Artistic Styles and Definitions

~ as collected from different sources

Abstract - Action painting ~ attention to mainly colour, design, rhythm and new ways of applying paint - 20th century

Baroque ~ 17th century Italy. When the term was first used it was meant to describe art of the bizarre or bad taste. Now used to describe art it only means a period of European art from 1600 - 1750 (between the end of the Renaissance in 1500's to the beginning of Modernism in later 1700's). The style of Baroque art varies between countries.

Cubism ~ founded by Picasso & Georges Braque - 1908 - 1920's. Cubism paved the way for the Futurism style.

Dada ~ Dadaists set the stage for the style of surrealism. They wrote nonsense poetry and created nonsense art to express their beliefs that traditional values had become meaningless.

Expressionism ~ Began around the 1880's. This period style reveals the artists inner feelings through paint and steers away from a realistic representation of objects and scenes. The paintings were also constructed to arouse emotions of the viewer and subject matter often included distorted shapes, figures, vivid colours and frightening scenes.

Impressionism ~ Began the first phase of the Modern art movement. Painters used lighter, cheerful colours and subject matter was informal compared to the art people were use to at approx. 1860 in Paris. Artists would dab pure unmixed pigment directly onto the canvas and not mix it first on a palette. At the beginning of the Impressionism movement this painting style was not liked by many until much later.

Neoclassicism ~ placed great importance on power of reason & as a way of discovering the truth. Often called the Age of Reason. (1750 - 1800)

Realism ~ a style representing the external world. In the 20th century Realism means a style that is moving away from abstraction and toward representational art. It can also mean art that sees reality as the inner truth.

Renaissance ~ means rebirth in Italian. The early part of the Renaissance period is sometimes called the Middle Ages. During this time Italians became interested in the arts of ancient Greece and
Rome and their beauty. These scholars of the rebirth interest were called Humanists meaning culture. Renaissance artists used nature for inspiration. (as early as 1420 - 1600)

Rococo ~ refers to a decorative style of art during the 18th century in France - up to about 1760's. Rococo comes from the French word meaning 'bits of rocky decoration'. In this period painters used pastel colours, quick & delicate movements and intricate decoration.

Romanticism ~ Came about as a reaction to Neoclassicism in Europe. These artists wanted to emphasize the power of imagination (18^th & 19th centuries). Their subjects were often taken from nature, biblical or supernatural ideas. Radiant colours and curved lines were used but Romanticism in different countries meant something different.

Surrealism ~ This style of painting is based on fantasy and the world of dreams. The style first a appeared in 1924 by a poet and caught the interest of painters. The style is influenced by the theories of Sigmund Freud who believed many important thoughts and feelings were buried deep in the unconscious mind. Surrealism influenced the abstraction expressionism movement.