WESTERN ART TIMELINE GOTHIC ART (c.

1150-1400) Gothic Art defines much of the late medieval art that grew out of the Byzantine and Romanesque traditions. These were very formal artistic traditions with rigorous religious conventions that limited the personal creativity of the artist. At this time, the quality of an artwork was judged by the richness of the materials used to create it and the skill with which they were applied. Gothic art is distinguished from its predecessors by an increasing naturalism in the shape and posture of the figures, and an expressive use of line, pattern and color, allowing the artist more freedom of interpretation. Gothic art started in 13th century Italy and developed throughout Europe until the 15th century. The term Gothic, originally related to the barbarity of the Gothic tribes (the Ostrogoths and Visigoths) in their destruction of the art of Ancient Rome. It was first coined by 16th century Italian Renaissance critics as a term of abuse for various developments in medieval art and architecture up to the start of the 14th century. INTERNATIONAL GOTHIC (c.1375-1425) International Gothic is the term used to describe the transition of styles across Northern Europe and Italy during the period between Byzantine Art, Late Gothic Art and Early Renaissance art. International Gothic was an elegant, detailed and decorative style that comprised miniatures, illuminated manuscripts and ornate religious altarpieces. These artworks were populated by more natural and sensual figures than their Byzantine and Gothic counterparts, but were still composed within the flattened pictorial space common to all Gothic art before the development of perspective drawing in the 15th century. THE EARLY RENAISSANCE (c.1300-1450) The Early Renaissance was the period of artistic development in Italy when art broke away from the rigid Byzantine and Gothic traditions to develop a more naturalistic approach to drawing and the organization of figures within a landscape. The roots of these changes lay in the more solid rendering of form and the gestural narratives of Giotto's painting. A more precise way of rendering depth was gradually developed through the creative application of perspective drawing in the work of artists such as Masaccio, Uccello, Fra Angelico and Piero della Francesca. THE HIGH RENAISSANCE (c.1480-1520)

The High Renaissance marks the pinnacle of artistic development in Italian art of the late 14th, 15th and early 16th centuries. The word 'Renaissance' means 'rebirth' - a rebirth of the classical ideals from Ancient Rome and Greece. The great artists of the High Renaissance were Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo Buonarroti from Florence, Raphael Sanzio from Umbria, and Titian (Tiziano Vecellio) and Tintoretto (Jacopo Robusti) from Venice. They painted artworks of unprecedented skill and beauty and were responsible for raising the status of the artist in society from the level of artisan to an intellectual plane on a par with writers, philosophers and scientists. These great masters achieved what artists had aspired to since the Early Renaissance: a revival of the classical ideals of beauty and form; an anatomical and scientific accuracy in drawing; a sensual and psychological response to color and composition, and an acceptance and appreciation of classical content as the subject matter for art. MANNERISM (c. 1520-1580) Mannerism is a 20th century term that was used to describe several exaggerated or mannered styles of art that evolved towards the end of the High Renaissance. Mannerist artists valued a personal and idealized response to beauty over the classical ideal oftruth to nature. The more robust qualities of Mannerism are found in the exaggerated physiques and contorted figures from the late work of Michelangelo, Raphael, Tintoretto and El Greco. A more refined response to the Mannerist style is seen in the elegant and elongated figures from the paintings of Agnolo Bronzino, Parmigianino and Jacopo Pontormo. THE NORTHERN RENAISSANCE (c.1420-1520) The Northern Renaissance is the term given to the art of north and west Europe during the Italian Renaissance. In the 15th century, art in the north was still linked to the Gothic tradition but rendered with an exquisite naturalistic detail in the new medium of oil paints. Flanders was the main focus of artistic activity with artists such as Robert Campin, Rogier van der Weyden, Hugo van der Goes and Jan van Eyck. In the 16th century the Gothic influence had its final say in the art of Hieronymus Bosch and Matthias Grnewald. Gradually the influence of the Italian Renaissance took hold, particularly in the work of Albrecht Drer which offered a Protestant challenge to the authority of the Catholic Church. BAROQUE ART (c.1600-1700) Baroque was a reaction against the artificial stylization of Mannerism. It spread throughout Europe during the 17th century. Among the great Baroque masters were the Italian painter Caravaggio and sculptor Bernini, the Flemish artist Rubens, Velazquez from Spain, and Rembrandt, the greatest of all Dutch painters.

Baroque art is identified by realistic subjects that depict spectacular action and generate powerful emotions. Religious, mystical and historical subjects, which were often propaganda for the Church or State, were brought to life with characters in contemporary clothing, by naturalistic painting of outstanding virtuosity, dramatic lighting (chiaroscuro) and bold asymmetric and diagonal compositions. ROCOCO ART (c.1700-1775) Rococo is a term that derives from the French word rocaille which means rock-work, referring to a style of interior decoration that swirls with arrangements of curves and scrolls. The style was essentially French but spread throughout Europe. As Mannerism was a stylistic reaction to Renaissance art, so Rococo was a decorative response to the realism of Baroque. While some authorities consider Rococo to be a refined, elegant, and allegorical style, others judge it as pompous, indulgent and pretentious. Notable Rococo artists were Watteau, Boucher and Fragonard in France, Tiepolo, Guardi and Canaletto in Italy, and to some extent Hogarth in England. DUTCH ART (c.1620-1670) Dutch Art has become famous for its still lifes, portraits, landscapes, interiors and genre painting. With the spread of Protestantism in Holland and the rejection of Catholic Baroque, Dutch artists had to focus on a more limited range of secular subjects to which there were no objections on religious grounds. Consequently, artists tended to specialize more narrowly, often in one subject. For example, Willem Kalf painted still lifes, Frans Hals portraits, Jacob van Ruisdael landscapes, and Jan Vermeer was the outstanding genre painter. The exception was Rembrandt, the greatest of the Dutch masters whose genius is evident through a range media and subjects that capture the essence of the human condition. NEOCLASSICISM (c.1765-1850) Neoclassicism was a reaction against the pomposity of Rococo. This was the Age of the Enlightenment and political, social and cultural revolution were in the air. Artists needed a serious art for serious times and once again they looked back to the art of Antiquity as their model. Inspired by the archaeological discoveries at Herculaneum and Pompeii, Neoclassicism had a historical accuracy that earlier classical revivals lacked. Historical scenes of heroism and virtue were used as patriotic propaganda or allegories on contemporary circumstances. Jacques Louis David and Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres were the outstanding virtuosos of Neoclassical painting. ROMANTICISM (c.1765-1850) Romanticism valued the expression of emotion over the control of Classicism. This was achieved through spectacular painting technique and the choice of emotive and sensual subjects which often commemorated dramatic contemporary and historical events. In

France, Delacroix and Gricault were the pioneers of Romanticism; in England, it was Turner and Constable; in Germany, Caspar David Friedrich and in Spain, Goya. REALISM (c.1840-1880) Realism was a French style of painting that focused on the everyday reality of a subject, warts and all. Realist artists such as Millet, Corot, Courbet and Manet reacted against the heightened emotions of Romanticism. They sought an objective truth that reflected the social realities of the common man in his natural environment. Realism was also inspired by a new exploration of 'visual reality' that followed the invention of photography around 1840. THE PRE-RAPHAELITES (c.1848-1854) The Pre-Raphaelites were a brotherhood of young English artists who created artworks that were a blend of Realism and Symbolism. Dissatisfied with the art of their own time they rebelled against the 'Grand Manner', the artificial Mannerist tradition that stretched back to Raphael. They drew inspiration from the Early Renaissance (before Raphael), when artists explored the ideal of 'truth to nature'. The Pre-Raphaelites painted all their works from direct observation with meticulous detail and vibrant colors. They drew their subjects from the Bible, Dante, Shakespeare and contemporary poetry usually with an idealized medieval theme. The founding members of the group were John Everett Millais, William Holman Hunt and Dante Gabriel Rossetti. Modern Art Timeline IMPRESSIONISM (c.1870-1890) Impressionism is the name given to a colorful style of painting in France at the end of the 19th century. The Impressionists searched for a more exact analysis of the effects of color and light in nature. They sought to capture the atmosphere of a particular time of day or the effects of different weather conditions. They often worked outdoors and applied their paint in small brightly colored strokes which meant sacrificing much of the outline and detail of their subject. Impressionism abandoned the conventional idea that the shadow of an object was made up from its color with some brown or black added. Instead, the Impressionists enriched their colors with the idea that a shadow is broken up with dashes of its complementary color. Among the most important Impressionist painters were Claude Monet, Pierre Auguste Renoir, Edgar Degas, Camille Pissarro, Alfred Sisley and Henri de Toulouse Lautrec. POST IMPRESSIONISM (c.1885-1905 Post Impressionism was not a particular style of painting. It was the collective title given to the works of a few independent artists at the end of the 19th century. The Post

Impressionists rebelled against the limitations of Impressionism to develop a range of personal styles that influenced the development of art in the 20th century. The major artists associated with Post Impressionism were Paul Czanne, Paul Gauguin, Vincent Van Gogh and Georges Seurat. Czanne was an important influence on Picasso and Braque in their development ofCubism. Van Gogh's vigorous and vibrant painting technique was one of the touchstones of both Fauvism and Expressionism, while Gauguin's symbolic color and Seurat's pointillist technique were an inspiration to 'Les Fauves'. FAUVISM (1905-1910) in using outrageously bold colors. It was developed in France at the beginning of the 20th century by Henri Matisse and Andr Derain. The artists who painted in this style were known as 'Les Fauves' (the wild beasts), a title that came from a sarcastic remark in a review by the art critic Louis Vauxcelles. 'Les Fauves' believed that color should be used at its highest pitch to express the artist's feelings about a subject, rather than simply to describe what it looks like. Fauvist paintings have two main characteristics: extremely simplified drawing and intensely exaggerated color. Fauvism was a major influence on German Expressionism. GERMAN EXPRESSIONISM (1905-1925) German Expressionism is a style of art that is charged with an emotional or spiritual vision of the world. The expressive paintings of Vincent Van Gogh and Edvard Munch influenced the German Expressionists. They also drew their inspiration from German Gothic and 'primitive art'. The Expressionists were divided into two factions: Die Brcke and Der Blaue Reiter. Die Brcke (The Bridge) was an artistic community of young artists in Dresden who aimed to overthrow the conservative traditions of German art. Ernst Ludwig Kirchner and Karl Schmidt-Rottluff were two of its founding members. Der Blaue Reiter (the Blue Rider) was a group of artists whose publications and exhibitions sought to find a common creative ground between the various Expressionist art forms. Kandinsky, Marc and Macke were among its founding members. ABSTRACT ART (c.1907 onwards) Abstract Art is a generic term that describes two different methods of abstraction: 'semi abstraction' and 'pure abstraction'. The word 'abstract' means to withdraw part of something in order to consider it separately. In Abstract art that 'something' is one or more of the visual elements of a subject: its line, shape, tone, pattern, texture, or form. Semi-Abstraction is where the image still has one foot in representational art, (see Cubism and Futurism). It uses a type of stylisation where the artist selects, develops and refines

specific visual elements (e.g. line, color and shape) in order to create a poetic reconstruction or simplified essence of the original subject. Pure Abstraction is where the artist uses visual elements independently as the actual subject of the work itself. (see Suprematism, De Stijl and Minimalism). Although elements of abstraction are present in earlier artworks, the roots of modern abstract art are to be found in Cubism. Among other important abstract styles that developed in the 20th century are Orphism, Rayonism, Constructivism, Tachisme, Abstract Expressionism, and Op Art.

CUBISM (1907-1915) Cubism was invented around 1907 in Paris by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque. It was the first abstract style of modern art. Cubist paintings ignore the traditions of perspective drawing and show you many views of a subject at one time. The Cubists believed that the traditions of Western art had become exhausted and to revitalize their work, they drew on the expressive energy of art from other cultures, particularly African art. There are two distinct phases of the Cubist style: Analytical Cubism (pre 1912) andSynthetic Cubism (post 1912). Cubism influenced many other styles of modern art including Expressionism, Futurism, Orphism, Vorticism, Suprematism, Constructivism and De Stijl. Other notable artists associated with Cubism were Juan Gris, Fernand Leger, Robert Delaunay, Albert Gleizes, Jean Metzinger, Louis Marcoussis and Marie Laurencin. FUTURISM (1909-1914) Futurism was a revolutionary Italian movement that celebrated modernity. The Futurist vision was outlined in a series of manifestos that attacked the long tradition of Italian art in favour of a new avant-garde. They glorified industrialization, technology, and transport along with the speed, noise and energy of urban life. The Futurists adopted the visual vocabulary of Cubism to express their ideas - but with a slight twist. In a Cubist painting the artist records selected details of a subject as he moves around it, whereas in a Futurist painting the subject itself seems to move around the artist. The effect of this is that Futurist paintings appear more dynamic than their Cubist counterparts. Futurism was founded in 1909 by the poet Filippo Tommas Marinetti and embraced the arts in their widest sense. The main figures associated with the movement were the artists, Umberto Boccioni, Giacomo Balla, Gino Severini, the musician Luigi Russolo and the architect Antonio Sant'Elia. SUPREMATISM (c.1915-1925)

Suprematism was developed in 1915 by the Russian artist Kazimir Malevich. It was a geometric style of abstract painting derived from elements of Cubism and Futurism. Malevich rejected any use of representational images, believing that the nonrepresentational forms of pure abstraction had a greater spiritual power and an ability to open the mind to the supremacy of pure feeling. Suprematism was a style of pure abstraction that advocated a mystical approach to art, in contrast with Constructivism, the major Russian art movement of the 20th Century, whose imagery served the social and political ideology of the state. CONSTRUCTIVISM (c.1913-1930) Constructivism used the same geometric language as Suprematism but abandoned its mystical vision in favour of their 'Socialism of vision' - a Utopian glimpse of a mechanized modernity according to the ideals of the October Revolution. However, this was not an art that was easily understood by the proletariat and it was eventually repressed and replaced by Socialist Realism. Tatlin, Rodchenko, El Lissitzky and Naum Gabo were among the best artists associated with Constructivism. DE STIJL (c.1917-1931) De Stijl was a Dutch 'style' of pure abstraction developed by Piet Mondrian, Theo Van Doesburg and Bart van der Leck. Mondrian was the outstanding artist of the group. He was a deeply spiritual man who was intent on developing a universal visual language that was free from any hint of the nationalism that led to the Great War. Mondrian gradually refined the elements of his art to a grid of lines and primary colors which he configured in a series of compositions that explored his universal principles of harmony. He saw the elements of line and color as possessing counteracting cosmic forces. Vertical lines embodied the direction and energy of the sun's rays. These were countered by horizontal lines relating to the earth's movement around it. He saw primary colors through the same cosmic tinted spectacles: yellow radiated the sun's energy; blue receded as infinite space and red materialized where blue and yellow met. Mondrian's style which he also called 'Neo-Plasticism' was inspired by the Theosophical beliefs of the mathematician and philosopher, M.H.J. Schoenmaekers.