Art Glossary

Styles of Art

Realism: The representation in art of objects, actions, or social conditions as they actually are, without idealization or presentation in abstract form

Expressionism: A movement in the arts during the early part of the 20th century that emphasized subjective expression of the artist's inner experiences.

Abstract Expressionism: A school of painting that flourished after World War II until the early 1960s, characterized by the view that art is nonrepresentational and chiefly improvisational.

Abstract: Having an intellectual and affective artistic content that depends solely on intrinsic form rather than on narrative content or pictorial representation: abstract painting and sculpture.

Symbolism: An artistic movement in the late 19th century that tried to express abstract or mystical ideas through the symbolic use of images

Surrealism: A 20th-century artistic movement that attempts to express the workings of the subconscious and is characterized by fantastic imagery and incongruous juxtaposition of subject matter.

Impressionism: A school of late 19th century French painters who pictured appearances by strokes of unmixed colors to give the impression of reflected light