Art history

1. LEARN ABOUT EARLY ART PERIODS

Some people get PhDs in Art History; we're perfectly content to
merely have you scam your way through centuries of artistry. So
below, we provide you with the characteristics of the basic art
periods. We warn you -- there's A LOT here. So feel free to skim or
skip around. But don't forget to go to step 2 when you're done.

ANTIQUITIES: before 500 years B.C.

This refers to stuff that's so old, that it's usually appreciated more
for its archeological value rather than its artistic expression.

Dead giveaways: Everything's broken and half gone. What's left

has been pieced back together with Krazy Glue.

Pretentious comment to say: "Imagine the Herculean task of the

sculptor-carving the hardest of rocks, in the hottest of climates,
with the simplest of tools."

GREEKS AND ROMANS: 500 B.C. to 500 A.D.

These cultures appreciated the ideal: men looking beautiful and
achieving great feats. The art of this period is particularly important
because most of the ideals of Western civilization came from these
artistic portrayals. They also carved a lot of naked marble statues,
many of which are missing arms and/or heads.

Dead giveaways: Missing Noses and other protrusions. Usually,

the statues are made of white marble, while vases are black.

Pretentious comment to say: "Note how the sculptor draws

attention to his virtuosity by holding back. That is what classic
means."

MEDIEVAL: 500 to 1500

Medieval art can seem even more primitive than its predecessors;
it's as if they were starting over from scratch (and in a sense they
were, what with the Black Plague and all). Most of the stuff is
religious, and that should factor into your (faked) appreciation.
These relics were not just meant to be beautiful -- To the people of
the Middle Ages, they held sacred power. Many of the artistic works
of this period were created purely for religious purposes.
Dead giveaways: On the little placard next to the painting, look
for "egg tempera on panel" in the media category and "Madonna" in
the title. A flat, 2-dimensional perspective also abounded in this
period.

Pretentious comment to say: "Images of Hell gave the usually

reserved monk-like artists an opportunity to explore their
subconscious fears."

RENAISSANCE: 1400 to 1520

The Renaissance was like the All-Star game of art history. During
the Renaissance (literally meaning "rebirth," as in the rebirth of
Greek and Roman artistic sensibilities), Europe experienced a
cultural boom and great value was placed on art. As a result, a
large number of extraordinary artists all appeared at once
(especially in Italy) and produced revolutionary works of art. Four of
the most famous artists of this period were Da Vinci,
Michelangelo, Donatello and Raphael.

Dead giveaways: People in robes and halos gesturing. Other

characteristics include a rich 3-D perspective, human subjects in
proportion, and the believable representation of spaces. It was
during this period when artists tried to mimic reality as closely as
possible.

Pretentious comment to say: "Note how the perspective is more

an allusion to space than an illusion of space."

BAROQUE: 1600 to 1725

The Baroque period carried on the Renaissance forms but added a
heavily melodramatic flair. The result? Baroque art, with its fat
cherubs and gilded frippery. Landscapes and still lifes also sprouted
in this period, giving motels around the world something to hang
over their double beds. Look for works by Caravaggio and Bernini
in Italy and Rembrandt, Hals and Vermeer in Holland.

Dead giveaways: Fat women, light rays and fruit bowls.

Pretentious comment to say: "The way the bountiful figures spill

over from darkness into light is so typical of the Baroque style."

NEOCLASSICAL: 1700 to 1800

During the Neoclassical period, the work of the Greeks and Romans
became hip again, but Neoclassicism took a more romantic look at
classical subjects. Melodramatic paintings of historical subjects are
in vogue and robes are back in fashion. If you need to namedrop,
casually mention Jacques Louis David (pronounced Jock Loo-wee
Da-VEED).

Dead giveaways: armor, spears and sandals.

Pretentious comment to say: "I'm blown away by the precision

of the composition, the accuracy of the costumes and the
expressiveness of the gestures."

REALISM: 1800 to 1880

Realism was a movement started Gustave Courbet (Goo-stov Cor-
BAY), and it refers to the subject of the pictures, not the style.
Realists preferred to paint images of thing that they could see,
reacting against those who painted imaginary or idealized stuff.

Dead giveaways: a big red signature that says "Courbet."

Pretentious comment to say: "His journalistic approach to

reproducing the facts of the real world gives me chills."

2. LEARN ABOUT MODERN ART PERIODS

The last two centuries have seen an exhilarating march of
overlapping and blending movements. Don't worry too much about
it; just realize that art that does not attempt directly reflect reality
is usually considered to be "modern." The art movements below are
all factions of modern art.

MODERN ART: 1800 - present

Modern Art entered around 1800, a century before Picasso and his
buddies made it famous again. While traditional portrait painting
was still being cranked out by the acre, there was a growing
movement of artists who wanted to rebel against the stage-y art
that people were hanging over their living room sofas. What makes
a work "modern" is its purposeful breaking of the traditions of the
past; those who broke the rules got the headlines. Modern art does
not necessarily represent concrete objects (be it real, like a person,
or imaginary, like a unicorn), but rather revels in its weirdness.

Dead giveaways: the tourists around you are squinting and

asking, "What is it?"

Pretentious comment to say: "It is art."

IMPRESSIONISM: 1870 to 1900
Spun off from realism, Impressionism took the act of seeing to a
new level, thanks to an obsession with light and color.
Impressionists painted the light they could see, using countless little
dabs of paint. Claude Monet was the founder of the movement and
its most consistent practitioner. In short, impressionism is obsessed
with tons of colors, and as the movie Clueless so eloquently put it,
impressionist paintings look normal from far away, "but close up,
it's a big ol' mess."

Dead giveaways: the same image painted two or more times

under different lighting conditions.

Pretentious comment to say: "Look closely. All the colors in the

painting are represented in every square inch of the canvas."

POSTIMPRESSIONISM: 1880 to 1920

The Postimpressionism movement basically consists of a group of
guys who have no other distinction than coming after the
impressionists. They started out with the impressionist rules of
painting light, but went in different directions. Postimpressionism
also has a particular affinity for drawing attention to the physical act
of painting, focusing on such features as thick swabs of paint (Van
Gogh) or only painting with tiny dots of color (Seurat). Others
include Gauguin and Cezanne.

Dead giveaways: You see paint first, image second.

Pretentious comment to say: "You know, his ear never had a

chance to grow back."

CUBISM: 1900 to 1920

Cubism has nothing to do with Cuba; rather, it was an intellectual
approach to the figure/ground problem. For instance, Picasso
and Braque used multi-facets (unrealistically portraying several
perspectives at once) to break up the forms of the figures and blend
them into the ground.

Dead giveaways: It was painted by Picasso or Braque between

1906 and 1921.

Pretentious comment to say: "In the collage phase, Picasso

synthesizes his faceted abstractions with the new sound of Jazz."
ABSTRACT: 1912 to present
Abstract art refers to works that have no literal subject at all. The
artist strips the forms and colors of any trace of representation. The
painting doesn't represent anything at all. It just is. Even in abstract
art there's still the classic and romantic split. Kandinsky, for
example, painted chaotic splotches of singing color that clearly set
him in the emotional category. Mondrian's works, on the other
hand, are classic calm.

Dead giveaways: You say to yourself, "I could do that."

Pretentious comment to say: Anything but, "I could do that."

OTHER 20th CENTURY MOVEMENTS

Style: De Stijl
Artist: Mondrian
Look for: Monopoly boards, the Partridge Family bus.
Pretentious comment to say: "The asymmetrical balance is so
simple, yet complex."

Style: Surrealism
Artists: Dali, Magritte
Look for: Melting clocks, floating bowler hats
Pretentious comment to say: Anything with the words
"existential" and "gestalt."

Style: Abstract Expressionism

Artist: Pollock
Look for: Dribbling, drippy paint splattered on the canvas.
Pretentious comment to say: "The enormous canvas envelopes
your perception and draws you into the network of drips like an
insect into a web."

Style: Pop Art

Artist: Andy Warhol, Lichtenstein
Look for: Campbell's Soup cans.
Pretentious comment to say: "His original reproductions of mass
produced objects are an ironic commentary on the modern
preoccupation with materialism."
ANCIENT ART(ANTIQUITIES): before 500 years B.C.
The artifacts found are usually so old, that it's usually appreciated more
for its archeological value rather than its artistic expression. Many of the
artifacts found are broken and damaged due to the test of time. However,
they provide us with an understanding of the culture and civlisation of the
time Some of the items found are things like tools, pottery, stone carvings
and jewellery.
If you are more interested in ancient art, you can read up more on the
ancient civilisation like the Ice Age Humans, Mesopotamias, Ancient China
and Ancient Egyptians. Some of the famous ancient artifacts are "The
Cave of Lascaux" in France and the "Tell Asmar Statues".

GREEKS AND ROMANS: 500 B.C. to 500 A.D.

The Greeks and Romans appreciated the ideal, imagine beautiful men and
women and a culture so into achieving great feats. The art of this period is
particularly important because most of the ideals of Western civilization
came from these artistic portrayals. The art is represented by life-like
marble statues, many of which have missing arms and/or heads. Usually,
the statues are made of white marble, while vases are black.
You may want to read up more on the Archaic Greek, Greek Classicism
and Hellenism and The Roman Republic.

Antinoös Alexander the great

MEDIEVAL: 500 to 1500

Medieval art seems more primitive than its predecessors. Artists in this era
seems to be reinventing and recreating their art forms, instead of
improving on its predecessor. The art in this era are created for religious
purposes and they were believed to hold sacred powers. This is known as
the Middle Ages. The period of European history between the last Roman
emperor and the Renaissance (476 A.D. to 1453 A.D.). The Roman
Catholic Church was the most powerful authority during this period and
new ideas and scientific observations which challenged the views of the
Church were not encouraged or accepted. Most paintings depicted scenes
holy figures and people important in the Christian religion. Even the most
talented painters of the Middle Ages paid little attention to making
humans and animals look lifelike, creating natural looking landscapes, or
creating a sense of depth and space in their paintings. You may have
visited some of the famous architecture of the time, for example The
Notre Dame of Paris. Most people should be familiar with Gregorian Chant
which is a form of sacred music of that time. I am sure you have read
about the story of Joan of Arc...yes, she is one of the famous character of
the time

RENAISSANCE: 1400 to 1520

The Renaissance was like the superstar of art history. Renaissance means
"rebirth," as in the rebirth of Greek and Roman artistic sensibilities. The
People of the Renaissance saw themselves as witnessing the rebirth of
what was the best of culture after a long period of darkness that so
famously cahracterised the Middle Ages. Europe experienced a cultural
boom and great value was placed on art. During this period, many
extraordinary artists surfaced and produced revolutionary works of art,
many were Italians. Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Donatello and Raphael are
some of the most famous artist of this era. The characteristics of the art in
Renaissance are a rich 3-D perspective, human subjects in proportion, and
the believable representation of spaces. The art tends to be realistic and
mimics the actual subject.

The Baroque period carried on the Renaissance forms but added a heavily
melodramatic flair with a sense of realism, colour and grandeur. Baroque
art can be easily identified with its fat cherubs and gilded frippery.
Landscapes and still lifes also sufaced. Some of the prominent artists of
the era are Caravaggio and Bernini in Italy and Rembrandt and Vermeer in
Holland. Purcell, Vivaldi, Handel and Bach are some of the most influential
musicians and composers of the time
The Syndics of the Clothmaker's Guild (The Staalmeesters) 1662

NEOCLASSICAL: 1700 to 1800

During the Neoclassical period, the work of the Greeks and Romans
became fashionable again. The period is also known as "The
Enlightenment". Neoclassicism reflect a more romantic look at classical
subjects. Melodramatic paintings of historical subjects are in vogue and
robes are back in fashion. One of the famous artist of this era is Jacques
Louis David (pronounced Jock Loo-wee Da-VEED). The characteristics of
the art duing this time are the precision of the composition, the accuracy
of the costumes and the expressiveness of the gestures. Mozart and
Beethoven are one of the prominent composers and musicians of the time.

Napoleon at St. Bernard 1800

REALISM: 1800 to 1880
Realism was a movement started Gustave Courbet (Goo-stov Cor-BAY).
This is prevalent during the Age of Romanticism. It represents the subject
of the pictures, not the style. Realists preferred to paint images of thing
that they could see, reacting against those who painted imaginary or
idealized stuff.

A Thicket of Deer at the Stream of Plaisir-Fontaine 1866

IMPRESSIONISM: 1870 to 1900

This is a spun off from realism. Impressionism is obsessed with tons of
colors. YOu can figure out the subject of the painting faraway but it looks a
mess close-up. Impressionists painted the light they could see, using
countless little dabs of paint. Claude Monet was the founder of the
movement and its most consistent practitioner.
Claude Monert "Impression, Sunrise", 1873, oil on canvas, Musée Marmottan,
Paris

CUBISM: 1900 to 1920

Cubism has nothing to do with Cuba; rather, it was an intellectual
approach to the figure/ground problem. For instance, Picasso and Braque
used multi-facets (unrealistically portraying several perspectives at once)
to break up the forms of the figures and blend them into the ground.

Artillery, 1911 Roger de La Fresnaye (French, 1885–1925)

ABSTRACT: 1912 to present

Abstract art refers to works that have no literal subject at all. The artist
strips the forms and colors of any trace of representation. The painting
doesn't represent anything at all. It just is. Kandinsky and Mondrian are
some of the prominent artists.
Homage to the Square: With Rays, 1959
Josef Albers (American, born Germany, 1888–1976)