Topic 3 of 6 · Form 5
Western art movements
Context (history, technology, patrons), key artists, techniques, subject matter, and influence on later art.
Notes for this topic 1 file, in order
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Overview of major movements
- Renaissance (15th–16th centuries): linear perspective, anatomy, humanism (Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael).
- Baroque (17th century): drama, movement, strong light and shade (Caravaggio, Rembrandt).
- Neoclassicism and Romanticism (18th–19th centuries): order and reason versus emotion and nature.
- Realism (mid-19th century): everyday life and workers (Courbet).
- Impressionism (late 19th century): light, colour and outdoor painting (Monet, Renoir).
- Post-Impressionism: structure and expression (Cézanne, Van Gogh, Gauguin).
- Expressionism, Fauvism and Cubism (early 20th century): emotion, bold colour, multiple viewpoints (Matisse, Picasso, Braque) – Cubism influenced by African sculpture.
- Dada and Surrealism: anti-art and the subconscious (Duchamp, Dalí).
- Abstract Expressionism and Pop Art (mid-20th century): gesture and mass culture (Pollock, Warhol).
- Contemporary art: installation, conceptual, digital and performance art; global and African contemporary artists.
Studying a movement
Context (history, technology, patrons), key artists, techniques, subject matter, and influence on later art.
Exam tip: For each movement, learn its dates, three features, two artists and one key work you can describe in your own words.
Check yourself
- What was a key innovation of Renaissance painting?
- Which movement focused on capturing changing light outdoors?
- How did African art influence Cubism?
Show answers
- Linear perspective (and realistic anatomy).
- Impressionism.
- African masks and sculpture inspired simplified, geometric forms and new ways of representing the human figure.
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