50 Art Movements You Should Know: From Impressionism to Performance Art

by Rosalind Ormiston

The latest volume in this beautifully produced and affordable series introduces readers to the major developments in the history of modern art—from Realism to the New Leipzig School. The story of modern art begins with a revolution—when the realists started rejecting romanticism in favor of depicting life as it really was. Since that movement began in the mid- 19th century, painters have been rebelling, rethinking, deconstructing, and challenging notions of what art is. Filled with stunning reproductions of some of the world’s greatest masterpieces, this reference book offers a chronological journey through artistic revolutions. Each movement is presented in a series of informative presentations—a concise definition and description; full-page and smaller detailed color illustrations; and in-depth profiles of the artists crucial to the style’s development. Covering a wide range of movements both familiar and obscure, this accessible and informative volume is a perfect introduction for readers interested in art’s constantly evolving story.

Genres: Art, Nonfiction

144 pages, Paperback

First published April 25, 2014

Reviews

[Lea · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good primer/reference.

[Michael Prendergast · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good place to start if you are interested in different art movements and some of the artists involved. Could have done we a few more pictures of the painting but a good introduction, enough to wet the appetite.

[Shawn Callon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rosalind Ormiston's book is an excellent introduction for anyone interested in the rapid evolution of art from 1850 thru 1950. It's a well-designed, well-written book using full color and half-tone reproductions of many breathtaking paintings, portraits, sketches and other artistic creations.
The book reinforces the fact that art like many other creations of human endeavor is constantly changing. If you were to depict the 50 movements the book explores as a series of bell curves, you would see some movements overlapping with their predecessors and successors, some peaking then declining rapidly, others continuing for years. Each movement has a life of its own; it's either reacting to contemporary culture by creating a wholly different style or it's reflecting the changes in contemporary culture or it's extending the life of a particular movement or it's commenting on major events like the world wars, periods of austerity, society's appetite for waste,etc.
The author selected many fine examples of art to illustrate the changes in movements. My favorite choices are Seurat's La Grande Jatte on the front cover, Crane's Neptune's Horses, Dali's Persistence of Memory, Lempicka's Bugatti, Chagall's The Promenade, Popova's Seated Figure, Riley's Movement in Squares and Williams' Hot Rod Race.

This review was written by Shawn Callon author of The Diplomatic Spy.

[Jay Gabler · Rating 3 out of 5]

Attractively bound and designed, 50 Art Movements is fun to flip through for the art aficionado who wants a little more context for the concept of Cubism or the aggressive offerings of the not-so-Young-anymore British Artists. The challenge for Ormiston is to distill 50 full-fledged (or at least semi-fledged) art movements with just one or, at most, two illustrations each. I reviewed this book for The Tangential.

[Proudcat · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting into into various art movements mostly from the mid 1800x thru 1980+. There is a single page per movement, a good reference if you want to get a short overview of the style. I liked the painting's prints of course, wish it had a bit more examples for the movements, not just a single picture...

[A.J. Dade · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not much info about what style defines a movement, most name dropping artists and their works and overwhelmingly male.
Brief introduction to a lot of movements but some of the 'movements' listed were actually just schools or groups, and the earliest movement was realism in the 1800s, which ignores several major ones prior to that (romanticism, renaissance, baroque etc).

[Eleanor · Rating 2 out of 5]

More of a name dropping book - so many artists and works of art named, but with no picture shown. This means you don't get a real sense of what the chapter is talking about. Would be so much better with a few smaller pictures included of every artwork referenced.

[Alessandro Montelli · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good intro. Covers the basics.

[Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good review briefly of art movements including ones that I was not familiar with. I reviewed old knowledge and added new knowledge to my art leanings.

[Karen Metrakos · Rating 3 out of 5]

High level overview of art movements, not enough detail or examples

[Beki · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some interesting art movements and examples.
Wouldn't recommend for college artists links, not enough details but good introductions to some styles if not heard of

[Jason Freng · Rating 3 out of 5]

Plenty of context and examples. I don't claim to understand "contemporary" art, but there definitely is something for everyone in "modern" art.

[camila · Rating 5 out of 5]

i discovered my favorite art movements <3

[Rachel E · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good overview, sometimes inconsistent with quality of descriptions and examples given. Introduces a wide range of European and American art styles.

[Jara De Boer · Rating 2 out of 5]

ik wilde dit boek graag lezen omdat de titel net een clickbait artikel is "50 ART MOVEMENTS YOU SHOULD KNOW", en net als een clickbait artikel is titel leuker dan het artikel zelf.
Het boek heeft weinig diepte en ook niet veel afbeeldingen per stroming (vaak maar 1), al zijn de afbeeldingen die er zijn wel mooi en duidelijk.
Wat wel goed aan dit boek is, is dat er zeker wel een paar boeiende stromingen genoemd worden en dat het een handige samenvatting is voor als je dit moet leren voor kunstgeschiedenis.
Alle belangrijke dingen worden namelijk genoemd en heel handig ook de jaartallen boven aan de bladzijde.
Verder is het voor de kunstliefhebber of kenner echt niet heel boeiend.

[Maron · Rating 3 out of 5]

What a great overview for a beginner in art awareness. The descriptions are written very clearly and are easy to comprehend. Two things I wish the book included are a timeline to show how these different movements relate to each other chronologically AND how many of the top artist are dispersed across the movements. I guess both are pieces of information that are in the book, but if displayed visually, it might help me better grasp the overlap.

[Sabot · Rating 3 out of 5]

My girlfriend gave me this book as a gift after I expressed an interest in learning more about art. It served as a nice introductory course to the art movements of the last century, and does a fairly decent job of differentiating between them - though the distinction is less clear at times. I will definitely revisit this book from time to time to refresh my memory.

[Meaghan Steeves · Rating 4 out of 5]

So enjoyable! I learned a lot and want to get myself a copy so I can keep it around and re-read the movements I don't understand very well until I know them all fluently, muahahah!

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Brief, informative summaries of big art movements.