There is a linear pattern that runs throughout the history of art which can make it easier to remember why each artist is looked upon favorably by art historians. Each epoch, period, style, and individual artist has built on what has gone before.
To perceive this linear pattern is to understand how an artist arrived at their particular stylistic conventions. Understanding an artist’s motivations is a key to aesthetics and also a way to determine the significance of a work of art in the world.
Great artists seldom worked in a vacuum, and the periods of art history were not like darts thrown at a dart board… Each one built on the one before it.
The following 4 sections cover art from its earliest beginnings to the current era.
ANCIENT ART HISTORY
1. The Venus of Willendorf—Circa 28,000 BCE. Possibly a fertility goddess that a tribe of hunter/gatherers could easily carry with them. The stylized full hips and features are a representation of a strong woman who could bear many children and survive the hostile life of the Paleolithic era. It is assumed to have had a religious significance.
2. Cave Paintings at Lascaux France—Circa 17,300 BCE, on the walls of a cave near the tiny French Village of Lascaux, ancient Paleolithic hunters painted many images of the animals which were their prey. The colorful designs that survived have lyrical beauty in their successive layers. Yet these paintings are thought to have had religious significance. There are sharp impressions etched in the cave walls, where apparently the hunters threw their spears at the paintings—historians think that such activity would give the ancient hunters spiritual power over the beasts depicted.
3. Stonehenge—Circa 3,000 BCE. Stone post-and-lintel arches of religious significance on the Salisbury Plain of England. Stonehenge functions to this day as a magnificent calendar which accurately tracks astronomical events such as the summer and winter solstices. Also in the area are burial mounds known as Barrows, and other “Rings of Stone.” The Barrows, where the dead were interred, are an example of man’s early reverence for the dead and possibly the afterlife.
4. Egyptian art—Having to do with the supremacy of the Pharaohs and the afterlife. Earliest cave drawings date from circa 6500 BCE, but the Early Dynastic Period is thought to begin circa 3150 BCE.
A) The Palette of Narmer—Circa 3,200 BCE—The art of the Egyptians shows the Pharaoh (Egyptian King) in profile; his figure is much larger than the other figures in the relief, due to his importance as ruler. It was a stone on which the Pharaoh’s make-up was mixed. Historians tell us that there was a “canon of proportions” in ancient Egyptian art—that the artists had specific ideas (specific rules) about size, dimension, and depiction which they were allowed to work within.
B) The Pyramids—Circa 3,000 BCE. The largest of the six great Pyramids is the Pyramid of Khufu, and it was meant to house the body of the Pharaoh so he could rule as a King in the afterlife. It is said that it was built without the use of the practical wheel.
5. Greek art—having to do with Gods, beauty and perfection. Although Greek history begins approximately 1260 BCE (the Trojan War) there is a dark age until the death of Alexander the Great (general, conqueror) in 323 BCE. Yet the Greeks had an enormous influence over the west and Mediterranean civilization of the time, due to their culture (1st Olympics—776 BCE) and the Acropolis (see below) was built long before the classical era of Greece.
A) The Acropolis, Athens…and The Parthenon—447 BCE. A mathematically constructed work of art in architecture—built by using a canon of proportions relying on a formula known as the “Golden Section,” which divides an ideally formed rectangle into half of itself in ever shrinking fractions. Due to this stylistic convention, the Parthenon is one of the most harmonious structures ever built.
B) Victory of Samothrace—Hellenistic Period—388 BCE. Celebrates the defeat of Cyprus. Amazingly realistic cloth garment and inspired pose.
C) Venus de Milo—Hellenistic Period—130 BCE. Carved from the marble with “Contrapposto” the uneven distribution of weight throughout the figure. Ideal musculature, realism, and the idealistic representation of beauty.
6. Ancient Mexico: The Olmec, circa 1200-400 BCE were constructers of pyramids and extensive cities in eastern Mexico, including the Yucatan Peninsula. Many carved bas-reliefs and Olmec “heads” are evidence of the greatness of their culture. The Maya, Toltec, and Incas (builders of the Peruvian Mountain city Machu Picchu) existed circa 400 BCE -1400 CE. The builders of the outstanding city of Teotihuacan (400 BCE-600 CE) are mysterious, although the location was eventually inhabited by the Aztecs. The famous Aztec Calendar, which keeps 52-year cycles of time accurately to this day, was carved toward the end of the 1400’s, yet its time-keeping style is said to have been based on Olmec time keeping dating back to the time of Ancient Greece.
7. Ancient China—Great Wall of China and the Terracotta Army—Built for Qin Shi Huang the First Emperor of China and founder of the Qin Dynasty; commissioned and made for the First Emperor of China around the year of 210 BCE. Founder of the title “Emperor” he was the first lord over a united China and possessed a chrome-plated sword that still exists, and remains sharp to this very day.
8. Roman art—based much of their art on what the Greeks knew of it—then, in their Empire, carried far beyond it.
A) The Pantheon—built by the Emperor Agrippa in 34 BCE, who “came to Rome when it was a pile of bricks and left it as a city of marble.” The Pantheon was a temple to all the gods. It has the largest unreinforced concrete dome in the world, (46 meters high) and it stands fast even after 2000 years.
B) The Colosseum—built between the years 70 to 80 CE by two Roman Emperors, Vespasian and Titus. The giant Amphitheater is a grand example of Roman civic might.
C) Column of Trajan—113 CE. Example of Roman art which glorified the heroism of its Emperors and the Roman military.
9. Early Christian art—From Rome came the Christians.
A) From the Catacombs—3rd to 5th centuries CE. “Fresco with Jesus as the Good Shepherd,” “Fresco with Virgin Mary and Child,” The catacombs beneath Rome were for burial, but they became a place where persecuted early Christians secretly met. Their art told Bible stories through crude pictographs.
B) Sarcophagus of Junius Bassus—359 CE. Linking the Roman style of figural representation with “Hellenistic-style” clothing—and large heads on the figures, a Roman convention. The scenes are illustrations of chapters from the Bible.
C) Hagia Sophia—Early colossal Christian Basilica built Circa 537. Since the conquest of Constantinople by the Ottoman Empire in 1453, it has been a Mosque in the city of Istanbul.
D) Basilica of San Vitale—Circa 547—a crossover between Roman and Byzantine architecture in Northeastern Italy. Built during the time of the (Christian) Roman Emperor Justinian I who is depicted in beautiful mosaics along with tales from the Bible including Jesus and the Virgin Mary.
10. Byzantine or Early Muslim Architecture—Muslims were forbidden to depict sacred subjects in art so they concentrated on decorative, often geometric, forms.
A) The Dome of the Rock—Holy site in Jerusalem, a sacred place for Muslims, Jews, and Christians. Completed in 691 it is one of the most harmoniously constructed temples ever built.
11. Medieval art—the return to non-representational religious art was a conscious decision on the part of the clergy. They didn’t want the artworks to eclipse the religion, an idea perhaps borrowed from the Muslims.
A) Carolingian Art—7th Century. It is characterized by a flattening of the figure and a severe loss of realism, which was intentional due to a desire to move away from idolatry.
B) The Book of Kells—8th Century England, specifically Celtic (Irish) Christians. The four gospels of the New Testament in Latin copied with decorative elements.
12. Romanesque–circa 1300, Romanesque Cathedral Architecture is characterized by heavy or blocky forms with soaring, open spaces. It can be seen as an attempt to return to the grand architecture of the Romans, thus “Romanesque.”
A) The Bayeux Tapestry is an example of 13th-century needlework which depicts the Norman invasion of England and amazing craftsmanship. It is 230 feet long.
13. Gothic—featuring projects that whole towns contributed to, cathedrals. Their stained glass and lasting limestone construction make them some of the finest works of art ever.
A) Il de France’s Saint Denis Abbey was constructed in 1140. It is an early Gothic Cathedral and is a good example of Gothic Architecture’s incredible stained glass.
B) Also found in Paris is the Cathedral of Notre Dame where flying buttresses make more window space available so that the interiors feel airy and lighted. Tragically, much of the 800-year-old structure was lost in a recent fire… It will never be the same.
C) In England, Bath Cathedral is one of my personal favorites. Carved in Limestone on the cathedral’s façade Angels are depicted climbing ladders up to heaven.
RENAISSANCE ART HISTORY
14. Renaissance—Due to strict rules that were imposed by the Catholic Church, European art circa 400 CE to the 1300s was very limited in its scope. During the Renaissance, there was a rebirth and re-leaning of what was known by the Greeks and Romans. In the following 200 years, artists passed far beyond the representational styles of Greece and Rome, fired by Popes who wished for inspirational, lasting religious images and sculptures. Other wealthy patrons of the arts, such as the Medici family, apprenticed gifted young men in the studios of the great artist they employed, creating a lasting legacy and cycle of great works.
A) Giotto di Bondone—Frescos in the Scrovegni Chapel, “The Lamentation of Christ,” 1305, examples of the returning knowledge of how to create representational art.
B) Donatello—Created very lifelike sculptures (“David,” 1440; “Penitent Magdalene,” 1455). Donatello worked in one of the key centers of Renaissance art, Florence, Italy.
C) Leonardo Da Vinci— “Vitruvian Man,” 1490; “The Last Supper,” 1498; “Mona Lisa,” 1505. History looks upon Da Vinci as the ultimate “Renaissance Man,” artist/scientist/military strategist/statesman.
D) Michelangelo Buonarroti— “Pieta,” 1500; “David, 1504; “Sistine Chapel, 1512. Key artist of the Renaissance and possibly the greatest artist who ever lived. He was a sculptor, painter, and architect, deeply religious and dedicated. Michelangelo was filled with “Terribilita,” overpowering emotions about art and his relationship with God.
E) Raphael (Raffaello Santi)— “School of Athens,” 1511; possessed of a softer soul than Michelangelo, but a great painter, highly valued by the Popes, as well.
F) Hieronymus Bosch— “The Last Judgment,” 1508, the triptych (3 panels) known as “The Garden of Earthly Delights,” circa 1500. Bosch was a Northern Renaissance painter known for his detailed depictions of fantastical subjects.
G) Jan Van Eyke— “The Arnolfini Wedding,” 1434. Northern Renaissance painter, Van Eyke’s images utilized Iconography, where every object in a picture had rich metaphorical meaning and significance.
15. Mannerism—an attempt to re-create or go beyond what the great renaissance artists did. It favored compositional tension rather than harmony as the art of the Renaissance did.
A) Titian— “Assumption of the Virgin,” 1518, it was called by some “the best painting in Italy.” Titian was the lead painter in Venice for some time, using free and expressive forms to define his visions in paint.
B) Tintoretto— “Il Paradiso,” 1592, Doge’s Palace, Venice, Italy. Tintoretto was a painter of the Late Renaissance, or “High Renaissance.” Often, he applied his paint so quickly and with such vigor he was termed Il Furioso (the furious one).
16. Baroque—masterful additions to the possibilities of representation and decoration, particularly in the use of lighting.
A) Caravaggio— “The Cardsharps,” 1594, “Entombment of Christ,” 1604. Caravaggio often painted using “Sfumato” which is a term meaning, “As if obscured by smoke…” utilizing deep shadows to accentuate the key elements in the work. Also, he is credited with use of “Tenebrism,” which is the creation of tension through lighting and modeling.
B) Peter Paul Rubens—A highly prolific artist said to have painted over 1400 works of art. “The Last Judgment,” 1617, is one of his most famous. He used lighting to render highly complex images that had smooth, finished surfaces and “…action with unity.”
C) Rembrandt Van Rijn—Dutch Baroque painter. “The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Tulp,” 1632, “Storm on the Sea of Galilee,” 1633. Often credited with using an effect called “Chiaroscuro” which is similar to Sfumato, where lighting is used in a spotlight effect. Rembrandt is additionally famous for “Impasto” which is the use of thick layers of paint to render an image until a photographic quality is achieved.
D) Johannes Vermeer—Dutch Baroque painter. “The Girl with the Pearl Earring,” 1665, “The Lacemaker,” 1669. Vermeer used fascinating lighting effects on his highly composed and ideally rendered images.
E) Bernini—Christian and mythological sculpture. Finally, the craft of carving in marble is perfected! “Apollo and Daphne,” 1625. “The Ecstasy of Saint Theresa,” 1652.
ENLIGHTENMENT ART HISTORY
17. Rococo—Art for an elite class that was about them, filled with frilly detail and a spirit of the idyllic life led by its proponents.
A) Jean Honore Fragonard—French painter of the upper classes. “The Swing,” 1767. Fragonard was known for the “fete gallant,” a scene depicting elevated interactions between members of French high society.
18. Neo-Classicism—extremely polished, often politically motivated, nationalistic art.
A) Jacques-Louis David— “Oath of the Horatii,” 1784. In several of his paintings, David used a subject from mythology to illustrate a modern-day lesson about civic duty. David often used mythology to intimate meaning in his works of art.
B) Ingres—French painter with a magnificent eye for detail and form, his works documented aspects of court life, and idealized mythology. He was an exponent of quality and workmanship, and was uninterested in Romanticism. “The Source,” 1856.
19. Romanticism—art that represents the everyday in a picturesque or grand style.
A) Constable—Primarily painted views of the English countryside with idealism and emotion, rendering his landscapes in poetic harmony. “The Hay Wain,” 1821.
B) Goya—Spanish painter of events and dreams that often focused on tragedy in life. He is a painter of drama (“The Third of May 1808” painted 1814) and of darkness (“Saturn Devouring His Children,” 1823).
20. Realism—Art that represents the human condition and daily life.
A) Gustave Courbet—a painter of the commonplace, rather than mythology, politics, or Christianity. Courbet’s “A Burial at Ornans,” 1849-50, showed an ordinary scene of a funeral with no great theme or message. This painting was a turning point for French art, when people became disinterested in the “Grand” subjects that had been in use since the Renaissance.
B) Eduard Manet—a painter of everyday life in France, his paintings were a scandal because at the time they were considered to be of inappropriate subject matter. “Luncheon on the Grass,” circa 1871, caused shock in certain circles in Paris… Parts of the painting were intentionally unfinished, and the women were unclothed like prostitutes!
21. Impressionism—a break with traditional color and realism in a harmonious presentation that focused on “paint AS paint,” rather than hiding the brushstrokes smoothly. Casts off the attempts at an illusion of reality.
A) Claude Monet—one of the early proponents of impressionism, he was “a painter of light.” He often painted “Plein Aire,” outdoors while looking at his subject. His soft color-scapes and studies of light effects as the day passed are some of his most memorable images. “Haystacks,” 1890-91.
B) Pierre August Renoir—a painter of people and events with a soft touch that brought color and motion into impressionist portraits and vignettes. “Bal du moulin de la Galette,” 1876.
C) Mary Cassatt—American woman who painted superb portraits and exhibited with the French Impressionists. “Tea,” 1880.
22. Post-Impressionism—a step into specifically stylized painting that further breaks with realism.
A) Georges Seurat—chief proponent of “pointillism,” a type of post-impressionism that used tiny dots of paint to render stylized images of Parisian life. “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte,” 1886.
B) Paul Cezanne—one of the fathers of modern painting, able to render form through heavy paint and intuitive color. He defined form with color. “The Card Players,” 1895.
C) Paul Gaugin—often painted without “local color” choosing to paint what colors he “felt” rather than what he saw. “Arearea” 1892.
D) Vincent Van Gogh—Ignored during his life, he painted some of the most memorable pictures ever made, possibly because he felt so strongly about his subject matter. He wished to work with like-minded artists in Arles, a location in southern France where he felt the light was ideal. Paul Gaugin joined him for a time, but they didn’t get along. Some say, Van Gogh had syphilis and his mind was going, while others think he was mentally ill. But the primal beauty of his images strikes nearly all of us. “Starry Night,” 1889. “Sunflowers,” 1888-1889.
E) Edgar Degas—focusing on form and composition with an eye to material and unity, his subjects were often ballet dancers. “The Blue Dancers,” 1897.
23. Art Nouveau—art and architecture of the modern era with elaborate decorative elements, such as fully reversing curves.
A) Antonia Gaudi, “Church of the Sacred Family,” 1882-present. Gaudi was the key architect of Spanish Art Nouveau, particularly active in Barcelona.
B) Henri de Toulouse Lautrec, “At the Moulin-Rouge,” 1883— A painter of the “1890’s” a time of modernity and prosperity for many in Paris.
C) Hector Guimard, “Paris Underground Entrance,” circa 1900—still marvels of industrial design.
MODERN ART HISTORY
24. Cubism—pictures that often break down subject matter into “facets,” using a limited palette of colors. In design, similar in some ways to Cezanne’s pallet of colors and “breaking down of forms,” also influenced by African and Oceanic art.
A) Pablo Picasso—the greatest artist of the 20th century, he had an innate ability to make anything that he touched into art. He was the first cubist, but his influence spans generations. From a young age he could paint anything he wanted. Bored with that, he sought the modern…Studying Japanese and Oceanic and African art, he painted “Les Demoiselles D’Avignon,” 1907, Prostitutes at the bath in a brothel, using a cubist style. Further cubist works were to follow such as “Girl with Mandolin,” 1910, and much later “Guernica” 1937, a panting about the tragedy of war.
B) Georges Braque—Worked closely developing cubism with Picasso, 1910-1920 “Like two mountain climbers, roped together…” “The Portuguese,” 1911.
C) Fernand Leger—an French cubist, who eventually did commissions for the Rockefellers and the United Nations. Drafted into WWI he nearly died in a German mustard gas assault. While convalescing, he painted several works, including “The Card Players,” 1917, where robot-like forms take on monstrous proportions.
25. Fauvism—bright, garish colors and flat areas of paint to construct form.
A) Henri Matisse—paintings were initially thought to be so garish that the media dubbed him a “fauve,” or wild beast. By the time he had perfected his style his pictures were spiritually color-perfect. “Portrait of Madame Matisse,” 1905.
26. Expressionism—distortion of natural forms and colors for emotional emphasis.
A) Edvard Munch—Norwegian expressionist, whose work, “The Scream” (1893) is a document of alienation and extreme emotion exemplifying the power of expressionism.
B) Ernst Ludwig Kirchner— “Berlin Street Scene,” 1913—could be said to exemplify German expressionism. Distortions of form and color for effect.
C) Franz Marc— “Fighting Forms,” 1914– stressing energy and colors to please the eye.
D) Sonya Delauny—bright, feminine, geometric abstractions. “Light Study, Electric Prisms,” 1914.
E) Robert Delauny— “Eiffel Tower,” series, circa 1924—energetic and geometric expressionism.
F) Kathe Kollwitz—politically charged, keenly observed expressionist artworks often about the futility of war and the injustice of poverty. “Killed in Action,” 1921.
E) Paul Klee— “Senecio,” 1922–German-Swiss expressionist and abstracter of forms.
27. Dadaism—a reaction to the slaughter and waste of World War I that calls upon intentional irrationality. “DADA is watching. Mind your overcoat!”
A) Marcel Duchamp— “Nude Descending a Staircase,” 1913. Possessed one of the great minds of any modern artist, he was unapologetic to the critics who panned his work. Eventually, he quit painting to play chess.
B) Jean Arp— “Person Throwing Stone at a Bird,” 1926. Spanish Dadaist and great simplifier of forms.
C) Francis Picabia— “I see Again in Memory My Dear Udnie,” 1914. Fusion of cubism and a wry sense of humor. Finely crafted art objects to challenge the senses and the nonsensical.
28. Futurism—the depiction of movement and time in art, and the idealization of the modern.
A) Umberto Boccioni— “Unique Forms in the Continuity of Space,” 1913. “Simultaneous Visions” 1912.
29. Art Deco in Architecture—highly decorative celebration of new materials and modern form.
A) Chrysler Building, William Van Allen 1930
B) Empire State Building, William F. Lamb, 1931
30. Surrealism—exploration of the subconscious mind of man, the occult, and irrationality, either through Verism (realism), or Automatism (abstraction).
A) Salvador Dali— “The Persistence of Memory,” 1923 (one of the works best exemplifying Surrealism). “The Metamorphosis of Narcissus,” 1941 (Optical illusions on a high scale). Verist surrealism rendered precisely, “hand-painted dream photographs.” Dali also wrote about his “Paranoia-Critical” method of consciousness, where everything references the observer. It helped him to create his most compelling works of art. Dali was known for his high level of finish, almost carried to Late Renaissance perfection.
B) Max Ernst, “The Elephant Celebes,” 1921. “The Eye of Silence,” 1943—threatening and overwhelming in the rendering of what could perhaps be called the dark side of the subconscious.
C) Yves Tanguy, “Indefinite Divisibility,” 1942. An Automatist who painted scenes of otherworldly beauty.
D) Rene Magritte, “The Treachery of Images,” 1923. “Time Transfixed” 1938. Often calling into question our own reality through bizarre juxtapositions. A Verist painter of extremely compelling and slightly disturbing images.
E) Joan Miro, “Harlequin’s Carnival,” 1924. An automatist who painted pixilated forms with a dream-like mania. One of the best-loved Spanish-born painters.
31. Bauhaus—German School of Industrial Design, 1933. Many of the greatest artists of the 20th century taught or got a start here.
A) Johannes Itten—A teacher and world expert on color and color theory in art from the Bauhaus School.
B) Wassily Kandinsky—Pioneer of all abstract art to come…Eventually, an instructor at the Bauhaus. “Composition 8,” 1923.
32. International Style—Architectural Style favoring functionality, reinforced concrete and glass exterior walls. Architects of the time such as Walter Gropius, Philip Johnson, and Le Corbusier held a unified stylistic intention in this area, and buildings in the international style filled the skylines of our biggest cities.
33. “The Prairie School” of Architecture—Frank Llyod Wright was a visionary architect and independent thinker who rejected the international style, yet his legacy is so strong he must be included on this list. “Fallingwater House,” designed 1935. “Taliesin West,” 1937.
34. Mexican Muralists—large-scale art for the state and the people of Mexico, often politically charged. All three of the most important Mexican Muralists painted in the Palace of Fine Arts (a jewel-like opera house in Mexico City).
A) Alfred Siqueros—favored a nationalist, populist theme. work, called “The New Democracy,” 1945.
B) Jose Orozco— “Catharsis,” 1934. A protest against war, violence, and prostitution. Orozco believed mankind had to turn away from its vices.
C) Diego Rivera—favored a communist populist style. He was married to Frida Khalo although he wasn’t at all faithful to her. He was a genius muralist, however… Look at the Iconography “Mankind-Controller of the Universe,” 1937. It was Rivera’s amazing contribution to the palace of Fine Arts.
D) Frida Kahlo–who painted in her own almost surrealistic, personal style. Not at all a muralist, her personal aesthetic is beloved due to its independent spirit, uniqueness, and indomitability. “The Two Fridas,” 1939.
35. American Regionalism—1920-1945-celebrating diverse parts of American life.
Thomas Hart Benton—painter of Americana and the early industrial age. “Achelous and Hercules,” 1947.
36. Harlem Renaissance—A flowering of music, dance, literature, and art that took place in Harlem, New York City in the 1930s.
Jacob Lawrence, an “American Cubist” and art instructor with a distinctive style from 1933 on. “The Builders,” 1947.
37. American Painting in the 1930’s…Works Progress Administration (WPA) art—during the depression, the U.S. government created the WPA to support the arts. Many artists got their start in this program.
A) Edward Hopper—He rejected the WPA (he and his wife did well enough selling paintings so they didn’t need the WPA money). Hopper is one of the visionaries of American life. He often painted cityscapes populated by figures isolated by the industrial age’s impersonal nature. “Nighhawks,” 1942.
B) Ansel Adams (photographer)—works showing the mightiest natural wonders from across the United States. Documenter of the beauty of America’s National Parks. “Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico,” 1941.
C) Georgia O’Keefe—tied to the surrealists, southwestern art, and feminist art. “Iris #1,” 1947.
37. Abstract Expressionism—celebration of the look of raw paint.
A) Jackson Pollack—was often known for drip paintings. All of them had amazing “depth of field.” The beauty of his paintings comes from the combination of chance and intuitive understanding of gesture and control, not in the simple process of “dripping paint.” He worked toward his best-known style for years, eventually arriving at the breakthrough into territory no other artist had gone. “Blue Poles,” 1952.
B) Willen De Koonig—combined structure and amazing energy into seemingly automatic or uneducated applications of paint. Without knowing what to look for one could say “I could do this and I am not an artist…” But there is highly skilled, careful selection in the seemingly random and intentionally blunt paintings. “Woman III,” 1953.
38. Pop Art—celebration of the commercialism in life, raising the everyday object to fine art status.
A) Andy Warhol—chooses subject matter that is “intentionally bland.” His objects and paintings are repeated as if to say that all of our lives we are surrounded by art. The relationship of bland objects to high art calls into question what we chose to select to value in our lives. “Marilyn Diptych,” 1962. “Campbell’s Soup Can,” 1962.
B) Roy Lichtenstein—Enormous, out-of-context images from comic books, easily understandable in their run-of-the-mill emotion. “WHAAM!” 1962.
C) Cleas Oldenburg-Large, outdoor representations of everyday objects and “soft” sculptures. “Floor Cake,” 1962.
39. Op Art—filled with geometric optical illusions that play on the eye.
Victor Vasarely—French-Hungarian painter, considered to be the grandfather of Op art. “Vega-Nor,” 1969.
40. Minimalism—uses primary forms, such as geometric shapes, on a grand scale.
David Smith—sculptor of stainless steel non-referential forms he was one of the first to use industrial processes and materials in the creation of his works of art. “Cubi VII,” 1963.
41. Photo-Realism—painting that resembles life, observed and executed so precisely that it is like a photograph.
Chuck Close—made large scale and revealing portraits with meticulous and determined execution. “Self Portrait with Cigarette,” 1967-1968.
42. Graffiti Art—Street art raised to high art status.
A) Jean–Michel Basquiat—was so talented and his life was so short that he was like a shooting star, an art “rock star” to be sure. The reasons for his success were the 1) “the ideal intuition that his assured marks and paintings were made with” along with 2) the gallery system that supported him. He was truly talented and he was in the right place to be recognized for it. But his life was cut short because of unchecked addiction and the pressures of fame. “Irony of a Negro Policeman,” 1981.
B) Keith Haring—started by making outlines of figures in the subways which were very recognizable and easily accessible. These became a highly iconic style of the 1980’s. Unfortunately, Haring was a victim of AIDS disease, dying at a young age. Ignorance = Fear,” 1989.
C) Kenney Scharf—Amazingly creative forms and subjects taken from the edge of pop culture and the subconscious collective experience. “Inner Space,” 1987.
D) John “CRASH” Matos—Taking elements from cartoons and combining the with extrapolations of energetic lettering and the bright effects exclusively achievable with spray paint, Crash, and others like him, raised Graffiti art to a high status.
43. Neo-Expressionism—brutal and often highly abstract works in an international group of artists separated by distance but not by style.
A) Anselm Kiefer— “Osiris and Isis,” 1985-1987. An attempt to overwhelm the viewer, this huge painting is composed of collage, intentionally primitive brushwork, and the temple it depicts gives monumental power to the image.
B) Julian Schnabel—Used ceramic plates on his canvases for extreme texture and raw finish. “The Walk Home,” 1985.
44. Performance Art—Combining theater, Personality, creativity, and often music.
A) Laurie Anderson—Idea driven art objects, music, and performances. “United States, Parts I-IV,” 1984.
B) The Residents—Music and performance from San Francisco’s number one underground artists. Said to be “intentionally repellent” music. “The Mole Show,” 1982.
C) Marina Abramovich—Performance art based on the strength of the personality of the artist. “The Artist is Present,” 2010.
45. Installation—Rooms or locations designated for art “environments” often made with industrial materials.
Yayoi Kasawa— Japanese artist, widely known for her beloved installations and use of polka dots. “Infinity Room (Installation),” 1993. “Obliteration Room,” 2015.
46. Conceptual Art—Based on the ability to shock and bring feeling to the tired and jaded public.
A) Damien Hirst—The richest living artist in Britain. An entrepreneur and showman. “The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living,” 1991.
B) Jeff Koons—Another art entrepreneur and showman, Koon’s stainless steel “Rabbit” sold for $91.1 million to a private collector in 2019, the highest price ever for a work of art by a living artist.