Modern Art Movements

As artists began to experiment with new styles and techniques, they gathered in groups to talk about their ideas. rtisits with similar aims sometimes formed a movement (i.e. futurism). Apart from creating a sense of solidarity and confidence, the movements gave them authority; groups of artists tended to be taken more seriously than individuals. Below is a list of various movements associated with modern art:

Abstract Expressionism: Late 1940s-late 50s, USAArtists produced large-scale, dramatic abstract paintings. There were two main types: action painting, and the quieter, colorfield painting, which used broad expanses of color and relied more on color association. This movement was largely responsible for New York displacing Paris as the centre of the art world after WWII.

Bauhaus: 1919-33, GermanyAn influential German art school which was eventually closed down by the Nazis. Each student studied art, architecture and design with the ultimate aim of creating a better living environment for everyone. Its design principles were based on admiration for geometry and the machine.

Conceptual Art: Late 1960s-70s, USA and ItalyConceptual artists emphasized the ideas underlying works of art, often as a protest against the commercialism of the art world. They often used photos, text, etc. to document an action or even, or to express ideas.

Constructivism: 1917-20, RussiaA geometric abstract art movement. Artists were initially influenced by Suprematism, but after the Russian Revolution they tried to help create a new society by applying geometric design principles to all areas of life (architecture, furniture, clothes design, etc.)

Cubism: 1907-early 20s, ParisA style pioneered by Picasso and Braque which drew attention to the contradictions involved in depicting a 3-D scene on a 2-D surface. Analytical Cubism (1907-12) broke down real objects into different parts. Synthetic Cubism (1912-14) built up recognizable images from abstract parts using ready-made materials.

Dada: 1914-20, Germany, Paris and New YorkA movement of irreverent, unbridled protest against the state of western society that led to the First World War. Members saw art as decadent and middle class. They staged events (now often called "Happenings") designed to shock, and created works out of unconventional materials, or based on chance.

Expressionism: 1905-early 20s, Germany and AustriaThe artists' main purpose was to express emotions and/or a sense of deeper reality, through vigorous brushstrokes, and distortion or exaggeration of shapes and colors. There were two main groups: Die Brucke (The Bridge) and Der Balue Reiter (The Blue Rider). Van Gogh and Munch were key influences.

Fauvism: 1905-10, FranceA group of young painters centered around Matisse whose work was characterized by strong color and powerful brush strokes. Their worktended to be joyful.

Futurism: 1909-14, ItalyThis movement was founded by the poet Marinetti. Its members rejected the past and instead celebrated the dynamism of the machine age and city life.

Impressionism: 1874-86The first major avant-garde movement. The name was invented in 1874 by a hostile critic, inspired by a painting by Monet entitled Impression: Sun Rise. The Impressionists' aim was to capture the passing moment, by means of a sketchy technique, strong color and a commitment to outdoor, on-the-spot painting, with as little reworking in the studio as possible.

Kinetic Art: 1960s, InternationalSculpture that actually moves, often using modern technology to achieve this. It contrasts with Op art which just appears to move.

Land Art: 1960s-80s, USA and GBArt that invovles the artist going out into nature (normally in a remote area), and making his or her mark on it. The only record that remains is photographic, sometimes combined with maps, text and so on. More recently, some Land artists have exhibited sculptures made from natural found objects inside galleries.

Minimalism: Late 1960s-70s, USAAn intellectual sort of art which seems to consist of very little, so that the viewer is forced to scrutinize the formal roperties of what is actually there very carefully. The work is usually rigorously geometric and involves the repetition of identical objects. Malevich was among the pioneers of this kind of art.

Neo-Expressionism: Late 1970s-80s, InternationalWidespread and much-publicized characteristic of 1980s art.

Op Art: Late 1950s-60s, InternationalThe name is short for Optical art. It refers to a geometric abstract art that manipulates the viewer's visual response and creates the illusion of movement. Artists use theories from the psychology of perception to achieve this effect.

Orphism: 1912-13, FranceA colorful and almost abstract strand of Cubism. One of the earliest attempts to create abstract art.

Performance Art: 1960s-present, InternationalThis art is related to theatrical performance, but usually has no plot or sense of drama. It is often used to make a political point, exploit the idea of endurance, or simply to entertain.

Pointillism: Mid 1880s-90s, FranceThe technique of applying small, regular dabs of unmixed color on to the picture surface, relying on scientific theories (combining complementary colors). Pioneered by Seurat, who used the term "Divisionism."

Pop Art: Late 1950s-60s, USA and GBThe apparent celebration of western consumerism after the auterity and rationing of the war years. The artists' work evokes the brash, colorful world of advertising, commic strips and popular entertainment.

Point Impressionism: 1880s-90s, FranceA blanket term referring to art that both learned from and rejected certain Imressionist principles. Cezanne and Seurat tried to regain a sense of order; Gauguin attempted to express a world of imagination and spirituality; van Gogh, elemental emotions.

Socialist Realism: 1930s-50s, USSRArt promoted by the Stalinist regime in Russia as a propoganda tool. The artists used a realistic, but often melodramatic style to present an idealized vision of Societ society and its leaders.

De Stijl: 1917-early 30s, HollandA movement founded by van Doesburg and Mondrian to promote their use of geometric abstract shapes and primary colors, based on the idea of universal harmony. Their ideas exended to architecture and design as well as paintings. They published a magazine with the same name.

Suprematism: 1913-20s, RussiaMalevich expressed the ideas behind this movement in his book "The Non-Objective World." e wrote of his wish to create a vocabulary of geometric abstract shapes entirely independent of the visible world, and espressing pure artistic feeling. He greatly influenced Constructivist artists.

Surrealism: 1924-40s, ParisA movement that drew on certain ideas of Dada, and on the writings of Freud to create an art which was intended to free the viewer as well as the artist by exploring the world of the unconscious and subconscious mind. some artists used unorthodox techniques such as frottage (random rubblings from different materials).

Symbolism: 1890s, InternationalA literary and artistic movement which, partly in reaction to Realism and Impressionism, emphasized the world of the imagination, of ideas, dreams and emotions. It is a predecessor of Expressionism and Surrealism.

Vorticism: 1910-14, EnglandA group of London-based avant-garde artists inspired by cubism and Futurism. They rejected the gentility of the English art world and celebrated the excitement and beauty of the machine age. They published a magazine called "Blast." The movement did not survive the brutality of WWI.

Source for text:Bohm-Duchen & Cook. "Understanding Modern Art." EDC Publishing: Oklahoma, 1988.

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