Art Through Time
Put on your walking shoes as we embark on an extremely abbreviated tour of art through time.
The purpose of this timeline is to hit the highlights and provide you with a brief and basic history
of art through the ages.
Prehistoric Eras
30,000-10,000 BCE - Paleolithic peoples were strictly hunter-gatherers and life was tough.
Humans made a gigantic leap in abstract thinking and began creating art. Think animals on cave
walls!
10,000-8000 BCE - The ice began retreating and life got a little easier. The Mesolithic period
(which lasted longer in northern Europe than it did in the Middle East) saw painting move out of
the caves and onto the rocks. Painting also became more symbolic and abstract.
8000-3000 BCE - Fast forward to the Neolithic age, complete with agriculture and domesticated
animals. Now that food was more plentiful, people had time to invent useful tools like writing
and measuring. The measuring part must have come in handy for the megalith builders.
Ancient Civilizations
3500-331 BCE - Mesopotamia - The "land between the rivers" saw an amazing number of
cultures rise to - and fall from - power. The Sumerians gave us ziggurats, temples, and lots of
sculptures of gods. More importantly, they unified natural and formal elements in art. The
Akkadians introduced the victory stele, whose carvings forever remind us of their prowess in
battle. The Babylonians improved upon the stele, using it to record the first uniform code of law.
The Assyrians ran wild with architecture and sculpture, both in relief and in-the-round.
Eventually, it was the Persians who put the whole area - and its art - on the map, as they
conquered adjacent lands.
3200-1340 BCE - Egypt - Art in ancient Egypt was art for the dead. The Egyptians built tombs,
pyramids (elaborate tombs), the Sphinx (a tomb) and decorated tombs with colorful pictures of
the gods they believed ruled in the afterlife.
3000-1100 BCE - The Aegean - The Minoan culture, on Crete, and the Mycenaeans in Greece
brought us frescos, open and airy architecture, and marble idols.
Classical Civilizations
800-323 BCE - Greece - The Greeks introduced humanistic education, which is reflected in their
art. Ceramics, painting, architecture and sculpture evolved into elaborate, highly crafted and
decorated objects which glorified the greatest creation of all: humans.
6th-5th centuries BCE - The Etruscans - On the Italian peninsula, the Etruscans embraced the Bronze Age in a big way, producing sculptures notable for being stylized, ornamental and full of implied motion. They were also enthusiastic producers of tombs and sarcophagi, not unlike the Egyptians.
509 BCE-337 CE - The Romans - As they rose to prominence, the Romans first attempted to
wipe out Etruscan art, followed by numerous attacks on Greek art. Borrowing freely from these
two conquered cultures, the Romans created their own style, one which increasingly stood for
power. Architecture became monumental, sculptures depicted re-named gods, goddesses, and
prominent Citizens and, in painting, the landscape was introduced and frescos became enormous.
The Middle Ages
1st Century CE 526 - Early Christian Art
Early Christian art falls into two categories: that of the Period of Pre Christianity as a recognized
religion (up to the year 323) and that which came after Constantine the Great recognized
Christianity: the Period of Recognition. The first is known primarily for construction of
catacombs, and portable art which could be hidden. The second period is marked by the active
construction of churches, mosaics, and the rise of book-making. Sculpture was demoted to works
in relief only.
526-1390 - Byzantine Art
The Byzantine style gradually diverged from Early Christian art, just as the Eastern Church grew
farther apart from the Western. Byzantine art is characterized by being more abstract and
symbolic and less concerned with any pretense of depth or the force of gravity - being apparent
in paintings or mosaics. Architecture became quite complicated and domes predominated.
622-1492 - Islamic Art
To this day, Islamic art is known for being highly decorative. Islam has prohibitions against
idolatry, and we've little pictorial history as a result.
1000-1150 - Romanesque Art
For the first time in history, art is described by a term other than the name of a culture or
civilization. The invention of the barrel vault allowed churches to become cathedrals, sculpture
became an integral part of the architecture, and painting continued mainly in illuminated
manuscripts.
1140-1600 - Gothic Art
"Gothic" was first coined to (derogatorily) describe this era's style of architecture, which
chugged on long after sculpture and painting had left its company. The Gothic Arch allowed
great, soaring cathedrals to be built, which were then decorated with the new technology of
stained glass. During this period, too, we begin to learn more individual names of painters and
sculptors - most of whom seem anxious to put all things Gothic behind them. In fact, beginning
around 1200, all sorts of wild artistic innovations started taking place in Italy.
The Renaissance
1400-1500 - Fifteenth-Century Italian Art –Early Renaissance
This was the Golden Age of Florence. Its most powerful family, the Medici (bankers and
benevolent dictators), lavishly spent endless funds for the glory and beautification of their
Republic. Artists flocked in for a share of the largess, built, sculpted, painted and began actively
questioning "rules" of art. Art, in turn, became noticeably more individualized.
1495-1527 - The High Renaissance
All of the recognized masterpieces from the lump term "Renaissance" were created during these
years. Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael and company made such surpassing masterpieces, in
fact, that nearly every artist, forever after, didn't even try to paint in this style. The good news
was that, because of these Renaissance Greats, being an artist was now considered acceptable.
1520-1600 - Mannerism
Here we have another first: an abstract term for an artistic era. Renaissance artists, after the
death of Raphael, continued to refine painting and sculpture but they did not seek a new style of
their own. Instead, they created in the technical manner of their predecessors.
1325-1600 - The Renaissance in Northern Europe
It did occur, but not in clearly defined steps as was the case in Italy. Countries and kingdoms
were busy jockeying for prominence (fighting), and there was that notable break with the
Catholic Church. Art took a back seat to these other happenings, and styles moved from Gothic
to Renaissance to Baroque in sort of a non-cohesive, artist-by-artist basis.
1600-1750 - Baroque Art
Humanism, the Renaissance and the Reformation (among other factors) worked together to leave
the Middle Ages forever behind, and art became accepted by the masses. Artists of the Baroque
period introduced human emotions, passion and new scientific understanding to their works -
many of which retained religious themes, regardless of which Church the artists held dear.
1700-1750 - The Rococo
In what some would deem an ill-advised move, Rococo took Baroque art from "feast for the
eyes" to outright visual gluttony. If art or architecture could be gilded, embellished or otherwise
taken over the "top", Rococo ferociously added these elements. As a period, it was (mercifully)
brief.
1750-1880 - Neo-classicism vs. Romanticism
Things had loosened up enough, by this era, that two different styles could compete for the same
market. Neo-classicism was characterized by faithful study (and copy) of the classics, combined
with the use of elements brought to light by the new science of archaeology. Romanticism, on
the other hand, defied easy characterization. It was more of an attitude, one made acceptable by
the Enlightenment and dawning of social consciousness. Of the two, Romanticism had far more
impact on the course of art from this time forward.
1830s-1870 - Realism
Oblivious to the above two movements, the Realists emerged (first quietly, then quite loudly)
with the conviction that history had no meaning and artists shouldn't render anything that they
hadn't personally experienced. In an effort to experience "things" they became involved in social
causes and, not surprisingly, often found themselves on the wrong side of Authority. Realistic art
increasingly detached itself from form, and embraced light and color.
1860s-1880 - Impressionism
Where Realism moved away from form, Impressionism threw form out the window. The
Impressionists lived up to their name (which they themselves certainly hadn't coined): Art was
impression, and as such could be rendered wholly through light and color. The world was first
outraged by their effrontery, then accepting. With acceptance came the end of Impressionism as
a movement. Mission accomplished, art was free to spread out now in any way it chose.
The Impressionists changed everything when their art was accepted. From this point on, artists
had free rein to experiment. Even if the public loathed the results, it was still Art, and thus
accorded a certain respect. Movements, schools, and styles - in dizzying number - came, went,
diverged from one another and sometimes melded.
1885-1920 - Post-impressionism
This is a handy title for what wasn't a movement, but a group of artists (Cézanne, Van Gogh,
Seurat, and Gauguin, primarily) who moved past Impressionism and on to other, separate
endeavors. They kept the light and color Impressionism brought but tried to put some of the
other elements of art - form, and line, for example - back in art.
1890-1939 - The Fauves and Expressionism
The Fauves ("wild beasts") were French painters led by Matisse and Rouault. The movement
they created, with its wild colors and depictions of primitive objects and people, became known
as Expressionism and spread, notably, to Germany.
1905-1939 - Cubism and Futurism
Picasso and Braque, in France, invented Cubism, where organic forms were broken down into a
series of geometric shapes. Meanwhile, in Italy, Futurism was formed. What began as a literary
movement moved into a style of art that embraced machines and the industrial age.
1916-1924 – DADA
Think nonsense art and artists turning their back on the establishment and established art. Think
Ready-made art.
1922-1939 - Surrealism
Surrealism was all about uncovering the hidden meaning of dreams and expressing the
subconscious.
1945-Present - Abstract Expressionism
World War II (1939-1945) interrupted any new movements in art, but art came back with a
vengeance in 1945. Emerging from a world torn apart, Abstract Expressionism discarded
everything - including recognizable forms - except self-expression and raw emotion.
Late 1950s-Present - Pop and Op Art
In a reaction against Abstract Expressionism, Pop Art glorified the most mundane aspects of
American culture and called them art. It was fun art, though. And in the "happening" mid-60s,
Op (an abbreviated term for optical illusion).
1970s-Present
In the last forty-odd years, art has changed at lightning speed. We've seen the advent of
performance art, conceptual art, digital art, street art, and shock art, to name but a few new
offerings.
by Ron Hall, 2019