HUM 100: Art Appreciation - Module 5 History of Art Reviewer

A comprehensive vocabulary review of Module 5: History of Art from HUM 100, covering major historical art movements, key concepts, artists, and artworks.

Art Movement

A group of artworks sharing similar style, ideals, techniques, philosophy, or historical period.

Cave/Parietal Art

Oldest art; animals and hand stencils; possible communication, religious, or ceremonial purpose.

Ancient Egyptian Art

Tombs, monuments, religion, preservation of the past, and life after death.

Greek Art

Idealism, balance, harmony, beauty, and perfect proportion.

Archaic Classical - Hellenistic

The three major scholarly stages of later Greek art.

Roman Art

Realism, practicality, everyday life, and strong portrait tradition.

Chinese Painting

Brush and ink on paper or silk; landscape traditionally regarded as the highest form.

Gongbi

Meticulous Chinese painting with precise, highly detailed brushwork.

Ink-and-Wash / Xieyi

Freehand Chinese painting using water and ink.

Japanese Painting / Kaiga / Gado

Highly refined Japanese visual art; often shows everyday or narrative scenes.

Medieval Art/Dark Ages

Church-centered art; religious themes; illuminated manuscripts and Gothic architecture.

Renaissance

Revival of Classical ideas; realism, anatomy, perspective, light, and shading.

Chiaroscuro

Strong use of light and shadow; associated with Leonardo da Vinci in the High Renaissance.

Mannerism

Exaggerated, elongated, stylized, and artificially elegant figures.

Baroque

Ornate, emotional, dramatic; strong contrast of light and dark.

Rococo

Graceful, decorative, intimate; soft pastel colors and playful scenes.

Neoclassicism

Simplicity, symmetry, harmony, proportion, and renewed Greek-Roman ideals.

Neo-Impressionism

Science-based approach to color and light; associated with Georges Seurat.

Impressionism

Visible brushstrokes, ordinary subjects, open composition, and changing effects of light.

Post-Impressionism

Bright color, symbolism, structure, emotion, and distorted natural color.

Paul Cezanne

Called the father of Post-Impressionism.

Art Nouveau

Curving natural forms and decorative design applied to everyday objects.

Fauvism

Extremely bright, non-naturalistic colors; Henri Matisse.

Expressionism

Intense emotion, pathos, violence, chaos, or tragedy; example: The Scream.

Cubism

Geometric forms, fragmented planes, and multiple viewpoints; Picasso and Braque.

Futurism

Speed, machinery, motion, and modern industrial society.

Abstractionism

Moves away from realistic representation; shape, texture, and idea become more important.

Distortion

Twisting or misshaping a subject.

Elongation

Lengthening or extending a subject.

Mangling

Showing forms as cut, mutilated, or heavily altered.

Dadaism

Protest art; absurd, playful, experimental, and intentionally nonsensical.

Marcel Duchamp

Best-known Dadaist; associated with Fountain and L.H.O.O.Q.

Surrealism

Dreams, subconscious thought, strange imagery, and a reality beyond daily life.

Constructivism

Russian movement emphasizing construction and social concerns.

De Stijl / Neoplasticism

Pure abstraction using horizontal/vertical lines, black, white, and primary colors.

Abstract Expressionism

Large canvases, strong color, rough brushwork, and deliberate lack of refinement.

Optical Art/Op Art

Uses optical illusion to suggest movement, vibration, or visual distortion.

Pop Art

Uses advertising, mass media, brands, comics, and popular culture imagery.

Post-Minimalism

Uses raw, unprocessed, sagging, or unconventional materials.

Conceptual Art

The idea or concept is more important than the finished art object.

Photorealism

Reproduces a photographic image as realistically as possible in another medium.

Installation Art

Objects/materials arranged in a space to create a message or experience.

Body Art

Uses the human body as a canvas or medium.

Land Art/Earth Art

Uses earth materials such as stone, soil, clay, or landscape itself.

Performance Art

Uses live bodies, movement, voice, or action as artistic expression.

Jacques-Louis David

Major Neoclassical artist.

The Scream

Expressionist work by Edvard Munch.

Guernica

Cubist work by Pablo Picasso.