Art Basics: Types of Art
Q. What is “modern art”?
There is no exact meaning or definition of the term “Modern Art.” Traditionally, it denotes the period between approximately 1860 and the mid-to-late 1960s, during which artists rejected past Renaissance-based traditions, in favor of new forms of artistic expression.
Q. What is “contemporary art”?
Although there is no universal definition of the term “contemporary art”, most art historians and critics use it to describe works produced after the mid-to-late 1960s, although some disagreement persists as to the exact cut-off date. Museums and auction houses like Sotheby’s and Christie’s use the term to denote art produced after 1945.
Q. What is “avant-garde” art?
Avant-garde art means highly modernistic contemporary art. Derived from the French word meaning “vanguard”, the term originally expressed the notion that innovation by progressive artists was beneficial for mainstream art (which evolves more slowly). Very quickly, however, it was seen as a means of undermining the arts establishment – a role it performs to this day.
Q. What are the fine arts?
Traditionally, the fine arts include drawing, painting, sculpture and architecture. The term stems from the 18th century, when it was first employed to distinguish between these ‘higher’ forms and the ‘lower’ forms of applied or decorative arts.
Q. What is folk art?
The term folk art essentially denotes “art made by the people”, as distinguished from elite or professional works which typically comprise the main type of art in developed societies. It includes crafts, decorative artworks, fabric designs, sculpture (commonly wood-based), wood block prints, painting (though not usually fine art products), furniture, toys, dolls and metalwork, to name but a few areas.
Q. What is Tribal Art?
Tribal Art is a rather vague term which generally refers to traditional arts and crafts created by indigenous natives belonging to tribal societies of ancient origins. It commonly denotes tribal arts from the continent of Africa, the South Pacific Island, Indonesia, Australia, the Americas and Alaska. Works include cave paintings from the Stone Age, wooden sculpture from Native-American Indians, Aboriginal engravings, tribal African art, and so on.
Q. What is Oceanic Art?
This term describes traditional arts and crafts created by indigenous tribes or differing ethnic groups who live on islands in the Pacific Ocean. Ethnologists typically separate Oceania into three different zones: Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia. Oceanic art has strong associations with the native cultures of South-East Asia.
Q. What is Renaissance Art?
The term Renaissance art commonly encompasses all art produced during the period of the Italian and Northern Renaissance: in Italy, roughly 1400-1530; in Northern Europe, roughly 1450-1580. Some art historians include 14th century Italian art – like the paintings produced by Giotto (1270-1337) – others don’t.
Q. What is “street art”?
The term street art commonly refers to forms of 20th and 21st century contemporary art produced, staged or performed in public places, such as streets, parks or other similar urban spaces. Typically, it denotes unofficial, even illicit, events or creations. Seen mainly in the United States, popular forms include: wheat pasting and street poster art, stencil graffiti, flash mobbing and street installations.
Q. What is Art Nouveau?
Rooted in the 19th century Arts and Crafts Movement in Britain, Art Nouveau was an elaborate design style in the decorative and applied arts, as well as painting, drawing and illustration. It started in the 1890s, reached its peak in 1905-6 and declined with the advent of World War I.
Q. What is Art Deco?
The term Art Deco refers to a fashionable style of design and interior decoration during the 1920s and 1930s, influenced by the garish colors of Fauvism, the geometry of Cubism and the machine-like forms of Constructivism. The actual name wasn’t coined until the 1960s.
Source: Encyclopedia of Irish and World Art. Additional information can be found at or http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/art-questions.htm