ARTISTS, MOVEMENTS AND STYLES IN WESTERN ART (330-

1600)

BYZANTINE ART
(C.330-1450)

BYZANTINE MOSAIC - Sant'Apollinare Nuovo, Ravenna, Italy

Detail of 'Christ Dressed as a Byzantine Emperor', 6th
century

Byzantine Art developed when Constantine the Great

relocated the capital of the Roman Empire to the Greek city
of Byzantium in AD 330. Byzantium, later known as
Constantinople and more recently as Istanbul, was the
gateway between Asia and Europe.
As a consequence of its location, Byzantine art evolved as a
cultural mix of styles from the east and west. Christianity
became the official religion of the Roman Empire after the
conversion of Constantine and it was the duty of the
Emperor to unite the faith across the empire by bringing the
various heretical groups into line and standardizing Christian
teaching. Therefore the form of Byzantine art was strictly
controlled to eliminate any personalized or unorthodox
interpretation of its imagery. Its fixed conventions were a
reflection of the unalterable nature of Christian teaching.

The three main forms of Byzantine art were the large scale
mosaics used to decorate the walls and interior domes of
Byzantine churches, the smaller scale religious icons which
were portable panel paintings of Christ and the Blessed
Virgin, and the illuminated manuscripts from the Gospels
and other religious texts. Byzantine figures were stylized in
a frontal and symbolic format, inviting spiritual worship and
offering protection to the devout.

The Byzantine empire lasted until the fall of Constantinople

to the Ottomans in 1453 and marks the end of the Roman
Empire.

GOTHIC ART
(C.1150-1400)
 CIMABUE (1240-1302)
'Maestà (Majesty)', c.1280- 85 (tempera on panel)

Gothic Art defines much of the late medieval art that grew

out of the Byzantine and Romanesque traditions. These were
very formal artistic traditions with rigorous religious
conventions that limited the personal creativity of the artist.
At this time, the quality of an artwork was judged by the
richness of the materials used to create it and the skill with
which they were applied.
Gothic art is distinguished from its predecessors by an
increasing naturalism in the shape and posture of the
figures, and an expressive use of line, pattern and color,
allowing the artist more freedom of interpretation. Gothic art
started in 13th century Italy and developed throughout
Europe until the 15th century.

The term ‘Gothic’, originally related to the barbarity of the

Gothic tribes (the Ostrogoths and Visigoths) in their
destruction of the art of Ancient Rome. It was first coined by
16th century Italian Renaissance critics as a term of abuse
for various developments in medieval art and architecture
up to the start of the 14th century.

INTERNATIONAL GOTHIC
(C.1375-1425)
 GENTILE DA FABRIANO (c.1370-1427)
'The Adoration of the Magi', 1423 (tempera on panel)

International Gothic is the term used to describe the

transition of styles across Northern Europe and Italy during
the period between Byzantine Art, Late Gothic Art and Early
Renaissance art.

International Gothic was an elegant, detailed and decorative

style that comprised miniatures, illuminated manuscripts
and ornate religious altarpieces. These artworks were
populated by more natural and sensual figures than their
Byzantine and Gothic counterparts, but were still composed
within the flattened pictorial space common to all Gothic art
before the development of perspective drawing in the 15th
century.
 

Gothic and International Gothic Art Slideshow

THE EARLY RENAISSANCE

(C.1300-1450)

MASACCIO (c.1401-1428)
'The Tribute Money', 1426 (fresco)

The Early Renaissance was the period of artistic

development in Italy when art broke away from the rigid
Byzantine and Gothic traditions to develop a more
naturalistic approach to drawing and the organization of
figures within a landscape. The roots of these changes lay in
the more solid rendering of form and the gestural narratives
of Giotto's painting. A more precise way of rendering depth
was gradually developed through the creative application of
perspective drawing in the work of artists such as Masaccio,
Uccello, Fra Angelico and Piero della Francesca.

Early Renaissance Art Slideshow

THE HIGH RENAISSANCE

(C.1480-1520)
 LEONARDO DA VINCI (1452-1519)
'The Madonna of the Rocks', 1483-86 (oil on panel)

The High Renaissance marks the pinnacle of artistic

development in Italian art of the late 14th, 15th and early
16th centuries. The word 'Renaissance' means 'rebirth' - a
rebirth of the classical ideals from Ancient Rome and
Greece.

The great artists of the High Renaissance were Leonardo da

Vinci and Michelangelo Buonarroti from Florence, Raphael
Sanzio from Umbria, and Titian (Tiziano Vecellio) and
Tintoretto (Jacopo Robusti) from Venice. They painted
artworks of unprecedented skill and beauty and were
responsible for raising the status of the artist in society from
the level of artisan to an intellectual plane on a par with
writers, philosophers and scientists. These great masters
achieved what artists had aspired to since the Early
Renaissance: a revival of the classical ideals of beauty and
form; an anatomical and scientific accuracy in drawing; a
sensual and psychological response to color and
composition, and an acceptance and appreciation of
classical content as the subject matter for art.

MANNERISM
(C. 1520-1580)
 BRONZINO (Agnolo di Cosimo) (1503-1572)
'Portrait of Laura Battiferri', 1555 (oil on canvas)

Mannerism is a 20th century term that was used to describe

several exaggerated or mannered styles of art that evolved
towards the end of the High Renaissance. Mannerist artists
valued a personal and idealized response to beauty over the
classical ideal of ‘truth to nature’. The more robust qualities
of Mannerism are found in the exaggerated physiques and
contorted figures from the late work of Michelangelo,
Raphael, Tintoretto and El Greco. A more refined response
to the Mannerist style is seen in the elegant and elongated
figures from the paintings of Agnolo Bronzino, Parmigianino
and Jacopo Pontormo.

High Renaissance and Mannerist Art Slideshow

THE NORTHERN RENAISSANCE

(C.1420-1520)
 ALBRECHT DÜRER (1471-1528)
'Self Portrait', 1500 (oil on wood panel)

The Northern Renaissance is the term given to the art of

north and west Europe during the Italian Renaissance.

In the 15th century, art in the north was still linked to the
Gothic tradition but rendered with an exquisite naturalistic
detail in the new medium of oil paints. Flanders was the
main focus of artistic activity with Flemish artists such as
Robert Campin, Rogier van der Weyden, Hugo van der Goes
and Jan van Eyck.

In the 16th century the Gothic influence had its final say in
the art of Hieronymus Bosch and Matthias Grünewald.
Gradually the influence of the Italian Renaissance took hold,
particularly in the work of Albrecht Dürer which offered a
Protestant challenge to the authority of the Catholic Church.

ARTISTS, MOVEMENTS AND STYLES IN WESTERN ART (1600-

1880)

BAROQUE ART
(C.1600-1700)

CARAVAGGIO (1571-1610)
'David with the Head of Goliath', 1610 (oil on canvas)

Baroque was a reaction against the artificial stylization of Mannerism. It spread

throughout Europe during the 17th century. Among the great Baroque masters
were the Italian painter Caravaggio and sculptor Bernini, the Flemish artist
Rubens, Velazquez from Spain, and Rembrandt, the greatest of all Dutch
painters.

Baroque art is identified by realistic subjects that depict spectacular action and
generate powerful emotions. Religious, mystical and historical subjects, which
were often propaganda for the Church or State, were brought to life with
characters in contemporary clothing, by naturalistic painting of outstanding
virtuosity, dramatic lighting (chiaroscuro) and bold asymmetric and diagonal
compositions.

ROCOCO ART
(C.1700-1775)

JEAN HONORÉ FRAGONARD (1732-1806)

'The Progress of Love - The Meeting', 1773 (oil on canvas)
Rococo is a term that derives from the French word ‘rocaille’ which means
rock-work, referring to a style of interior decoration that swirls with
arrangements of curves and scrolls. The style was essentially French but spread
throughout Europe.

As Mannerism was a stylistic reaction to Renaissance art, so Rococo was a

decorative response to the realism of Baroque. While some authorities consider
Rococo to be a refined, elegant, and allegorical style, others judge it as
pompous, indulgent and pretentious.

Notable Rococo artists were Watteau, Boucher and Fragonard in France, Tiepolo,
Guardi and Canaletto in Italy, and to some extent Hogarth in England.

Baroque and Rococo Art Slideshow

DUTCH ART
(C.1620-1670)
 JAN VERMEER (1632-1675) 
'The Milkmaid', 1658-61 (oil on canvas)

Dutch Art has become famous for its still lifes, portraits, landscapes, interiors
and genre painting. With the spread of Protestantism in Holland and the
rejection of Catholic Baroque, Dutch artists had to focus on a more limited
range of secular subjects to which there were no objections on religious
grounds. Consequently, artists tended to specialize more narrowly, often in one
subject. For example, Willem Kalf painted still lifes, Frans Hals portraits, Jacob
van Ruisdael landscapes, and Jan Vermeer was the outstanding genre painter.
The exception was Rembrandt, the greatest of the Dutch masters whose genius
is evident through a range media and subjects that capture the essence of the
human condition.

 
 Dutch Art Slideshow

NEOCLASSICISM
(C.1765-1850)

JACQUES LOUIS DAVID (1748-1825) 

'Napoleon Crossing the Alps', 1801 (oil on canvas)

Neoclassicism was a reaction against the pomposity of Rococo. This was the

Age of the Enlightenment and political, social and cultural revolution were in
the air. Artists needed a serious art for serious times and once again they
looked back to the art of Antiquity as their model. Inspired by the
archaeological discoveries at Herculaneum and Pompeii, Neoclassicism had a
historical accuracy that earlier classical revivals lacked. Historical scenes of
heroism and virtue were used as patriotic propaganda or allegories on
contemporary circumstances. Jacques Louis David and Jean Auguste Dominique
Ingres were the outstanding virtuosos of Neoclassical painting.

ROMANTICISM
(C.1765-1850)

JOSEPH MALLORD WILLIAM TURNER (1775-1851)

'The Fighting Temeraire', 1839 (oil on canvas)

Romanticism valued the expression of emotion over the control of Classicism.

This was achieved through spectacular painting technique and the choice of
emotive and sensual subjects which often commemorated dramatic
contemporary and historical events. In France, Delacroix and Géricault were the
pioneers of Romanticism; in England, it was Turner and Constable; in Germany,
Caspar David Friedrich and in Spain, Goya.

 
 Neoclassicism and Romanticism Slideshow

REALISM
(C.1840-1880)

GUSTAVE COURBET (1819-1877)

'Apples and a Pomegranate', 1871 (oil on canvas)

Realism was a French style of painting that focused on the everyday reality of a

subject, warts and all. Realist artists such as Millet, Corot, Courbet and Manet
reacted against the heightened emotions of Romanticism. They sought an
objective truth that reflected the social realities of the common man in his
natural environment. Realism was also inspired by a new exploration of 'visual
reality' that followed the invention of photography around 1840.
 

THE PRE-RAPHAELITES
(C.1848-1854)

DANTE GABRIEL ROSSETTI (1828-1882)

'La Ghirlandata', 1873 (oil on canvas)

The Pre-Raphaelites were a brotherhood of young English artists who created

artworks that were a blend of Realism and Symbolism. Dissatisfied with the art
of their own time they rebelled against the 'Grand Manner',  the artificial
Mannerist tradition that stretched back to Raphael. They drew inspiration from
the Early Renaissance (before Raphael), when artists explored the ideal of 'truth
to nature'. The Pre-Raphaelites painted all their works from direct observation
with meticulous detail and vibrant colors. They drew their subjects from the
Bible, Dante, Shakespeare and contemporary poetry usually with an idealized
medieval theme. The founding members of the group were John Everett Millais,
William Holman Hunt and Dante Gabriel Rossetti.

ARTISTS, MOVEMENTS AND STYLES IN MODERN ART (1870-

1930)

IMPRESSIONISM
(C.1870-1890)

CLAUDE MONET (1840-1926)

'Rouen Cathedral in Full Sunlight', 1893-94 (oil on canvas)
Impressionism is the name given to a colorful style of painting in France at the
end of the 19th century. The Impressionists searched for a more exact analysis
of the effects of color and light in nature. They sought to capture the
atmosphere of a particular time of day or the effects of different weather
conditions. They often worked outdoors and applied their paint in small
brightly colored strokes which meant sacrificing much of the outline and detail
of their subject. Impressionism abandoned the conventional idea that the
shadow of an object was made up from its color with some brown or black
added. Instead, the Impressionists enriched their colors with the idea that a
shadow is broken up with dashes of its complementary color.

Among the most important Impressionist painters were Claude Monet, Pierre

Auguste Renoir, Edgar Degas, Camille Pissarro, Alfred Sisley and Henri de
Toulouse Lautrec.

POST IMPRESSIONISM
(C.1885-1905)
 VINCENT VAN GOGH (1853-90)
'Café Terrace at Night', 1888 (oil on canvas)

Post Impressionism was not a particular style of painting. It was the collective

title given to the works of a few independent artists at the end of the 19th
century. The Post Impressionists rebelled against the limitations of
Impressionism to develop a range of personal styles that influenced the
development of art in the 20th century. The major artists associated with Post
Impressionism were Paul Cézanne, Paul Gauguin, Vincent Van Gogh and
Georges Seurat.

Cézanne was an important influence on Picasso and Braque in their

development of Cubism. Van Gogh's vigorous and vibrant painting technique
was one of the touchstones of both Fauvism and Expressionism, while
Gauguin's symbolic color and Seurat's pointillist technique were an inspiration
to 'Les Fauves'.

 
 Impressionism and Post Impressionism Slideshow

FAUVISM
(1905-1910)

HENRI MATISSE (1869-1954)

'The Open Window, Collioure', 1905 (oil on canvas)

Fauvism was a joyful style of painting that delighted in using outrageously bold

colors. It was developed in France at the beginning of the 20th century by Henri
Matisse and André Derain. The artists who painted in this style were known
as 'Les Fauves' (the wild beasts), a title that came from a sarcastic remark in a
review by the art critic Louis Vauxcelles.

'Les Fauves' believed that color should be used at its highest pitch to express
the artist's feelings about a subject, rather than simply to describe what it looks
like. Fauvist paintings have two main characteristics: extremely simplified
drawing and intensely exaggerated color. Fauvism was a major influence on
German Expressionism.

 GERMAN EXPRESSIONISM
(1905-1925)

ERNST LUDWIG KIRCHNER (1880-1938)

'The Red Tower at Halle', 1915 (oil on canvas)
German Expressionism is a style of art that is charged with an emotional or
spiritual vision of the world. The expressive paintings of Vincent Van Gogh and
Edvard Munch influenced the German Expressionists. They also drew their
inspiration from German Gothic and 'primitive art'. The Expressionists were
divided into two factions: Die Brücke and Der Blaue Reiter.

Die Brücke (The Bridge) was an artistic community of young artists in Dresden

who aimed to overthrow the conservative traditions of German art. Ernst Ludwig
Kirchner and Karl Schmidt-Rottluff were two of its founding members.

Der Blaue Reiter (the Blue Rider) was a group of artists whose publications and
exhibitions sought to find a common creative ground between the various
Expressionist art forms. Kandinsky, Marc and Macke were among its founding
members.

Fauvism and Expressionism Slideshow

ABSTRACT ART
(C.1907 ONWARDS)
 GEORGES BRAQUE (1882-1963)
'Violin and Pitcher', 1910 (oil on canvas)

Abstract Art is a generic term that describes two different methods of

abstraction: 'semi abstraction' and 'pure abstraction'. The word 'abstract' means
to withdraw part of something in order to consider it separately. In Abstract art
that 'something' is one or more of the visual elements of a subject: its line,
shape, tone, pattern, texture, or form.

Semi-Abstraction is where the image still has one foot in representational art,
(see Cubism and Futurism). It uses a type of stylisation where the artist selects,
develops and refines specific visual elements (e.g. line, color and shape) in
order to create a poetic reconstruction or simplified essence of the original
subject.
Pure Abstraction is where the artist uses visual elements independently as the
actual subject of the work itself. (see Suprematism, De Stijl and Minimalism).

Although elements of abstraction are present in earlier artworks, the roots of

modern abstract art are to be found in Cubism. Among other important
abstract styles that developed in the 20th century are Orphism, Rayonism,
Constructivism, Tachisme, Abstract Expressionism, and Op Art.

Abstract Art Slideshow

CUBISM
(1907-1915)
 PABLO PICASSO (1881-1973)
'Ambroise Vollard', 1915 (oil on canvas)

Cubism was invented around 1907 in Paris by Pablo Picasso and Georges

Braque. It was the first abstract style of modern art. Cubist paintings ignore the
traditions of perspective drawing and show you many views of a subject at one
time. The Cubists believed that the traditions of Western art had become
exhausted and to revitalize their work, they drew on the expressive energy of
art from other cultures, particularly African art.

There are two distinct phases of the Cubist style: Analytical Cubism (pre 1912)
and Synthetic Cubism (post 1912). Cubism influenced many other styles of
modern art including Expressionism, Futurism, Orphism, Vorticism,
Suprematism, Constructivism and De Stijl. Other notable artists associated with
Cubism were Juan Gris, Fernand Leger, Robert Delaunay, Albert Gleizes, Jean
Metzinger, Louis Marcoussis and Marie Laurencin.
 

FUTURISM
(1909-1914)

GIACOMO BALLA (1871-1959)

'The Rhythm of the Violinist', 1912 (oil on canvas)

Futurism was a revolutionary Italian movement that celebrated modernity. The

Futurist vision was outlined in a series of manifestos that attacked the long
tradition of Italian art in favour of a new avant-garde. They glorified
industrialization, technology, and transport along with the speed, noise and
energy of urban life. The Futurists adopted the visual vocabulary of Cubism to
express their ideas - but with a slight twist. In a Cubist painting the artist
records selected details of a subject as he moves around it, whereas in a
Futurist painting the subject itself seems to move around the artist. The effect
of this is that Futurist paintings appear more dynamic than their Cubist
counterparts.

Futurism was founded in 1909 by the poet Filippo Tommas Marinetti and
embraced the arts in their widest sense. The main figures associated with the
movement were the artists, Umberto Boccioni, Giacomo Balla, Gino Severini, the
musician Luigi Russolo and the architect Antonio Sant'Elia.
 

Cubism and Futurism Slideshow

SUPREMATISM
(C.1915-1925)

KAZIMIR MALEVICH (1879-1935)

'Suprematism', 1915 (oil on canvas)

Suprematism was developed in 1915 by the Russian artist Kazimir Malevich. It

was a geometric style of abstract painting derived from elements of Cubism and
Futurism. Malevich rejected any use of representational images, believing that
the non-representational forms of pure abstraction had a greater spiritual
power and an ability to open the mind to ‘the supremacy of pure feeling’.

Suprematism was a style of pure abstraction that advocated a mystical

approach to art, in contrast with Constructivism, the major Russian art
movement of the 20th Century, whose imagery served the social and political
ideology of the state.

CONSTRUCTIVISM
(C.1913-1930)

EL LISSITZKY (1890-1941)
'The Red Wedge', 1919 (lithograph)

Constructivism used the same geometric language as Suprematism but

abandoned its mystical vision in favour of their 'Socialism of vision' - a Utopian
glimpse of a mechanized modernity according to the ideals of the October
Revolution. However, this was not an art that was easily understood by the
proletariat and it was eventually repressed and replaced by Socialist Realism.
Tatlin, Rodchenko, El Lissitzky and Naum Gabo were among the best artists
associated with Constructivism.

DE STIJL
(C.1917-1931)
 PIET MONDRIAN (1872-1944)
'Composition with White and Yellow', 1942 (oil on canvas)

De Stijl was a Dutch 'style' of pure abstraction developed by Piet Mondrian,

Theo Van Doesburg and Bart van der Leck.

Mondrian was the outstanding artist of the group. He was a deeply spiritual
man who was intent on developing a universal visual language that was free
from any hint of the nationalism that led to the Great War.

Mondrian gradually refined the elements of his art to a grid of lines and primary
colors which he configured in a series of compositions that explored his
universal principles of harmony. He saw the elements of line and color as
possessing counteracting cosmic forces. Vertical lines embodied the direction
and energy of the sun's rays. These were countered by horizontal lines relating
to the earth's movement around it. He saw primary colors through the same
cosmic tinted spectacles: yellow radiated the sun's energy; blue receded as
infinite space and red materialized where blue and yellow met. Mondrian's style
which he also called 'Neo-Plasticism' was inspired by the Theosophical beliefs
of the mathematician and philosopher, M.H.J. Schoenmaekers.

DADA (C.1916-1922)

 
 RAOUL HAUSMANN (1886-1971)
'Tatlin at Home', 1920 (collage)

Dada or Dadaism was not a style of art like Fauvism or Cubism. It was a form of

artistic anarchy born out of disgust for the social, political and cultural
establishment of the time which it held responsible for Europe's descent into
World War.

Dadaism was an ‘anti art’ stance as it was intent on destroying the artistic

values of the past. The aim of Dada was to create a climate in which art was
alive to the moment and not paralysed by the corrupted traditions of the
established order. Dada’s weapons in the war against the art establishment
were confrontation and provocation. They confronted the artistic establishment
with the irrationality of their collages and assemblages and provoked
conservative complacency with outrageous actions at their exhibitions and
meetings.
The Dada movement started in Zurich and spread as far as New York. Max
Ernst, Marcel Duchamp, Raoul Hausmann, Jean Arp and Kurt Schwitters were
among the best of the Dada artists.

SURREALISM (C.1924-1939)

RENÉ MAGRITTE (1898-1967)

'Time Transfixed', 1938 (oil on canvas)

Surrealism was the positive response to Dada's negativity. Its aim, as outlined in

the First Surrealist Manifesto of 1924, was to liberate the artist's imagination by
tapping into the unconscious mind to discover a 'superior' reality - a 'sur-
reality'. To achieve this the Surrealists drew upon the images of dreams, the
effects of combining disassociated images, and the technique of 'pure psychic
automatism', a spontaneous form of drawing without the conscious control of
the mind.

The look of Surrealist art was inspired by the irrational juxtaposition of images
in Dada collages, the metaphysical art of Giorgio de Chirico, and both 'primitive'
and 'outsider' art.

The most influential of the Surrealist artists were Max Ernst, Joan Miró, Salvador

Dali and René Magritte. The movement broke up at the outbreak of war in 1939
when several of the Surrealists left Europe for New York where they had a
formative influence on the development of Abstract Expressionism.

Dada and Surrealism Slideshow

ABSTRACT EXPRESSIONISM (1946-1956)

 
 JACKSON POLLOCK (1912-1956)
'Full Fathom Five', 1947 (oil with nails, coins, buttons, cigarette etc. on canvas)

Abstract Expressionism was the first American art style to exert an influence on

a global scale. It drew upon the ‘spiritual’ approach of Kandinsky, the
'automatism' of the Surrealists, and a range of dramatic painting techniques.

Abstract Expressionism was also known as ‘Action Painting’, a title which

implied that the physical act of painting was as important as the result itself.

The Abstract Expressionist movement embraced paintings from a wide range of

artists whose work was not always purely abstract or truly expressionistic. The
‘all-over’ drip paintings of Jackson Pollock, which entangle the viewer in a skein
of light, color and texture, were the biggest challenge to the interpretation of
pictorial space since Cubism. The paintings of Mark Rothko bathe the spectator
in a mystical world of diffuse color while the art of Robert Motherwell sets up an
abstract dialogue between his 'automatic' calligraphy and the conscious control
of shapes and colors. Willem de Kooning, Franz Kline, Barnet Newman and
Clifford Still were other major figures associated with the movement.

Abstract Expressionism Slideshow

 POP ART (1954-1970)

 
 ANDY WARHOL (1928-1987 )
'Campbell's Soup 1 (Tomato)', 1968 (silkscreen on canvas)

Pop Art was the art movement that characterized a sense of optimism during
the post war consumer boom of the 1950's and 60's. It coincided with the
globalization of pop music and youth culture, personified by Elvis and The
Beatles.

Pop Art was brash, colorful, young, fun and hostile to the artistic establishment.
It included different styles of painting and sculpture from various countries, but
what they all had in common was an interest in popular culture.

The stark look of Pop Art emerged from a fusion of Dada collages and
'readymades' with the imagery of the consumer culture. It was seen as an
antidote to the introspection of Abstract Expressionism. The expressive
techniques of Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg provided the stylistic link
between Abstract Expressionism and Pop but the images of celebrity and
consumerism by Andy Warhol and the comic book iconography of Roy
Lichtenstein represent the style as we know it today.

Pop Art Slideshow

OP ART (C.1964-1970)

 
 VICTOR VASARELY (1906-1997)
'Gestalt 4', 1970 (serigraph )

Op Art is short for 'optical art'. It was an abstract style that emerged in the
1960's based on the illusionistic effects of line, shape, pattern and color.

Op Artists such as Victor Vasarely, Bridget Riley and Richard Anuszkiewicz play
with the perception of the viewer by subverting the picture plane with
ambiguous shapes, shifting tones and dynamic color relationships. Although
Op Art images are static they generate the illusion of movement with perceptual
tricks that create an unstable picture surface. The effects of this can be so
strong that you have to look away for fear of losing your balance or hurting
your eyes. Needless to say that the fairground fun aspect of Op Art was very
popular with the public and was quickly commercialized by the design and
fashion industries.

Op Art Slideshow

MINIMALISM (1960-1975)

 
 FRANK STELLA (b.1936)
'Jarmolince III', 1973 (relief assemblage)

Minimalism was not only a reaction against the emotionally charged techniques

of Abstract Expressionism but also a further refinement of pure abstraction. It
was an attempt to discover the essence of art by reducing the elements of a
work to the basic considerations of shape, surface and materials.

Minimalist art used hard-edged forms and geometric grid structures. Color was
simply used to define space or surface. Ad Reinhardt, whose late paintings
anticipate Minimalism, put it simply, ‘The more stuff in it, the busier the work
of art, the worse it is. More is less. Less is more. The eye is a menace to clear
sight. The laying bare of oneself is obscene. Art begins with the getting rid of
nature.’

Frank Stella, Don Judd, Robert Morris, John McCracken and Sol LeWitt were
important contributors to Minimalism.