This project illustrates the shift in style, change of taste, progression or regression of different society’s artistic endeavors. We studied art history and then the students researched, wrote and made art to describe a shift in the history of art. Sometimes the shift described was linear and direct like: Classical to Hellenistic. Other times students connected Dada to Pop Art or Rococo to Art Nuevo; these examples were not necessarily shifts but more of a connections throughout time.

This painting demonstrates the shift between abstract expressionism and minimalism because it combines the essential ideas of each style. For instance, the color choices and the loose edges of the lines represent the spontaneity of abstract expressionism. Additionally, the stripes are nonrepresentational; the lack of subjective meaning characterized the art of the 1940s movement. However, this painting also conveys a sense of minimalism because it repeats a single geometric form, or a rectangular shape. Minimalism, which followed abstract expressionism in the late 1950s, was defined by repetition and the use of the minimum number of elements.

The painting shows the transition from Impressionism to Symbolism. Symbolism art is much darker and mysterious. Unlike Impressionism, Symbolism did not emphasize much on how a surrounding affected the subject. Such as Impressionists Edgar Degas and Monet; like many concentrated on how light affected their subjects. Symbolism art did not attempt to paint everything exact so as to make it look like a photograph. Compared to Neo Impressionism, Symbolism art was not strict in composition and was not bound on science and the study of optics. Post Impressionism lead the way to symbolism, as symbolism lead the way to the DADA art movement. Post Impressionism like Symbolism; emphasized on expression, on what things meant and how the visuals provided an overall idea and feelings. Instead of concentrating on the technique or perfection of an art work; symbolism brought much more importance to the visual’s significance.

Renaissance art was the start of modern civilization. The Renaissance started in the early 14th century. Baroque art developed in Europe in the 1700’s. The movement was started by the Catholic Church. Painters and sculptors built and expanded on the naturalistic look that was Renaissance. Most Baroque painters would paint with a lot of color for emotional effects.

The artwork illustrates the comparison in between Rococo and Art Nouveau. The patterned background is a Rococo drawing and the women are from Art Nouveau. Rococo took place in the eighteenth century it was highly decorative and gaudy. The name Rococo came from a pattern of a shell which was seen in many pieces of art. Art Nouveau took place in the early twentieth century it was also highly decorative it was characterized by leaf patterns and a highly stylized line.

This painting shows the comparison of two very similar Austrian artists, Egon Schiele and Gustav Klimt. Both lived and painted during the time of Sigmund Freud when sexuality was taboo. There work was very controversial and obscene due to its nudity and display of sexuality. However the two artists did differ Klimt dealt with an ideal, romantic, fantasy love while Schiele focused on nasty, raw sexuality. This painting shows two of Schieles nudes one of Klimts nudes and some of Klimts decorative details.

This painting represents the coexistence of Neo-Classical and Romanticism art. Neo-Classical art was painted to represent love, courage and sacrifice. The lady on the right was taken from a neoclassical painting. Romanticism was painted to show emotions and natural beauty. In the painting the lady on the left was taken from the painting “Girl in the Cemetery” painted by romanticist painter Eugene Delacroix. Eugene Delacroix is most known for his use of color and for influencing impressionism.

Pop art; formally know as popular art, consisted of elements of what was popular in the culture at that time. Pop artist usually took something that was used as an everyday item and re-defined them and made it into art. They also use images of famous people or advertisements in order to draw a connection to everyone. Many felt that this would bring back art from when it was lost after World War I.

This piece demonstrates the artistic shift from Fauvism to Cubism. Fauvism is characterized by intensely bright, clashing colors, distorted shapes and perspective, wide brush strokes and big chunks of hues. In contrast, subject matter in Cubist paintings are broken up into pieces, dissected and then conveyed into an abstracted art form—resulting in geometric, angular shapes. While Cubism and Fauvism are two very distinct movements of art, both share a few similar characteristics. For example, both leave interpretation up to the viewer. Rather than simply showing a scene or a moment in time, both types of art create a mood and leave the viewer to infer the message or feeling of the artwork. Fauvism and Cubism also represented an alternative reality to life because both types used color and shapes respectively to display a subject unrealistically. As Picasso once said, “I paint what I know, not what I see.” This quote is true for both Cubism and Fauvism as both styles of art showed the painter’s own understanding of reality. My painting is a mix of Pablo Picasso’s Les Demoiselles d'Avignon and André Derain’s Bridge over the Riou.

Cubism to Art Deco

Cubism was started in the early 19th century. The key concept underlying Cubism is that the essence of an object can only be captured by showing it from multiple points of view simultaneously. Art Deco was originated in Paris at the great exhibition of 1925. The exhibition was called Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes.

This piece of art is showing the shift of Post-Impressionism art to Art-Nouveau. The Tahitian women on the bottom, was painted by Paul Gauguin in 1897, called Nevermore. Egon Schiele’s painting, Love and Death, was part of the Art-Nouveau period. The pattern in the background was painted also during Art-Nouveau, by Gustav Kilmt. Post-Impressionism started in France where painters were trying to break away from the discipline and order of Impressionism. From 1880 to 1920 the Post-Impressionist continued using vivid colors, thick application of paint, distinctive brushstrokes and real life subject matter. Art Nouveau was an international style which developed in the 1880s and 1890s based on decoration and beauty. During this period many old customs, habits, and artistic styles sat alongside new, combining a range of contradictory images and ideas. Artists started to forget about realism, much like rococo, and adding their own imagination to the art.

This painting was made to demonstrate the shift between the Mannerism and Baroque painting. The two figures on the sides are of the mannerist style by El Greco, defined by the elongated forms and acidic colors. The later style, baroque, can be seen in the center of the image. Both images have a high contrast between light and dark (chiaroscuro), however baroque was a more realistic yet less exaggerated than the mannerism period.

This painting demonstrates the shift between Baroque and Rococo. Midas and Bacchus from the baroque period was used along side La Gamme d Amour by the Rococo artist, Jean-Antoine Watteau. On the right side, the baroque image with it’s chiaroscuro and emotional subject, Midas, blends with the left side: a lighthearted scene, which demonstrates the relaxed life of the aristocratic. The shift from the Baroque period to the Rococo period marked the end of tragic and/or passionate mythology to a decorative art form mimicking upper class.

The height of Renaissance art began in the early 14th century and prevailed throughout the 16 century and beyond. Many Renaissance artists painted images that represented nature. These types of paintings are what identified Renaissance art in Italy. Of many artists who painted people such as Mary and Christ, the artist would purposely made their clothing colorful and vibrant, where as with Baroque paintings the entire painting would be of one familiar color. The era known as High Baroque took place during 1625-1675. This style of Baroque painting is known to convey an emotional impact on the viewer.

This piece shows the combination of the art shifts of Romanticism and Secessionism. Both art periods emphasize drama and emotion, but in different ways: Romanticism used epic scenes and story-telling to show heroism, struggle, and despair, while Secessionism displayed emotion through human expression and intimacy. This piece was created with a Romantic background and Gustav Klimt’s Portrait of Mada Primavesi. Klimt was one of the most famous Secessionist artists and was the founder of Vienna Secessionism in 1897. The woman in the painting is more dramatized in this piece to go along with the Romantic background. The bright, boldly colorful Secessionist piece is shows juxtaposition with the epic, deeply-hued background.