Art is an important part of culture throughout the world. To appreciate the art that exists in our culture
today, one must journey through time and explore the evolution of fine art.
ANCIENT
CIVILIZATIONS 3000 BC - 331 BC (BCE)
Egyptian Art 3200 - 1070 BC
Amarna Art
1370 - 1340 BC
Mesopotamian Art 3500 - 331 BC
Sumerian/Akkadian 3500 - 1750 BC
Assyrian/Neo-Babylonian 1000 - 539
BC
Persian 539 - 331 BC
Aegean Art 3000 - 1100 BC
Minoan (Crete) 3000 - 1475 BC
Mycenean (Greece) 1650 - 1100
BC
Greek Art 800 - 323 BC
CLASSIC CIVILIZATIONS 800 BC - 337 AD (BCE-CE)
Hellenistic
Art 323-150 BC
Etruscan Art 6th - 5th century BC
Roman Art 509 BC - 337 AD
MIDDLE AGES 373 - 1453 AD (CE)
Celtic, Saxon, & Hiberno 200 - 732 AD
Byzantine Art 400 - 1453 AD
Justinian 527 - 565 AD
Islamic
Art 622 - 900 AD
Carolingian Art 732 - 900 AD
Ottonian Art 900 - 1050 AD
Romanesque Style 1000 - 1140 AD
Gothic
Style 1140 - 1500 AD
RENAISSANCE 1400 - 1800 AD (CE)
Renaissance:
Italy 1400 - 1600 AD
Renaissance: Europe 1500 - 1600 AD
Baroque 1600 - 1700 AD
Rococo 1700 - 1750 AD
PRE-MODERN
1800 - 1880 AD (CE)
Neo-Classicism 1750 - 1880 AD
(USA: Federal/Greek Revival)
(Canada:
Georgian Style)
Romanticism 1800 - 1880 AD
(Canada: Victorian)
Realism 1830's - 1850's AD
Impressionism 1870's
- 1890's AD
MODERNISM 1880 - 1945 AD (CE)
Post Impressionism 1880
- 1900 AD
Expressionism 1900 - 1920 AD
Fauvism 1900 - 1920 AD
Cubism 1907 - 1914 AD
Dada 1916 - 1922 AD
Bauhaus
1920s - 1940's AD
Harlem Renaissance 1920s - 1940's AD
Surrealism 1924 1920s - 1940's AD
International Style 1920s
- 1940's AD
MODERN & POST-MODERN 1945 AD - 1990 (CE)
Abstract
Expressionism 1945 - 1960 AD
Op Art 1960s AD
Pop Art 1960s AD
Minimal Art 1960s AD
New Realism 1970s - 1980s AD
Conceptual
Art 1970s - 1980s AD
Performance Art 1970s - 1980s AD
Neo-Expressionism 1980s - 1990s AD
Computer Art 1980s - 1990s
AD
Post-Modern Classicism 1980s - 1990s AD
Victorian Revival 1980s - 1990s AD
The
Following terms relate to critical analysis of a design. Understanding and exloring these terms through lessons and activities
will aid in critical thinking and vobcabulary building.
ELEMENTS OF DESIGN
Line
In art, lines may be the path made by a pencil or the stroke of a paintbrush. Lines can be thick bet thin, continuous
or interrupted.
Key vocabulary: structural lines, outline, contour lines, gesture line, sketch line, calligraphy, line personality,
implied line, line of sight
Shape and Form
A shape is two-dimensional. It has height and width but no depth and a single surface. Form desribes somthing with
three dimensions - length, width, and depth. Forms may have one continuous surface like a tennis ball, or many surfaces, like
a stone brick.
Key vocabulary: geometric shape, organic shape, static, dynamic
Value
Value is the range of light and dark such as the lightness or darkness of grays and colours. White is the lightest value,
black is the darkest.
Key vocabulary: high-key, low-key, value contrast, center of interest
Colour
Colour refers to pigment and hue. Colour appeals to our senses and emotions.
Key vocabulary: spectrum, pigment, neutral, hue, primary colours, complimentary colours, tint, shade, intensity,
tone, colour harmony
Space
Space refers to the three-dimensionality of scupture and architecture. It also refers to the sense of depth in a two-dimensional
artwork. Words such as below, around, behind, into and through all indicate position or action in space.
Key vocabulary: positive space, negative space, picture plane, composition, vanishing point, perspective, linear
perspective, abstract, nonrepresentational
Texture
Texture in surface quality, the physical surface structure of a material. We often identify a material by its texture
- glass is smooth and slick and sand is gritty and fine.
Key vocabulary: real texture, implied texture
PRINCIPLES OF DESIGN
Balance
Visual balance is the way the different parts of a composition relate to one another. The different types of balance
are symmetrical balance, approximate symmetry, asymmetrical balance, and radial balance.
Unity
Unity is accomplished when parts combine to create a sense of oneness. Other terms to consider included dominance and
subordinate.
Contrast
Contrast refers to large differences in the elements of design. Contrast can include the contrast of natural and manufactured
materials, large and small, dark with light, or rough and smooth.
Emphasis
Emphasis is best understood through attempting to achieve emphasis. The term most often refers to a element that is dominant
in a design or something that imediately stands out. Methods to achieve emphasis include relying on a single element
of deign, simplifying the overall composition, and using special placement.
Pattern
A visual pattern is the repetition of one or more elements, such as stripes on a racoon's tail.
Movement and Rhythm
Visual rhythm, similar to rhythm in music and dance is closely linked to movement. In a design an artist can create
a variety of effects through the use of movement. Movement can create a path for the viewer's eye to follow across a composition.
