History of Art

- Ancient Art (before 500 years B.C.)
- GREEKS AND ROMANS (500 B.C. to 500 A.D.)
- MEDIEVAL (500 to 1500)
- RENAISSANCE (1400 to 1520)
- BAROQUE (1600 to 1725)
- REALISM (1800 to 1880)
- IMPRESSIONISM (1870 to 1900)
- CUBISM (1900 to 1920)
- ABSTRACT (1912 to present)

ANCIENT ART(ANTIQUITIES): before 500 years B.C.
The artifacts found are usually so old, that it's usually appreciated more for its archeological value rather than its artistic expression. Many of the artifacts found are broken and damaged due to the test of time. However, they provide us with an understanding of the culture and civlisation of the time Some of the items found are things like tools, pottery, stone carvings and jewellery.
If you are more interested in ancient art, you can read up more on the ancient civilisation like the Ice Age Humans, Mesopotamias, Ancient China and Ancient Egyptians. Some of the famous ancient artifacts are "The Cave of Lascaux" in France and the "Tell Asmar Statues".
king and eunuch attendant, 883–859 B.C.

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GREEKS AND ROMANS: 500 B.C. to 500 A.D.
The Greeks and Romans appreciated the ideal, imagine beautiful men and women and a culture so into achieving great feats. The art of this period is particularly important because most of the ideals of Western civilization came from these artistic portrayals. The art is represented by life-like marble statues, many of which have missing arms and/or heads. Usually, the statues are made of white marble, while vases are black.
You may want to read up more on the Archaic Greek, Greek Classicism and Hellenism and The Roman Republic.
  Antinoös   Alexander the great

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MEDIEVAL: 500 to 1500
Medieval art seems more primitive than its predecessors. Artists in this era seems to be reinventing and recreating their art forms, instead of improving on its predecessor. The art in this era are created for religious purposes and they were believed to hold sacred powers. This is known as the Middle Ages. The period of European history between the last Roman emperor and the Renaissance (476 A.D. to 1453 A.D.). The Roman Catholic Church was the most powerful authority during this period and new ideas and scientific observations which challenged the views of the Church were not encouraged or accepted. Most paintings depicted scenes holy figures and people important in the Christian religion. Even the most talented painters of the Middle Ages paid little attention to making humans and animals look lifelike, creating natural looking landscapes, or creating a sense of depth and space in their paintings. You may have visited some of the famous architecture of the time, for example The Notre Dame of Paris. Most people should be familiar with Gregorian Chant which is a form of sacred music of that time. I am sure you have read about the story of Joan of Arc...yes, she is one of the famous character of the time


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RENAISSANCE: 1400 to 1520
The Renaissance was like the superstar of art history. Renaissance means "rebirth," as in the rebirth of Greek and Roman artistic sensibilities. The People of the Renaissance saw themselves as witnessing the rebirth of what was the best of culture after a long period of darkness that so famously cahracterised the Middle Ages. Europe experienced a cultural boom and great value was placed on art. During this period, many extraordinary artists surfaced and produced revolutionary works of art, many were Italians. Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Donatello and Raphael are some of the most famous artist of this era. The characteristics of the art in Renaissance are a rich 3-D perspective, human subjects in proportion, and the believable representation of spaces. The art tends to be realistic and mimics the actual subject.

The Holy Family with the infant St. John the Baptist (the Doni Tondo) c. 1503-05

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BAROQUE: 1600 to 1725
The Baroque period carried on the Renaissance forms but added a heavily melodramatic flair with a sense of realism, colour and grandeur. Baroque art can be easily identified with its fat cherubs and gilded frippery. Landscapes and still lifes also sufaced. Some of the prominent artists of the era are Caravaggio and Bernini in Italy and Rembrandt and Vermeer in Holland. Purcell, Vivaldi, Handel and Bach are some of the most influential musicians and composers of the time

The Syndics of the Clothmaker's Guild (The Staalmeesters) 1662

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NEOCLASSICAL: 1700 to 1800
During the Neoclassical period, the work of the Greeks and Romans became fashionable again. The period is also known as "The Enlightenment". Neoclassicism reflect a more romantic look at classical subjects. Melodramatic paintings of historical subjects are in vogue and robes are back in fashion. One of the famous artist of this era is Jacques Louis David (pronounced Jock Loo-wee Da-VEED). The characteristics of the art duing this time are the precision of the composition, the accuracy of the costumes and the expressiveness of the gestures. Mozart and Beethoven are one of the prominent composers and musicians of the time.

Napoleon at St. Bernard 1800

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REALISM: 1800 to 1880
Realism was a movement started Gustave Courbet (Goo-stov Cor-BAY). This is prevalent during the Age of Romanticism. It represents the subject of the pictures, not the style. Realists preferred to paint images of thing that they could see, reacting against those who painted imaginary or idealized stuff.
A Thicket of Deer at the Stream of Plaisir-Fontaine 1866

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IMPRESSIONISM: 1870 to 1900
This is a spun off from realism. Impressionism is obsessed with tons of colors. YOu can figure out the subject of the painting faraway but it looks a mess close-up. Impressionists painted the light they could see, using countless little dabs of paint. Claude Monet was the founder of the movement and its most consistent practitioner.

Claude Monert "Impression, Sunrise", 1873, oil on canvas, Musée Marmottan, Paris

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CUBISM: 1900 to 1920
Cubism has nothing to do with Cuba; rather, it was an intellectual approach to the figure/ground problem. For instance, Picasso and Braque used multi-facets (unrealistically portraying several perspectives at once) to break up the forms of the figures and blend them into the ground.

Artillery, 1911
Roger de La Fresnaye (French, 1885–1925)
Oil on canvas; 51 1/4 x 62 3/4 in. (130.2 x 159.4 cm)

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ABSTRACT: 1912 to present
Abstract art refers to works that have no literal subject at all. The artist strips the forms and colors of any trace of representation. The painting doesn't represent anything at all. It just is. Kandinsky and Mondrian are some of the prominent artists.

Homage to the Square: With Rays, 1959
Josef Albers (American, born Germany, 1888–1976)
Oil on Masonite; 48 1/8 x 48 1/8 in. (122.2 x 122.2 cm)

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Bibliography
Web Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Art and Archeaology