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Impressionism
Impressionism was one of the most significant movements for modern art. The word impressionist was first used as an insult. The term impressionism comes from a scathing critique by Louis Leroy which described one hated painting as a mere impression. This painting was Claude Monet’s impression sunrise. The best-loved things at that time were religious and historical so that landscapes and still life paintings were deemed inferior. Some artists of that time: Monet, Renoir and Sisley. -
symbolism
The Symbolism movement also known as Synthetism. Artistic and literary movement that gave ideas to symbols and emphasized the meaning behind them. This included shapes, forms, colors, and lines. It is known as the forefront of modernism. It is a less realistic representation and more surreal account of the artist's vision.
Representative Artists:
Odilon Redon
Gustav Klimt
Gustave Moreau History of Symbolism(ca 1880-1910) -
Post-impressionism
Post-impressionism emerged around 1885 and held sway in the artistic world unitl aroud 1914. Artists aim to make art and emotional experience thorugh the use of symbolism: vibrant colors and captivating forms. It is an exaggerated form of the impressionism that came before. It was intiated by a few independent artists. Paul Cezanne was the oldest of this group. It also included masters like Vincent van Gogh and Paul Gauguin. -
Art Nouveau
The Art Nouveau, meaning 'new art' is an artistic movement that began in the late nineteenth century and is spanned into the first decades of the twentieth century. Techniques popular in this style of art include; mechanical reproduction, such as woodcut, poster, and print.
History of Art Nouveau(1890-1910) -
Fauvism
Fauvism is a mark of the style of les Fauves. This in French means 'the wild beasts'. Qualities of this movement include; vibrant color over realistic values related to impressionism, with bold brushstrokes.
History of Fauvism(ca 1898-1905) -
Expressionism
Emerged simultaneously in various cities across Germany as a response to a widespread anxiety about humanity's increasingly discordant relationship with the world and accompanying lost feelings of authenticity and spirituality. Was inspired most heavily by the Symbolist currents in late-19th-century art. Vincent van Gogh, Edvard Munch, and James Ensor proved particularly influential to the Expressionists, encouraging the distortion of form. Famous pieces are "The Scream" by Edward Munch. -
Cubism
The Cubist art movement started in Paris in 1907, by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque. Cubism is described as one of the most influential movements of the 20th century.
Representative Cubism Artists:
Fernand Leger
Piet Mondrian
Georges Braque
Pablo Picasso (history of cubism) 1908-1914 -
Futurism
The italian futurism art movement can be seen as one of the most politically charged and aggressive art movements of the 20th century. Starting with posting of italian poet Marinetti futurist manifesto the movement sought for the rejuvenation of Italy. It emphasized speed, technology, youth, violence, and objects such as the car, the airplane, and the industrial city. Its key figures were the Italians Marinetti, Boccioni, Carrà, Severini, Balla, and Russolo. It lasted until the late 1920s. -
Constructivism
The last modern art movement to flourish in Russia. It evolved when the Bolsheviks came to power in the October revolution of 1917. It borrowed ideas from Cubism, Suprematism, and Futurism but it was an entirely new approach to making objects. It called for a careful technical analysis of modern materials, and it was hoped that this investigation would eventually lead to ideas for mass production for the modern communist society. The most important pieces are "Textile Design" by Lyubov Popova -
Dada
An artistic and literary movement that began in Zurich, Switzerland. It is considered a reaction to World War I, influenced by other movements such as Cubism, Futurism, Constructivism, and Expressionism. It was found in poetry, photography, sculpture, painting, and collage. It is marked by its mockery of materialistic and nationalistic attitudes, influencing artists in Berlin, Hanover, Paris, and New York. Some of the most important pieces are "Fountain" and "LHOOQ" by Marcel Duchamp. -
Bauhaus
Bauhaus was a school of art, design, and architecture founded in Germany.
Key features include bold primary colors and geometric design. Artists Represented during this movement include:
Laszlo Moholy-Nagy
Oskar Schlemmer
Wassily Kandinsky
Franz Marc
Georg Muche
Paul Klee
history of bauhaus (1919-1930) -
Surrealism
Sought to channel the unconscious as a means to unlock the power of the imagination. Disdaining rationalism and literary realism, and powerfully influenced by psychoanalysis, the Surrealists believed the rational mind repressed the power of the imagination, weighing it down with taboos. Influenced also by Karl Marx, they hoped that the psyche had the power to reveal the contradictions in the everyday world and spur on revolution. Famous pieces are "Battle of Fishes" by Andree Masson. -
Abstract Expressionism
A movement that developed in New York in the 1940's and 1950's. It encompasses not only the work of the painters who filled their canvas with fields or colors and abstract forms but also those who attacked their canvases with gestural expressionism. The works were committed to art as expressions of the self, considered also a legacy of surrealism post-war mood of anxiety and trauma. Some of the most important pieces are "number 1" by Jackson Pollock and "Excavation" by Willem de Kooning. -
Pop Art
It was a time of optimism and post-war and economic boom for many. The subjects of Pop Art were celebrities, comics, cans, condiments and cuisine. Its style was flat, colorful, graphic and commercial like. In the UK Richard Hamilton was amongst the first reference to pop culture using cutouts from American magazines. He was followed by Peter Blake and David Hockney. Together they celebrated and questioned all things american. In America, pop art was a reaction to Abstract Expressionism. -
Minimalism
Minimalism was a rejection of what came before: abstract expressionism. It emerged in New York in the early 1960s as new and older artists moved toward geometric abstraction; exploring via painting in the cases of Frank Stella, Kenneth Noland, Al Held, Ellsworth Kelly, Robert Ryman and others; and sculpture in the works of various artists including David Smith, Anthony Caro, Tony Smith, Sol LeWitt, Carl Andre, Dan Flavin, Donald Judd and others. It lasted unitl 1972.
