A CONCISE HISTORY OF WESTERN ART

The foundation of art history can be traced back tens of thousands of years to when ancient
civilizations used available techniques and media to depict culturally significant subject matter.
Since these early examples, a plethora of art movements have followed, each bearing their own
distinct styles and characteristics that reflect the political and social influences of the period
from which they emerged. Whether you’re an aspiring collector or simply appreciate the work
of history’s great artists, studying the major movements of the art history timeline is a
worthwhile place to start.

1. Prehistoric Art ~40,000–4,000 B.C.

In the history of art, prehistoric art is all art produced in preliterate, prehistorical cultures beginning
somewhere in very late geological history, and generally continuing until that culture either develops
writing or other methods of record-keeping, or makes significant contact with another culture that has,
and that makes some record of major historical events.

Characteristics : Rock carvings, pictorial imagery, sculptures, and stone arrangements

Ex. Venus of Brassempouy

The Venus of Brassempouy (French: la Dame de Brassempouy, meaning "Lady of Brassempouy", or

Dame à la Capuche, "Lady with the Hood") is a fragmentary ivory figurine from the Upper Palaeolithic,
apparently broken from a larger figure at some time unknown. It was discovered in a cave at
Brassempouy, France in 1892. About 25,000 years old, it is one of the earliest known realistic
representations of a human face.
 2. Ancient Art 30,000 B.C.–A.D. 400

Characteristics: Religious and symbolic imagery, decorations for utilitarian objects,

mythological stories

Leading Contributors ; Civilizations from Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, and the Americas

ArtofAncientGreece
 TheGreeksbelievedthatManwasanidealform.Intheir estimation, manisthe
measureofallthings.Theirworksreflect aninterestinthenaturalisticworld.
 Artemphasizesthe"ideal"figure.
 Kore(maiden)andKoros(youth)aretermstodefinethetypesof marblestatues
carvedandproducedinlargenumbers throughouttheArchaicera.Theywereoften
funerarystatues.

Ex.

KORE KORUS

 Concernedmorewithgeometryandsymmetrythanoriginal expression.

3. Medieval A.D. 500–A.D. 1400

Characteristics: Dark imagery, biblical subjects, Classical mythology, Gothic architecture

Leading Contributors: Abbot Suger, Cimabue , Giotto

Ex.
The Crucifix by Cimabue at Santa Croce (c. 1265) is a wooden crucifix, painted in distemper, attributed
to the Florentine painter and mosaicist Cimabue, one of two large crucifixes attributed to him. [1] The
work was commissioned by the Franciscan friars of Santa Croce and is built from a complex arrangement
of five main and eight ancillary timber boards. It is one of the first Italian artworks to break from the late
medieval Byzantine style and is renowned for its technical innovations and humanistic iconography.

4. Renaissance 1400–1600

Characteristics: Natural elements, individualism, realism, attention-to-detail, precision of human

anatomy

Leading Contributors: Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo,Raphael

Ex. . The School of Athens

Fresco by Raphael

The School of Athens is a fresco by the Italian Renaissance artist Raphael. It was painted between 1509
and 1511 as a part of Raphael's commission to decorate the rooms now known as the Stanze di
Raffaello, in the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican.

5. Mannerism 1527–1580

Characteristics: Stylized features, exaggerated details, decorative elements

Leading Contributors: Bronzino, Francesco Salviati , Giorgio Vasari

Ex.. Bronzino, Venus, Cupid, Folly and Time, 1540

Venus, Cupid, Folly and Time (also called An Allegory of Venus and Cupid and A Triumph of
Venus) is an allegorical painting of about 1545 by the Florentine painter Agnolo Bronzino. It is
now in the National Gallery, London.[1] Scholars do not know for certain what the painting
depicts.[1]

Mannerist artists emerged from the ideals of Michelangelo, Raphael, and other Late Renaissance artists,
but their focus on style and technique outweighed the meaning of the subject matter. Often, figures had
graceful, elongated limbs, small heads, stylized features and exaggerated details. This yielded more
complex, stylized compositions rather than relying on the classical ideals of harmonious composition
and linear perspective used by their Renaissance predecessors.

6. Baroque 1600–1750

Characteristics: Ornate, grandeur, richness, stylistically complex, dramatic

Leading Contributors: Caravaggio, Johannes Vermeer, Rembrandt van Rijn

Ex. Caravaggio, The Calling of Saint Matthew, circa 1599-1600.

The Baroque period that followed Mannerism yielded ornate, over-the-top visual arts and
architecture. It was characterized by grandeur and richness, punctuated by an interest in
broadening human intellect and global discovery. Baroque artists were stylistically complex.

Baroque paintings were characterized by drama, as seen in the iconic works of Italian painter
Caravaggio and Dutch painter Rembrandt. Painters used an intense contrast between light and
dark and had energetic compositions matched by rich color palettes.

7. Rococo 1699–1780

Characteristics: Lightness, elegance, natural forms, asymmetrical design, subtle colors

Leading Contributors: Antoine Watteau, Francois Boucher

Ex: Antoine Watteau, The Embarkation for Cythera 1717.

Rococo originated in Paris, encompassing decorative art, painting, architecture, and sculpture.
The aesthetic offered a softer style of decorative art compared to Baroque’s exuberance. Rococo
is characterized by lightness and elegance, focusing on the use of natural forms, asymmetrical
design, and subtle colors.

Painters like Antoine Watteau and Francois Boucher used lighthearted treatments, rich
brushwork, and fresh colors. The Rococo style also easily translated to silver, porcelain, and
French furniture. Many chairs and armoires featured curving forms, floral designs, and an
expressive use of gilt.

8. Neoclassicism 1750–1850
Characteristics: Renewed interest in classical antiquity, harmony, simplicity, and proportion

Leading Contributors : Antonio Canova Jacques-Louis David

Ex: Jacques-Louis David, Napoleon Crossing the Alps, 1801.

As its name suggests, the neoclassical period drew upon elements from classical antiquity.
Archaeological ruins of ancient civilizations in Athens and Naples that were discovered at the
time reignited a passion for all things past, and artists strove to recreate the great works of
ancient art. This translated to a renewed interest in classical ideals of harmony, simplicity, and
proportion.

Neoclassical artists were influenced by classical elements; in particular, a focus on idealism.

Inevitably, they also included modern, historically relevant depictions in their works. For
example, Italian sculptor Antonio Canova drew upon classical elements in his marble sculptures,
but avoided the cold artificiality that was represented in many of these early creations.

9. Romanticism 1780–1850

Characteristics: Imaginative elements, focus on passion, emotion, and observing the senses
Leading Contributors: Francisco Goya, Henry Fuseli, William Blake

Ex. William Blake, The Descent of Man into the Vale of Death. Sold for $225,000 via Sotheby’s
(January 2016).
Romanticism embodies a broad range of disciplines, from painting to music to literature. The
ideals present in each of these art forms reject order, harmony, and rationality, which were
embraced in both classical art and Neoclassicism. Instead, Romantic artists emphasized the
individual and imagination. Another defining Romantic ideal was an appreciation for nature,
with many turning to plein air painting, which brought artists out of dark interiors and enabled
them to paint outside. Artists also focused on passion, emotion, and sensation over intellect and
reason.

Prominent Romantic painters include Henry Fuseli, who created strange, macabre paintings that
explored the dark recesses of human psychology, and William Blake, whose mysterious poems
and images conveyed mystical visions and his disappointment in societal constraints.

10. Realism 1848–1900

Characteristics: Detailed depictions of everyday life

Leading Contributors: Gustave Courbet, Jean-François Millet

Ex. Jean-François Millet, The Gleaners, 1857.