The minimalist outlook also trickled down into the color palette, with Cubists forgoing shadowing and using limited hues for a flattened appearance. This was a clear break from the use of perspective, which has been the standard since the Renaissance. This reduction of images to minimal lines and shapes was part of the Cubist quest for simplification. Completely breaking with any previous art movement, objects were analyzed and broken apart, only to be reassembled into an abstracted form. Throughout the 1910s and 1920s, the two men-joined by other artists-would use geometric forms to build up the final representation.

Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque developed Cubism in the early 1900s, with the term being coined by art critic Louis Vauxcelles in 1907 to describe the artists. Pablo Picasso, “Les Demoiselles d'Avignon,” 1907 (Photo: Wikimedia Commons, Fair Use)Ī truly revolutionary style of art, Cubism is one of the most important art movements of the 20th century. Iconic Artwork: A Sunday Afternoon on La Grande Jatte by Georges Seurat (1884 – 1886), The Starry Nightby Vincent van Gogh (1889), The Yellow Christ by Paul Gauguin (1891) Perhaps the most well-known Post-Impressionist is Vincent van Gogh, who used color and his brushstrokes not to convey the emotional qualities of the landscape, but his own emotions and state of mind.Īrtists to Know: Georges Seurat, Vincent van Gogh, Paul Cézanne, Paul Gauguin, Émile Bernard Not unified by a single style, artists were united by the inclusion of abstract elements and symbolic content in their artwork. As opposed to earlier styles, Post-Impressionism covers many different types of art, from the Pointillism of Georges Seurat to the Symbolism of Paul Gauguin. This time, artists reacted against the need for the naturalistic depictions of light and color in Impressionist art. Vincent van Gogh, “The Starry Night,” 1889 (Photo: Wikimedia Commons, Public domain)Īgain originating from France, this type of art developed between 18 as a response to the Impressionist movement. Iconic Artwork: Impression, Sunrise by Monet (1872), Bal du Moulin de la Galette by Renoir (1876), Water Liliesseries by Monet (1890s – 1900s) This initial underground exhibition, which took place in 1874, allowed them to gain public favor.Īrtists to Know: Claude Monet, Camille Pissarro, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Mary Cassatt Additional artists would join in forming their own society to exhibit their artwork after being rejected by the traditional French salons, who deemed it too controversial to exhibit. The original group, which included Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Alfred Sisley, and Frédéric Bazille, was formed in the early 1860s in France. Impressionism started when a group of French artists broke with academic tradition by painting en plein air-a shocking decision when most landscape painters executed their work indoors in a studio. Breaking from Realism, Impressionist painters moved away from realistic representations to use visible brushstrokes, vivid colors with little mixing, and open compositions to capture the emotion of light and movement. It may be hard to believe, but this now beloved art genre was once an outcast visual movement. Iconic Artwork: The Gleaners by Jean-François Millet (1857), The Burial at Ornans by Gustave Courbet (1849 – 1850)Ĭlaude Monet, “Water Lilies,” 1906 (Photo: Wikimedia Commons, Public domain) Photography was also an influence on this type of art, pushing painters to produce realistic representations in competition with this new technology.Īrtists to Know: Gustave Courbet, Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, Jean-François Millet, James McNeill Whistler What may seem normal now was revolutionary after centuries of painters depicting exotic scenes from mythology and the Bible, or creating portraits of the nobility and clergy.įrench artists like Gustave Courbet and Honoré Daumier, as well as international artists like James Abbott McNeill Whistler, focused on all social classes in their artwork, giving voice to poorer members of society for the first time and depicting social issues stemming from the Industrial Revolution.

A clear rejection of Romanticism, the dominant style that had come before it, Realist painters focused on scenes of contemporary people and daily life. Realism is a genre of art that started in France after the French Revolution of 1848. Jean-François Millet, “The Gleaners,” 1857 (Photo: Google Arts & Culture via Wikimedia Commons, Public domain)

Cubism art movements