Art History Timeline and Periods

A comprehensive set of vocabulary flashcards covering major art periods and movements from First Nations Australian Art to Postmodernism.

First Nations Australian Art

40,000 BCE - present; characterized by rock paintings, engravings, bark paintings, and Papunya Tula art; major artists include Albert Namatijira, Clifford Possum, and Tjapaltjarri.

Prehistoric Art

25,000 BCE; used natural minerals like stone, dirt, and clay; subjects focused on everyday life, cave rock carvings, and fertility figures.

Ancient Art Egyptian

3,000 - 250 BCE; a sophisticated culture with polytheism and various gods; features include pyramids, the Sphinx, and Hieroglyphics used for recording information and dedications.

Greek and Hellenistic Art

1,100 - 27 BCE; known as the ‘Golden Age’ of Greece; focused on classical, idealized human figures and gods; major works include marble sculptures and clay urns by Phidians, Praziteles, and Lysippos.

Roman Art

146 - 500 BCE; featured idealized figures and mythological themes to celebrate the Roman Empire; characterized by the ‘Exaltation of Emporera’, Pompeii wall art, and Roman busts like Aesar.

Early Christian Art

200 - 500 CE; focused on Old Testament themes, salvation, and resurrection; features rounded arches, frescoes, and illustrative castings in locations like the Roman Catecombs and the ‘Sarcophagus of Junius Bassus’ (359).

Byzantine Art

330 - 1453 CE; highly symbolic religious art with surface decorations like frescos and mosaics in European churches; utilized centralized cross-in-square architecture; associated with Manuel Panselinos.

Romanesque Art

1000 - 1100 CE; featured fortress-like architecture suggesting strength and stability; included religious iconography in lavish decorations like the Winchester Bible and Vezelay Abbey.

Gothic Art

1100 - 1500 CE; emphasis on vertical architecture with pointed arches, flying buttresses, lofty spires, and stained glass windows; key examples include Notre-Dame de Paris and Chartres Cathedral.

Renaissance Art

1300 - 1500 CE; a return to classical forms from Greek and Roman art using oil paintings and the first appearance of canvas; major artists include Michelangelo, Da Vinci, Botticelli, and Titian.

Baroque Art

1500 CE; dramatic and emotional style with highly decorative elements and strong contrasts of tone; interpreted biblical and mythological themes through artists like Rembrandt, Caravaggio, Rubens, and Velazquez.

Rococo Art

1700 - 1760 CE; an extension of Baroque expressing opulence, playfulness, curves, and frivolous themes of romance; major artists include Boucher, Goya, and Watteau.

Romanticism

1780 - 1900 CE; a revolt against Enlightenment rationalism and political hierarchies; focused on the power of nature and emotions of awe and horror; notable works include ‘The Lady of Shalott’ (1833) and ‘Wanderer above the Sea of Fog’ (1818).

Realism

1800 CE; focused on humble objects and themes of everyday life while rejecting the fantastical; notable works include ‘Olympia’ (1863), ‘The Thinker’ (1880), and ‘The Stone Breakers’ (1849).

Impressionism

1850 - 1900; aimed to capture the impression of an environment through light and tone; utilized ‘En plein air’ painting of everyday scenes; major artists include Monet and Renoir.

Post-Impressionism

1860 - 1910; extended Impressionist ideas with a focus on intense, arbitrary color and stronger geometric forms; associated with Van Gogh and Gaugin.

Fauvism

1905 - 1910; used intense, bold, and sometimes unnatural colors to elicit spontaneous emotional responses; major artists include Matisse, Joan Miro, and Andre Derain.

Expressionism

1905 - 1925; used distorted reality and dynamic compositions to elicit subjective emotional effects; major artists include Eduard Munch and Wassily Kandinsky.

Cubism

1907 - 1915; utilized fragmented forms, multiple viewpoints, and geometric distortion; often employed collage techniques and oil on canvas; major artists include Picasso and Braque.

Futurism

1909 - 1914; expressed movement, speed, and power inspired by industrial advancements; major artists include Boccioni, Balla, and Severini.

Dada

1915 - 1924; known as ‘Anti-art’ intended to shock and ridicule tradition; introduced ‘ready-mades’ and satirical themes; major artists include Man Ray, Marcel Duchamp, and Hans Arp.

Bauhaus

1919 - 1933; an art school from Weimar, Germany focusing on a practical design approach and clean aesthetics; associated with Walter Gropius and Paul Klee.

Surrealism

1924 - 1965; explored the imagination, dreams, and the subconscious based on Freudian theories; major artists include Salvador Dali, Max Ernst, and Alberto Giacometti.

Abstract Expressionism

1943 - 1965; anti-figurative style focused on spontaneous or subconscious creation with anarchist themes; major artists include Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, and Mark Rothko.

Kinetic Art

1953 - 1954; utilized technology, machines, and movement to create effects for the audience; major artist includes Alexander Calder.

Pop Art

1953 - 1970; used images from popular culture to explore consumerism and commercialism; major artists include Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, and Keith Haring.

Op Art

1964 - 1965; used optical illusions, patterns, and movement to hide images; major artists include Victor Vasarely and Bridget Riley.

Minimalism

1960 - 1970; a complete denial of Expressionism using sleek geometric forms and negative space while avoiding a ‘fine art’ feel; major artists include Eva Hesse and Sol LeWitt.

Superrealism

1960 - 1970; extremely realistic style influenced by photography and rendered in sculpture and paint; major artists include Ralph Goings and Charles Bell.

Postmodernism

1950 - present; explores post-industrial societies while challenging the boundaries of traditional art; major artists include Yasumasa Morimura and Barbara Kruger.