CONTEMPORARY

ARTS

Jane Irish C. Mendoza

ABM- Sakura
Dr. Warlea M. Samson
The Baroque Period

The Baroque is a period of artistic style that started around 1600 in Rome , Italy, and spread
throughout the majority of Europe during the 17th and 18th centuries. In informal usage, the
word baroque describes something that is elaborate and highly detailed.

The most important factors during the Baroque era were the Reformation and the Counter-
Reformation, with the development of the Baroque style considered to be linked closely with the
Catholic Church. The popularity of the style was in fact encouraged by the Catholic Church, which
had decided at the Council of Trent that the arts should communicate religious themes and direct
emotional involvement in response to the Protestant Reformation. Baroque art manifested itself
differently in various European countries owing to their unique political and cultural climates.

Characteristics

The Baroque style is characterized by exaggerated motion and clear detail used to produce drama,
exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, architecture, literature, dance, and music.
Baroque iconography was direct, obvious, and dramatic, intending to appeal above all to the senses
and the emotions.

The use of the chiaroscuro technique is a well known trait of Baroque art. This technique refers to
the interplay between light and dark and is often used in paintings of dimly lit scenes to produce a
very high-contrast, dramatic atmosphere. The chiaroscuro technique is visible in the painting The
Massacre of the Innocents by Peter Paul Rubens. Other important Baroque painters include
Caravaggio (who is thought to be a precursor to the movement and is known for work
characterized by close-up action and strong diagonals) and Rembrandt.

In the Baroque style of architecture, emphasis was placed on bold spaces , domes , and large masses
, as exemplified by the Queluz National Palace in Portugal. In music, the Baroque style makes up a
large part of the classical canon. Important composers include Johann Sebastian Bach, George
Handel, and Antonio Vivaldi. In the later part of the period, the Baroque style was termed Rococo,
a style characterized by increasingly decorative and elaborate works.

Queluz National Palace, Portugal The Massacre of the Innocents by Peter Paul Rubens
Gothic Period

The term "Gothic style" refers to the style of European architecture, sculpture (and minor arts)
which linked medieval Romanesque art with the Early Renaissance. The period is divided into
Early Gothic (1150-1250), High Gothic (1250-1375), and International Gothic (1375-1450).
Primarily a public form of Christian art, it flourished initially in the Ile de France and surrounding
region in the period 1150-1250, and then spread throughout northern Europe.

Gothic art, being exclusively religious art, lent powerful tangible weight to the growing power of the
Church in Rome. This not only inspired the public, as well as its secular leaders but also it firmly
established the connection between religion and art, which was one of the foundations of the Italian
Renaissance (1400-1530). Among famous medieval artists in the Gothic style were Giovanni Pisano
and Simone Martini of the Sienese School of painting.

Figures from Cathedral of Chartres France Strasbourg Magi

Modern Art

Modern art is renowned for its avant-garde aesthetic and celebrated for its forward-thinking
artists. Developing over the course of roughly 100 years, it incorporates many major art movements
and has inevitably seen an eclectic range of styles. In order to trace modern art’s remarkable
evolution, one must recognize and understand the many genres that compose it. To do this,
however, it is helpful to come up with a modern art definition.

Not to be confused with contemporary art, the “modern art” label refers to late 19th and early-to-
mid 20th century art. Works produced during this time showcase artists’ interest in re-imagining,
reinterpreting, and even rejecting traditional aesthetic values of preceding styles.

History: Major Movements and Artists Starting with light and airy Impressionism and ending
with energetic Abstract Expressionism, the modern art genre is composed of several major
movements.
Major Movements:

 Impressionism
 Post- impressionism
 Fauvism
 Expressionism
 Cubism
 Surrealism
 Abstract Expressionism

Examples:

1. Impressionism

Impression Sunlight- Claude Monet

2. Post- Impressionism

Starry Night- Vincent Van Gogh

3. Fauvism
 Les Fauves, Exhibition at the Salon D’Automne, from L’Illustration, 4 November 1905

5. Expressionism

Reiter’ by Wassily Kandinski

6. Cubism

‘Braque Exhibition’ by Alfred Stieglitz

7. Surrealism

‘Dorothy True’ by Alfred Stieglitz

8. Abstract Expressionism

Bluepoles’ by Jackson Pollock

 Styles of Art

• Animation Art
Derived from the Latin meaning "to breathe life into", animation is the visual art of creating a motion picture from
a series of still drawings. Among the great twentieth century animators are J. Stuart Blackton, George McManus,
Max Fleischer, and Walt Disney.
• Architecture
Best understood as the applied art of building design. Historically has exerted significant influence on the
development of fine art, through architectural styles like Gothic, Baroque and Neoclassical. For the origins of
skyscraper design, see: 19th Century Architecture; for its characteristics and development, see:Skyscraper
Architecture (1850-present); for technical details, see: Chicago School of Architecture; for historical context,
see: American Architecture(1600-present).
• Art Brut
Painting, drawing, sculpture by artists on the margin of society, or in mental hospitals, or children. (English
category is Outsider art.)
• Assemblage Art
A contemporary form of sculpture, comparable to collage, in which a work of art is built up or "assembled" from 3-
D materials - typically "found" objects.
• Body Art
One of the oldest (and newest) forms - includes body painting and face painting, as well as tattoos, mime, "living
statues" and (most recently) "performances" by artists like Marina Abramovic and Carole Schneemann.
• Calligraphy
This fine art, practised widely in the Far East and among Islamic artists, is regarded by the Chinese as the highest
form of art.
• Ceramics
A type of plastic art, ceramics refers to items made from clay and baked in a kiln. See ancient pottery from China
and Greece, below. Two of the foremost European ceramicists are the English artist Bernard Howell Leach (1887-
1979), and the Frenchman Camille Le Tallec (1908-91).
• Christian Art
This is mostly Biblical Art, or at least works derived from the Bible. It includes Protestant Reformation
art and Catholic Counter-Reformation art, as well as Jewish themes. See also: Early Christian sculpture and
also: Early Christian Art.
• Collage
Composition consisting of various materials like newspaper cuttings, cardboard, photos, fabrics and the like, pasted
to a board or canvas. May be combined with painting or drawings.
• Computer Art
All computer-generated forms of fine or applied art, including computer-controlled types. Also known as Digital,
Cybernetic or Internet art.
• Conceptual Art
A contemporary art form that places primacy on the concept or idea behind a work of art, rather than the work
itself. Leading conceptual artists include: Allan Kaprow (b.1927), and Joseph Beuys (1921-86) the former Professor
of Monumental Sculpture at the Dusseldorf Academy, whose dedication earned him a retrospective at the Samuel R
Guggenheim Museum (New York).
• Design (Artistic)
This refers to the plan involved in creating something according to a set of aesthetics. Examples of artistic design
movements include: Art Nouveau, Art Deco, De Stijl, Bauhaus, Ulm Design School and Postmodernism.
• Drawing
A drawing can be a complete work, or a type of preparatory sketching for a painting or sculpture. A central issue in
fine art concerns the relative importance of drawing (line) versus colour.
• Folk Art
Mostly crafts and utilitarian applied arts made by rural artisans.
• French Furniture
The greatest furniture was created during the 17th/18th centuries by French Designers at the Royal Court, in the
Louis Quatorze, Quinze and Seize styles. For a short guide, see: French Decorative Arts (1640-1792).
• Graffiti Art
Contemporary form of street aerosol spray painting which emerged in East Coast American cities during the late
1960s/early 1970s. Famous graffiti artists include Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960-88), Keith Haring (1958-90) and
Banksy.
• Graphic Art
Types of visual expression defined more by line and tone (disegno), rather than colour (colorito). Includes drawing,
cartoons, caricature art, comic strips, illustration, animation and calligraphy, as well as all forms of traditional
printmaking. Also includes postmodernist styles of word art (text-based graphics).
• Icons (Icon Painting)
Ranks alongside mosaic art as the most popular type of Eastern Orthodox religious art. Closely associated with
Byzantine art, and later, Russian icon painters.
• Illuminated Manuscripts
This principally refers to religious texts (Christian, Islamic, Jewish) embellished with figurative illustrations and/or
abstract geometric designs, exemplified by Book of Kells.
• Installation
A new category of contemporary art, which employs various 2-D and 3-D materials to create a particular space
designed to make an impact on the viewer/visitor. Turner Prize Winner Damien Hirst and Tracey Emin are famous
installation artists.
• Illustration
A form of painting, drawing or other graphic art which explains, clarifies, pictorializes or decorates written text.
• Jewellery Art
Practised by goldsmiths, as well as other master-craftsmen like silversmiths, gemologists, diamond cutters/setters
and lapidaries.
• Junk Art
Artworks made from ordinary, everyday materials, or "found objects", of which Marcel Duchamp's "readymades"
are a sub-category. Typically includes 3-D works like sculpture, assemblage, collage or installations.
• Land Art
A relatively new category of contemporary art, also called Earth art, earthworks, or Environmental art, it was led
by Robert Smithson (1938-73), and emerged in America during the 1960s as a reaction against the commercial art
world.
• Metalwork Art
Embraces goldsmithing, the fashioning of precious metals into objets d'art, as well as enamelwork techniques
like cloisonné, plique-a-jour, champlevé, and encrusted enamelling. See: Celtic Metalwork. For more modern
works, see also: Fabergé Easter Eggs.
• Mosaic Art
An ancient art form, developed by Ancient Greek and Byzantine artists, which creates pictorial designs out of
glass tesserae. For its high point during the Middle Ages, see: Ravenna Mosaics (c.400-600) and Christian Byzantine
Art(c.400-1200).
• Outsider Art
Artworks by painters/sculptors outside mainstream culture; may be mentally ill, or untutored and uneducated:
(French equivalent is Art Brut).
• Painting
Since classical antiquity the highest form of Western art, painting has been dominated by Renaissance-style
"Academic Art". Until the invention of pre-mixed paints and the collapsible paint tube in the mid-19th century,
painters had to create their own colour pigments from natural plants and metal compounds. See colour in painting.
Famous painting movements or schools include: Early/HighRenaissance, Mannerism, Baroque, Rococo,
Neoclassical, Romanticism, Realism, Impressionism, Post Impressionism, Fauvism, Expressionism, Cubism,
Surrealism, Abstract Expressionism, Op-Art, Pop Art, Minimalism, Photorealism, and others.
• Performance Art (and Happenings)
A 20th century art form involving a live performance by the artist before an audience. The form was explored and
developed by exponents of Futurism, Constructivism, Dada, Surrealism and later contemporary art movements.
• Photography
A 20th century medium by which the artist captures pictorial images on film as opposed to the traditional fine art
supports of canvas, paper or board. New computer software graphics programs have created new opportunities for
editing and image manipulation. See also: Is Photography Art? Foremost among exponents of photographic art is
the American Ansel Adams, a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a Guggenheim fellow and
recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, noted for his black-and-white photographs of the American West.
The leading contemporary Irish lens-based artist is Victor Sloan (b.1945).
• Poster Art
Peaked during the French Belle Epoque and the Art Nouveau era.
• Primitive Art
Associated with Aboriginal, African, Oceanic and other tribal cultures; also embraces Outsider art.
• Printmaking
The process of making original prints by pressing an inked block or plate onto a receptive support surface, typically
paper. Among great modern exponents of fine art printmaking (eg. woodcuts, engraving, etching, lithography and
silkscreen) are the American artist James McNeill Whistler (1834–1903), the French artist Toulouse-Lautrec (1864-
1901), the Dutch graphic artist MC Escher (1898-1972), Willem de Kooning (1904-97) and Robert Rauschenberg
(1925-2008), as well as silkscreen printers like Andy Warhol (1928-87), all of whom infused the artform with great
vitality.
• Public Art
A vague category of art which encompasses all works paid for by public funds. A more narrow definition might
restrict it to all works designed for a space accessible to the general public. Sadly, most public art ends up in stores
or offices staffed by public servants!
• Religious Art
Typically architecture, or any fine or decorative arts with a religious theme: includes Christian or Islamic, Hindu,
Buddhism or any of a hundred different sects. See for instance Chinese Buddhist sculpture (c.100 CE - present).
• Rock Art
Traditionally encompasses primitive stone engravings (petroglyphs), relief sculptures, cave painting (pictographs)
and megaliths of the Stone Age.
• Sand Art
Encompasses sand painting (Navajo Indians, Tibetan Buddhists), sand drawing (Vanuatu, formerly New Hebrides),
sand sculpture and architecture.
• Sculpture
Sculpture is a three-dimensional work of plastic art created either by (1) Carving - in stone, marble, wood, ivory,
bone; (2) modelling - from wax or clay, after which it may be cast in bronze; (3) an assemblage of "found objects".
• Stained Glass Art
The supreme decorative art of the Gothic movement, stained glass reached its zenith during the 12th and 13th
centuries when it was created for Christian cathedrals across Europe. Modern stained glass was made in America
by John LaFarge and Louis Comfort Tiffany; and on the Continent at the Bauhaus design school.Sadly, the
creators of the stained glass masterpieces in Chartres and other Gothic cathedrals remain anonymous, however
their skills were kept alive by artists like Marc Chagall (1887-1985) and Joan Miro (1893-1983), and - in Ireland -
by such Irish artists as Harry Clarke (1889-1931), Sarah Purser (1848-43) and Evie Hone (1894-1955).
• Tapestry Art
An ancient type of textile art, tapestry-making flourished in Europe from the Middle Ages onwards, at the hands of
French and (later) Flemish weavers. The most famous works were woven at the Gobelins tapestry and Beauvais
tapestry factories in Paris, but see also the famous Bayeux Tapestry (c.1075) a Romanesque work stitched by Anglo-
Saxon and French seamsters, depicting the Norman Conquest of 1066.
• Video Art
One of the most recent categories of contemporary expression, pioneered by Andy Warhol and others, video is
frequently used in installation art, as well as as a stand-alone art form. Several Turner Prize Winners have been
video artists. The leading video artist of the twentieth century is probably Bill Viola (b.1951), known for his
technical and creative mastery of the genre.

Renaissance Art

Renaissance art, painting, sculpture, architecture, music, and literature produced during the 14th, 15th, and 16th
centuries in Europe under the combined influences of an increased awareness of nature, a revival of classical
learning, and a more individualistic view of man. Scholars no longer believe that the Renaissance marked an abrupt
break with medieval values, as is suggested by the French word renaissance, literally “rebirth.” Rather, historical
sources suggest that interest in nature, humanistic learning, and individualism were already present in the late
medieval period and became dominant in 15th- and 16th-century Italy concurrently with social and economic
changes such as the secularization of daily life, the rise of a rational money-credit economy, and greatly increased
social mobility.
Saint Michael Overwhelming the Demon (also known as The Small Saint Michael), oil on wood by Raphael, c. 1505;
in the Louvre Museum

Leonardo da Vinci: The Virgin of the Rocks

Painting and Sculpture

STORY OF PAINTING AND SCULPTURE

PRE-HISTORY 30 000-1000 BC Cave art. Animals and hunting scenes painted on cave walls with burnt wood,
chalk and ground earth. The pictures probably had a magical influence. Neolithic Age. Distinctive for painted and
decorated pottery introduced from the near-east. Bronze and Iron Ages. Fine castings and carved jewellery. Celtic
art abounded with ornamental crosses, metalwork and pottery decorated with intricate designs and stylized plants
and animals. The Near East. Most Sumerian and Persian art represented the gods, people and animals in carved
reliefs on buildings. Egypt specialized in funerary art; monumental sculptures such as the Sphinx, sculptured reliefs
and complex painted wall murals.

GREEK AND ROMAN 800 BC-400 AD Archaic.

Mainly sculpture with Egyptian influences. Statues were stiffly posed, usually of wood or marble sheathed in gold.
Buildings were covered with painted marble reliefs. Gold and silver were used extensively for tableware and
jewellery. Classical Greek. Sculptures became more relaxed, reflecting serenity and movement. Bronze now used as
well as marble. Gold, silver and ivory still in extensive use. Hellenistic. Similar to classical Greek but much grander.
Statues now portrayed movement and emotion. Roman. Similar to the Hellenistic style. Buildings were covered with
exotic marbles, mosaics and frescoes. Statues and carvings became more decorative, with preference for reclining
sarcophagi and busts of heroic and respected leaders. Columns and walls were decorated with narrative 'comic
strips'. Widespread use still made of gold.

MIDDLE AGES

400-1300 Byzantine. The spread of Christianity throughout Europe brought stylized, religious mosaics for wall and
floor decoration plus formal paintings and icons. Anglo-Saxon. The Dark Ages following the fall of the roman
empire produced mainly portable art (metalwork and jewellery with distinct Celtic links) and illuminated
manuscripts (The Lindesfarne Gospels and Books of Kells). Romanesque (Norman). A combination of classical
Roman and Celtic styles. Relief sculptures, carved statues of fantastic beasts and inhabited scrolls; animals hidden
in illuminated manuscripts. Gothic. (12th-14th century). Predominately monumental, religious sculpture, the
identifying mark of which was the Gothic sway, an S shaped curve in the body. The period also produced stained
glass, frescos and later, richly coloured wall panels.

RENAISSANCE (RE-BIRTH)

1300-1550 The Classical Revival. The revival of classical Greek and Roman art centred at first in Florence.
Merchants and bankers vied for patronage of the arts which, as buildings, sculpture and painting grew in
splendour, resulted in a new respectable status for artists and craftsmen. It is considered the greatest period of
artistic development bringing about such innovations as oils and especially perspective. Artists: Donatello,
Botticelli, da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael. Mannerism. Post-renaissance religious art, an arid style portraying
emotion through an exaggeration of form.

BAROQUE TO NEO-CLASSICISM 1600-1850

Baroque. Baroque art (and later classicism) was concentrated in Catholic Italy and France. It was an extravagant
and emotional style noted for its detail, vivid colours and movement. Rubens typified the Grand Baroque style with
his voluptuous women. Artists: Rubens, Velasquez and the sculptor Bernini. Classicism. Baroque colour combined
with Roman harmony and balance. Much of the art was in the form of landscapes. Poussin, Lorraine, Rosa. The
Netherlands. Free of Spanish colonial rule, art in the Netherlands re-established itself with still-lifes, landscapes and
portraiture. Artists: De Hooch, Vermeer, Hals and the most accomplished Dutch artist of the period, Rembrandt.
Rococo. A development of Baroque, it was frivolous but elegant with elaborate and superficial decoration. Watteau,
Chardin, Canaletto, Neumann, Gainsborough, Hogarth. Neo-classicism. Inspired by the Palladian movement in the
re-creation of Greek and Roman art (see renaissance architecture).
ROMANTICISM AND REALISM 1780

late 1800's Romanticism. A rebellion against Neo-Classicism and the industrial age. There was no single style, the
Romantics believed in the purity of the soul and chivalry, ideals which the artists expressed through their art. Much
use was made of light and primary colours. Constable, Turner, Goya, Palmer, Delacroix. Realism. Originating from
France it spread throughout the rest of Europe and America. It suppressed the emotional freedom of the Romantics
and concentrated on precise paintings, often depicting scenes from life. Courbet, Rousseau. The main sculptor of
the period was Rodin whose passionate sculpture reflected both romantic and realistic ideals. THE
IMPRESSIONISTS 1880-1900 Impressionism. As the name suggests it was the impression portrayed in the art not
the detail. There were a range of styles which were bonded by the tendency to paint 'live' directly onto the canvas,
the colours were bright and often full of light. Manet plus the impressionist group: Monet, Renoir, Degas, Pissaro,
Sisley. Post-Impressionism. Taking the impressionist ideas further, post-impressionist art emphasised emotion and
colour. Cézanne, Van Gogh, Toulouse-Lautrec. Symbolism. Extravagant dreamlike paintings, painted for the
imagination. Colours were often unnatural and settings bizarre. Moreau, Redon, Munch.

THE 20TH CENTURY

The wide range of styles in the 20th Century reflect the experimental mood of the artists.

Architecture

the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. The
practice of architecture is employed to fulfill both practical and expressive requirements, and thus it serves both
utilitarian and aesthetic ends. Although these two ends may be distinguished, they cannot be separated, and the
relative weight given to each can vary widely. Because every society—whether highly developed or less so, settled or
nomadic—has a spatial relationship to the natural world and to other societies, the structures they produce reveal
much about their environment (including climate and weather), history, ceremonies, and artistic sensibility, as well
as many aspects of daily life.

Characteristic of Architecture

Egyptian Architecture

The pyramids are the most recognizable symbol of ancient Egypt. Even though other civilizations, such as the Maya
or the Chinese, also employed this form, the pyramid in the modern day is synonymous in most people's minds with
Egypt.
Greek Architecture

Greek architects provided some of the finest and most distinctive buildings in the entire Ancient World and some of
their structures, such as temples, theatres, and stadia, would become staple features of towns and cities from
antiquity onwards.

Roman Architecture

Roman architecture continued the legacy left by the earlier architects of the Greek world, and the Roman respect
for this tradition and their particular reverence for the established architectural orders, especially the Corinthian,
is evident in many of their large public buildings.

Romanesque architecture

Romanesque architecture, architecture current in Europe from about the mid-11th century to the advent of Gothic
architecture. A fusion of Roman, Carolingian and Ottonian, Byzantine, and local Germanic traditions, it was a
product of the great expansion of monasticism in the 10th–11th century.

Byzantine architecture

Byzantine architecture, Building style of Constantinople (now Istanbul, formerly ancient Byzantium) after AD 330.
Byzantine architects were eclectic, at first drawing heavily on Roman temple features. Their combination of the
basilica and symmetrical central-plan (circular or polygonal) religious structures resulted in the characteristic
Byzantine Greek-cross-plan church, with a square central mass and four arms of equal length.

Early Christian Architecture

A church in Pabuda, Syria. By the end of the first century, it is evident that Christian places of worship had
developed a somewhat standard form of architecture. Churches from the 1st through the 3rd centuries took
classical Greek and Roman architecture in its most flourished form as its main influence. Classical architecture had
at this time reached its height after developing for thousands of years.
Islamic architecture

Islamic architecture, building traditions of Muslim populations of the Middle East and elsewhere from the 7th
century on. Islamic architecture finds its highest expression in religious buildings such as the mosque and
madrasah. Early Islamic religious architecture, exemplified by Jerusalem’s Dome of the Rock (AD 691) and the
Great Mosque (705) in Damascus, drew on Christian architectural features such as domes, columnar arches, and
mosaics but also included large courts for congregational prayer and a mihrab.

Renaissance architecture

Renaissance architecture, style of architecture, reflecting the rebirth of Classical culture, that originated in Florence
in the early 15th century and spread throughout Europe, replacing the medieval Gothic style. There was a revival of
ancient Roman forms, including the column and round arch, the tunnel vault, and the dome.
The early period

First Period, 1600-1700 Overview: Constructed during the first major wave of settlement in the 17th century, the
“First Period” style of architecture was developed by English Colonists who built their own homes out of necessity
for survival upon arriving in the New World. The style of these homes is at times argued to be non-existent, due to
the fact that the colonists built First Period homes themselves, without designs from or consultation with an
architect. However, their style loosely resembles that of traditional European architecture. First Period homes all
possess similar elements of construction and design, including features such as two stories, small diamond-paned
windows, a central chimney, and a steeply pitched roof. These features together create the easily identifiable
appearance of this type of structure.

Classical architecture

Classical architecture, architecture of ancient Greece and Rome, especially from the 5th century BCE in Greece to
the 3rd century CE in Rome, that emphasized the column and pediment. Greek architecture was based chiefly on
the post-and-beam system, with columns carrying the load. Timber construction was superseded by construction in
marble and stone.
Modern architecture

Rejecting ornament and embracing minimalism, Modernism became the single most important new style or
philosophy of architecture and design of the 20th century. It was associated with an analytical approach to the
function of buildings, a strictly rational use of (often new) materials, structural innovation and the elimination of
ornament. It was also known as International Modernism or International Style, after an exhibition of modernist
architecture in America in 1932 by the architect Philip Johnson.