Matisse and Andre Derain are known world over for their involvement in Fauvism. Madame Matisse (Green Stripe)by Henri Matisse, painted in 1905. KEY ARTWORKS Harmony in Red by Henri Matisse, painted in 1908. AM/LM

5. Expressionism WHEN Early 20th century before World War I in Germany WHAT A style of painting, music, drama and poetry in which the artist or writer seeks to express emotional experience rather than impressions of the external world. LOOKS LIKE Based on feelings and expression. Used lots of bold, bright colour and contrasting thick black line to make shapes stand out. Line and colour stood out. WHO Gabriele Münter and Georges Rouault were well-known as well as Edvard Munch who created ‘The Scream’ which became one of the most famous artworks in the world. KEY ARTWORK Crucifixion, 1937, by Georges Rouault, DM/JH

6. Cubism WHEN Started in Paris and dates between around 1908-1925 WHAT Picasso wanted to find a way to represent a subject from different angles simultaneously. LOOKED LIKE Uses lots of geometric different shapes to show form and space, so figures and objects look flat and broken up. WHO Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque collaborated by exchanging their ideas and started the movement. KEY ARTWORK Weeping Woman by Picasso, 1937 HH/IC

7. Dadaism WHEN Started in Zurich in 1916 WHAT It was a reaction to the horrors of the First World War, anti-art, went against anything that had been before and created a foundation for the later art movements: Surrealism and Pop Art. LOOKS LIKE/USES Photo-montage, collage, sculpture, photography. Dada artists added things to existing artworks and used everyday objects in artwork, used humour and questioned what art was. They were rebellious. WHO Dadaism was the influence of many later art periods, like Surrealism. Tristan Tzara was one of the main founders of the movement and Marcel Duchamp was another Dada artist. KEY ARTWORK This artwork Dada Conquers from 1920 is by Raoul Hausmann PB/SJ

8. Surrealism WHEN Surrealism started in 1924 by Andre Breton WHAT The world after World War I and how it affected Europe. It’s best known for its visual artworks and writings. The sub-conscious mind and reality versus fantasy was explored. LOOKS LIKE Dreamlike paintings filled with mysterious objects and/or people, normally in a landscape. Due to the strange connection between the objects, shapes, and people shown, a mood, atmosphere or story is suggested. WHO Andre Breton, Jean (Hans) Arp, Victor Brauner, Rene Magritte and Salvador Dali KEY ARTWORK Son of Man by Rene Magritte, 1964 HM

9. Futurism WHEN Italy in 1909-1914 (outbreak of WWI) then 1920s & 30s WHAT Celebrated the future: industrialisation, technology, speed, noise, movement and machinery. Rejected sentimentality, romanticism and looking to the past. There was also a Russian version of the movement. LOOKS LIKE Broken planes of lines, shapes or dots in painting, large, heavy muscular forms in sculpture WHO Filippo Marinetti, Umberto Boccioni, and Giacomo Balla were major artists in the Futurist movement. Marinetti – but not all the Futurist artists – created strong links with the Fascist parties and politics of the time. KEY ARTWORK Umberto Boccioni, Unique Forms of Continuity in Space, 1913 MF/SW/JH

10. Abstract Expressionism! WHEN In New York between 1940s-1960s WHAT Spontaneous emotional expression through art. Was a rebellious movement that wanted to break away from conventional accepted art forms. Abstract Expressionist artists to paint freely and rapidly with force. Used dripping and thrown paint. LOOKED LIKE Colourful, vibrant, lots of shapes and lines. Showed textures and patterns, large canvases that were sometimes painted on the floor rather than upright. WHO Jackson Pollock was one of the guys who started it up, along with Willem de Kooning, Franz Kline, Lee Krasner. KEY ARTWORK Lavender Mist, Jackson Pollock, 1950 LB/TW

11. Pop Art WHEN Developed in the mid 1950’s in the UK and in the late 1950’s in the USA. Started after World War Two as artist developed a new style that they found interesting, including a big focus on colour and themes. This continued into 1960s.. WHAT Pop Art was a movement in art when artists began to create art using subjects that were iconic in nature such as famous people, advertising and movies. LOOKED LIKE Pop art is bright in colour with bold images and based on images from pop culture and everyday objects. As well as painting they used collage and print-making techniques, especially photo silk-screening. WHO Andy Warhol was probably the most famous Pop Artist. Other artists include Jasper Johns and George Segal and British artist Peter Blake who created the cover image for The Beatles’ Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band album. KEY ARTWORK Turquoise Marilyn, Andy Warhol, 1967 GW/MC

12. Contemporary Art WHEN 1970s to the present day WHAT Artists now explore a huge range of themes, issues and ideas about us the world around us. Nothing is impossible to talk about and as such some contemporary art can be controversial and though-provoking – even illegal, such as Banksy’s use of artwork on public buildings. LOOKED LIKE Artists now work in so many places (galleries, museums, outdoors) and use much more technology than before (photography, film, sound) as well as ‘installations (made on site). The Dada idea of ‘Conceptual’ art (idea is more important than how the art is made/looks) is alive today. Contemporary art looks at the world we now live in and tries to make sense of it. This is not easy so neither is contemporary art! KEY ARTWORK For the Love of God, Damien Hirst, 2007 WHO Cindy Sherman, Andy Goldsworthy, Damien Hirst, Barbara Kruger, Banksy