Movements and Styles Terms List

Abstraction

Works of art reduced to basic forms with little or no desire for pictorial representation

Abstract Expressionism

First major American avant-garde movement; emerged 1940s in NYC; artists focused on automatism and revealing their subconscious through artmaking

Action painting

artist pours, drips, dribbled or splattered pigment; applied in an unorthodox manner that involve the artist’s body

Amarna Style

an artistic style during the Amarna Period – Akhenaton’s rule – where traditional Egyptian conventions were abandoned for a more expressive and non-idealized style of art.

Ancient Egypt

aimed to evoke timelessness and tradition through conventional images of power and rulership; frequently funerary; utilized twisted perspective and hierarchical scale; bodies based on a canon of proportion

Animal style

a medieval art form in which animals are depicted in a stylized and often complicated pattern, usually seen fighting with one another

Archaic Greek

artwork is typically funerary or for ritual; male figures are nude, while female figures are clothed; bodies are idealized, with little negative space and no contrapposto

Art Deco

Descended from Art Nouveau; sought to upgrade industrial design in competition with “fine art” and to work new materials into decorative patterns that could be either machined or handcrafted; characterized by streamlined, elongated, and symmetrical design

Art for Art’s Sake

coined by James Abbott McNeill Whistler; expressed the inherent value in art, even if it lacks a moral, historical, or didactic message

Art Nouveau

an art style from generally 1890 – 1910 that focused on utilizing decorative and natural, organic forms to create elegant and curvilinear designs

Art of the Migration

artwork of the Germanic peoples from 300-900 CE; polychrome artwork done in animal style is common

Austrian Secession

Characterized by decadence, a breakdown of light, decorative patterning; a reaction to the traditional Viennese art community

Avant-garde

an innovative group of artists who generally rejected traditional approaches in favor of experimentation

Baroque classicism

a style within the Baroque period that purposefully recalls art from ancient Greece and Rome

Byzantine

Focused on formal religious imagery with figures who were often flattened and frontal; limited range of modeling; lack of depth or perspective

Chicago Style

the first major modernist architectural movement in the United States; a style of architecture created by Louis Sullivan and other architects in Chicago; promoted new technologies (steel-frame construction) and an aesthetic that was simple, grid-like and lacked ornamentation

Classical Greek

Figures are based on a canon of proportions, based upon mathematical principles; bodies display idealism, rationalism, and humanism; bodies are typically nude or utilize wet drapery

Classicists

artists who believed in subdued painting, with a controlled use of line; inspired by the calm rationalism of the classical period

Color field

A variant of Post- Painterly Abstraction whose artists sought to reduce painting to its physical essence by pouring diluted paint onto unprimed canvas in large sections

Constructivism

originated in Russia; often utilized photomontages to construct images of a utopian, politically-charged world

Cubism

Early-20th-century art movement that rejected naturalistic depictions, preferring compositions of shapes and forms that were abstracted

Dada

An art movement prompted by a revulsion against the horror of World War I; characterized by a disdain for convention, often enlivened by humor

De Stijl

Dutch, “the style;” early- 20th-century art movement founded by Piet Mondrian; developed a simplified geometric style

Documentary photography

Chronicled significant historical events or scenes from everyday life; typically related to photojournalism

Dutch Baroque

characterized by scenes with Protestant moral messages; exquisite attention to light and fabrics; patrons ennobled by new mercantile wealth; new types of art emerge (genre, landscapes, still lifes)

Early Christian

Christian re-adaptation of Greco-Roman imagery; characterized by short, squat figures, no individuality or consistent scale; no perspective

Early Medieval

artwork typically consisted of manuscripts created by monks in scriptoria; interlacing and other complex but spatially flat decoration fills the pages, particularly the borders; richly colored; frequently includes Biblical text

Environmental art

American movement in the 1960s; used the land itself as the material; response to growing environmentalism in America

Etruscan

Based upon Archaic Greek sculpture, but utilizes greater emotion; commonly funerary and joyful

Fauvism

From the French word fauve, “wild beast;” Early-20th-century art movement led by Henri Matisse, for whom color became the formal element most responsible for pictorial meaning

Feminist art

emerged out of Women’s Liberation movement of 1960s/1970s; drew attention to women’s stories and issues

Fin de siècle

French for “end of an era”; end of 19th c. to 1914 in Europe; age of growing wealth but anxiety about political tensions

Folk art

artwork made by untrained artists; typically, utilitarian and decorative, handmade, and reflects cultural traditions

Formline style

characteristics of Northwest coastal Native American culture; masks are bilaterally symmetrical, with thick undulating black lines and ovoid shapes

German Expressionism

Early-20th century art movement; characterized by bold, vigorous brushwork, emphatic line, and bright color; Two important groups: Die Brücke and Der Blaue Reiter

Gothic

popular in the 13th and 14th centuries; characterized by rib vaults, pointed arches, flying buttresses, and stained glass

Gothic Revival

19th century – predominantly English – architectural movement to revive medieval Gothic architecture; also called Neo-Gothic

Grand Manner

art that is painted with grandiose subjects, such as battles, heroic actions, or religious or classical themes

Grand Manner Portraiture

a type of 18th century portrait painting designed to communicate a person’s grace and class through certain standardized conventions, such as the large scale of the figure relative to the canvas, the controlled pose, the landscape setting, and the low horizon line

Happenings

A term coined by American artist Allan Kaprow in the 1960s to describe loosely structured performances; incorporate the fourth dimension (time); an act of performance art that is initially planned but involves spontaneity, improvisation and often audience participation

Harlem Renaissance

A rich period of cultural production for African Americans; celebrated their heritage and culture and redefined artistic forms of expression

Hellenistic Greek

Sculptural forms reveal greater emotion and movement in the body; subject matter expands to show unusual subjects, all of which utilize drama; departure from the previous period

Hudson River School

New York City-based landscape painters under the influence of Thomas Cole

Impressionism

interested in Parisian leisure and modern life; focused on light and its reflections while painting outside; influenced by Japonisme

Installation

An artwork that creates an artistic environment in a room or gallery

International Gothic Style

14th-15th c. painting begun by Simone Martini; courtly, elegant, intricate interpretations of naturalistic subjects; catered to aristocrats; highly decorative and patterned; also referred to as Late Gothic

International Style

Early 20th century architectural movement that rejected all historical ornamentation and utilized clean, straight lines

Italian Baroque

theatrical multi-media art that retained an interest in classicism but added complex movement to the compositions; characterized by drama, intensity, engagement with the audience; often associated with Counter-Reformation propaganda

Italian Renaissance

Highly influenced by classical styles with a great emphasis on humanism, organization, modeling, balance; figures are calm and do not exhibit emotion; artists in guilds utilized chiaroscuro in tempera paint

Japonisme

denoting Japanese art or European art influenced by Japanese styles; a craze ensued for these kinds of artworks in 19th-century Europe

Kitsch

mass-produced imagery designed to please the broadest possible audience; generally, of questionable taste (popular, sentimental, shallow)

“Less is a bore”

coined by Robert Venturi in reaction to Mies van der Rohe’s statement “less is more”; captured Venturi’s aesthetic – that architecture should be inspired by buildings of the past and pair elements together in new ways

“Less is more”

coined by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe; captured his architectural aesthetic – that architecture should be simple, sleek, modern, minimalist

Literati

a sophisticated and scholarly group of Chinese artists who painted for themselves rather than fame or patrons; often became recluses and left urban life for nature

Manifest Destiny

19th-century American attitude which maintained that the United States not only could, but was destined to, stretch from coast to coast

Mannerism

a style of European art that emerged in Italy after the 16th c. Renaissance; characterized by elongation, artifice, tension, and instability

Minimalism

Predominantly sculptural American trend of the 1960s whose works consist of a severe reduction of form, oftentimes to single units, that focused on reducing the form to its absolute and most basic essence; an extreme form of abstraction

Modernism

a style of architecture that emerged in the early 20th century but became very popular after WWII; promotes architecture that is simple, sleek, minimal, proportional, geometric; this encapsulated modernity

Naturalists

artists who believed in intense imagery, with a dramatic use of color

Neoclassicism

A style of art and architecture that emerged in the later 18th century. Part of a general revival of interest in classical cultures, Neoclassicism was characterized by the utilization of themes and styles from ancient Greece and Rome

Neo-Expressionism

An art movement that emerged in the 1970s and that reflects the artists’ interest in the expressive capability of the human body

Northern Renaissance

Eventually, interest in classicism like the South develops but early artwork in this style retained Gothic elongation; known for use of brilliant colors in oil paint; extraordinary realism with minute details; religious subject matter is humanized

Orientalism

imitation, interest in, or depictions of Middle Eastern, South Asian, and East Asian cultures; particularly popular in 19th-century Europe as a result of Western colonialism

Otoko-e

“men’s paintings”; military rule during Japanese shogunate led to interest in military scenes

Performance art

Works in which movements, gestures, and sounds replace physical objects. Documentary photographs are generally the only evidence remaining after these events.

Pop art

Art that incorporated elements from consumer culture, the mass media, and popular culture, such as images from motion pictures and advertising

Post-Impressionism

retains Impressionism’s interest in color, but focused on exploration of structure and form; additionally, at times emotional content was added; move towards abstraction

Post-Modernism

Art after the 1970s that transformed traditional practices and focused on challenging the traditional art world, the art object and the identity of the artist

Poussinistes vs. Rubenistes

debate regarding line vs. color; Poussinistes argue for a linear rationalism whereas Rubenistes valued evocative and dramatic colors

Prairie style

Native American decorative arts style that utilized colorful glass beads fashioned in floral patterns

Prehistoric

often utilized found objects; focused on animals, life cycles, fertility and typically used for rituals/religious ceremonies

Primitivism

artistic inspiration from “primitive” “unadvanced” “simple” non-western cultures

Proto-Renaissance

characterized by a growing interest in reality; returned to bodies with mass-like forms and realistic modeling to achieve roundness; primarily a movement utilizing frescos made with tempera

Radical naturalism

Everyday characteristics; figures are not ennobled; they are gritty, dirty, realistic

Realism

rejection of anything that was not real or that was elite; focus on lower classes and their plight; favored accurate or objective depictions of ordinary world

Rococo

18th-century artistic style focused on asymmetry, decoration, grace, detail, and frivolity; included interior design

Roman Republic

veristic sculpture portrayed civic pride, honor, intelligence, and merit

Roman Empire (Early/High)

rounded arch and vault created; new building shapes achieved through the use of concrete; figures are idealized, in contrapposto, and display heroism, civic pride, and status

Roman Empire (Late)

compositions become chaotic and abandon the idealism of the previous period; no central focus as figures are jumbled and start to stack on top of one another; figures lose idealism and rationalism

Romanesque

primarily an architectural movement in the 11th-13th centuries in Western Europe; large, monumental, solid, and dark interiors; constructed with ambulatories and reliquaries that accommodated and attracted pilgrims

Romanticism

explored scenes from the past, intense imagery, scenes of nature, and exotic subjects; glorification of emotion and feeling

San Ildefonso

Neolithic Puebloan ceramic style; revived in the 20th c.

Sankofa

African artistic movement interested in reclaiming Africa’s rich indigenous artistic tradition

Socialist realism

characterized by the glorified depiction of communist values or leaders; executed in a realistic manner

Stylized

a manner of depicting the visible world that privileges a certain look over realism and faithfulness to how things truly appear in nature

Sumukhwa

Oriental Ink Movement in the 1980s; revival in Korea of traditional Korean and Chinese artistic traditions

Surrealism

20th-century movement; grew out of automatism and depicted dream-like states and hypnotic trances (all techniques for liberating the individual unconscious); meant to puzzle or challenge the viewer; often, there existed a multiplicity of interpretations

Symbolism

19th-century movement that depicted extreme emotion; often left up to the viewer’s interpretation; embodied a world of fantasy, sensation, imagination, emotion

Ukiyo-e

“pictures of the floating world”; 17th-19th woodblock prints popular in the West; typically showing genre scenes

Venetian

Early use of (and characterized by) wet-in-wet technique to create glazes with oil paint; known for rich and lustrous skin tones acquired by vibrant pigments through Silk Road trade; also first consistent use of canvas

Video Art

relies on new technologies that include moving pictures with sound; combination of visual and audio media

Yamato style

a Japanese handscroll style characterized by stylized figures with simple faces, and the use of bright pigments; often illustrated with an aerial view