Art has been around for thousands of years, but it hasn't stayed the same. Just as cultures and societies have evolved over time, art too has evolved. Phases in the development of artistic traditions, styles, characteristics, and techniques define what we call art periods or art movements. These movements may last several years to hundreds of years.

Find out more about these art periods with books from our collection. We’ve tried to present these books as a timeline of art movements through history, though not all periods are represented. 

DB 85857 Ancient Egyptian art and architecture: a very short introduction by Christina Riggs

Presents the art of objects and structures produced in Egypt over a 3,500-year period. Examines art and architecture to highlight the complexity, misconceptions, and Eurocentric biases in studying ancient Egypt's contributions. Includes museums, building construction, writing, kingship, royal and divine power, and insights into Egyptian societies. 2014.

DB 86460 Classics: a very short introduction by Mary Beard

Highlights the continued relevance of the ancient world's legacy, focusing on Greeks and Romans and the effect of the Roman Empire's conquest. Explains studying classics as bridging the two-thousand-year gap that separates us when viewing artifacts and reading literature and philosophy. Reviews famous expeditions and art objects. 1995.

DB 35941 A world lit only by fire: the medieval mind and the Renaissance: portrait of an age by William Manchester

The author first outlines the period made chaotic by the waning authority of the Catholic Church, made turbulent by Martin Luther, made beautiful by Michelangelo, but, most importantly, made aware by Ferdinand Magellan. According to Manchester, it was Magellan's circumnavigation of the globe, when he proved the rotundity of a rotating earth, that shattered myths and ushered in a new age.

DB 86633 Renaissance art: a very short introduction by Geraldine A. Johnson

Lecturer in art history provides an overview of the art, artists, patrons, and viewers during this period of extraordinary cultural ferment and transformation. Examines representative works by Leonardo, Holbein, Dürer, and many lesser-known artists. Discusses the transitional function of altarpieces, and explains the special importance of Michelangelo and Vasari. 2005.

DB 86637 Romanticism: a very short introduction by Michael Ferber

Professor of English explores the artistic and philosophical movement that dominated literature and the arts in Europe and America throughout the nineteenth century and beyond. Seeks unifying themes among a wide range of poets, composers, and philosophers, including Byron, Wordsworth, Chopin, Wagner, Carlyle, and Kant. Considers social and political ramifications. 2010.

DB 08844 The romantic rebellion: Romantic versus Classic art by Kenneth Clark

Essays on artists of the 18th and 19th centuries include Piranesi, Goya, Ingres, Blake, Delacroix, Turner, and Rodin. Mr. Clark discusses the conflicts and influences in their works.

DB 56257 Nineteenth-century European art by Petra ten-Doesschate Chu

Art historian Chu traces the evolution of artistic works in the context of social and cultural trends from the mid-eighteenth century up to roughly 1900. She also explores the impact of new technology on art forms, focusing mainly on painting and sculpture, and incorporates biographical sketches of individual artists. 2003.

DB 48011 Impressionism: reflections and perceptions by Mayer Schapiro

Essays that discuss the concept of impressionism, analyzing the artists of the movement, including Claude Monet. Explores the art's connection with science, history, and literature. Also describes the genre in relation to its subjects: the environment, railroad, city, and people.

DB 125833 Paris in ruins: love, war, and the birth of Impressionism by Sebastian Smee

"From the summer of 1870 to the spring of 1871, famously dubbed the "Terrible Year" by Victor Hugo, Paris and its people were besieged, starved, and forced into surrender by Germans--then imperiled again as radical republicans established a breakaway Commune, ultimately crushed by the French Army after bloody street battles and the burning of central Paris. As renowned art critic Sebastian Smee shows, it was against the backdrop of these tumultuous times that the Impressionist movement was born--in response to violence, civil war, and political intrigue. In stirring and exceptionally vivid prose, Smee tells the story of those dramatic days through the eyes of great figures of Impressionism. Édouard Manet, Berthe Morisot, and Edgar Degas were trapped in Paris during the siege and deeply enmeshed in its politics. Others, including Pierre-August Renoir and Frédéric Bazille, joined regiments outside of the capital, while Claude Monet and Camille Pissarro fled the country just in time. In the aftermath, these artists developed a newfound sense of the fragility of life. That feeling for transience--reflected in Impressionism's emphasis on fugitive light, shifting seasons, glimpsed street scenes, and the impermanence of all things--became the movement's great contribution to the history of art. At the heart of it all is a love story; that of Manet, by all accounts the father of Impressionism, and Morisot, the only woman to play a central role in the movement from the start. Smee poignantly depicts their complex relationship, their tangled effect on each other, and their great legacy, while bringing overdue attention to the woman at the heart of Impressionism."-- Publisher's description. -- Unrated. Commercial audiobook.

DB 85835 The avant-garde: a very short introduction by David Cottington

The meaning and history of the avant-garde, particularly in relation to the arts. Explores why Western societies place such high value on newness and "up-to-dateness," the connection between avant-garde arts and radical politics, and the avant-garde's co-option by popular consumer culture. 2013.

DB 86482 Dada and Surrealism: a very short introduction by David Hopkins

History of the two early-twentieth-century art movements and their lasting cultural impact. Explores the work of artists such as Marcel Duchamp and Salvador Dali, the publications and public events through which they promoted their ideas, and the aesthetic differences between Dada and Surrealism. 2004.

DB 86165 Modernism: a very short introduction by David Cottington

Explores innovative works of art in literature, painting, and music during a 30-year period (1909-1939) to illustrate the experimental originality that characterizes modernism. Discusses destruction of conventions of nineteenth-century realism, growth of abstraction, use of stream of consciousness, surrealism, and the subjective point of view within modern urban conditions. 2010.

DB 87139 Art in America, 1945-1970: writings from the age of abstract expressionism, pop art, and minimalism by Jed Perl

Writings culled from the work of critics, poets and novelists, journalists, and the artists themselves during the turbulent quarter century after the end of World War II. Among the contributors are critics Clement Greenberg and Harold Rosenberg; poets Robert Creeley and Frank O'Hara; and painters Robert Motherwell and Larry Rivers. 2014.

DB 86542 Postmodernism: a very short introduction by Christopher Butler

Professor of English language and literature explores the key ideas of postmodernists and demonstrates their engagement with theory, literature, the visual arts, film, architecture, and music. Examines postmodernism's rejection of "master narratives"--e. g., the progressive emancipation of humanity and the triumph of science--the overturning of hierarchies, and the decoupling of signs from referents. 2002.

DB 86479 Contemporary art: a very short introduction by Julia Stallabrass

An exploration of changes in the art world effected by world events since 1989. Discusses the globalization of art production and consumption, cost and uses, efforts to bring art and fashion closer together, competition with mass culture, art as investment, corporate sponsorship, and the growth of museums. 2004.

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