Art History Timeline Prehistoric Art (c.30,000-2000 BC) Cave painting, Hall of Bulls (Lascaux, France c15,000 BC) In the history of art, prehistoric art is all art produced in preliterate, prehistorical cultures beginning somewhere in very late geological history, and generally continuing until that culture either develops writing or other methods of record-keeping, or makes significant contact with another culture that has, and that makes some record of major historical events. At this point ancient art begins, for the older literate cultures. The end-date for what is covered by the term thus varies greatly between different parts of the world. Ancient Egyptian Art (c.3000-30BC) Egyptian Tomb paintings. The Queen playing chess, (Tomb Nefertari, Thebes, c1255BC) Art of ancient Egypt Description Description Ancient Egyptian art refers art produced in ancient Egypt between the 31st century BC and the 4th century AD. It includes paintings, sculptures, drawings on papyrus, faience, jewelry, ivories, architecture, and other art media. It is also very conservative: the art style changed very little over time. Classical Greek Art (c.500-320BC) Myrons Discus Thrower (c.450BC) replica Ancient Greek art stands out among that of other ancient cultures for its development of naturalistic but idealized depictions of the human body, in which largely nude male figures were generally the focus of innovation. Ancient Rome c.509BC-330AD Colosseum, (70-80 AD, Temple of Peace, Rome) The art of Ancient Rome and its Empire includes architecture, painting, sculpture and mosaic work. Luxury objects in metal-work, gem engraving, ivory carvings, and glass are sometimes considered to be minor forms of Roman art, although they were not considered as such at the time. Byzantine Art (c.300-1204) Icon The Virgin Orans, (1037-61 mosaic, Saint Sophia Cathedral, Kiev) Byzantine art comprises the body of Christian Greek artistic products of the Eastern Roman Empire, as well as the nations and states that inherited culturally from the empire. Gothic Art (c.1140-1500) Chatres Cathedral, (1193-1250, central portal, France) Gothic art was a style of medieval art that developed in Northern France out of Romanesque art in the 12th century AD, led by the concurrent development of Gothic architecture. It spread to all of Western Europe, and much of Southern and Central Europe, never quite effacing more classical styles in Italy. Early Renaissance (c.1300-1500) Giotto, The Deposition, (c1304, fresco, Arena Chapel, Padua, Italy) The Renaissance was a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to Modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It occurred after the Crisis of the Late Middle Ages and was associated with great social change. Northern Renaissance (c.1400-1500) Jan Van Eyke, The Arnolfini Wedding, (1434, oil on wood panel, National Gallery London) The Northern Renaissance was the Renaissance that occurred in Europe north of the Alps. From the last years of the 15th century, its Renaissance spread around Europe. High Renaissance (c.1490-1527) Vitruvian Man, Leonardo Da Vinci, (c.1485-90, pen and ink with wash over metal point on paper, Venice, Italy) In art history, the High Renaissance is a short period of the most exceptional artistic production in the Italian states, particularly Rome, capital of the Papal States, and in Florence, during the Italian Renaissance. Mannerism (c.1520-1600) Pontormo, Deposition from the Cross, (c.1526- 8,oil on panel, Church of Santa Felicita, Florence) Mannerism, also known as Late Renaissance, is a style in European art that emerged in the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520, spreading by about 1530 and lasting until about the end of the 16th century in Italy, when the Baroque style largely replaced it. Baroque (c.1600-1750) Caravaggio, The Supper at Emmaus, (1600-01, oil on canvas, National Gallery London) The Baroque is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1740s. Dutch Golden Age (c.1620-1700) Johannes Vermeer, The Pearl Earring, (1666- 67, The Hague, oil on canvas) The Dutch Golden Age was a period in the history of the Netherlands, roughly spanning the era from 1581 to 1672, in which Dutch trade, science, and art and the Dutch military were among the most acclaimed in the world. The first section is characterized by the Eighty Years' War, which ended in 1648. Rococo (c.1700-1800) Francois Boucher, Diane Bathing, (1742, oil on canvas, Louvre, Paris) Rococo, less commonly Roccoco or Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and theatrical style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colors, sculpted molding, and trompe l'oeil frescoes to create surprise and the illusion of motion and drama. Neo-Classicism (c.1750-1850) Jacques-Louis David, The Oath of the Horatii, (1784, Oil on canvas, Louvre, Paris) Neoclassicism was a Western cultural movement in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiquity. Romanticism (c.1800-80) Eugene Delacroix, Jacob Wrestling with the Angel, (1861, oil on canvas) Romanticism was an artistic, literary, musical and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century, and in most areas was at its peak in the approximate period from 1800 to 1890. Ukiyo-e (c.17th-20th centuries) Ando Hiroshige, The Great Wave off Kanagawa, (1823-29, woodblock print, copies in MOMA and British Museum, London) Ukiyo-e is a genre of Japanese art which flourished from the 17th through 19th centuries. Its artists produced woodblock prints and paintings of such subjects as female beauties; kabuki actors and sumo wrestlers; scenes from history and folk tales; travel scenes and landscapes; flora and fauna; and erotica. Pre-Raphaelites (1848-1853) Millais, Ophelia, (1851-52, Tate London, Oil on canvas) The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood was a group of English painters, poets, and art critics, founded in 1848 by William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Michael Rossetti, Realism 1830s-50s Millet, The Angelus (1857-59, oil on canvas, Musee D’Orsay Paris) Realism, sometimes called naturalism, in the arts is generally the attempt to represent subject matter truthfully, without artificiality and avoiding speculative fiction and supernatural elements. Impressionism 1870s-90s Claude Monet, Poppies, (c.1876, Musee D’Orsay Paris, oil on canvas) Impressionism is a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage of time), ordinary subject matter, inclusion of movement as a crucial ... Post-Impressionism (c.1880-1905) Van Gogh, Starry Night, (1889, MOMA New York, oil on canvas) Post-Impressionism (also spelled Postimpressionism) is a predominantly French art movement that developed roughly between 1886 and 1905, from the last ... Pointillism/Neo-Impressionism (1886-c1900) Georges Seurat, La Grande Jatte, (1884-86, oil on canvas, The Art Institute, Chicago.) Pointillism is a technique of painting in which small, distinct dots of color are applied in patterns to form an image. Georges Seurat and Paul Signac developed the technique in 1886, branching from Impressionism. Art Nouveau 1890-1905 Gustave Klimt, The Kiss, (1907-08,oil and gold leaf on canvas, Osterreichische Galerie, Vienna) Art Nouveau is an international style of art, architecture and applied art, especially the decorative arts, known in different languages by different names: Jugendstil in German, Stile Liberty in Italian, Modernismo catalán in Spanish, etc. In English it is also known as the Modern Style. Fauvism (1900-20) Henri Matisse, The Dance, (1909 MOMA, New York, oil on canvas) Fauvism Fauvism is the style of les Fauves (French for "the wild beasts"), a group of early 20th-century modern artists whose works emphasized painterly qualities and strong color over the representational or realistic values retained by Impressionism. Expressionism (c.1890-1934) Edvard Munch, The Scream, (1893, oil tempera and pastel on cardboard, National Gallery Oslo) Expressionism Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Germany at the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it radically for emotional effect in order to evoke moods or ideas. Cubism (1907-14) Pablo Picasso, Les Demoiselles D’Avignon, (1907, oil on canvas, MOMA, New York) Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement that revolutionized European painting and sculpture, and inspired related movements in music, literature and architecture. Cubism has been considered the most influential art movement of the 20th century. .