Cave paintings 20,000 BC
Entertainment, early TV?
Mesopotamian, Egyptian, Persian, Early Greek 3000 - 150 BC
Inspired by death, Gods, afterlife, historical record.
Ancient Greek Art 500-150 BC
Reverence for human form, very realistic, naturalistic, coloured
Roman Art 509 BC - 337 AD
Borrowed from the Greeks, except bigger spenders
Byzantine Art 400 - 1453 AD
Religious art, symbolic art, not naturalistic - everything has meaning, no perspective
Islamic Art 622 - 900 AD
Not many human depictions. Calligraphy, zoomorphics, mosaics, tiles
Art, architecture, carpet
Renaissance: Italy 1400 - 1600 AD
To rise again - coming out of the dark ages.
Influenced by antiquity & also modern developments in:
Philosophy, Literature, Architecture, Theology, Science, Government, etc.
Baroque 1600 – 1750 AD
Neo-Classicism 1750 - 1880 AD
Heavily influenced by antiquity. Return to classic rules. Graceful, elegant.
Romanticism 1800 - 1880 AD
Reaction to enlightenment, industrial revolution, science & rationalisation of nature.
Creation of lone Byronic character. Triumph of the individual.
Realism 1830's - 1850's AD
Reaction to Romanticism & idealised characters. Real people, working class.
Impressionism 1870's - 1890's AD
Movement of light, movement of time, movement of subjects.
Colour over line. Took their painting outside into the light.
Fauvism & Expressionism 1900 - 1920 AD
Colour and emotion
Cubism 1907 - 1914 AD
Surrealism 1920s - 1940's AD
Anti-rationalist, disgusted by WW1. Sought to tap the subconscious & dreams; influenced by Freud.
Pop Art 1960s AD
Challenge to elite culture of fine art. Used mass production techniques and common subjects. Used irony & humour.
Post-Modern Classicism 1980s - 1990s AD
Rejection of modernism as narrative history, essentially rejects all before it as attempts to create a new dominant narrative – so challenges narratives by misappropriating items, symbols, etc.
In particular it attacks the use of sharp classifications such as male versus female, straight versus gay, white versus black, and imperial versus colonial.
Rather, it holds realities to be plural and relative, and dependant on who the interested parties are and what their interests consist in.
Uses a lot of humour & irony.
Bricolage, collage, appropriation, installation, performance art