Changes in the style of Western painting, the characteristics of each century

Western painting emphasizes the use of color, typical of Raphael's "Academy of Athens". This is the most essential difference between Western painting and Chinese painting.

In the view of the modernists, who were devoted to the pursuit of pure art, traditional painting was too much "non-artistic impurities". In fact, traditional Western painting is not unartistic, but it is artistic while taking into account many non-artistic aspects. This is probably the most important mark that distinguishes traditional painting from modernist painting. This artistic impurity of traditional painting is mainly manifested in such aspects as utilitarianism and descriptiveness .

Yang? van Gogh's Arnolfini. Eco's Portrait of Mr. and Mrs. Arnolfini is one of the most remarkable works in the history of art. But such a masterpiece was not originally a portrait, or a genre painting, or anything like that, as many of us think when we try to define it.

Another characteristic of traditional Western painting is its emphasis on description. It has long been the task of painters to effectively represent stories and legends, to depict specific episodes in order to convey some kind of moral or symbol. This descriptiveness is evident in Yang? van Gogh's Arnolfini. Acker's Portrait of Mr. and Mrs. Arnolfini is also well reflected.

The difference between Western traditional painting and modern painting is also reflected in the different attitudes toward the so-called reproduction. For traditional painting, reproduction is fundamental, and can also be said to be the basic goal of Western traditional painting. Although traditional Western painting is characterized by "reproduction" in comparison with modern painting, this reproduction is by no means an unchanging portrayal of nature, and this kind of realism carries strong stylistic characteristics: contemporary, national, and the artist's personal style characteristics.

Classical and anti-classical are the two main streams of traditional Western painting. Classical interest in favor of rationality, in the form of features especially in the emphasis on sketching and contempt for color; anti-classical is keen and emotional, it is not detailed classicism as the pursuit of solemnity, stillness, simplicity, and harmony of the classical meaning, but to emphasize the spirit of freedom, indulgence and opulence, grandeur, turbulence and excitement of the spirit of the Baroque and Romantic art is fully manifested in the former showed for the Renaissance classical interest in painting and painting. The former shows a reaction to the classical interest of the Renaissance, and the latter reflects the incompatibility with neo-classicism.

Two

Modernism period, in the field of painting produced a variety of factions and trends: Abstraction with its non-figurative volume and mass, the formation of the kind of far from people's daily vision, and almost no connection with the natural image of the three-dimensional structure of the form; Expression of attention to an exaggerated deformation of the language of painting, so that the works of the spiritual, emotional symbols; Dreamism Dreamism is a visual image full of fantasies and symbols, which brings people to the spiritual other side of the ethereal and transcendent realm. Looking at the modernist painting, it is not difficult to see its **** the same characteristics, that is, for the objective reproduction of the disregard for the subjective expression of the emphasis.

Emphasis on formal structure is a major school of modern painting. Cubist painters were even more willing to sacrifice reproduction for structure. In their paintings, objects were thoroughly decomposed and reduced to basic elements, and many blocks. Analytical Cubism through the decomposition of objects, as well as the juxtaposition, connecting different blocks, to obtain a clear picture structure; comprehensive Cubism using a variety of materials collage of different shapes of fast surface, although slightly specific object shape, but its goal is to show that the painting's own world of unity and independence. In order to pursue the compositional order of the picture, Mondrian went towards symbolism and abstraction, and he developed his minimalist collection of abstract patterns: three primary colors, three non-colors, and the "horizontal line - vertical line" of the mesh structure, in order to achieve the absolute balance between the elements.

Expressionism is the second main stream of modernist painting. Expressionist painters were concerned with the expression of inner emotions and inner spirit, believing that art is not an objective reproduction but a manifestation of the mind. In Van Gogh's paintings, the landscape is in a frenzy, the mountains are in turmoil, the moon and nebulae are rotating, and the cypress trees are like a huge black tongue of fire rolling around and going up to the clouds; and that for the Norwegian painter Munch, who is always eulogizing "life, love, and death", with his extremely exaggerated technique, he expresses the extreme loneliness and bitterness of human beings. The Norwegian painter Munch used his extremely exaggerated technique to express the extreme loneliness and misery of human beings.

The expression of grotesque dreams is the third mainstream of modern painting. Metaphysical and hyperrealist paintings are typical representatives of this mainstream. According to Freud, dream is the most direct manifestation of the unconscious and subconscious mind, an outlet of instincts completely uncontrolled by reason, and it reveals the secret nature of the human soul in a distorted form. Artistic creation is also a manifestation and symbol of the subconscious, just like a dream. Painters believe that dreams can show the "other shore" of "life eternal", and only by correcting and changing the reality with dreams can they knock down the wall leading to the "other shore" and reach the surrealistic realm. The realm of divine surreality can only be reached by correcting and changing reality with dreams. The Italian metaphysical painter Quirico is regarded as the pioneer of hyper-realism. His works create the most disturbing dreamy scenes in modern art: the desolate Italian-style piazza is covered with an unsettling cloud of uncertainty, and the dead silence of the light gives people the creeps, as if some kind of evil omen has been frozen there permanently, and incompatible things meet in the clear light, and those accidental and absurd contents make us feel uneasy, however, the strange conflict between the images and the clear breath have a certain kind of surrealism. and the breath of clarity have a certain magical and special charm. As the writer Lautréamont said: "As beautiful as a sewing machine and a parasol meeting by chance on an operating table". It is this kind of dreamy effect that hyperrealist painters seek. They added their own whimsy to the world of appearances, a whimsy that stemmed from life's most elusive elements: "sex, death, perversion." ......

Primitive Times

Without Greek art and science, there would have been no Roman Empire without slavery; without Greek culture and the Roman Empire, there would have been no present-day Europe (Engels). Due to war and natural causes, there is no pure Greek painting left, the only material from the "Greek bottle painting", the two pursuits of Greek art, one is the real reproduction, the other is elegant and harmonious. The only material left is the "Greek bottle paintings", the two pursuits of Greek art, one is the realistic reproduction, the other is the elegance and harmony. --Western Painting

Ancient Greco-Roman

The earliest human paintings were produced in the Late Paleolithic period, which lasted about 10,000 years, and almost all the paintings were concentrated in the last 5,000 years of the Paleolithic period, i.e., 17,000-12,000 years ago, during the Moghedrin culture. The oldest drawings, painted on the walls of primitive caves, are magnificent, life-like, naturalistic masterpieces. The murals of the Lascaux Cave in France and the Altamira Cave in Spain are outstanding representatives. --Western Painting

The Middle Ages

The long period of the Middle Ages (476-15th century) was between the end of classical civilization and its revival. While many consider medieval art to be grotesque, confusing, and even relegated to ugliness, others believe that the richness of the art of this period reflects the fusion of Eastern, Greco-Roman, and barbarian cultures. Christianity was predominant in the Middle Ages, and so iconography served it well. Five sections are included: I. Early Christian Painting (2nd-5th centuries); ii. Byzantine painting (5th-15th centuries); iii. Barbarian and Carolingian Renaissance; iv. Romanesque (10th-12th centuries); v. Gothic (12th-15th centuries). --Western Painting

Renaissance

Italy was the center of the Renaissance, and the early painters of the 14th-15th centuries, such as Giotto and Masaccio, combined humanistic ideas with realistic depictions of nature, which, though still marked by rigidity and stiltedness, revealed a style of realism that was different from that of the Middle Ages.Between the end of the 15th century and the middle of the 16th century, painters were again working in a more realistic style, which was different from that of the Middle Ages. From the end of the 15th century to the middle of the 16th century, painters reached agreement on realism and elegance, with Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Raphael as the "three masters of the heyday". The Venetian painters such as Titian and Giordano paid attention to the expression of light and shadow and pursued a hedonistic mood, which had a far-reaching influence. 1520-1590 Mannerist painters were not concerned with the expression of the content of the works, but were extremely enthusiastic about the formal factors, keen to express the distorted physique, peculiar perspectives and brilliant colors, which reflected an interest different from the classical aesthetic spirit of the Renaissance. In addition, the Renaissance paintings of the Netherland, Germany and France also fused the Italian style with their native traditions and created their own style of painting--Western Painting

17th-18th Century

Western painting in the 17th century created a vibrant new situation. The 17th century saw the creation of a new and vibrant scene in Western painting. Represented by Italy, Transylvania, Holland, Spain and France. It can generally be divided into three main types: i. Baroque: strong momentum, drama, contrast of light and shadow and spatial illusion and other characteristics; II. Classical and Academic: classicalism emphasized the expression of reason, form and type, and neglected the expression of the artist's spirituality, sensibility and sentimentality; iii. Realism: refused to follow the norms of classical art as well as "ideal beauty", and did not want to beautify nature, i.e., faithfully depicted nature. 18th century Western painting, the Rococo style flourished for a while. At the same time, realism was also developed. Rococo characteristics: gorgeous, delicate, the pursuit of elegance, rare, light, delicate sensory pleasure. --Western Painting

19th Century

At this time, French painting played a dominant role in Europe. The development of French painting is roughly divided into neo-classicism, romanticism, realism, impressionism, neo-impressionism and post-impressionism. --Western Painting

The 20th Century

There were many modernist currents of thought at this time, which parted ways with traditional painting in terms of artistic theories and concepts. Modernism emphasized the expression of subjective emotions, the purity of art and the value of the language of painting itself; they rejected utilitarianism and were indifferent to descriptive and reproduction factors, and believed that the most important thing was to organize the structure of the picture, express inner emotions, and create a mysterious dream world. Their main schools are: Fauvism, Cubism, Paris School, Expressionism, Futurism, Vienna Secession, Stylism, Dadaism, Metaphysical Painting, Surrealism, Suprematism, Abstract Expressionism, Spectral Art, Light Effect, Neo-Surrealism, and Super Realism.