Glossary of Art Movements, Schools, & Styles

by Joelle Steele

This is a fairly good list of the basic art movements, although there may be others that are lesser known schools of style.

Abstract Art. Art that is a departure from reality and natural appearance, that reflects the artist’s interpretation of reality, essentially through the choice of materials and color, and/or through the use of altered forms. Also called non-objective or non-representational.

Abstract Expressionism. An international and diverse abstract art movement originating in the United States in the 1940s and 1950s, in which the spontaneity of the artist’s emotions and personal expressions of thought are expressed through and in their art, usually within an abstract or non-representational style. The artist is freed from accepted artistic values and the process of painting, and non-representational color, line, and shape replace realistic depictions of the subject matter. Artists from this movement include Pollock, Gorky, de Kooning, Motherwell, and Kline. Also known as the “New York School,” “Action Art,” and in Europe as “Art Informel.” Art Informel was differentiated and described as “lyrical abstraction” in reference to its painterly style. See also “Expressionism.”

Abstract Surrealism. See “Surrealism.”

Academic Art. Art that conforms to established rules and standards, is overly traditional or conservative, and often lacks originality. It was originally a term applied to art standards of the French Academy. Can still apply to the official styles taught at fine art academies.

Academy. A group of artists (and scholars) formed during the Renaissance who sought to free themselves from the control of guilds and the status of artisan, and achieve professional status.

Action Art. A style of non-representational abstract painting that relies on physical movement by the artist, such as dripping or pouring or other broad gestures. The term was coined in 1952 by United States art critic Harold Rosenberg to describe works produced by Jackson Pollock (the best known artist of this movement) and others painting in that style. See “Abstract Expressionism.”

Action Painting. See “Action Art.”

Aesthetic Movement. Led by William Morris in Great Britain during the 1870s and 1880s, the movement revered purity of beauty in art and design. The movement’s motto was “art for art’s sake.” Artists of the movement included Whistler and Albert Moore.

American Scene Painting. A general movement in the United States, its member were active circa 1925-45 and portrayed American imagery in realistic, sometimes nostalgic settings. See “Regionalism.”

Analytical Cubism. A precursor to Cubism, this movement began in the first decade of the 20th century. Its members sought to analyze and break down natural forms into geometric parts. See “Cubism.”

Applied Art. Art that is created for design or decoration of practical or utilitarian objects.

Art Deco. A design style of the 1920s and 1930s, characterized by setbacks, straight lines, geometric forms, and chrome and plastic details. An outgrowth of Art Nouveau with added geometrics.

Art Informel. See “Abstract Expressionism.”

Art Nouveau. A late 19th and early 20th century design movement characterized by plant forms and curvaceous line styles, asymmetrical, and often erotic in nature. Artists of the movement included Klimt and Mucha. Known in Germany as Jugendstil.

Arte Nucleare. An Italian art movement found in Milan in 1951 by Enrico Baj, Sergio Dangelo, and Gianni Bertini.

Arte Povera. A movement whose name was coined in 1967, it emphasized the use of ordinary objects such as twigs, stones, leaves in art to denote the ephemeral quality of the art. Artists of the movement included Carl Andre and Richard Long.

Ash Can School. American movement active from 1908 to 1918 and again during the 1930s. Realist artists whose work depicted the ordinary, unattractive aspects of urban life and urban scenes. Artists associated with the movement included Henri, Davies, and Hopper.

Ashcan School. See “Ash Can School.”

Assemblage. A modern style of painting and sculpture that combined manufactured and found objects to form abstract compositions. Artists of the style included Braque, Nevelson, and Picasso. Also known as collage.

Auto-Destructive Art. An early 1960s one-man art movement by Gustav Metzger, characterized by his art that protested against nuclear weapons.

Automatism. The use of automatic or unconscious actions to enhance the flow and expression of unconscious ideas and emotions. A style used by surrealistic artists.

Barbizon School. A group of 19th-century French landscape painters in Barbizon who were influenced by the much-earlier 17th-century Dutch genre-style painting. Their ‘plein air’ works portrayed nature realistically. Artists associated with this movement included Theodore Rousseau, Corot, and Millet.

Baroque. A late 16th through early 18th century European style of art and architecture that originated in Rome and with the Catholic Church. It spread throughout Europe and was characterized by a highly dramatic effect of extreme contrast and color, and highly exaggerated emotional expression. Among its members were Bernini, Caravaggio, and Rubens.

Bauhaus School. A short-lived school of art and architecture with long-lasting innovative applied design influences in mass-produced goods and machine technology. It was founded in 1919 in Weimar, Germany by Walter Gropius, moved to Dessau in 1925, to Berlin in 1932, and closed in 1933. Its teaching method emphasized artists working together as a community. Its German name means building (bau) and house (haus). Also known as the “Bauhaus Design School” or simply “Bauhaus.”

Beaux Arts Quartet. A group of realist artists including John Bratby, Derrick Greaves, Edward Middleditch, and Jack Smith. Also referred to as “kitchen sink art.”

Beaux Arts. A style of architecture that is formal and symmetric, and highly sculpturally ornamented.

Belle Epoque. See “Edwardian.”

Berlin Secession, Berliner Sezession. An association of German impressionist painters founded in Dresden in 1905, and led by Max Liebermann. They exhibited their work as the “Die Brucke” artists in 1908. The words “die brucke” are German for “the bridge.” Also known collectively as “Die Brucke.” Artists associated with the movement included Ernst Ludwig Kirchner and Karl Schmidt-Rottluff. See “German Expressionism.”

Black and African-American Art. A variety of styles reflected in the works of American artists of African descent, featuring underlying moods of protest and a search for history identity. An important artist of this group is Harlem Renaissance painter Romare Bearden.

Brutalism. An architectural style of the 1950s that openly displays the building materials used in construction. The style is associated with Le Corbusier and Mies van der Rohe.

Byzantine Art. The styles of 5th-century AD to 1450 AD art and architecture in the Eastern Roman Empire (eastern Europe), centered in Constantinople (Byzantium). The painting styles are characterized by formality, stylized figures, vibrant color, gold and gilding, and religious subject matter.

Camden Town Group. A group of Post-Impressionist painters formed in 1911 in England. The artists included Walter Sickert, Spencer Gore, Lucien Pissarro, and Augustus John. They applied the artistic principles of Gauguin and van Gogh to contemporary London subject matter.

Carolingian Art. See “Medieval Art.”

Celtic Art. A style of art incorporating curvilinear forms, spirals, knots, and interlaced patterns.

Cercle et Carré Group. A group of constructivist artists formed in Paris to promote abstract art. The group — its name is French for “circle and square” — was founded in 1929 by Joaquín Torres-Garcia and others artists. The group also produced a publication called “Cercle et Carré.”

Chicago School. A group of architects who worked in the Chicago area from 1871 to 1893. Important members included Frank Lloyd Wright and Louis Sullivan.

Classic Art, Classical Art. A style that relies on a traditional or regular structure, with balance and proportion. More specifically the art of ancient Greece and Rome that flourished during the 5th century BC. Also refers to art that portrays excellence in its subject matter as well as its execution.

Classicism. A style of art derived from the ancient Greek and Roman classic style, characterized by balance, harmony, proportion, serenity, simplicity, and accepted standards of beauty.

CoBrA Group. A group of Belgian, Danish, and Dutch expressionists active 1948-51. The name is an acronym from the first letter of the cities Copenhagen, Brussels and Amsterdam.

Color Field Art. An abstract expressionist style that evolved during the 1950s. It uses a field of color (stained or poured areas to the edges of the canvas), usually on a large scale, to evoke an emotional or aesthetic reaction in the viewer. Artists who practice this method include Newman, Rothko, and Frankenthaler. Also called “Color Field Painting.”

Conceptual Art. An art movement of the 1960s and 1970s, in which the idea and process by which the idea becomes tangible is more important than the art itself. Not all conceptual art is visual and exists only as descriptions of mental concepts. The movement rebelled against the confines of galleries and the commercialization of art.

Constructivism. An international abstract art movement founded by Vladimir Tatlin in post-revolutionary Russia circa 1915. It emphasized sculpture with a utilitarian purpose for the industrial age, and used glass, metal wood, and modern materials. Among its members were Naum Gabo, Antoine Pevsner, Rodchenko, and Calder.

Cubism. A revolutionary and influential movement initiated by Picasso and Braque in the first decade of the 20th century by a style called analytical cubism. This departure from representational art ultimately developed into synthetic or collage cubism. Cubism relies on simultaneous multiple views and fragmentation (breaking down natural forms into geometric shapes), with geometric reconstruction of objects relieved of their three-dimensional form. The palette is generally neutral. In 1918, an art movement called “Purism” was founded to rid Cubism of its decorative elements and to emphasize pure outline and impersonality. In the 1920s-1930s, there was a style that depicted the subject in a realistic way but with an eye to its geometric form. This was similar to Art Déco and was called “Precisionism” or “Cubist Realism.” When forms are analyzed in geometric terms the art is called “analytical cubism” and when reorganized in various contexts and more colorful, textural, and decorative, the art is called “synthetic cubism” or “collage cubism.”

Cubist Realism. See “Cubism.”

Cubo-Futurism. An early 20th-century Russian art movement which combined elements of Cubism and Futurism. The primary artist associated with the movement was Kasimir Malevich.

Dada, Dadaism. An anarchist anti-art movement in the arts that was antimilitaristic and anti-aesthetic. It shunned contemporary culture and conventional art, and extolled the absurd, irrational, nihilistic, and nonsensical, or the “non-art.” The movement was founded in Zurich, Switzerland circa 1919 by Hans Arp, in part as a reaction to the horrors of World War I. The word “dada” is a non-word that symbolizes baby-talk, ergo the loss of meaning. The movement was a precursor of surrealism. Artists active in the movement 1919-23 included Duchamp, Hoch, Man Ray, Miró, Picabia, and Picasso.

Danube School. The group of early 16th-century German painters is known for lush and vibrant landscapes. Artists associated with the group include Albrecht Altdorfer and Lucas Cranach.

De Stijl. A purist art movement founded during World War I in the Netherlands, and reflecting the works and views stated in De Stijl magazine, founded in 1917 by Theo van Doesburg and Piet Mondrian. Members of the movement included artists, architects, designers, and sculptors who sought to create a universal language of form independent from individual emotion, and paring down the visual to primary colors, black-and-white, and rectangular shapes. The group’s primary influences were in architecture and in promoting the Bauhaus design. The name is Dutch for “the style.”

Decadent Movement. An art nouveau movement of the late 19th and early 20th century (fin-de-siècle) associated with the Symbolist movement. Primary artist member is Aubrey Beardsley.

Deco. See “Art Deco.”

Degenerate Art. A term applied to avant-garde arts that were considered degenerate by the Nazi Part. It was also the name of a 1937 München art exhibition.

Delft School. A style of 17th-century Dutch genre painting. Artists associated with the school included Jan Vermeer and Pieter de Hooch.

Der Blaue Reiter. A group of expressionist artists formed in München in 1911 by Wassily Kandinsky and Franz Marc. Other members included Klee, Braque, and Picasso. See German Expressionism. The name is German for “the blue rider.” See also “Expressionism.”

Die Brucke. See “Berlin Secession.”

Die Neue Sachlichkeit. A German modern realist movement founded in the 1920s by Otto Dix and George Grosz. The group sought to vividly depict the corruption and hedonism in 1920s Germany. The name is German for “new objectivity.” See “Expressionism.”

Divisionism. See “Neo-Impressionism.”

Dutch Realist Painting. An art style of studio or easel painting centered in the Netherlands during the 17th century. It featured numerous memorable artistic masterpieces across all painting genres. Among the many notable Dutch artists painting in this style were Jan Davidszoon de Heem, Frans Hals, Willem Kalf, Rembrandt, Frans Snyders, Jacob van Ruisdael, and Jan Vermeer.

Early Renaissance. The style of art during the 15th century or “quattrocento” (meaning 400 or millequattrocento, meaning 1400) of Florentine art. See “Renaissance.”

Eclecticism. Borrowing from a variety of earlier styles and combining them together into a work of art.

École de Paris. A name that encompasses a variety of modern art movements centered in Paris, including Cubism, Fauvism, Futurism, Les Nabis, Orphism, and Surrealism. It is also a name for a school of medieval manuscript illuminators in Paris from the mid-13th to early 15th centuries. The name is French for “the school of Paris” or “the Paris school,” and refers to the Paris School of Art.

Edwardian Style. A style of art, architecture, and decorative art associated with Edward VII of Great Britain. The Edwardian era was about 10 years before World War I. In France it was referred to as Belle Epoque. The most notable artist of that style was John Singer Sargent.

Elementarism. A modified style of neo-plasticism founded by Theo van Doesburg during the 1920s. It introduced diagonals instead of the rigid neo-plastic horizontal-vertical forms propounded by Piet Mondrian. See “Neo-Plasticism.”

Elizabethan Style. An art form associated with the 16th century reign of Queen Elizabeth I of England. Important portrait artists of the time included Nicholas Hilliard and Marcus Gheeraerts.

English Figurative Painting. The art of portraiture in England during the 18th and 19th centuries. Masters of the portrait included Thomas Gainsborough, William Hogarth, Joshua Reynolds, George Romney, George Stubbs, and Joseph Wright of Derby.

English Landscape Painting. An 18th and 9th century movement in which landscape painters came into their own, interpreting the nature in their own individual ways. Important artists of the time included Constable, Cozens, Dayes, Gainsborough, Girtin, Hearne, Malton, Rooker, Sandby, Turner, and Wilson.

Euston Road Group. A group of naturalist artists working in Euston Road, London, 1937-1939. Members included William Coldstream, Lawrence Gowing, and Victor Pasmore.

Existential Art. A style of art based upon John Paul Sartre’s existentialist philosophy. Active during the 1940s and 1950s, this art featured themes of angst and alienation in the human condition. Groups associated with the style included the American Abstract Expressionists, Informel, CoBrA, French Homme-Temoin (Man as a Witness), British Kitchen Sink, and the American Beats. Individual existentialist artists include Alberto Giacometti and Francis Bacon.

Expressionism. An art movement that from the late 19th to early 20th century northern Europe. It reflects the emotions and inner vision of the artist, often using symbolism, distorted lines and shapes, an inventive and exaggerated palette, and frequently abstractive or impressionistic techniques. Van Gogh is considered to be a precursor to this movement. Expressionist artists include Kokoschka, Rouault, and Schiele. German expressionist artists and groups include Der Blaue Reiter, Kandinsky, Mare, Die Brucke, Schmidt-Rottluff, Kirchner, Die Neue Sachlichkeit, Mannheim, Dix, Grosz, and Beckmann. See also “Abstract Expressionism.”

Fauvism. An early 20th century spontaneous painting style characterized by areas of bright and contrasting bold colors confined to simplified and distorted shapes and forms. The word “fauve” is French for “wild beast.” Artists associated with this style include Matisse and Rouault.

Figuration Libre. See “Neo-Expressionism.”

Fin-de-Siècle. See “Decadent Movement.”

Fine Art. Art that is created for art itself, for its pure aesthetic appeal.

Fluxus. An international art movement, established in 1962 by George Maciunas, to unite Europe’s avant-garde who were practicing different media and disciplines. It is sometimes referred to as “intermedia.” It had similarities with the anti-art philosophy of Dadaism.

Folk Art. Art created by people who lack formal training, but follow an established tradition of craftsmanship and style, often regional in character. The art is generally imaginative and simplistic, lacking in proper perspective, and portrayed with bold or non-natural colors. Also called “naïve art” and “outsider art.” Artists of this genre include Grandma Moses, Cook, Henri Rousseau, and Hirschfield.

Formalist. A style in which the emphasis is on the structured visual relationships in a painting rather than on the subject matter itself.

Found Art. A style that relies on the use of everyday items to create art. Also known as “junk art.” Artist characteristic of this genre include Duchamp, Picasso, Rauschenberg, and Schwitters.

Futurism. An art movement that originated in Italy in 1909 and grew out of cubism, adding natural and mechanical motion and speed, sometimes a sense of danger or violence, and an overall glorification of the machine age. Artists included Marinetti and Boccioni.

Genre Painting. Refers to paintings from all ages and eras depicting everyday life as it really is, without idealizing it.

Geometric Abstraction. Generally, this refers to abstract art images, found in various movements, composed of non-representational geometric shapes.

Georgian. The classical styles of art and architecture associated with the reigns of King George I, II, II and IV in Great Britain during the early 18th to early 19th centuries.

German Expressionism. See “Expressionism.”

German Renaissance Art. Art in Germany during the 15th through 16 centuries. Important artists of the time include Durer, Grunewald, Holbein, and Riemenschneider.

Gothic Art. The late period of medieval art and architecture from the mid-13th century. The term “gothic” was originally used derogatively to criticize medieval architecture of the period. The Gothic period is usually broken down into Early Gothic, High Gothic, and Late Gothic. Art was characterized by an elegant, graceful, linear, and more naturalistic style than had existed previously. Architecture emphasized pointed arches, flying buttresses, and ribbed vaults.

Graffiti Art. A style of street art that originated in American cities during the 1970s and spread to the rest of the world, even finding its way into counter-culture galleries. Characterized by decorative writing and scribbling, usually executed with a can of spray paint. The most influential artist in the genre was Basquiat.

Group Zero. A group active circa 1957-1966, in Dusseldorf, Germany as a reaction against the Tachisme or Art Informel group. They produced kinetic art emphasizing light and motion. Members included Pol Bury, Yves Klein, Heinz Mack, Otto Piene, Daniel Spoerri, Jean Tinguely, and Gunther Uecker.

Gruppo Origine. A group founded in Rome, Italy in 1951 in response to the decorative abstract art of the time. They sought to renounce three-dimensional form, restrict their work to simple colors, and evoke elemental images. Artists included Mario Ballocco, Alberto Burri, Giuseppe Capogrossi, and Ettore Colla.

Gutai Bijutsu Kyokai. An avant-garde group founded in 1954 in Osaka, Japan and active until the early 1970s. Their works were forerunners of later “happenings” and performance and conceptual art. Members included Kanayma Akira, Murakami Saburo, Shimamoto Shozo, Shiraga Kazuo, and Yoshihara Jiro. The word “gutai” is Japanese for “concrete.” Also known as the Gutai Art Association.

Harlem Renaissance. An African-American art movement centered in the Harlem section of the Manhattan borough in New York City. Important artists include Romare Bearden, Sargent Claude Johnson, William H. Johnson, Lois Mailou Jones, Jacob Lawrence, and Archibald Motley. Also known as the “New Negro Movement.” See “Black and African-American Art.”

Hellenistic. A style of ancient Grecian art spanning 300 to 100 BC. It was characterized by dram and emotion, and the interplay of sculpture and its surrounding space.

High Art. See “Modernism.”

High Renaissance. Art that was produced during the late 15th and early 16th centuries. Includes the Raphael Rooms and the Sistine Chapel.

Hudson River School. A group of 19th century American landscape painters. Many of their works were dominated by intense and dramatic effect of light, hence they were also known as “luminists.” Artists included Frederick E. Church, Thomas Cole, Jasper Cropsey, Thomas Doughty, Asher B. Durand, Henry Inman, and J.F. Kensett.

Humanism. A Renaissance movement that looked back to the classic arts of the ancient world for inspiration into the interests and capabilities of people and humanity, as opposed to their abstract and less tangible ideas and beliefs.

Hyperrealism. See “Realism.”

Il Novecento Italiano. An artist group formed in Milan, Italy in 1923, that promoted large size historic classical painting. Artists included Carra, Funi, and Sironi.

Impressionism. A highly influential style of art that originated during the late 19th century in France and quickly spread throughout the world. Art of this style is characterized by its portrayal of common subject matter, usually outdoors in nature, captured in mood and ambience through the use of color and light in divided brush strokes, to emphasize the transitory effects of that color and light in the visible world at different times of the day and year. Paint was applied in small areas of varying colors that, at a distance, recombined in the viewer’s eye, to create a blended color effect. Important artists of the 19th century included such as Monet, Pissarro, and Renoir — to name only a few. Later California impressionists of the 20th century included Bischoff, Braun, Fortune, Hansen, Hassam, Kleitsch, Payne, Redmond, Rose, the Wachtels, Wendt and, again, many more.

Intentism. An art movement whose goal was to re-establish the role of intention in art, as the movement adhered to the believe that all meaning is the outwork of intention.

International Gothic. A style of art, influenced by the rivaling cultures of European nobility, that bridged the Gothic and Renaissance periods of art during the late 14th and up to the mid-15th centuries.

International Style. An architectural style in Europe, 1910-1920, related to Purism and De Stijl. Sought to join structure and design into a non-eclectic form based on rectangular geometry and the function of a building.

Intimism. A genre of painting in France that emphasized the domestic, intimate interiors of everyday life. Artists included Pierre Bonnard and Edouard Vuillard.

Islamic Art. A style of ancient post-7th century art that encompasses all forms of visual art created by artists living in areas dominated by the Islamic culture.

Jacobean Art. The style of art created during the reign of James I (reigned 1603-25). Artists of the genre included Nicholas Hilliard, Paul Van Somer, and Daniel Mytens the Elder.

Jugendstil. See “Art Nouveau.”

Junk Art. See “Found Art.”

Kitchen Sink Art. See “Beaux Arts Quartet.”

Les Nabis. See “Nabis.”

Luminism. See “Hudson River School.”

Lyrical abstraction. See “Abstract Expressionism.”

Magic Realism. A term used to describe the late 19th and early 20th century paintings that were composed of fantasy and dream-like subject matter.

Mannerism. A mid-16th century art movement that originated in Italy. It was in sharp contrast to the classical styles of the High Renaissance, and was characterized by the distortion and elongation of figures, dramatic use of light, exaggeration of color, and a lack of adherence to perspective, proportion, and scale. Artists working in this style included El Greco.

Medieval Art. A term used to describe the art created following the fall of the Roman Empire in the West circa 450 AD and prior to the beginning of the Renaissance circa 1400 AD. Most art of this period was architectural or decorative, and religious in nature. It is also known as “Medieval Christian Art.” During the reign of Charlemagne the Great (768-814 AD), it was also known as “Carolingian Art.” During the reign of Charlemagne’s successors, Otto I, II, and III (900-1050 AD), it was known as “Ottonian Art.”

Metaphysical Painting. An art movement circa 1915-18, founded, in part, as a reaction against Futurism. Associated with Giorgio de Chirico. Also known in Italian as “Pittura Metafisica.”

Mexican Muralism. A term that describes the resurgence of large public mural painting in Mexico circa 1920-1940. Artists of that genre included Diego Rivera, Jose Clemente Orozco, and David Alfaro Siqueiros.

Minimalism. A movement that originated in America during the late 1950s and rose to prominence in the late 1960s. This non-representational style severely restricts the use of visual elements, relying instead on the most fundamental basics of simple geometric shapes or masses.

Modernism. An idealistic style that requires the artists of each generation to continually break with the past traditions and make their art progress into the present or the now. Often referred to as “high art” to distinguish it from popular art. Examples of modernism include that of the post-impressionists and the Bauhaus.

Nabis. A group of French artists active circa 1892-1899 who were influenced by Gauguin in their subjective style, stressing the use of flat color areas and exotic decorative effects and patterns. They included Pierre Bonnard, Jean-Edouard Vuillard, Felix Vallotton and Paul Serusier. The word is Hebrew for “prophet.”

Naïve Art. See “Folk Art.”

Naturalism. A representational style of art in which the subject is rendered with some amount of reality and natural appearance.

Nazarenes. A group of German painters in early 19th century Rome who were inspired by the Northern art of the 15th and early 16th centuries.

Neo-Classical Art. See “Neo-Classicism.”

Neo-Classicism. A late 18th century revival of the restrained and elegant ancient classic Greco-Roman art in response to the overly-decorative Baroque and Rococo styles. Artists of the genre included David and Canova.

Neo-Dada. A term used to describe the 1950s “anti-art” collage and assemblage works of New York artists Robert Rauschenberg and Jasper Johns.

Neo-Expressionism. A 1980s revival of figurative painting. Also known as “Neue Wilden” (German), “Figuration Libre: (France), “Transavantguardia” (Italy), “New Spirit Painting,” and, laughably, “Bad Painting” (United States).

Neo-Gothic. The 18th century English revival of the Gothic architectural style.

Neo-Impressionism. A late 19th century French school of painting that sought to make impressionism more formal through the use of scientific analysis and use of color. Following after artist Georges Seurat, they painted using a technique called “pointillism” or “divisionism,” the juxtaposing of dots of primary colors to achieve brighter secondary colors, with the recombination left to the eye to complete the picture.

Neo-Palladian. See “Palladian.”

Neo-Plasticism. A Dutch abstract style founded in the early 1920s by artist Piet Mondrian, based on rectangles and rigid horizontal and vertical lines.

Neo-Realism. A term originating in 1960 to describe art derived, in part, from Dadaism and Surrealism. It was a reaction against abstract work and emphasized using manufactured items and everyday objects to make “junk art.” Also known as “Nouveau Realisme” (French).

Neo-Romanticism. A term that encompasses a variety of 20th-century European art movements that rely on dreams, mysticism, expressive and emotional forms, and surrealistic elements for subject matter.

Netherlandish Renaissance Art. A term applied to the art of Flanders and Holland circa 1430-1580. Artists of that genre include Jan Van Eyck, Roger Van Der Weyden, Hieronymus Bosch, and Pieter Bruegel the Elder.

Neue Kunstlervereinigung. A group founded in 1909 in München, Germany. They were influenced by the München Jugendstil and Fauvism. Wassily Kandinsky was its president. The name is German for “New Artists Association.”

Neue Wilden. See “Neo-Expressionism.”

New Artists Association. See “Neue Kunstlervereinigung.”

New Realism. See “Neo-Realism.”

New Spirit Painting. See “Neo-Expressionism.”

New Subjectivity. A name given to a 1976 exhibition of works by a movement of artists who rejected the styles of the day — abstraction and conceptualism — and advocated for a return to depicting things realistically. Artists active in the movement included Samuel Buri, David Hockney, R.B. Kitaj, Michel Parre, Sam Szafran, and Christian Zeimert. Also known as “Nouvelle Subjectivité.”

New York School. A group of artists working circa 1940-1955 who formed the center of the Abstract Expressionist movement in New York. Artists included Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, and Mark Rothko. See “Abstract Expressionism.”

Newlyn School. A group of artists who worked in the town of Newlyn, England in West Cornwall, who painted in the impressionistic plein air fashion, working directly from nature. Artists included Stanhope Alexander Forbes and Frank Bramley.

Non-Objective. See “Abstract Art.”

Non-Representational Art. See “Abstract Art.”

Norwich School. An important English school of landscape painting originating circa 1803. Artists included John Sell Cotman and John Crome.

Nouveau Realisme. See “Neo-Realism.”

Nouvelle Subjectivité. See “New Subjectivity.”

Objective Abstraction. A style of abstract art in the 1930s that emphasized non-geometric forms. Artists included Graham Bell, William Coldstream, Rodrigo Moynihan, and Geoffrey Tibble.

Objective Art. See “Representational Art.”

Op Art. An abstract art movement in the United States and Europe that began in the mid-1960s. It was based on geometrical forms and patterns that created optical illusions requiring the eye to blend the colors when viewed at a distance. The illusions could create movement through the juxtaposition of contrasting shapes, tones, lines, and colors. The name is an abbreviation for “optical art.” Artists included Albers and Riley.

Optical Art. See “Op Art.”

Orientalism. A style of painting that involved exotic subjects, coinciding with the age of steamship travel. Artists included Holman Hunt, John Frederick Lewis, William Muller, David Roberts, Thomas Seddon, and David Wilkie.

Orphic Cubism. See “Orphism.”

Orphism. A term first used in 1912 to describe cubism as practiced by Robert and Sonia Delaunay, which emphasized color and the analysis of light and its connection with nature as indicated by arrangements of interlocking planes of contrasting or complementary colors. Also known as “orphic cubism” and as “simultanism.”

Ottonian Art. See “Medieval Art.”

Outsider Art. See “Folk Art.”

Palladian. An early 18th century English architectural style derived from that of the classical Andrea Palladio style. It was a reaction against the Baroque style of the time. Also known as “Neo-Palladian.”

Paris School of Art. See “École de Paris.”

Photorealism. See “Realism.”

Pointillism. See “Neo-Impressionism.”

Pont-Aven. A group of painters working at Pont-Aven, France in the late 19th century. They were mostly symbolists and Nabis. Artists include Gauguin, Roderic O’Conor, and Nathaniel Hill.

Pop Art. A representational art movement in the United States and Great Britain associated, in part, with the Neo-Realism movement. In this 1950s-1960s style, subject matter was selected from the impersonal, mass-media imagery of the everyday world, including advertising, comic strips, trendy foods, and popular culture. Artists included Warhol, Lichtenstein, and Oldenburg.

Post-Impressionism. A collective term to describe the various types of painting styles in France circa 1885-1900 that were a reaction against the loose and formless qualities of impressionism. Among the artists of this movement were Gauguin, Van Gogh, Cezanne, and Seurat.

Post-Modernism. An imaginative and eclectic style of art from the 1970s-1990s that accepts, incorporates, and combines all periods and styles of art, including the modern, in all their various representations, without making any distinction between conceptual “high art” and popular or “Pop” art.

Post-Painterly. A term applied to abstract artists working in the 1960s, which includes a variety of specific styles and movement such as Color-Field Painting and Minimalist Art.

Precisionism. See “Cubism.”

Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. A group of English painters active 1848-1854. They attempted to recapture the style of painting prior to Raphael and before 1495, the start of the High Renaissance. They rejected the industrialized world and focused instead on painting from nature in detail and true color. Members included Rossetti, Holman Hunt, and Millais.

Proto-Renaissance. A style of fine art derivative of Greek and Byzantine traditions that was practiced in the 13th through 14th centuries. Artists included Buoninsegna, di Pepo (Cimabue), and Giotto.

Purism. See “Cubism.”

Rayonism. An offshoot of Cubism formed in 1913, and the forerunner of Futurism. Artists associated with the movement were Russian artists Mikhail Larionov and Natalya Goncharova.

Realism. A style of representational art that first occurred in mid-19th century France and again in Great Britain and the United States circa 1960-1980, in opposition to idealized academic styles in favor of everyday subject matter portrayed as realistically as possible. Also refers to artistic portrayals of everyday people going about their everyday lives. When it is so ultra-precise that it resembles a photograph, it is known as “photorealism.” Also known as “realisme” (French), “hyperrealism,” and “superrealism.” Artists include Courbet, Daumier, Millet, Chuck Close, and Richard Estes, among others.

Realisme. See Realism.

Regence. See “Regency.”

Regency. A style of furniture and decorative art associated with the reign of Prince George/George IV. It is characterized by classical themes, oriental and French Rococo elements. Artists of the style include Nash, Lawrence, Gillray, and Rowlandson. Also known by its French name, “Regence.”

Regionalism. An American art movement circa 1930s, that was most active in the Midwest states. Artists of the movement include Thomas Hart Benton, John Steuart Curry, and Grant Wood.

Renaissance Art. A period of art that began in Italy and ran from circa 1400 to 1530 AD, which was characterized by the rediscovery of classical art and an emphasis on realism along with the mastery of linear perspective. This was a time when art became more people-centered. See also “Humanism.” Among the many artists of the time were Bellini, Giorgione, Titian, Tintoretto, Veronese, da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael, and others. The French word “renaissance” means “rebirth.”

Representational Art. Art in which the subject matter is portrayed in a realistic style. Also known as “Objective Art.”

Rococo. An 18th century, late Baroque art style, mostly for interior décor, developed in France during the Régence or reign of Louis XV. It was an ornate, romantic, and highly decorative style of art characterized by its small scale, soft pastels, sinuous curves, and asymmetry that were in sharp contrast to the grandeur of the Baroque style. The word “rococo” is from the French word “rocaille” or “rocks.”

Romanesque. A style of architecture and sculpture developed in France in the late 11th century and common to Europe from the 9th to 12th centuries. The architecture was influenced by the Romans and is characterized by barrel vaults and rounded arches; the sculpture is ornamental and stylized.

Romanticism. A late 18th through 19th century European art movement built on emotional intensity, and spontaneity; on the subjective, nostalgic, and intuitive; and including brilliant and colorful depictions of nature in all its glory, exotic locales, danger, and torment. It was a response to the coldness of Neo-Classicist art. Also known as the “Romantic Movement.” Artists of the movement included Blake, Delacroix, Gericault, and Turner.

School of Fontainebleau. The name of two schools, the first in the early to mid-16th century, associated with Mannerism; the second in the late 16th to early 17th century. Not to be confused with the 19th century Barbizon school of landscape art located near Fontainebleau.

Sienese School of Painting. A conservative style located in 15th century Siena, Italy, and a rival of the Florentines. Artists included Beccafumi, Buoninsegna, di Giovanni, the Lorenzettis, Martini, and Sassetta.
Simultanism. See “Orphism.”

Socialist Realism. A type of modern realism in the form of propaganda that extolled Communism as imposed in Russia by Stalin as of the late 1920s.

Superrealism. See “Realism.”

Suprematism. A Russian pure abstract movement circa 1913-1915 let by Kasimir Malevich, and characterized by flat geometric shapes on plain backgrounds. It emphasized the spiritual qualities of pure form.

Surrealism. A mid-20th century art movement that grew out of Dadaism, Cubism, Collage, and Automatism. It is based on the unveiling of the unconscious mind, dreams, the unreal, the weird, the subconscious, and the fantastic. May be representational or abstract. Artists of the genre include Dali, Ernst, Magritte, and Miró.

Symbolism. A late 19th century art movement originating in France as a reaction against both Realism and Impressionism. It was aimed at the fusion of symbols and ideas, of the real and spiritual worlds, the visual expression of the mystical. It featured decorative, evocative, and stylized images, such as mosaic-like surfaces embellished with design elements. Artists associated with this movement include Klimt and Gauguin.

Synthetic Cubism. See “Cubism.”

Tonalism. A late 19th and early 20th century American style of landscape art in which scenes are portrayed in soft light and shadow, as if through a mist. It was influenced by the Barbizon School and inspired American Impressionism. Artists included George Inness and James McNeill Whistler.

Transavantguardia. See “Neo-Expressionism.”

Utrecht School. A group of 17th century painters working in Utrecht, and who were influenced by the realism and lighting of Caravaggio. Artists included Terbrugghen and Honthorst.

Verism. Extreme realism as portrayed in ancient Roman portrait sculpture and some surrealist paintings.

Vienna Secession. A radical late 19th century art movement that attempted to improve Austrian art. It was led by Gustav Klimt and was closely linked to Jugendstil and Art Nouveau.

Worpswede Group. A late 19th century artist colony in Worpswede, Lower Saxony, Germany. They painted in plein air and later explored Expressionism. Artists included Hans am Ende, Fritz Mackensen, Otto Modersohn, Paula Modersohn-Becker, Fritz Overbeck, Carl Vinnen, and Heinrich Vogeler.

Young British Artists (YBA). A 1980s group of artist who were known for what at the time was considered to be “shocking” and controversial art. The group was led by Damien Hirst and the group’s patron, Charles Saatchi.