Art History Study Guide

By Jesucita Menz

​Are the oldest form of human expression that date back up to 60,000 years. They were first created by Neanderthal man and consist mainly of animals, tools, and some astronomy.

​​Cave Paintings

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​include the Lascaux and Cueva de las Manos (Cave of the Hands) caves, both found in Spain.

​​Famous Examples

​refers to art made by civilizations that had developed writing made approximately between 30,000 b.c. and 400 a.d. These include China, India, Mesopotamia, Persia, Palestine, Egypt, Greece, and Rome. It can be seen or considered as stone art, but historians and archaeologists have found examples of pottery, sculptures, and paintings.

​​Ancient Art

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is one of the oldest examples. She is around 30,000 years old. She doesnt have a people or culture. She was made in the stone age. Some small sculptures have even been found to be made of mammoth tusks.

Venus of Willendorf

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​is made up mainly of illuminated manuscripts, stained glass, tapestries, mosaics, and metalwork. Its strongly characterized by bright colors, Christian iconography, metallic materials such as gold leaf, and ornate patterns. Established in Europe, especially Italy, but spread through the Middle East, and Africa.

​​Medieval Art

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​The images were flat and lacked deep space or dimension. It was made between 500 ad and just before the Renaissance. It can be divided into 3 periods; Byzantine, Romanesque, and Gothic. Developed during the Dark Ages in Europe.

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​means rebirth, revival, or renewal. Art made after the Dark ages in Europe, mainly Italy, between 1400 and 1600 a.d. The most famous artists are the Ninja Turtles"; Leonardo, Michaelangelo, Raphael, and Donatello.

​Artists developed one-point linear perspective, and oil-paints. There were new advances in all the sciences and technology.

​Artists became obsessed with the human body to the point of dissecting bodies to represent muscular characteristics more accurately.

Renaissance Art

​Michaelangelo, The Sistine Chapel

​Leonardo Da Vinci, The Mona Lisa

​Raphael, The School of Athens

European art made between​1600-1725 ad. Dramatic, grande, fancy and exaggerated, drastic use of light versus dark known as chiaroscuro. Heavier and darker undertones.

Baroque 1600-1725

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​European art made between 1720-1760. Also very fancy, but more romantic, feminine, light and airy. Strong use of pastels, and soft, curved lines.

Rococo 1720-1760

​or new classical; a revolt of Rococo; more formal, and serious, straight lines, crisp edges, simple and direct use of color. 1760-1830

Neoclassical 1760-1830

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​Johannes Vermeer, The Girl with the Pearl Earring

Jean-Honoré Fragonard's The Swing

​Jacques-Louis David, Oath of the Horatii

European art from 1800-1850.

​First movement in art where artists were allowed to express their feelings, psychology, emotional states, ideas, thoughts, or feelings on current events as opposed to logic, reason, and reality.

​​Romanticism 1800-1850

European art from 1848-1900.

​For the first time in history, it is socially acceptable for artists to depict everyday life naturally and realistically as opposed to portraits of aristocracy, or religious paintings.

​​Realism 1848-1900

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Francisco Goya, The 3rd of May 1808 in Madrid, or “The Executions,” 

​Jean-Francois Millet, The Gleaners

​Catching a first impression at a glance, quick small strokes, rough application of paint, capturing qualities of light, unblended, muted colors. MANET, MONET, SEURAT, RENOIR, VAN GOGH

Impressionism 1870-1900

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​Developed as a scientific approach to painting as a reaction to impressionism by Georges Seurat. Placing small dots of pure color are optically mixed by the eye to create a striking image.

Pointillism 1880-1​920

​A reaction to realism, it used symbols to represent ideas, thoughts, or feelings. The paintings were darker in mood, used flat colors, and sought to express the artist's inner thoughts as poetry on the surface.

Symbolism 1880-1910

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Claude Monet, Woman with Parasol

​Georges Seurat, A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jette

Edvard Munch, ​The Scream

​Fauves- French for "Wild Beasts" coined by a critic for how repulsive he thought their artwork was. Characterized by strong brushstrokes in non-natural, strong complimentary colors. First of its kind.

Fauvism 1905-1908

​Also characterized by bright, bold colors and strong brushstrokes, expressionism is an extension of its previous styles but more in tune with the artist's emotions.

Expressionsim 1905-1925

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Is the idea fathered by Pablo Picasso of capturing different angles of the same object simultaneously and fusing them together into one image, in that everything is nuanced and multi-faceted, especially humans.

Cubism 1908-1920

​Andre Derain, The Turning Road

​​Vincent Van Gogh, Starry Night

​Pablo Picasso, Girl with a Mandolin

​Art style influenced by the Surrealists in that your ideas can come from the subconscious AND be nonrepresentational, an exploration of the mind through the elements if you will. Key artists-de Kooning, Rothko, Pollock

​​Abstract Expressionism 1910-present

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​An anti-art movement that was art. It was a revolt right after World War I to all the atrocities and new technology of war. Art can be anything, and everything is art. It's not just for the eyes, it's for the mind too. Key artists- Man Ray, Jean Arp

​​Dada 1916-1923

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​Yellow Islands, Jackson Pollock

​L.H.O.O.Q. Mona Lisa, Marcel Duchamp, 1919

​A realistic representation of the subconscious. Artists were drawing from their dreams.

Surrealism 1923-present

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​Drew inspiration from popular culture. Artists wanted to represent what was in their real lives, a mirroring of mass production, commercialization, and consumerism.

​​Pop Art late 50s-early 60s

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Untitled from Marilyn Monroe, Andy Warhol, 1967

​The Persistence of Memory, Salvador Dali, 1931