It is important to know about art movements in order to understand art.
WHAT IS CLASSICAL ART?
Depending on the subject matter, the word classical and classicism mean different things. Classical music is synonymous with clarity, simplicity, elegance and symmetry. In a particular context, it represents formal and academic ideals and rules. There are usually three different periods: the oldest is the ancient world, the time of the ancient Greek and Roman civilizations. After that comes classicism, which is a revival of the Greek and Roman eras. Classicism took place around the 15th and 16th centuries. The third term is neoclassicism, which is another revival of classicism. It refers to the 18th and 19th centuries.
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN REALISM AND NATURALISM?
Realism refers to realistic portraits and realistic representations of objects and situations of everyday life. When it comes to intentions, we often talk about realism. If you want to describe the physical property of a work, use the word naturalism. We talk about naturalism as a means of representation, independent of time and ideology. It refers to things like shapes, colours, forms, light, shadows that are presented as you are in the real world. Realism is generally considered the opposite of idealism. Idealism represents an object in search of higher principles and goals. Whereas realism refers to the everyday situation and the true social reality. Naturalism is the opposite of abstract and stylized. The main representatives of the realist movement are Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, Gustave Courbet, Honoré Daumier and Jean-François Millet.
The following painting "Matin à Villeneuve" by Henri Biva is realistic because it shows a view that you can find in real life. It is also naturalist because it shows shadows and other details of the natural world.
We can see that the next painting "La Desserte rouge" by Henri Matisse does not represent objects and shadows in their real dimensions. We can simply say that this painting is not naturalistic. It shows a dessert. That is why it is realistic.
The next picture is "Venus and Adonis" by Peter Paul Rubens. Contrary to the previous images, the scene in the picture is not realistic: have you ever seen a baby with wings? (I haven't) But the shadows, the light and the characters are painted in real dimensions. Thus, this painting is naturalist.
IMPRESSIONISM
In 1872, Claude Monet painted a boat at sunrise. He didn't want to worry about the details, but to capture the impression. This type of art was unknown and was an insult to previous types of art.
Impressionism (from the 19th century) is an artistic movement created by a group of artists living in Paris. Their independent exhibitions brought them to the fore in the 1970s and 1980s of the 18th century despite harsh criticism. The name of the artistic movement comes from the title of a painting by Claude Monet "Impression, Sunrise".
The characteristics of Impressionist painting are: relatively small, thin and yet visible brushstrokes. Many sculptures emphasized the reflection of light and spectral colours. They were painted from an unusual angle. The human perception of time and movement is often accentuated.
The founders of this movement are Claude Monet, Edouard Manet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Camille Pissarro, Cassatt, Berthe Morisot, Edgar Degas and Alfred Sisley.
EXPRESSIONISM / ABSTRACT EXPRESSIONISM
Expressionist artists wanted to express emotion, emotion and spontaneity, which is more important than perfection, reason and regulation. Expressionism was used to use distortion and exaggerate emotional effects. Expressionists try to describe the expression of inner experience. An artist expresses only what he has within himself, not what he sees with his eyes.
In Abstract Expressionism, composition is the whole composition of a thing. For example, the left corner is as important as what is in the middle. The canvas is flat (not 3D). These images can be divided into two categories: the first is action painting, consisting of brushstrokes and seemingly chaotic shapes. The other category is color field painting, which is smoother and emphasizes colors and shapes.
The greatest influences of expressionism came from surrealism, where the idea of unconscious thought, even personal, comes from, and from cubism, where the use of strange forms and abstractions is used to convey emotions and movement.