Art History: Movements and Masterpieces (University)

What did Neoclassicism emphasize?

Answer: Order, clarity, and moral seriousness inspired by Greece and Rome; Jacques-Louis David's 'Oath of the Horatii'.

What is Realism and who led it?

Answer: Depicting ordinary people and everyday life without idealization; Gustave Courbet ('The Stone Breakers').

What is Romanticism in art?

Answer: Emotion, imagination, nature's power, and the sublime; Delacroix, Turner, Friedrich, Goya.

What is Rococo?

Answer: A light, playful, ornate style with pastel colors and themes of love and leisure (Fragonard's 'The Swing').

What are the elements and principles of art?

Answer: Elements: line, shape, form, color, value, texture, space. Principles: balance, emphasis, movement, pattern, rhythm, unity, contrast, proportion.

What is ukiyo-e?

Answer: Japanese woodblock prints of 'the floating world' (actors, courtesans, landscapes); Hokusai's 'The Great Wave'.

What are key features of traditional Chinese landscape painting?

Answer: Ink on silk or paper, emphasis on brushwork, atmospheric space, and harmony with nature over realism.

What is Minimalism?

Answer: Art reduced to simple geometric forms and industrial materials; Donald Judd, Agnes Martin.

What is Pop Art?

Answer: Art using imagery from mass culture and advertising; Warhol's soup cans, Lichtenstein's comic panels.

What is Abstract Expressionism?

Answer: Post-WWII American movement emphasizing spontaneous, large-scale abstraction; Pollock's drip paintings, Rothko's color fields.

What is Dada?

Answer: An anti-art movement reacting to World War I with absurdity and chance; Duchamp's 'Fountain' (a urinal).

What is Surrealism?

Answer: Art drawing on dreams and the unconscious, influenced by Freud; Dalí, Magritte, Miró.

What is Expressionism?

Answer: Art distorting form and color to express emotion; Munch's 'The Scream', Kirchner, Kandinsky.

What is Cubism?

Answer: Breaking objects into geometric forms shown from multiple viewpoints at once; Picasso and Braque.

How did Post-Impressionism differ?

Answer: More structure, symbolism, and personal expression: Cézanne (geometry), Van Gogh (emotion), Seurat (pointillism), Gauguin (color and symbolism).

What are the hallmarks of Impressionism?

Answer: Visible brushstrokes, light and its changing effects, outdoor (plein air) painting, everyday scenes.

What characterizes Classical Greek sculpture?

Answer: Idealized, naturalistic human forms with balanced proportions and contrapposto stance.

What innovations defined Roman architecture?

Answer: The arch, vault, dome, and concrete, enabling structures like the Pantheon and Colosseum.

What are the three Greek architectural orders?

Answer: Doric (plain capital), Ionic (scroll volutes), Corinthian (acanthus leaves).

What characterized Dutch Golden Age painting?

Answer: Realistic portraits, still lifes, landscapes, and genre scenes for middle-class buyers; Rembrandt and Vermeer.

What is Bernini's 'Ecstasy of Saint Teresa'?

Answer: A Baroque marble sculpture (1647–1652) in Rome capturing a mystical vision with theatrical light and drapery.

Who was Caravaggio and what was his signature technique?

Answer: An Italian Baroque painter known for tenebrism, dramatic lighting with deep shadows, and realistic figures.

What are the characteristics of Baroque art?

Answer: Drama, movement, strong contrasts of light and dark (tenebrism), emotional intensity, grandeur.

How did the Northern Renaissance differ from the Italian?

Answer: Emphasis on minute detail, oil paint, domestic scenes, and symbolism; Jan van Eyck, Dürer, Bruegel.

What is 'The School of Athens' and who painted it?

Answer: A fresco by Raphael (1509–1511) depicting ancient philosophers in a classical setting.

What is sfumato and who is known for it?

Answer: Soft, smoky blending of tones without hard edges; Leonardo da Vinci, as in the 'Mona Lisa'.

Who painted the Sistine Chapel ceiling and when?

Answer: Michelangelo, 1508–1512.

What techniques defined the Italian Renaissance?

Answer: Linear perspective, chiaroscuro, sfumato, anatomical accuracy, and revived classical themes.

What are illuminated manuscripts?

Answer: Hand-written books decorated with gold, silver, and painted illustrations.

What distinguishes Romanesque from Gothic architecture?

Answer: Romanesque: thick walls, rounded arches, small windows. Gothic: pointed arches, ribbed vaults, flying buttresses, large stained-glass windows.