Study Notes: Modernity & The Avant-Garde (1750–1980 CE)

Enlightenment

An intellectual movement prioritizing reason, empirical evidence, and individualism over tradition and religion.

Mimesis

Art that attempts to replicate reality or nature.

Abstraction

A departure from representing physical reality in art, focusing instead on concepts or ideas.

Rococo

An artistic movement characterized by lightness, elegance, and themes of love, often associated with the French aristocracy.

Neoclassicism

An art movement inspired by classical antiquity that promotes civic duty, sacrifice, and reason.

Tenebrism

A technique of painting characterized by stark contrasts between light and dark.

The Grand Tour

A traditional trip through Europe undertaken by mainly upper-class young men to study classical art and culture.

Proletariat

The working-class people in society, particularly those who do not own the means of production.

Bourgeoisie

The middle class, typically with reference to its perceived materialistic values or conventional attitudes.

Sublime

An aesthetic quality that inspires a sense of awe or wonder, often invoking a mix of beauty and terror.

Daguerreotype

An early type of photograph created by exposing a silver-coated copper plate to iodine vapor.

Civic Duty

The responsibilities of a citizen to their society or government.

Impressionism

An art movement that focuses on capturing light and natural forms, often characterized by loose brushwork and an emphasis on the effects of light.

Post-Impressionism

An art movement that reacted against Impressionism, emphasizing structure and form while maintaining vivid colors.

Cubism

An avant-garde art movement that abandoned perspective in favor of fragmented and multiple viewpoints.

Fauvism

An early 20th-century art movement known for its bold colors and painterly qualities.

Surrealism

An art movement exploring the unconscious mind, dreams, and the juxtaposition of unexpected elements.

Dada

An art movement that emerged as a reaction to World War I, emphasizing absurdity and anti-art.

Constructivism

An artistic and architectural philosophy originating in Russia, promoting art as a practice for social purposes.

Modernism

A broad cultural movement embracing modern ideas, experimentation, and a break from tradition.

Victory of Samothrace

An ancient Greek statue that symbolizes victory and is characterized by its dynamic pose and intricate drapery.

Sculpture

A three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining materials.

Abstract Expressionism

An art movement focused on spontaneous, automatic, or subconscious creation.

Pop Art

An art movement that draws on popular culture, often blurring the boundaries between high art and commercial art.

Environmental Art

Art created to enhance or criticize an environment or landscape.

Conceptual Art

Art where the idea or concept is the most important aspect, often prioritizing the thought process over traditional aesthetics.

Pompeii

An ancient Roman city preserved under volcanic ash, whose archaeological discoveries influenced Neoclassicism.

Allegory

A symbolic narrative in which characters and events represent broader concepts, often moral or political.

Empirical Evidence

Information acquired by observation or experimentation that can be verified through the senses.

Social Realism

Art that focuses on the everyday life and struggles of the working-class, often aiming to promote social change.

Symbolism

An artistic movement that sought to express the intangible and subjective through symbolic imagery.

Installation Art

A three-dimensional art form designed to transform a space, often immersive and interactive.

Art Nouveau

An artistic movement that embraced decorative arts and design, characterized by organic forms and flowing lines.

Feminist Art

Art created from a feminist perspective, often addressing issues of gender inequality.

Minimalism

An art movement focused on simplicity, stripping away the non-essential elements to reveal the essence of art.

Sculptural Relief

A sculpture that is attached to a background surface, projecting from it but not freestanding.

Realism

An artistic movement that focuses on depicting everyday subjects and situations without idealization.

Etching

A printmaking technique where a design is incised onto a metal plate with acid.

The Avant-Garde

Artists or works that are innovative, pushing the boundaries of what is accepted as the norm in their field.

Muralism

A form of artwork that is painted directly on a wall, often in public spaces to convey social and political messages.

Expressionism

An art movement that emphasizes the expression of emotional experience rather than physical reality.

Chiaroscuro

The treatment of light and shade in drawing and painting.

New York School

A group of American painters and poets in the 1940s and 1950s, characterized by abstract expressionism.

Color Field Painting

An abstract painting style characterized by large areas of a single color.

Action Painting

A style of painting that emphasizes the physical act of painting itself as an essential part of the finished work.

Manifest Destiny

19th-century doctrine that the expansion of the United States throughout the American continents was both justified and inevitable.

Cynical Realism

A term used to describe contemporary art and culture that exhibits skepticism toward political or social systems.