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1400
Renaissance Art
With the term Renaissance Art we refer to the artistic production during the historical period of the Renaissance. It started in the 15th century in Florence with its main exponents Botticelli, Michelangelo, El Greco and Leonardo da Vinci. Its themes come from the Bible, Greek and Roman mythology, history and the Renaissance. For the first time the human body is praised as emphasis placed on shape, color and perspective. -
1520
Mannerism
An artistic current that developed at the end of the Renaissance period (1520-1600). Its exponents portray overly distorted figures, mainly through the elongation of human features or the use of refined postures in order to cultivate an emotional intensity. Parmigianno, Bronzino, Michelangelo and El Greco are its leading exponents. -
1550
Classicism
An artistic current that began around 1550. Artists turn to ancient standards and ideals. Logic plays a leading role. Perfection, harmony and balance are sought. It expresses the return to retro, proposing complex movement, simple contrasts and strict contours. Nikolas Poussin, Annibale Carracci and Claude Lorrain are its leading exponents. -
Baroque
The term Baroque refers to the historical period 1600-1750, which followed Mannerism. It started in Rome and it is characterised by an intense, dramatic and emotional element, while it was applied mainly in sculpture and music. It is also found in paintings and literature. Its purpose was to elevate man through his passions and emotions. Rubens, Anton van Dyck and Pietro da Cortona are its leading exponents. -
Rococo
It was born in France in the early 1700s. It is a theatrical style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colors and sculpted molding. Its main founders are Jean-Antoine Watteau, Boucher, Canaletto, Hogarth and Fragonard. -
Neoclassicism
It was born in Rome in 1760. Neoclassical architecture is based on the principles of simplicity and symmetry, which were seen as virtues of the arts of Rome and Ancient Greece. Important exponents of Neoclassicism were Anton Raphael Mengs, Jacques-Louis David and Ingres. -
Romanticism
It originated in Germany around 1800. It was an artistic, literary, musical and intellectual movement. The movement emphasized intense emotion, placing new emphasis on such emotions as fear, horror, terror and awe. Artists can also express their feelings freely. The beauty of nature and the battle to freedom can be seen as the artists' preferences. Goya, Delacroix, Turner, David Friedric and Theodore Gericault are some of them. -
Realism
In the arts it is the representation of reality. Matters are depicted truthfully. In painting, realism is the precise, detailed and accurate representation of the appearance of scenes and objects. It originated in France in the 1840s. Its main artists are Gustave Courbet, Edouard Manet, Edgar Degas, Daumier and Millet. -
Naturalism
It started in France in 1860 from a team of artists who made an attempt to come closer to nature. Naturalistic paintings are kind of realistic. Artists paint mostly landscapes and people like objects with no source of emotion. Two of them are Theodore Rousseau and Camille Corot. -
Impressionism
It was developed in France in 1870. There is an alteration from objective to subjective. Its main characteristics are the use of bright colors, mainly the basic ones, rarely any black, small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open composition and emphasis on accurate depiction of light. The artists also painted realistic scenes of modern life and often outdoors. Its main painters are Corot, Monet, Sisley, Renoir, Pissarro, Hokusai, Gustave Caillebotte and Toulouse-Lautrec. -
Divisionism or Pointillism
It was an artistic movement that started in France in 1885. It is defined by the separation of colors into individual dots or patches which interacted optically, by requiring the viewer to combine the colors optically instead of physically mixing pigments. Divisionism developed along with another style, Pointillism, which is defined specifically by the use of dots of paint and does not necessarily focus on the separation of colours. Some of its artists are Georges Seurat and Paul Signac. -
Symbolism
It appeared near 1885 and the term comes from the word "symbol". It was an art movement that was seeking to represent absolute truths symbolically through language and metaphorical images, mainly as a reaction against Naturalism and Realism. Gustave Moreau, Puvis de Chavannes, Klimt and Giorgio de Chirico are some of its main founders. -
Art Nouveau
It is also known as Modern Style and it was created in the 1890s. It was often inspired by natural forms such as the sinuous curves of plants and flowers. Other characteristics of Art Nouveau were a sense of dynamism and movement, often given by asymmetry or whiplash lines and the use of modern materials. Its main founders are Alfons Mucha and Gustav Klimt. -
Post Impressionism
It emerged as a reaction against the impressionists' concern for the naturalistic depiction of light and colour. Due to its broad emphasis on abstract qualities or symbolic content, post-impressionists extended Impressionism while rejecting its limitations; they continued using vivid colours, often thick application of paint and real-life subject matter. Its leading exponents are Paul Cezanne, Paul Gauguin, Vincent van Gogh and Georges Seurat. -
Expressionism
Its painters engage in the expression of thought and emotion. Expressionism is defined by the use of intense colors, aggressive forms, complex compositions and the deformation of the human body and face. Some of its main exponents are Wassily Kandinsky, Edvard Munch, Kirchner and Georges Rouault -
Fauvism
It appeared near 1905 in France and didn't last for a long time. The term "fauvists" was given to a team of artists who painted with ferocity. Its works' characteristics are the simplicity in shapes and intense colors that spread flat, with a free touch on the canvas. Compositions with sharp outlines and lack of perspective are often observed. Matisse and Derain are its main founders. -
Cubism
It was developed in 1910 in Paris. The painters tried to capture views of the subject from different angles, by dividing and rearranging objects into more abstract forms. Some of its leading exponents are Georges Braque and Pablo Picasso. -
Dandaism
It appeared during the World War I, around 1915, in Switzerland. Its exponents randomly selected shapes and images, as well as various materials, such as wool, wood, photographs, paper, garbage, creating ephemeral works that combined sculpture with painting. The painters were trying to pass nihilistic philosophical tendencies and among other things it was a protest against the barbarity of the war. Francis Picabia, Marcel Janco, Jean Arp, Hans Richter and Marcel Duchamp were its main founders. -
Surrealism
It was born around 1920 in Paris as a reaction to the destructiveness of Dandaism. Dream situations are painted in a conventional way. Realistic elements coexist in compositions that are beyond logic and imagination. Its leading exponents are Andre Breton, Salvador Dali and Joan Miro. -
Bauhaus
It was created nearly 1925 in Berlin. Bauhaus' main characteristic was simplicity, with special emphasis on geometric shapes and color. The school utilized the human individual effort in the context of an industrial production that in the past was completely standardized. Two of its leading exponents are Paul Klee and Wassily Kandinsky. -
Abstract Expressionism
An artistic current that was born in New York around 1940. The works are characterized by absolute freedom in color, theme, forms and shapes. Paul Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko and Willem de Kooning are its main founders. -
Pop Art
It was developed around 1950. It was born mainly as a reaction to the strict movement of abstract expressionism. It typically flourishes along with the rise of pop music. The works borrow themes from comics and commercials, accompanied by spontaneity and light mood. Its leading exponent is Andy Warhol. -
Op Art
It appeared around 1960. The term Op Art comes from "Optical Art" and its purpose is to challenge the viewer through optical illusions. Bridget Riley, Victor Vasarely and M. C. Escher are its main founders.
