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Jan 1, 1486
Renaissance
Sandro Botticelli's early renaissance painting named "The Birth of Venus" is completed after 3 years. This piece of art reflects the appreciation of Greek and Roman scripture by Renaissance artists. The mural depicts the blessing of a newborn goddess who is surrounded by gods and goddesses in a Greek-like setting. -
Baroque
Artemesia Gentileschi depicts the Slaying of Holofernes by Judith. The gory scene is supposed to provoke emotion such as religious sentiment (as here a Jewish King is being murdered). Most works of the day were intended to make people feel the drama and tension of the scenario. At the time, there were more and more anti-Semites and this scene reveals that newfound hatred. (Ex: Jews were blamed for the Plague a century earlier)
Significance: During the Counter-Reformation (triumph for France) -
Northern Realism
High Renaissance art reflected prosperous life in the 17th century. The church's monstrous power was waning and people had more freedoms of culture. The picture above shows an everyday kitchen scene and reveals actual reality rather than exagerated occurences that Baroque art showed. -
Rococo
This mid-18th century form of architecture was focused more-so on interior designing. It is characterized by lighter, whiter colors, elegance, and well-curved pieces. It was meant to be a rebuttal of Louis XIV's Palace of Versailles, which had a Baroque style. The new artform sought to make simpler representations of the world that did not flaunt wealth. Some of the artsmen were Jean Berain and Nicolas Pineau. -
Neoclassicism
Neoclassicism has many important facets to it, but perhaps the most important form of work was its literature. As we see with its architecture, Neoclassicism returned artforms to their ground states (grand statehouses, pillared buildings, more paintings of the divine). The Enlightenment was occurring, and philosophes like Voltaire were writing about rational, common sense philosophies that most people were pondering about in coffeehouses. Voltaire used satire to criticize present institutions. -
Romanticism
The 19th century is most commonly known for the Industrial Revolution and Romantic art. Its music is probably the most acclaimed since Beethoven was one of the famous composers in that day. Forfeiting the status-quo is what 19th century intellectuals did, and the music reflects this individualism. The music was intended to produce emotion from powerful chords and this is just what Beethoven's music did. This movement led to opera and theater as new forms of study and art. -
Victorian Age
Beginning of Queen Victoria's reign in Britain. She was a lavishly spending woman, and settled for only the finest buildings in a gothic style with great ornamentry. Parliament and London hotels have this style. Basically the architecture she had ordered people to make during her reign reflected her taste. But it also did show the modern appreciation for classical revivals. -
Impressionism
Impressionist art was a reflection of a really important idea at the end of the 19th century, perspective. This time frame saw numerous techological advancements and most importantly it contained imperialism. Of course there were so many different ways to comprehend imperialism and give reason to why it was prevalent. People could give their own impression of any topic through artwork and literary point of view. The author of the White Man's Burden poem epitomized perspective. -
Expressionism
Edvard Munch painted the famous "Scream". It depicts a man yelling loudly and his voice is echoing as portrayed in the waves of wind. The man's hands on his face shows him to be utterly shocked as well. A painting like this at the turn of the century was meant to represent the political chaos and how people were overwhelmed with contemporary society. You might also see that the person seems a captive to the guards in the background on the boat... -
Surrealism
Surrealism was the first era of unearthly art. It was characterized by illustrations that could not be real. Salvador Dali painted the famous "Persistence of Memory" that showed how time was melting away. Maybe he was referrencing society on the brink of the second world war. Anyway, fantasy-like paintings represented symbolism of a society yet to figure itself out. -
Cubism
Many say it's the most influential art movement ever. Primarily led by artist Pablo Picasso, Cubism was the first truly geometric artform. It highlighted new interaction of reality and abstract and sort of meshed the two into a skewed but accurate depiction of something. This art reflects society and how it was multi-faceted with the onset of WW2. A kind of confusing vibe was set in the world and Picasso enhanced it. -
Abstract Expressionism
This art movement involved all tangible artforms, whether it be sculpting, painting, etc.. It occurred during a time of democratic triumph and freedom, which of course provided for individualism. The art was made creatively and was intended to make people think and form their own opinions on the piece. Hence they use the term expression to show how any feeling can be produced based off an observation of the art. Some of the artists/sculptors were Gino Severini and Alberto Giacometti.
