Key Art Movements and Political Theories Overview

Impressionism

Art movement of the late 19th century with loose brushwork, vibrant colors, and a focus on capturing light and everyday scenes to convey a moment's feeling.

Post-Impressionism

Art movement evolving from Impressionism, focusing on personal expression, emotion, and symbolic content with bolder colors and distinct brushstrokes.

Analytic Cubism

Cubism phase by Picasso and Braque from 1908 to 1912, deconstructing objects into geometric shapes and multiple perspectives simultaneously.

Synthetic Cubism

Second phase of Cubism from around 1912 to 1919, simplifying shapes, using brighter colors, and introducing techniques like collage.

Lu Xun

Influential Chinese writer critiquing society, pivotal in modernizing Chinese culture in the early 20th century.

Social Realism

Artistic movement depicting everyday life, particularly struggles of the working class, serving as a critique of social injustices.

Academic Art in France

Idealized over realistic imagery, featuring historical paintings with historical dress, linear perspective, smooth texture, and chiaroscuro, avoiding bold colors.

Socialism

Political and economic theory advocating community ownership of means of production, distribution, and exchange.

Realism

Art style with overt political tones, focusing on inequality and truthfully portraying the everyday lives of the poor.

Avant-Garde

Innovative art and cultural movement challenging norms, often experimenting with abstract forms and breaking from realism.

The New Woodcut Movement (China)

Artistic movement in early 20th-century Chinese modernism, using woodcut art for social change and political critique.

Fauvism

Early 20th-century art movement emphasizing vivid, bold colors and simplified forms to evoke emotion in an abstract style.

Primitivism

Art movement drawing inspiration from non-Western or ancient cultures, criticized for romanticized views of other cultures.

Die Brücke ("The Bridge")

German expressionist art movement founded in 1905, creating bold, emotional works with vivid colors and distorted forms.

Der Blaue Reiter

German expressionist art movement founded in 1911, focusing on spiritual and emotional expression through abstract forms and bold colors.

Total Abstraction

Art style devoid of recognizable objects, focusing solely on shapes, colors, lines, and forms to convey ideas or emotions.

Regionalism

An art movement in the United States during the 1930s, focusing on rural and small-town life in the Midwest and South, highlighting local customs and landscapes.

Ashcan School

An early 20th-century American art movement depicting urban life, particularly in New York City, emphasizing the gritty experiences of the working class and immigrants.

Communism

A political ideology aiming for a classless society with collective ownership of property and means of production, reducing social inequalities.

Leninism

A political theory by Vladimir Lenin building on Marxism, emphasizing a vanguard party, democratic centralism, dictatorship of the proletariat, imperialism, and support for national liberation.

Constructivism

An art and architectural movement in Russia in the early 20th century, focusing on creating socially purposeful art using modern materials and technology.

Assemblage

An art form creating three-dimensional works by combining various objects and materials, often repurposing discarded items into meaningful pieces.

Socialist Realism

An art movement in the Soviet Union in the 1930s, portraying the working class positively to promote socialist ideals and celebrate communism's achievements.

The Mexican Mural Movement

An initiative after the Mexican Revolution, creating large-scale murals to convey social and political messages, depicting Mexican history and identity.

The Mexican Revolution

A major armed conflict in Mexico from 1910 to about 1920, leading to political and social reforms, including the establishment of a constitutional republic.

Works Progress Administration

A U.S. government agency during the Great Depression (1935-1943) providing jobs through public works projects and supporting cultural expression.

Federal Arts Project

A program under the Works Progress Administration commissioning artists to create public artworks, enriching communities and providing jobs during the Great Depression.

Influence of Mexican Muralism on China

Shaped modern Chinese mural art by emphasizing social justice, cultural identity, and public art importance.

The Harlem Renaissance

A cultural movement in the 1920s and 1930s celebrating African American culture and challenging racial stereotypes, impacting American culture and civil rights.

Surrealism

An art and literary movement expressing the unconscious mind and dreams through unexpected and imaginative scenes, challenging traditional reality perceptions.