Medieval Art – 1-1000 CE
· Art influenced by changes brought by Europeans coming from Mediterranean
o political ideas
o economic goals
o spiritual viewpoints
· Artistic styles
o Abstract
o Organic shapes
o Classical techniques
o Personal imagination
· Illuminated manuscripts
o Precise work
o Designs of repeated color, shapes, lines
o Symmetrical
o Organic or animal shapes
· Art work to know
o The Visitation
§ Flemish landscape painted on wooden alter panel
§ Painted near the end of the Medieval period
§ Composition is asymmetrical with Virgin Mary as the focal point
Romanesque – 1100’s -1250
· Describes Art and Architecture
· Means “like the Romans”
· Depicts Christian themes
· Began due to a renewed interest in mural painting, sculpture, and monumental architecture
· Illuminated Manuscripts
o Stylized lettering and illustration
o Painted on parchment
o Decorated with pure gold
· Frescoes/wall paintings
o Firm outlines
o three-dimensional shapes
o pattern
· Churches
o Solid stone walls
o Rounded arches
o Pointed arches began due to stability
o Masonry roofs
o Buttresses and thick walls
· Art work to know
o Notre-Dame-la-Grande
§ Poitier, France
§ Barrel-vaulted interior
§ Pointed domes
§ Niches filled with sculpted figures
Gothic – Western Europe – 1150-1515
· English and French cathedrals
· Architecture known for its great size and height
o Exterior weightlessness
o Large interior spaces
o Flying buttresses
o Pointed arches
· Paintings and sculptures
o Influenced by architecture
o Made to look like actual model
o Curving lines and careful detail
o Sense of depth
o Rich colors
· Art work to know
o The Annunciation
§ Robert Campin, The Master of Flemalle
§ Symbolic messages
o Reims Cathedral
§ Reims, France
Renaissance – 1400’s-1600
· Began in Italy
· Spread to Western European countries
· Artists valued for their knowledge, imagination, and ability to create original works of art
· Perspective
o Created and combined with portrayal of scenes of everyday life
o Light
o Atmosphere
o Nature
· Formal composition
o Principles of design
§ Unity
o Scientific perspective
o Accurate proportion
o Lifelike detail
o Shading
· Religious subjects
· Greek and roman myths
· Human emotion
· Day to day life
· Art work to know
o Pieta
§ Michelangelo Buonarroti
§ Jesus and his mother Mary
Baroque – late 1500’s to early 1700’s
· Dominant in Europe
o Began in Rome and spread to other European countries
o Period of grandeur and elegance for culture and economy
· Portuguese phrase meaning “misshapen pearl”
o Strong differences between Baroque and Renaissance art styles
· Telescope and microscope were invented during this time
Basic characteristics of Baroque style the same although cultural traditions and regional preferences were different
o Strong or contrasting colors
o Large scale
o Ornate decoration
o Vitality
o Tension
o Strong emotion
o Dramatic lighting
· Catholic Church was a major financial supporter of artists
o Many artworks were of religious subjects
§ Saints
§ Miracles
· Other patrons of Baroque artists
o Upper class
§ Used to show off wealth or power
§ Nonreligious themes
§ Wearing expensive, fancy clothing
Artwork to know - The Night Watch by Rembrandt van Rijn
NeoClassicism – mid-1700’s-mid-1800’s
· Revival of classicism
· Influenced by ancient classical art
· Decorative
· Elaborate
· Sharp contours
· Orderly qualities
· Dominance of horizontals and verticals giving stability
· Themes and subjects
o Ancient Greek times
o Roman times
o Heroic images
o Idealism
· Often combined with Romanticism in art
o To show human emotion
o Orderly qualities
o Open forms
o Depth
· Artwork to know
o The Oath of the Horatii by Jacques-Louis David
Romanticism – mid-1700’s-mid-1800’s
· More emotional and personal than Neoclassicism
· Dramatic
· Exotic subjects
· Loose, free style
· Open forms
· Color flows
· Infinite depth
· Some combined it with Neoclassical style to show idealism
· Longing for the unusual
· Unknown or historically or geographically distant
· Desire to explore human experience and emotion
Artwork to know – The Last Words of Marcus Aurelius by Eugene Delacroix
Realism – 1840-1880
· Dominant art movement during this time
· Great progress in trade, industry, and technology
· Society placed value on realities of life and less on fantasy
· Interested in
o Contemporary events
o Ordinary people
o Depict life objectively and impartially
o Philosophy came from contemporary beliefs in
§ Science
§ Democracy
§ Social equality
§ Painted subjects that reflected those beliefs
§ Public did not understand that which glorified the working class
o Used subdued palette
§ Earth tones
§ Heavy paint
§ Painted what they could see and experience
Artwork to know – The Gleaners by Jean-Francois Millet in 1857
Impressionism, 1870-mid-1880’s
· “An immediate and fleeting impression of a subject recorded with whatever light there might be at that particular moment.”
· Most loved of all artworks
· Interested in recording the pleasures of the landscape
· Naturalistic and realistic elements
· Degas for example wanted the viewer to feel the twisting, bending, and stretching of his subjects and Cassatt wanted to portray the relationships in families
· Depicted contemporary life at that time
Art work to know – The Luncheon of the Boating Party by Pierre-Auguste Renoir
Post-Impressionism, 1880-1920’s
· Artists that turned against the Impressionist style to create a new focus on their own feeling and spirit
· Still interested in color and form but found new ways to express it
o Paintings appeared flatter
o Less concerned with how light reflected
o Shapes and forms were more solid
o Simplified palette
o Thicker paint
o Heavy expressive line
· Wanted to portray how the mind understood the world not how they saw it.
Artwork to know – Mont Sainte-Victoire seen from the Bibemus Quarry by Paul Cezanne
Regionalism – mid-1800’s-1930’s
· Portrayed everyday lives and scenes in rural and urban America
· Popular with Midwestern painters who were fond of rolling hills and plains planted with crops
· Nostalgic and sentimental – painted representational scenes
o Romantic landscapes
o Families working together
o Dramatic events of disasters, both natural and machine
o Emphasized landscape details and perspective
o Exactly what was seen
o All works tell a story
Artwork to know – Stone City by Grant Wood
Abstract Expressionism – 1940-1960
· Known as the art of the New York school, it was produced in New York
o Some artists were American by birth others emigrated from Europe to escape the second World War
· Artists felt that there were emotions and symbolic images associated with their memories
o Some painted spontaneously
o Some prepared studies
o Some wanted to reflect their personal thought and feeling while showing a connection to earth and nature
· Second phase of this style dates from the late 1940’s
o Action Painting
§ Jackson Pollock
o Color Field
§ Hans Hofmann
Artwork to know – The Lark by Hans Hofmann, 1960 color field painting
Color Field Painting – 1950’s
· Represented radical change because it was impersonal and a severely simple theory about art
· Showed lyrical effects of color as they poured onto or stained their canvases
o Soft/bold colors Layers
o Used unprimed canvases that would absorb color better
o Used geometric shapes and pure color for flat two-dimensional work
o No variation in color
o No modeled form
o Some used spray guns to create mists of color
o No expressive brushwork, deliberate movement of color or gesture
Artwork to remember – Untitled A by Morris Louis, 1960, acrylic resin on canvas
Pop Art – 1960’s
· Represented popular culture
· Eliminated subjective emotion or idealism, dreams, or subconscious thought
· Reflected worldwide change in attitudes about art
· Subject matter in commercial advertising, movies and television, consumer goods’ packaging
· Recognized that art involved the lives of everyday people and what they enjoy
Artwork to remember – M-Maybe by Roy Lichtenstein, 1965
Op Art – 1960’s
· Based on mathematics
· Simple forms, repeated
· Colors produced vibrating effects
· Used depth perception to confuse the viewer between the foreground and background
· Played tricks with the eye
· Some mixed colors to show light and shadow or give the illusion of 3D space
· Repeated patterns
· Geometric forms repeated in different sizes
· Still popular with students, teachers, and all art lovers
Artwork to know – Globe with Squares by Victor Vasarely
Minimalism – most popular 1960’s-1970’s
· Theory of minimalism practiced as early as the 18th century
o Goethe, German poet and dramatist made an altar of simple stone sphere and a cube
· Artists wanted to omit personal expression
o Let viewers respond to the work without stimulus of subject matter or composition
· Paintings and Sculpture
o Simplicity was essential
o Minimum number of elements of design
o Primary interest in geometric design
o Used color to emphasize design draw viewers’ attention to the site or placement of their work rather than inside the art or a subject in the painting
Artwork to know Hyena Stomp by Frank Stella
Photo-Realism, 1960’s-1970’s
· Paintings Meticulous depiction of detail
· Photographic in appearance
· Called Superrealism in Europe
o Did work from photographs
o Worked from a still life
o Designed composition from parts of a photograph
o Combined elements of different photographs with exaggerated elements and changed colors
o Process requires skills of a fine artist and takes time
Artwork to remember – Relish by Ralph Goings, 1994
Installation Art, 1970’s-1980’s
· Used to describe a three-dimensional work of art that would be installed in a space
· Formerly called site-specific since it couldn’t be moved then or was temporary and would be disassembled or destroyed
· Many different parts and pieces
o Variety of materials
§ Some edible and/or organic
§ Some inert and inorganic Found objects
§ Metallic
§ Glass
§ Live people
Artwork to remember – Raining Popcorn by Sandy Skoglund