The most important art epochs, art movements and styles of modern art
Art epochs and modern styles in art
The imprinting and depiction of a wide variety of art movements are directly related to existing art epochs. They include a broad portfolio ranging from classical art to modern styles.
These currents and expressions of art unfold depending on social and historical conditions, artistic skills and the individual needs, means of expression and foundations that artists make use of. Popular art movements are, for example, expressionism, pop art, abstract art, modern art or cubism.
The formulation of art movements provides an opportunity to classify different modes of expression and currents. Art movements serve above all to highlight the characteristic features of individual styles. The art movement of expressionism, for example, represents an artistic movement that expresses itself through distinctive styles in order to give expression to feelings. Realism as an art movement is in turn characterised by the fact that it adheres directly to the model of nature and does not permit any interpretations of its own.
Art movements were shaped by artists from all over the world who lived through different eras. This is why the criteria of styles in art are so varied and also present themselves in architecture, arts and crafts and graphic design.
Abstract art is a 20th century art movement in the visual arts whose formal language departs from the representational. Colours and forms represent independent elements of arrangement that do not primarily evoke associations with objects. Important main representatives of abstract painting are Kasimir Severinovich Malevich, Jackson Pollock, Wassily Kandinsky, Hans Hartung, Robert Delaunay and Piet Mondrian. Abstract art >> view here
Dadaism is the title of an art protest movement against the war, especially its political and social entanglements. Around 1916, Dadaism flowed from Zurich to Paris and characterised the break with artistic and literary habits. In Dadaism, superficial-causal perspectives in execution and expression were dispensed with in order to do justice to the "madness of the times". Important co-founders and representatives are Hans Arp, Hugo Ball, André Breton, Max Ernst, Tristan Tzara. The Parisian Dadaists later turned partially to Surrealism.
Effectivism is an art movement, primarily in the visual arts, which predominantly aims at the effect of light and shadow. Forms seem to dissolve under the influence. Effectivism often borders on naturalism and impressionism. Conformity with nature and idyll, in it is found the immersion to tranquillity. Representatives of Effectivism are Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio as well as the brothers Georges and Maurice Quentin La Tour.
Expressionism in the visual arts is considered the most important style of the 20th century. Expressionism aims to express spiritual and mental capacity and uses means of expression that are appropriate to the senses. In painting, clear surfaces, division and lines, unbroken colours, anatomical distortions and perspectives alternate, whereas in sculpture cubic forms and strong light contrasts are predominantly relevant. Important precursors are Vincent van Gogh, Paul Cezanne, Edvard Munch and the mavericks Oskar Kokoschka, Max Beckmann and Georges Rouault.
Futurism - artistic movement from 1907 onwards originating in Italy. The main founder was Filippo Tommaso Marinetti. He was joined by Umberto Boccioni, Giacomo Balla, Carlo Carra and the architect Santa. Distancing from academic traditions, technical progress, primarily speed, was idealised.
Impressionism - visual art. A style of modern painting that existed in France from around 1860. The present image of the observed existence determines the style of expression of the subject and becomes the "illusory ground" for painting. Preferred motifs are landscapes with explicit adherence to atmospheres and light conditions. Representative is painting in the open air (plein air painting). The main representatives are Edgar Degas, Claude Monet, Camille Pissarro (1830-1903) and Alfred Sisley (1839-1899).
Informel - also called "art informel" or informal art. Is a period of art between approx. 1945 and 1960 that attempts to make the painting process itself recognisable. In France, this style was also called tachisme. There is a striking connection to abstract expressionism and action painting (artist group CoBrA, Karel Appel and Jackson Pollock).
Jugendstil - also Art nouveau (France) is an art historical style of applied and fine arts between 1895 and 1914. In Austria "Secession style", in England called "modern art". Pioneering stylistic elements are line and surface ornaments of plant forms, especially creeping plant motifs and pragmatic ornamental styles for door arches, exemplified by Paris Metro portals. As an arts and crafts movement with an anti-historical conception, Art Nouveau had a lasting influence on the following styles in architecture, sculpture, painting and graphic art (illustrations). Centres: Paris and Nancy (Émile Gallé), Vienna (Gustav Klimt), Munich (Karl Friedrich Endell, Richard Riemerschmid), Darmstadt (patronage-funded artists' colony) and Brussels.
Kinetic art - inclusion of movement, time and light in the artistic creative process. The precursor of this movement is Futurism. Examples are mobiles (sculptor Alexander Calder), motor-driven projections (Fritz von Graevenitz).
Constructivism - formations from purely geometric structures using representational associations. Important representatives are Naum Gabo, Vladimir Yevgrafovich Tatlin, El Lissitzky, Georges Vantogerloo, Antoine Pevsner.
Cubism - A style of painting that emerged in France around 1907 and was founded by Georges Braque (1882-1963) and Pablo Picasso. The first rudiments of three-dimensional forms, some of which were transferred to the canvas in several views, had already been stylised by Paul Cezanne. Initially, prismatic cubist features were present, but later, from around 1912, the surface was emphasised more strongly.
Naturalism - Exaggeration of realism. Style of fine art in which a striving for lifelike images is explicit.
Photorealism/Hyperrealism - Prominent since the "docomenta" in 1972. Pedantic observation of external conditions by means of greatly enlarged projections of photographs (e.g. metropolitan architecture) also acrylic painting with a spray gun. Gerhard Richter is considered a representative of photorealism, among other things.
Pop Art - Style of modern art, which goes back to Dadaism and emerged in England and America at the end of the 1950s. Everyday motifs, mostly objects and waste products of consumer society, are arranged with provocative intent. Important representatives are James Rosenquist, Roy Lichtenstein, Claes Oldenburg, Andy Warhol, Robert Rauschenberg, George Segal and Tom Wesselmann.Pop Art >> view here <<
Realism - an art movement in painting that emerged in the 19th century, which strove for a more realistic and realistic depiction of social life and the environment, predominantly in the field of fine art (material industrial landscapes, views of the world of work).
Surrealism - is a style of visual art that emerged after the First World War, which originated in Paris and goes back to Dadaism. In painting, it is above all dream worlds that are made vivid. States that exaggerate reality into the unreal, Most important representative: Salvador Dali (1904-1989). Classicist variants, such as those of Giorgio de Chirico, also characterise this style. Parallels can also be found in graphic art and literature. Surrealism sees itself as a significant phenomenon in modern art. Other representatives are Victor Brauner, Max Ernst, André Masson, René Margritte, Yves Tanguy; in America: Arshile Gorky and Roberto Matta (1911-2002).
Symbolism is an artistic movement in 19th and 20th century painting in which the central idea is the expressive enhancement of colour and the simplification of forms. The most important precursors of Symbolism are Odilon Redon, Pierre Bonnard (1867-1947), Édouard Vuillard and Félix Valloton.
Tachisme - is often equated with Informel, both are regarded as counterparts to American "Abstract Expressionism, developed separately in the 1940s, especially in Paris between 1945 and 1960. Sensations are expressed by means of working method (gesture) through spontaneous application of paint on the canvas. Important representatives are Jean Fautrier (1898-1964) and Henri Michaux.
