Jump To

Quick Links

Art History Timeline

A high-level, chapter-aligned timeline. Use it as a scaffold, then dive into chapters for detail and artworks.

1400–1600: Renaissance

  • Early Renaissance (c. 1400–1490): Perspective, humanism, Brunelleschi, Masaccio.
  • High Renaissance (c. 1490–1520): Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael; harmony, ideal form.
  • Venetian Colorito: Giorgione, Titian; luminous color, atmosphere.
  • Mannerism (c. 1520–1600): Elongation, artifice; Pontormo, Parmigianino.

1600–1750: Baroque & Rococo

  • Baroque (c. 1600–1700): Drama, chiaroscuro; Caravaggio, Bernini, Rubens.
  • Dutch Golden Age: Rembrandt, Vermeer; genre, portrait, still life.
  • Rococo (c. 1715–1750): Pastels, ornament; Watteau, Fragonard.

1750–1900: From Enlightenment to Post-Impressionism

  • Neoclassicism (c. 1760–1820): David, Ingres; moral exemplars, clarity.
  • Romanticism (c. 1800–1850): Delacroix, Goya, Turner; emotion, sublime.
  • Realism (c. 1840s–1860s): Courbet, Manet; contemporary life.
  • Impressionism (c. 1870s–1880s): Monet, Morisot, Renoir; light, plein air.
  • Post-Impressionism (c. 1880s–1900s): Cézanne, Van Gogh, Gauguin, Seurat; structure, symbolism, divisionism.
  • Symbolism & Art Nouveau (c. 1890s): Redon, Mucha, Horta; dream, ornament, whiplash line.

1900–1945: Avant-Gardes

  • Fauvism & Expressionism (c. 1905–1914): Matisse, Kirchner; wild color, distortion.
  • Cubism (c. 1907–1914): Picasso, Braque; facets, simultaneity, collage.
  • Futurism & Vorticism (c. 1909–1916): Boccioni; dynamism, machine age.
  • Constructivism & De Stijl (1910s–1920s): Tatlin, Rodchenko, Mondrian; geometry, production.
  • Bauhaus & International Style (1919–1933+): Gropius, Mies, Le Corbusier; form follows function.
  • Dada & Surrealism (1916–1940s): Duchamp, Höch, Dalí; chance, dreams, unconscious.

1945–1980: Postwar Movements

  • Abstract Expressionism (late 1940s–1950s): Pollock, Rothko; gesture, color field.
  • Postwar European Currents: Art Informel, CoBrA, Nouveau Réalisme, ZERO.
  • Mid-Century Sculpture: Calder, Hepworth, Moore; mobiles, open form, assemblage.
  • Pop Art & Neo-Dada (1950s–60s): Warhol, Rauschenberg; mass media, appropriation.
  • Minimalism & Conceptualism (1960s–70s): Judd, LeWitt; objecthood, ideas over objects.
  • Land Art & Performance (1960s–70s): Smithson, Abramović; site, body, time.

1980–Present: Contemporary

  • Neo-Expressionism & Identity: Basquiat, Schnabel; personal iconography.
  • Installation & New Media: Kusama, Pipilotti Rist; immersive environments.
  • Global Contemporary: Diverse practices across geographies; biennial culture.

How to Use

Use this as a date and movement map. Click into chapters for detail, artworks, and key terms. Keep the glossary open to decode vocabulary as you move through periods.