An
art movement is a tendency or style in art with a specific common philosophy or goal, followed by a group of artists during a restricted period of time, or, at least, with the heyday of the movement defined within usually a number of years.
The concept
According to theories associated with the concept of
postmodernism, art movements were especially important during the period of time corresponding to
modern art. The period of time called "modern art" is posited to have ended approximately three-quarters of the way through the twentieth century. (
Postmodernism in visual art refers to approximately the period after the "modern" period, that is, it begins where modernism leaves off.) During the period of time corresponding to "modern art" each consecutive movement was often considered a new
avant-garde.
Also during the period of time referred to as "modern art" each movement was seen corresponding to a somewhat grandiose rethinking of all that came before it, concerning the visual arts. Generally there was a commonality of visual style linking the works and artists included in an art movement. Verbal expression and explanation of movements has come from the artists themselves, sometimes in the form of an
art manifesto, and sometimes from art critics and others who may explain their understanding of the meaning of the new art then being produced.
In the
visual arts,
postmodernism posits that the idea of art movements is no longer as applicable, or no longer as discernible, as the notion of art movements had been before the postmodern era.
The term refers to tendencies in
visual art, novel ideas and
architecture, and sometimes
literature. In
music it is more common to speak about
genres and
styles instead. See also
cultural movement, a term with a broader connotation.
As the names of many art movements use the -ism suffix (for example
cubism and
futurism), they are sometimes referred to as
isms.
Major modern art movements
19th century
20th century
