Art History Timeline1700s to Present

Day

This artistic movement took place in the 17th and early 18th century. A typical characteristic is that the subjects come out at the viewer, almost engulfing them in the space itself. Scenes are often tipped forward, almost as if the viewer needs to help the subject in the painting.

Baroque 17th and early 18th century

This artistic movement took place in the 1750s in Paris. This style was frivolous and whimsical, and was often used to display wealth.

Rococo – 1750s in Paris

This artistic movement took place in the late 1700s. The industrial revolution had inspired an interest in science, technology and in classical art. These classical influences are clearly shown in the colors of paint, the drapery of fabrics, and the poses of figures.

Neo-Classicism – Late 1700s

This artistic movement can be dated from 1800 to 1880. It included an exploration of dreamy, exotic or nightmarish narratives, fictionalized to be more dramatic. Colors are intense, poses are bold to make the art more theatrical.

Romanticism 1800-1880

This artistic movement took place in France in the mid 1800s. Many considered this movement extremely audacious, showing reality as it really was, not fictionalized or glossed over. People who were the lowest of the low were often pictured, including slaves and prostitutes.

Realism 1880s in France

This artistic movement began in France in 1874. It cannot be pinned down to 1 method, but to an idea. Similar to the realists that often wanted to capture a particular moment in time, the Impressionist artists tried to capture everything – the lighting, the emotion etc., - in a single brush stroke.

Impressionism 1874 in France

This artistic movement followed that of Impressionism. It was an exciting and volatile form of expression. Emotion was explosive, light crucial. Artists looked to natives, the insane, the elderly and the childlike for their inspiration.

Post-Impressionism

This artistic movement took place during the early 20th century in Europe. It focused on the emotion of color instead of the reality of it. This gave way to abstract art. Forms were displayed in chunks of color, slashes of light and shape to express a feeling.

Expressionism – Early 20th century

This was a radical turning point in the history of art. Cubists liked the composition of shapes and forms abstracted from the conventionally perceived world.

Cubism

During this movement, artists attempted to free art from convention using ready-mades and artistic anarchy.

Dada

This artistic movement meant that art was expressed through dreams and through the unconscious. Surrealism lead into many other artistic movements, among them Plasticism, Neo-Plasticism, Art-Deco, Organic structure and Architecture, Regionalism, Post-Modernism, Abstract Expressionism and Pop Art (1950s).

Surrealism