Major Art Movements in Western Art History

Western art is arranged into a number of stylistic periods, which, historically, overlap each other as different styles flourished in different areas.
Broadly the periods are, Classical, Byzantine, Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, Modern.

Secularism has influenced Western art since the Classical period, while most art of the last 200 years has been produced without reference to religion and often with no particular ideology at all.  On the other hand, Western art has often been influenced by politics of one kind or another, of the state, of the patron and of the artist.  (From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

Byzantine art

Byzantine art (Byzantine art) overlaps with or merges with what we call Early Christian art until the iconoclasm period of 730-843 when the vast majority of artwork with figures was destroyed; so little remains that today any discovery sheds new understanding. After 843 until 1453 there is a clear Byzantine art tradition. It is often the finest art of the Middle Ages in terms of quality of material and workmanship, with production centered on Constantinople. Byzantine art's crowning achievement were the monumental fresco and mosaics inside domed churches, most of which have not survived due to natural disasters and the appropriation of churches to mosques.

Medieval art

Migration art (Migration art - "barbarian") is a term for the peoples who moved in to formerly Roman territories. Celtic art in the 7th and 8th centuries saw a fusion with Germanic traditions through contact with the Anglo-Saxons creating what is called the Hiberno-Saxon style or Insular art, which was to be highly influential on the rest of the Middle Ages. Merovingian art describes the art of the Franks before about 800, when Carolingian art combined insular influences with a self-conscious classical revival, developing into Ottonian art. Anglo-Saxon art is the art of England after the Insular period. Illuminated manuscripts contain nearly all the surviving painting of the period, but architecture, metalwork and small carved work in wood or ivory were also important media.

Romanesque

Romanesque Art (Romanesque art) refers to the period from about 1000 to the rise of Gothic art in the 12th century. This was a period of increasing prosperity, and the first to see a coherent style used across Europe, from Scandinavia to Switzerland. Romanesque art is vigorous and direct, was originally brightly colored, and is often very sophisticated. Stained glass and enamel on metalwork became important media, and larger sculptures in the round developed, although high relief was the principal technique. Its architecture is dominated by thick walls, and round-headed windows and arches, with much carved decoration.

Gothic

Gothic art (Gothic art) is a variable term depending on the craft, place and time. The term originated with Gothic architecture in 1140, but Gothic painting did not appear until around 1200 (this date has many qualifications), when it diverged from Romanesque style. Gothic sculpture was born in France in 1144 with the renovation of the Abbey Church of S. Denis and spread throughout Europe, by the 13th century it had become the international style, replacing Romanesque. International Gothic describes Gothic art from about 1360 to 1430, after which Gothic art merges into Renaissance art at different times in different places. During this period forms such as painting, in fresco and on panel, become newly important, and the end of the period includes new media such as prints.

The Renaissance

During the Renaissance, painters began to enhance the realism of their work by using new techniques in perspective, thus representing three dimensions more authentically. Artists also began to use new techniques in the manipulation of light and darkness, such as the tone contrast evident in many of Titian's portraits and the development of sfumato and chiaroscuro by Leonardo da Vinci. Sculptors, too, began to rediscover many ancient techniques such as contrapposto. Following with the humanist spirit of the age, art became more secular in subject matter, depicting ancient mythology in addition to Christian themes. This genre of art is often referred to as Renaissance Classicism. In the North, the most important Renaissance innovation was the widespread use of oil paints, which allowed for greater colour and intensity. (Renaissance art)

• Proto-Renaissance, 1290–1400.
• Early Renaissance, 1400–1475.
• High Renaissance, 1475–1525.

Mannerism 1525–1600

Mannerism is a period of European art that emerged from the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520. It lasted until about 1580 in Italy, when a more Baroque style began to replace it, but Northern Mannerism continued into the early 17th century throughout much of Europe

Baroque 17th century to 18th century

19th century

Neo-Classicism
Romanticism
Realism
Symbolism
Impressionism
Post-Impressionism, Vincent van Gogh, Paul Gauguin, Paul Cézanne
Neo-impressionism, Georges Seurat, Paul Signac
Art Nouveau

20th century

Fauvism
Cubism
Futurism
Expressionism
Dadaism
Surrealism
Abstract expressionism
Pop art