5 Popular Painting Styles

5 Essential Painting styles to know and learn in order to effectively communicate and understand terms in the art world.

Baroque:
The Baroque style of oil painting originated in Rome and generally has a religious theme or is centralized around court life. Baroque paintings can be characterized by the abundance of details within the paintings as well as a sense of grandeur. Like the painting style, the word Baroque has come to mean something elaborate, including many small details.

Popular Baroque Painters Include:
Anthony Van Dyck
Paul Rubens
Vermeer
Claude Lorrain
Baciaccia
Agostino Carracci

Cubism
Cubism became a popular style of painting in the early 20th century. The cubist style of painting is abstract, where one can visualize the theme of the painting, but the objects are broken up and re-assembled into un-life like representations.

With cubism, the artist attempts to show the viewer the subject from a multitude of viewpoints.

Cubism is often associated with Pablo Picasso paintings, one of the innovators of this style of painting. Another famous cubist artist is Georges Braque.

Expressionism:
The expressionist movement originated in Germany around 1905. Unlike the popular Impressionism painting style, expressionism attempts to provide the viewer with the painters view and opinion of the world and the subjects. This creates an image that is the artists own interpretation of the situation, often distorting reality and providing more of an emotional effect to the viewers. The Expressionist movement is known for paintings that represent and express intense emotion or angst.

Popular Expressionistic Artists include:
Vincent Van Gough
Edvard Munch
Salvador Dali
Henri Matisse

Impressionism: The impressionist art movement began around the 19th century in Paris.
Impressionist style emphasizes the fine details of every day objects including how light, colors, and the passage of time can affect the subject. This style generally concentrates on visible brushstrokes, light colors, primary colors and small brushstrokes.

Popular Impressionistic Artists Include:
Edgar Degas
Claude Monet
Pierre Auguste Renoir

Minimalist: The minimalist style of painting originated in America and has been subject to much criticism since its inception. The style of painting includes minimal details, the details that are included are often represented by precise, hard brushstrokes and often include geometric forms. The color palette of these styles generally include a limited amount of unmixed, primary colors. The style of painting represents something that is spare and has been stripped to its most basic forms.

Popular Minimalist Artists Include:
Frank Stella
Ad Reinhardt
Robert Morris

The world of art and paintings is endless, and learning about its history, styles techniques and other useful information about painting is an ongoing task.