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Art movements

An art movement is an artistic style or a tendency seen in the intentions of works that is followed by a group of artists during a specific period of time. Art movements were especially important in modern art, where each consecutive movement was considered as a new avant-garde. Movements have almost entirely disappeared in contemporary art, where individualism and diversity prevail.

Abstraction and Abstract Art

Abstract art was largely a result of artists’ increasing interest in the formal aspects of art (such as colour theory) and the creative process, placing emphasis on personal expression. Representational forms, such as figures or landscapes, are often exaggerated or simplified until they become virtually unrecognisable. Examples: Barbara Hepworth, Wassily Kandinsky, Piet Mondrian, Henry Moore, Ben Nicholson.

Abstract Expressionism

This movement originated in America in the 1940s, becoming popular in the 1950s. The key interests of the Abstract Expressionists were freedom of expression and exploring the subconscious. Many artists associated with this movement worked quickly and applied paint in unconventional ways such as pouring or splattering paint directly onto the surface, allowing chance and accident to play a significant role in the creation. Some also began experimenting with modern materials and industrial and domestic paints. Examples: Willem De Kooning, Barnett Newman, Jackson Pollock, Ad Reinhardt, Mark Rothko.

Conceptual Art

Conceptual art, as its name implies, is primarily concerned with conveying an idea or concept behind a work, rather than the creation of a traditional art object (such as a painting, print or sculpture). The term first came into use in the 1960s, but is usually associated with artists of the 1970s. However, artists have been making work which is now regarded as conceptual since the beginning of the 20th century, perhaps the first being Marcel Duchamp’s infamous urinal piece made in 1917. In many examples of conceptual art, the art object can be replaced by a description of it or by a set of instructions for its construction, and the actual physical involvement of the artist can often be quite minimal. In the 1990s conceptual art enjoyed a resurgence and has been linked to the origins of the Young British Artists (YBAs), largely consisting of graduates from Goldsmiths College under the guidance of conceptual artist Michael Craig-Martin. Because Conceptual Art is often dependent upon the discourse surrounding the work, it is strongly related to other movements of the last century. Examples: Marcel Broodthaers, Jenny Holtzer, Sarah Lucas, Jeff Koons, Damien Hirst.

Contemporary Art

This somewhat ambiguous term usually refers to work created after 1945. Some define contemporary art as work made within the last 30 years (Christie's auction house made this distinction with their contemporary auctions, while Sotheby’s and Phillips maintain the more conventional 1945 date).

Figurative/Figuration/Representational

The term figurative is now used as the opposite of abstract or conceptual, and extends to anything that depicts a subject taken from life, be it a landscape, objects (a still life) or the human figure. Figuration is often used to describe naturalistic or lifelike elements in otherwise abstract or non-figurative work. Representation is used when the emphasis is on what the subject is rather than with an accurate lifelike depiction.

Installation Art

Installation art is often made for a particular event or space, being referred to as site-specific. Although some installations are able to be re-installed elsewhere or re-made at different venues, they are rarely permanent and may only exist as a documentation of its finished state. Much installation art is considered conceptual and is a popular art-form for alternative spaces rather than galleries. Examples: Christo, Tracey Emin, David Mach, Anthony Gormley.

Modernism and Modern Art

Modernism and the period referred to as the ‘modernist’ age relates to art and literature of the late 19th century through the mid-20th century. It includes artists such as Giacometti, Matisse, Monet, Picasso, Brancusi, Klee, van Gogh and Cezanne, often called the ‘Father of Modernism,’ as well as all those who forged artistic movements such as Fauvism, Cubism and Surrealism. Art at this time made a radical break with the past, deliberately departing from traditional materials and techniques. Whilst modernist ideas are still used widely in contemporary art and design, its dogmatism fell out of fashion in the post war period. It should not therefore be confused with contemporary art.

Pop Art

Pop Art largely explores popular mass culture and the products of consumerism and capitalism. Its message is not always certain, and could be condemning or celebrating its subject. Largely associated with American culture, it actually began in England in the late 1950s, helped substantially by the focus brought on Britain by the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. By appropriating the materials and styles of advertising, billboards, screen-printing, commercial packaging and design. Pop artists encouraged their audience to reassess the products of the everyday world, at the same time challenging the elitism of previous art movements. Examples: Peter Blake, David Hockney, Richard Hamilton, Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein.

Post-Modernism

Post-modernism is the recognition that we have gone as far as we can from traditional values in the name of innovation. Therefore nothing can be considered wholly original because everything refers to what has gone before it. This is now part of our everyday ‘Cultural Liberalism’ in which no creative output can categorically be said to be better or worse than any other. Value is given to something according to what it refers to, hence the current fashion for retro culture and for revivals of previous styles. Examples: David Salle, Jake and Dinos Chapman, Gavin Turk.