THE MAJOR ART MOVEMENTS!
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IMPRESSIONISM
This period, which lasted from the 1860s to the late 1880s, remains one of the most beloved periods in art history. The paintings of this time seem to strike a chord with many people and the exhibits are always popular. The movement itself was a reaction against the formalism of the dominant Academic style, and the name is taken from Monet's early work, "Impression:
This style is characterized by short brush-strokes, spontaneity, and a concern for light and color above all other painterly qualities. In fact, there is often an attempt to represent reality in terms of the transient effects of light and color. That's why many Impressionist painters, like Monet, painted the same scene over and over but at different times of day, to capture the different phases of light.
Key figures and works:
Claude Monet (1840 - 1926): known as the archetypical Impressionist.
"Water Lilies" (1903)
"Woman with Parasol" (1886)
Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841 - 1919): my personal favorite. He is known for his beautiful representations of women.
"Nude in Sunlight" (1876)
Edgar Degas (1834 - 1917): known as the master of drawing the human figure in motion.
"The Rehearsal" (1879)
POST-IMPRESSIONISM
This is an umbrella term used to describe a variety of artists who were influenced by the impressionists but who took their art in different directions. Possibly by drinking a little more absinthe than their Impressionist friends. There is no single, well-defined style in Post-Impressionism, but is generally less casual and more emotional than its predecessor.
Key figures and works:
Vincent Van Gogh (1853 - 1890): my other personal favorite, the guy who chopped off his own ear off, Van Gogh is known as the greatest Dutch painter after Rembrandt. The anguish of his mental illness can be seen in his self-portraits.
"Starry Night" (1889)
"Sunflowers"
CUBISM
I know you've at least heard of this one. This term refers to an early 20th century school of painting and sculpture, which rejected the time-honored tradition of art as an imitation of nature. Cubist artists strived to make new realities out of radically fragmented objects.
In cubist art, the subject matter is depicted as abstract, geometric forms, such as intersecting, transparent cubes and cones, without much concern for realistic details. Cubist painters do not make use of perspective, but paint flat, 2-D surfaces.
Key figures and works:
Pablo Picasso (1881 - 1973): probably the most famous artist of the last century, if not of all time.
"The Three Dancers" (1925)
"Guernica" (1939)
Georges Bracque (1882 - 1963): known as the leader of Cubism, along with Picasso.
"Woman with a Guitar" (1913)
DADAISM
The word "Dada" literally means "hobby-horse"
The Dadaists set out to abolish traditional culture and artistic practices and theory. An excellent example of how they went about doing this is when Marcel Duchamp, a leading figure of the movement, painted a mustache on Leonardo DaVinci's infamous Mona Lisa , causing a scandal in the art world.
It will come as no surprise that as far as "artistic" materials were concerned, the Dadaists used every thing and any medium they could find to express their beliefs, or non-beliefs:
Key figures and works:
Marcel Duchamp (1887 - 1968): painter, sculptor, and author. He is known for his use of humor, the media, and his incessant probing of the boundaries of art.
"Chocolate Grinder no 2" (1914)
SURREALISM
Surrealism grew out of the Dada movement and reached its peak during the years between WWI and WWII. Like Dada, it was against the so-called "rationalism"
Its practitioners were extremely influenced by the work of Sigmund Freud. They aimed to reunite the conscious and unconscious realms of experience, so that dreams and fantasy would become part of the everyday world. In this way, they wanted to create an "absolute reality" or a "surreality"
Key figures and works:
Salvador Dali (1904 - 1989): known for his disturbing blending of realism and dreamlike fantasy, and his
