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The Appreciation of Western Art History

Updated: 3 days ago

This course delves into Western art from the prehistoric period to the present day. It examines various art movements and their masterpieces in painting, discussing how different artistic features are connected to historical, social, and cultural contexts. The goal is for students to learn how to appreciate painting as a meaningful part of life and better understand the relationship between art, culture, and society.


About Art History
The Appreciate of Western Art History


This course was created for students majoring in language studies, cultural studies, humanities or art-related subjects. From a different perspective, students applied the methodology studies of a different perspective of art history. An introduction on significant art movements from prehistoric to Ancient Art, Byzantine to Gothic Art, Renaissance to Neoclassicism/Romanticism, Realism to Impressionism, Post-impression to Symbolism, Art Nouveau to Favism, Cubism to Futurism, Dad to Surrealism, Abstract Expressionism to Pop Art, Minimalism to Conceptual Art, Modernism to Postmodernism.

  1. Prehistoric Art (40,000 BCE – 4,000 BCE)

    • Key Features: Cave paintings, carvings, and sculptures created by early humans.

    • Examples: Lascaux Caves (France), Venus of Willendorf.

    • Purpose: Often related to rituals, nature, or survival.

  2. Ancient Art (3,000 BCE – 400 CE)

    • Key Cultures: Mesopotamian, Egyptian, Greek, Roman.

    • Examples: Pyramids of Giza, Greek sculptures (e.g., Discobolus), Roman mosaics.

    • Focus: Religion, power, and idealized human forms.

  3. Byzantine Art (330 CE – 1453 CE)

    • Key Features: Religious themes, mosaics, icons, and frescoes.

    • Examples: Hagia Sophia mosaics.

    • Influence: Christian symbolism and Eastern Orthodox traditions.

  4. Romanesque Art (1000 CE – 1200 CE)

    • Key Features: Architecture with thick walls, rounded arches, and small windows.

    • Examples: Abbey Church of Sainte-Foy, illuminated manuscripts.

    • Purpose: Religious expression and church decoration.

  5. Gothic Art (12th – 16th Century)

    • Key Features: Pointed arches, ribbed vaults, stained glass windows.

    • Examples: Notre Dame Cathedral, Chartres Cathedral.

    • Purpose: Religious architecture and divine light.

  6. Renaissance (14th – 17th Century)

    • Key Figures: Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael.

    • Key Features: Humanism, perspective, classical influence.

    • Examples: The Mona Lisa, Sistine Chapel ceiling.

    • Focus: Reviving classical antiquity with a focus on human achievement.

  7. Baroque (1600 – 1750)

    • Key Figures: Caravaggio, Bernini, Rembrandt.

    • Key Features: Dramatic lighting, movement, emotion.

    • Examples: The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa (Bernini), The Night Watch (Rembrandt).

    • Purpose: Evoke emotional responses, often for religious or political reasons.

  8. Rococo (1720 – 1780)

    • Key Figures: Jean-Honoré Fragonard, Antoine Watteau.

    • Key Features: Ornamental, playful, light colors, decorative.

    • Examples: The Swing (Fragonard).

    • Focus: Aristocratic lifestyle, pleasure, and romantic themes.

  9. Neoclassicism (1750 – 1850)

    • Key Figures: Jacques-Louis David, Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres.

    • Key Features: Order, symmetry, classical subjects.

    • Examples: The Oath of the Horatii (David).

    • Focus: Return to classical Greek and Roman ideals.

  10. Romanticism (1780 – 1850)

    • Key Figures: Francisco Goya, J.M.W. Turner, Eugène Delacroix.

    • Key Features: Emotion, nature, individualism, the sublime.

    • Examples: Liberty Leading the People (Delacroix), The Third of May 1808 (Goya).

    • Focus: Passionate expression, rejection of Neoclassicism’s order.

  11. Realism (1848 – 1900)

    • Key Figures: Gustave Courbet, Jean-François Millet.

    • Key Features: Focus on everyday life, the working class, and natural settings.

    • Examples: The Stone Breakers (Courbet), The Gleaners (Millet).

    • Purpose: Depict life as it was, rejecting idealized Romanticism.

  12. Impressionism (1860 – 1890)

    • Key Figures: Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Edgar Degas.

    • Key Features: Light, color, short brushstrokes, capturing moments.

    • Examples: Impression, Sunrise (Monet).

    • Focus: Immediate visual impression rather than detailed realism.

  13. Post-Impressionism (1880 – 1905)

    • Key Figures: Vincent van Gogh, Paul Cézanne, Georges Seurat.

    • Key Features: Personal expression, more structure, and emotional depth.

    • Examples: Starry Night (van Gogh), A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte (Seurat).

    • Purpose: Experimentation with form, structure, and color.

  14. Symbolism (1880 – 1910)

    • Key Figures: Gustave Moreau, Odilon Redon.

    • Key Features: Dreamlike imagery, myths, and psychological exploration.

    • Examples: The Apparition (Moreau), The Cyclops (Redon).

    • Focus: Mysticism, emotions, and the unseen world.

  15. Art Nouveau (1890 – 1910)

    • Key Figures: Gustav Klimt, Alphonse Mucha.

    • Key Features: Flowing lines, floral patterns, organic forms.

    • Examples: The Kiss (Klimt), posters by Mucha.

    • Focus: Decorative art, architecture, and applied arts.

  16. Fauvism (1905 – 1910)

    • Key Figures: Henri Matisse, André Derain.

    • Key Features: Bold colors, abstracted forms.

    • Examples: Woman with a Hat (Matisse).

    • Focus: Emotion and expression through color.

  17. Cubism (1907 – 1920s)

    • Key Figures: Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque.

    • Key Features: Geometric shapes, multiple perspectives.

    • Examples: Les Demoiselles d’Avignon (Picasso).

    • Purpose: Deconstruct objects into their basic forms.

  18. Futurism (1909 – 1944)

    • Key Figures: Umberto Boccioni, Giacomo Balla.

    • Key Features: Movement, speed, technology.

    • Examples: Unique Forms of Continuity in Space (Boccioni).

    • Focus: Glorifying modern life and rejecting the past.

  19. Dada (1916 – 1924)

    • Key Figures: Marcel Duchamp, Hannah Höch.

    • Key Features: Absurdity, anti-art, ready-made.

    • Examples: Fountain (Duchamp).

    • Purpose: Challenge traditional concepts of art.

  20. Surrealism (1920s – 1940s)

    • Key Figures: Salvador Dalí, René Magritte, Max Ernst.

    • Key Features: Dream imagery, subconscious, bizarre juxtapositions.

    • Examples: The Persistence of Memory (Dalí).Focus: Explore the mind and unconscious.

  21. Abstract Expressionism (1940s – 1950s)

    • Key Figures: Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko.

    • Key Features: Spontaneity, emotion, large canvases.

    • Examples: No. 5, 1948 (Pollock).

    • Focus: Personal expression and abstract forms.

  22. Pop Art (1950s – 1960s)

    • Key Figures: Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein.

    • Key Features: Popular culture, mass media, bright colors.

    • Examples: Campbell’s Soup Cans (Andy Warhol).

    • Focus: Critique of consumerism and celebrity culture.

  23. Minimalism (1960s – 1970s)

    • Key Figures: Donald Judd, Frank Stella.

    • Key Features: Simple, geometric forms, industrial materials.

    • Examples: Untitled (Donald Judd).

    • Focus: Stripping down to the essentials of form and space.

  24. Conceptual Art (1960s – 1970s)

    • Key Figures: Sol LeWitt, Joseph Kosuth.

    • Key Features: Ideas as art, text-based works, dematerialization of the object.

    • Examples: One and Three Chairs (Kosuth).

    • Focus: Emphasis on the concept rather than the physical work.

  25. Postmodernism (1970s – Present)

    • Key Figures: Cindy Sherman, Jeff Koons.

    • Key Features: Irony, appropriation, blending high and low culture.

    • Examples: Untitled Film Stills (Sherman), Balloon Dog (Koons).

    • Focus: Questioning authenticity, narrative, and originality.


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