Over the centuries, painting styles developed slowly.
By the time perspective was discovered, almost all painting was done in very similar styles. Artists were mainly employed creating work for wealthy patrons and for the church. Basically, one approved style was followed, and this continued for hundreds of years.
It was only during the last two centuries that artists began to think outside of the box about painting. Self-expression took on more importance and pushing the limits became popular in some circles.
Paintings are generally categorized into one of these styles. Some artists paint in different styles, either concurrently or over the course of their career. Knowing a little bit about the different styles in art is interesting and can help you define your own personal technique.
Abstract
Abstract art is also called non-representational, non-figurative and non-objective. These terms differ somewhat, but all of them fall under the same grouping. Abstract art can be totally non-representational. In this type of painting, there is no identifiable object in the piece. It consists of colors and shapes with no definition. Abstract art can also be slightly non-representational with skewed or distorted shapes.
Henri Matisse and Wassily Kandinsky are two early artists whose works can be considered abstract art.
Cubism
Cubism takes objects and breaks them down to their basic geometric shapes. An object becomes a series of planes and arcs. Cubism is a reduction of objects into their simplest forms. The work has subject matter, but the artist re-invents it as detached and devoid of sentiment.
Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque and two of the most recognized names in the Cubist movement.
Expressionism
Expressionists attempt to portray an individual view in terms of emotion or personal perspective of a subject. The artist’s personal opinion overshadows the reality of the scene. Evoking a mood through color, perspective and tone, Expressionism is a very constricted look at the world through an artist’s viewpoint.
Edvard Munch, Franz Marc and August Macke are three examples of Expressionist artists.
Impressionism
Impressionists don’t try to blend their brush strokes to hide them. Pure colors are laid side by side with a thought toward texture and not subtle blending. The viewer’s eyes combine the colors to create the overall impression he sees. Light quality and how it affects the local color of surfaces are a prime theme to the Impressionist artist. The painter transforms ordinary subjects and locations from mundane to painterly. Portraying movement or the passage of time also comes into play by the manner in which the artist applies his paint.
Claude Monet, Camille Pissarro and Edouard Manet are all known for their Impressionist style.
Pointillism
Pointillism is a case of Impressionism on steroids. It’s akin to an inkjet printer in which red, green, yellow and black are used to create the spectrum of colors. Where the Impressionist uses brush strokes to indicate movement and direction, the Pointillist uses only dots of color and the eye’s ability to blend them to convey his message.
Paul Signac and Georges-Pierre Seurat are two artists who are remembered for their Pointillist paintings.
Pop Art
Pop Art takes cultural icons of mass media and uses them out of context or with dissimilar subjects to make a statement. This work can be realistic or have a painterly quality. It’s not so much the application of paint to a canvas as it is the juxtaposition of the objects in the composition. The artist uses everyday and found objects to make a statement about what he sees as an important message.
Andy Warhol, Eduardo Paolozzi and Richard Hamilton are artists who were instrumental in developing Pop Art
Post Impressionism
Post Impressionism is a defined period of the artistic movement from the late 19th to the early 20th century. It encapsulates artists who were unsatisfied with Impressionism and went about re-inventing it. Pointillism, Fauvism, Neo-Impressionism, Cloisonnism, Synthetism and Symbolism are all Post-Impressionism movements.
Artists of the period include Paul Gauguin, Vincent van Gogh, Paul Cezanne and Odilon Redon.
Primitive
Primitive art is also known as Naïve art or Outsider art. Although it originally referred to artwork created by untrained craftsmen, there are now academies teaching Outsider art as a course of study.
Naïve art generally uses strong patterns, unrefined colors and has a lack or distortion of perspective. Folk art is another related type of artwork that is often grouped with Primitive art.
Grandma Moses and Henri Rousseau are primitive artists whose works are considered Naïve art.
Realism
A realist portrays a composition truthfully, using color, shape and tonal value to depict a subject without stylization. Everyday objects and situations are not glossed over or idealized.
Artists such as Jean-Francois Millet, Winslow Homer and David Campbell are Realist artists whose works span two centuries.
Surrealism
Although Surrealism is a cultural movement, Surrealistic artists use dreams, fantasy and the subconscious as inspiration for their work. Ambiguous and strange juxtaposition of dissimilar objects and settings are common compositional ploys. The dreamlike qualities of Surrealism allow the artist to push the bounds of socially acceptable artistic practices.
Surrealists include Salvador Dali, Max Ernst and Joan Miro. These are three of the movement’s most well known artists.
Sub-Categories
Other sub-categories of art styles are generally grouped within these main categories. You’ll find that most artists don’t stay static with one style throughout their career. An artist develops his own voice, but that voice changes as he grows and expands his education and view of the world.
For example, Pablo Picasso began his artistic life as a classically trained art student. His early instruction included life drawing and oil painting. In both of these skills, he excelled. This gave him a basis from which to broaden his artistic horizons. Because he was classically trained, he knew where and how he could push the limits of art to achieve the best results.
The life of an artist is a journey that has no limits. Start at the beginning and just keep moving. You never know where you’ll wind up, but the voyage, not the destination, is the point.
