Art Movements and Time Perionds Prior to the 1600s

Asouthward long as we humans take been able to employ our hands, we accept been creating art. From early on cave paintings to the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, human being artistic expression can tell us a lot about the lives of the people who create information technology. To fully appreciate the cultural, social, and historical significance of different artworks, you need to be aware of the broad fine art history timeline. This article presents an overview of many pregnant eras of art creation and the historical contexts out of which they have risen.

Table of Contents

• ane Art Eras: Where to Begin?
• ii A Cursory Overview of the Fine art Periods Timeline
• 3 A Comprehensive Art Movement Timeline
  • three.i The Romanesque Period (yard-1300): Sharing Data Through Art
  • 3.2 The Gothic Era (1100-1500): Freedom and Fear Come Together
  • 3.3 The Renaissance Era (1420-1520): The Reawakening of an Art Era That Never Really Existed
  • 3.four Mannerism (1520-1600): A Window into the Future of Kitsch
  • three.5 The Baroque Era (1590-1760): The Glorification of Power and the Deception of the Eye
  • 3.6 The Rococo Art Period (1725-1780): Light and Airy, a French Fancy
  • 3.7 Classicism (1770-1840): Throwing Information technology Back to Classic Times
  • iii.8 Romanticism (1790-1850): A Break from the Severity of it All
  • 3.9 Realism (1850-1925): Objectivity over Subjectivity
  • iii.ten Impressionism (1850-1895): Heralding the Era of Mod Art
  • iii.11 Symbolism (1890-1920): There is E'er More than Than Meets the Eye
  • 3.12 Fine art Nouveau (1890-1910): The Pure Gold of Gustav Klimt
  • three.xiii Expressionism (1890-1914): Bringing a Political Edge to the Debate
  • 3.14 Cubism (1906-1914): Breaking Things Autonomously and Putting Them Back Together Again
  • 3.fifteen Futurism (1909-1945): Creative Anarchism
  • 3.sixteen Dadaism (1912-1920): The Truthful Reality That Life is Nonsense
  • 3.17 Surrealism (1920-1930): Things Just Go More Bizzare
  • three.18 The New Objectivity (1925-1965): Common cold and Technical
  • 3.19 Abstract Expressionism (1948-1962): Stepping Abroad from Europe
  • three.twenty Pop-Art (1955-1969): Fine art is Everything
  • iii.21 Neo-Expressionism (1980-1989): Modern Fine art

Art Eras: Where to Brainstorm?

As long as humankind has been conscious of itself, it has been creating fine art to represent this cocky. The earliest cave paintings that nosotros are enlightened of were created roughly 40,000 years agone. We have found paintings and drawings of act from the Paleolithic Era under rocks and in caves. We cannot truly know the reason why these early humans began to produce art. Perhaps painting and drawing were a fashion to record their lived experiences, to tell stories to young children, or to pass down wisdom from one generation to the side by side.

These prehistoric rock paintings are in Manda Guéli Cave in the Ennedi Mountains, Chad, Central Africa. Camels accept been painted over earlier images of cattle, perhaps reflecting climatic changes;David Stanley from Nanaimo, Canada, CC By two.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Although we have these exquisite examples of early artistic expression, the official history of art periods only begins with the Romanesque Era. Official art era timelines do not include cave paintings, sculptures, and other works of art from the stone historic period or the beautiful frescos produced in Arab republic of egypt and Crete in around 2000 BC. The reason behind this decision is that these early eras of artistic expression were jump to a relatively small geographical space. The official fine art eras that we will be discussing today, in contrast, span across many countries, often all of Europe and sometimes Due north and South America.

Despite their lack of official recognition, these earliest examples of man artistic flair raise a lot of interesting questions. Why is information technology that the animals depicted in cave paintings are so much more realistic and vivid than the animals represented in later eras?

This commodity hopes to requite y'all some insight into the ever-changing artistic fashion of the human creative listen as nosotros explore the complexities of the different fine art periods.

A Brief Overview of the Art Periods Timeline

As with many areas of human history, it is impossible to delineate the different art periods with precision. The dates presented in the brackets below are approximations based on the progression of each move beyond several countries. Many of the fine art periods overlap considerably, with some of the more recent eras occurring at the same fourth dimension. Some eras final for a few one thousand years while others span less than 10. Fine art is a continuous process of exploration, where more recent periods grow out of existing ones.

Art Period	Years
Romanesque	k – 1150
Gothic	1140 – 1600
Renaissance	1495 – 1527
Mannerism	1520 – 1600
Bizarre	1600 – 1725
Rococo	1720 – 1760
Neoclassicism	1770 – 1840
Romanticism	1800 – 1850
Realism	1840 – 1870
Pre-Raphaelite	1848 – 1854
Impressionism	1870 – 1900
Naturalism	1880 – 1900
Post-Impressionism	1880 – 1920
Symbolism	1880 – 1910
Expressionism	1890 – 1939
Art Noveau	1895 – 1915
Cubism	1905 – 1939
Futurism	1909 – 1918
Dadaism	1912 – 1923
New Objectivity	1918 – 1933
Precisionism	1920 – 1950
Art Deco	1920 – 1935
Bauhaus	1920 – 1925
Surrealism	1924 – 1945
Abstract Expressionism	1945 – 1960
Popular-Fine art / Op Fine art	1956 – 1969
Arte Povera	1960 – 1969
Minimalism	1960 – 1975
Photorealism	1968 – at present
Lowbrow Pop Surrealism	1970 – now
Contemporary Art	1978 – at present

It may seem strange for our account of the art menses timeline to stop 30 years ago. The concept of an art era seems inadequate to capture the diversity of artistic styles that accept grown since the plough of the 21st Century. There is a feeling among some fine art historians that the traditional concept of painting has died in our era of fast-track living. We exercise not take this stance. Instead, we continue to share our unique human experiences through the medium of art, just equally the cavern people did, outside of our modern system of classification.

Biergarten (c. 1915) by Max Liebermann;Max Liebermann, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

A Comprehensive Art Movement Timeline

Information technology is time to dive a little deeper into the social, cultural, and historical contexts of each of the singled-out art eras we presented higher up. Y'all volition see how many eras take influence from those before them. Art, like human consciousness, is continuously evolving. It is also important to notation that this art timeline is a history of Western and predominantly European fine art.

The Romanesque Period (1000-1300): Sharing Data Through Art

Art historians typically consider the Romanesque art era to be the first of the art history timeline. Romanesque art developed during the rise of Christianity ca. 1000 AD. During this time, only a pocket-size percentage of the European population were literate. The ministers of the Christian church were typically office of this minority, and to spread the message of the bible, they needed an alternative method.

Christian objects, stories, deities, saints, and ceremonies were the exclusive subject of most Romanesque paintings. Intended to teach the masses about the values and beliefs of the Christian Church, Romanesque paintings had to exist simple and easy to read.

As a result, Romanesque works of art are uncomplicated, with assuming contours and clean areas of color. Romanesque paintings lack whatever depth of perspective, and the imagery is rarely of natural scenes. At that place were several unlike forms that Romanesque paintings could accept, including wall paintings, mosaics, panel paintings, and volume paintings.

Due to the Christian purpose behind Romanesque paintings, they are about e'er symbolic. The relative importance of the figures within the paintings is shown by the size, with the more important figures appearing much larger. Y'all tin can see that human faces are often distorted, and the stories depicted in these paintings tend to accept a high emotional value. Romanesque paintings often include mythological creatures like dragons and angels, and nearly always announced in churches.

At the almost key level, paintings of the Romanesque catamenia serve the purpose of spreading the discussion of the bible and Christianity. The name of this art era stems from round arches used in Roman architecture, frequently plant in churches of the time.

Altar frontal from Avià, c. 1200; Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The Gothic Era (1100-1500): Freedom and Fright Come up Together

I of the nigh famous eras, Gothic art grew out of the Romanesque menstruation in French republic and is an expression of ii contrasting feelings of the historic period. On the one hand, people were experiencing and jubilant a new level of freedom of idea and religious agreement. On the other, there was a fearfulness that the world was coming to an cease. You tin can clearly see the expression of these two contrasting tensions within the art of the Gothic period.

Simply as in the Romanesque period, Christianity lay at the heart of the tensions of the Gothic era. As more freedom of thought emerged, and many pushed against conformity, the subjects of paintings became more than diverse. The stronghold of the church building began to dissipate.

Gothic paintings portrayed scenes of real human life, such as working in the fields and hunting. The focus moved abroad from divine beings and mystical creatures every bit more than focus was given to the intricacies of what it meant to be human being.

Man figures received a lot more attending during the Gothic period. Gothic artists fleshed out more realistic human faces as they became more individual, less two-dimensional, and less inanimate. The development of a iii-dimensional perspective is thought to have facilitated this change. Painters also paid more attention to things of personal value similar article of clothing, which they painted realistically with cute folds.

The Raising of Lazarus(1310-1311) by Duccio di Buoninsegna;Duccio di Buoninsegna, Public domain, via Wikimedia Eatables

Many historians believe that part of the reason why the subjects of art became more diverse during the Gothic era was due to the increased surface area for painting inside churches. Gothic churches were more expansive than those of the Romanesque flow, which is thought to correspond the increased feelings of freedom at this time.

Aslope the newfound freedom of artistic expression, there was a deep fright that the end of the world was coming. It is suggested that this was accompanied by a gradual reject in religion in the church, and this in turn may have spurred the expansion of fine art outside of the church. In fact, towards the end of the Gothic era, works by Hieronymus von Bosch, Breughel, and others were unsuitable for placement within a church.

We do non know many private artists who painted in the Romanesque menstruum, as art was not about who painted it but rather the bulletin it carried. Thus, the movement abroad from the church tin can besides exist seen in the enormous increment in known artists from the Gothic period, including Giotto di Bondone. Schools of art began to emerge throughout French republic, Italy, Deutschland, the Netherlands, and other parts of Europe.

The Renaissance Era (1420-1520): The Reawakening of an Art Era That Never Really Existed

The Renaissance era is maybe ane of the most well-known, featuring artists similar Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci. This era continued to focus on the individual homo as its inspiration and took influence from the art and philosophy of the ancient Romans and Greeks. The Renaissance can exist seen every bit a cultural rebirth.

A part of this cultural rebirth was the returned focus on the natural and realistic world in which humans lived. The three-dimensional perspective became even more of import to the art of the Renaissance, as is aptly demonstrated by Michelangelo'south statue ofDavid.This statue harkened back to the works of the ancient Greeks as it was consciously created to be seen from all angles. Statues of the last ii eras had been two-dimensional, intended to be viewed only from the front.

Michelangelo'due south David (1501-1504); Livioandronico2013, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The same three-dimensional perspective carried over into the paintings of the Renaissance era. Frescos that were invented around 3000 years prior were given new life by Renaissance painters. Scenes became more circuitous, and the representation of humans became much more nuanced. Renaissance artists painted human bodies and faces in three dimensions with a strong emphasis on realism. The paint used during the Renaissance period as well represented a shift from tempera paints to oil paints. The Renaissance period is often credited equally the very outset of corking Dutch landscape paintings.

Mannerism (1520-1600): A Window into the Future of Kitsch

Of course, this heading is partly in jest. Non all of the art produced in this era is what we would sympathise today as "kitsch". What we understand kitsch to mean today is often bogus, cheaply made, and without much 'archetype' gustation. Instead, the reason we draw the fine art of this period equally being kitsch is due to the relative over-exaggeration that characterized it. Stemming from the newfound freedom of human being expression in the Renaissance period, artists began to explore their own unique and individual artistic mode, or way.

Michelangelo himself, in fact, is non gratuitous from the exaggeration that distinguishes this era. Some art historians do not consider some of his later paintings to be works of the Renaissance period. The expression of feelings and human being gestures, even items of clothing, is exaggerated deliberately in mannerist paintings.

The pocket-size S-curve of the human body that characterizes the Renaissance style is transformed into an unnatural angle of the body. This is the first European style that attracted artists from across Europe to its birthplace in Italy.

Madonna with Long Neck (1534-1540) by Parmigianino;Parmigianino, Public domain, via Wikimedia Eatables

The Baroque Era (1590-1760): The Glorification of Power and the Deception of the Heart

The progression of art jubilant the lives of humans over the power of the divine connected into the Baroque era. Kings, princes, and even popes began to prefer to see their ain ability and prestige celebrated through fine art than that of God. The over-exaggeration that classified Mannerism likewise continued into the Baroque menstruum, with the scenes of paintings becoming increasingly unrealistic and magnificent.

Baroque paintings ofttimes showed scenes where Kings would be ascending into the heavens, mingling with the angels, and reaching ever closer to the divinity and power of God. Here, we actually can meet the progression of human cocky-importance, and although the subject field thing does not move away entirely from religious symbolism, human is increasingly the central ability within the compositions.

New materials that glorify wealth and condition like golden and marble go the prized materials for sculptures. Opposites of lite and nighttime, warm and cold colors, and symbols of good and evil are emphasized across what is naturally occurring. Art academies increased in their numbers, as art became a way to display your wealth, power, and status.

Baroque ceiling frescoes of Cathedral in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Work of Italian master Giulio Quaglio in 1703–1706 and later 1721–1723;Petar Milošević, CC By-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The Rococo Art Period (1725-1780): Light and Airy, a French Fancy

The paintings from the Rococo era are typical of the French elite of the time. The name stems from the French word rocaille which means "shellwork". The solid forms which characterized the Baroque period softened into lite, air, and want. Paintings of this era were no longer strong and powerful, but low-cal and playful.

The colors were lighter and brighter, well-nigh transparent in some instances. Many pieces of art from this period neglected religious themes, although some artists like Tiepolo did create frescos in many churches.

Much like the attitude of the French elite of the time, the art of the Rococo flow is totally removed from the social reality. The shepherd'due south idyll became the theme of this flow, representing life as low-cal and carefree, without the constraints of economical or social hardship.

Classicism (1770-1840): Throwing It Back to Classic Times

Classicism, like the Rococo era, began in France in effectually 1770. In contrast to the Rococo era, nonetheless, Classism reverted to before, more serious styles of artistic expression. Much like the Renaissance period, Classisim took inspiration from classic Roman and Greek art.

The fine art created in the Classicism era reverted to strict forms, two-dimensional colors, and human being figures. The tone of these paintings was undoubtedly strict. Colors lost their symbolism. The art produced in this era was used internationally to instill feelings of patriotism in the people of each nation. Parts of Classicism include Louis-Sieze, Empire, and Biedermeier.

A Childhood Idyll (1900) by William Bouguereau;William-Adolphe Bouguereau, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Romanticism (1790-1850): A Break from the Severity of it All

You lot can see from the dates that this fine art era occurred at around the same fourth dimension equally Classicism. Romanticism is frequently seen as an emotionally charged reaction to the stern nature of Classicism. In dissimilarity to the strict and realistic nature of the Classicism era, the paintings of the Romantic era were much more sentimental.

The exploration of the intangible; emotions and the subconscious, took eye-stage. Effectually this time, people began to go hiking in an endeavour to explore the natural earth. It was not, notwithstanding, the true reality of the natural world which they intended to find, only the way it made them feel.

At that place is no tangible or precisely determinable style to the fine art of the Romanticism period. English and French painters tended to focus on the effects of shadows and lights, while the art produced by German painters tended to accept more than gravity of thought to them. The Romantic painters were oft criticized and fifty-fifty mocked for their interpretation of the world around them.

Realism (1850-1925): Objectivity over Subjectivity

As the Romanticism era was a reactionary motion to the Classicism menses earlier information technology, so is Realism a reaction to Romanticism. In contrast to the beautiful and securely emotional content of Romantic paintings, Realist artists presented both the proficient and beautiful, the ugly and evil. The reality of the world is presented in an unembellished way by Realism painters.

These artists effort to show the globe, people, nature, and animals, as they truly are. At that place is a focus on the "obligation of art into truth" as Gustave Courbet puts it.

Just as with Romanticism, Realism was not popular with everyone. The paintings are not particularly pleasing to the middle and some critics accept commented that despite the artist's claims of realism, erotic scenes somehow miss the real eroticism. Goethe criticizes Realism, maxim that art should be ideal, not realistic. Schiller too calls Realism "hateful," indicating the harshness that many of the paintings portray.

Proudhon and His Children(1865) by Gustave Courbet; Gustave Courbet, Public domain, via Wikimedia Eatables

Impressionism (1850-1895): Heralding the Era of Modern Art

Historians oftentimes paint the Impressionist movement as the beginning of the mod age. Impressionist art is said to have airtight the book on classical music and other classical forms of art. Impressionism is also peradventure, later Cubism, one of the most hands recognizable art periods. Featuring artists like Claude Monet and Vincent van Gough, Impressionism broke away from the shine brush strokes and areas of solid color that characterized many art periods before information technology.

Initially, the give-and-take Impressionism was like a swear discussion in the fine art globe, with critics believing that these artists did not paint with technique, but rather simply smeared pigment onto a canvass. The brushstrokes indeed were a meaning departure from those that came earlier them, sometimes becoming furiously wild. Distinct shapes and lines disappeared into a cyclone of colors. Private dots of completely new colors were put together, particularly in the pointillism diverseness of Impressionist paintings. The subjects of Impressionist paintings could often merely be recognized from a altitude.

View of Vetheuil sur Seine(1880) past Claude Monet;Claude Monet, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

A meaning alter that occurred during the Impressionist era was that painting began to take place "en-plein-air," or outside. Much of the Impressionist artist'due south ability to capture the complex and ever-changing colors of the natural world were a result of this shift.

Impressionist artists also began to motion abroad from the desire to lecture and teach, preferring to create fine art for art'south sake. Galleries and international exhibitions became increasingly important.

Symbolism (1890-1920): There is Always More Than Meets the Middle

During this catamenia, the era of Symbolism began to take hold in France. Artists became preoccupied with the representation of feelings and thoughts through objects. The favorite themes of the Symbolism move were death, sickness, sin, and passion. The forms were by and large clear, a fact which art historians believe was anticipating the Art Nouveau era.

Fine art Nouveau (1890-1910): The Pure Aureate of Gustav Klimt

Although Gustav Klimt was by no means the almost important artist in the Fine art Nouveau motility, he is i of the most well-known. His style perfectly encapsulates the Art Nouveau motility with soft, curved lines, lots of florals, and the stylistic characterization of human figures. In many countries, this style is known every bit the Secession style.

The Kiss (1907-1908) by Gustav Klimt;Gustav Klimt, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The art produced in the Art Nouveau period includes a lot of symmetry and is characterized by playfulness and youthfulness. Art Nouveau has a lot of political content, although many critics ignore this and hold the decorative aspects confronting it. Through the art of the Art Nouveau menstruum, artists attempted to bring nature back into industrial cities.

Expressionism (1890-1914): Bringing a Political Border to the Debate

In the Expressionism art era, we once once more see a resurgence of the importance of the expression of subjective feelings. The artists within this movement were not interested in naturalism or what things look similar on the outside. Equally a effect, there is a sure tinge of aggression in some Expressionist paintings, which are often archaic and slightly wild.

Expressionism originated in Germany and is intended to contrast Impressionism. Towards the beginning of the Beginning World State of war, Expressionist paintings had a agonizing intensity almost them. Intended to criticize power and the continuing social society, Expressionism spread these political ideas through the medium of paint. Art was starting time to become political.

Cubism (1906-1914): Breaking Things Apart and Putting Them Back Together Once more

Beginning with two artists, Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, the Cubist movement was all almost fragmentation, geometric shapes, and multiple perspectives. The dimensional planes of everyday objects were broken downwardly into dissimilar geometric segments and put back together in a way that presented the object from multiple sides simultaneously.

Cubism was a rejection of all the rules of traditional western painting and has had a potent influence on the styles of art that accept followed it.

Guitar and Glasses (1912) by Juan Gris;Juan Gris, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Futurism (1909-1945): Creative Riot

Futurism is less of an artistic style and more than of an artistically inspired political movement. Founded by Tommaso Marinetti'sFuturist Manifesto, which rejected social organization and Christian morality, the Futurist era was full of anarchy, hostility, aggression, and anger. Although Marinetti was not a painter himself, painting became the most prominent form of art inside the Futurist motility.

These artists vehemently rejected the rules of Classical painting, believing that everything that was passed through generations (beliefs, traditions, faith) was suspicious and dangerous. The militant nature of the Futurist motility has resulted in many people believing that it was too close to fascism.

Dadaism (1912-1920): The True Reality That Life is Nonsense

Dada ways a great many things and nada at all. The writer Hugo Ball discovered that this minor word has several dissimilar meanings in different languages and at the aforementioned fourth dimension, as a word, it meant nothing at all. The Dadaism motility is based on the concepts of illogic and provocation and was seen as non only an art movement, but an anti-war movement.

The illogic of existing rules, norms, traditions, and values was chosen into question by the Dadaist movement. The art movement encompassed several art forms including writing, poesy, dance, and performance art. Role of the move was to call into question what could be classified as "fine art".

Dadaism represents the ancestry of action art in which painting becomes more than just a portrait of reality, merely rather an amalgamation of the social, cultural, and subjective parts of being man.

Surrealism (1920-1930): Things Just Get More Bizzare

As if the pure illogic nature of the Dadaism movement was non outlandish enough, the Surrealists took the dream globe to exist the fountain of all truth. One of the well-nigh famous Surrealist artists is Salvador Dali, and y'all are leap to know his painting Melting Watch (1954).

Surrealism is fundamentally psychoanalytical, and many Surrealist artists would paint directly from their dreams. Sometimes dealing with uncomfortable concepts, hidden desires, and taboos, Surrealism was a directly critique of the ingrained ideas and behavior of the bourgeoise. As y'all can imagine, this style of fine art was not popular when information technology began, simply it has greatly influenced the world of modern art.

Space and time (in homage to L.V. Beethoven) (1974) past Italian painter William Girometti;William Girometti, CC BY-SA iii.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The New Objectivity (1925-1965): Common cold and Technical

As the surrealists were attempting to move abroad from the earth of physical, concrete, and visible objects, the New Objectivity movement turned towards these ideas. Many of the themes within New Objective fine art were social critiques. The turbulence of the state of war left many people searching for some kind of club to hold onto, and this can be seen clearly in the art of New Objectivity.

The images represented in New Objectivity were ofttimes common cold, unemotional, and technical, with some favorite subjects beingness the radio and lightbulbs. As is the case with many modern movements in art, there were several unlike wings to the New Objectivity movement.

Abstract Expressionism (1948-1962): Stepping Away from Europe

Abstract Expressionism is said to be the beginning art motion to originate outside of Europe. Emerging from North America, Abstract Expressionism focused on colour-field painting and action paintings. Rather than using a canvas and a brush, buckets of paint would be poured on the basis, and artists used their fingers to create images.

With well-known artists like Marc Tobey and Jackson Pollock, this art motion was distinct from any that came before information technology. The application of the pigment was sometimes so thick that the finished piece would accept on a course different whatever painting earlier it. Abstract Expressionism spread throughout Europe. As with all fine art, at that place are ever critics, with bourgeois Americans during the cold war calling it "un-American."

Pop-Fine art (1955-1969): Art is Everything

For the artists of Popular-Art, everything in the world was art. From advertisements, tin cans, toothpaste, and toilets,everythingis fine art. Pop-Art adult simultaneously in the United States and England and is characterized by uniform blocks of colour and clear lines and contours. Painting and graphic art became influenced past photorealism and serial prints. One of the most famous English Popular artists is David Hockney, although only a few of his lifetime paintings were in this movement.

A detail of Roy Lichtenstein's Wall Explosion 2, 1965; Colin McLaughlin, CC Past-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Neo-Expressionism (1980-1989): Modern Fine art

Starting in the 1980s, Neo-Expressionism emerged with large-format representational and life-affirming paintings. Berlin was a primal point for this new movement, and the designs typically featured cities and big-city life. The name Neo-Expressionism emerged from Fauvism, and although the artists in Berlin disbanded in 1989, some artists continued to paint in this style in New York.

Art is a central part of what it means to exist human. Many of the troubles and joys we experience tin merely exist captured accurately through artistic expression. We hope that this short summary of the fine art periods timeline has helped you gain some more than insight into the contexts surrounding some of the most famous works of art created by the homo race.

We've also created a web story about fine art periods.

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Source: https://artincontext.org/art-periods/

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