Art evolution

The development of art is determined by historical processes, since culture has always been inextricably connected to the evolution of mankind. Art arose as a spiritual and aesthetic need of an evolving personality. The very first sprouts of art appeared during the Paleolithic era to describe the necessity of having a strong spirit to defeat wildlife.
It was the era of art that helped humanity conquer and subdue the animal world, and simultaneously the very first understanding of humanism of mankind was manifested in art. Our ancestors believed that the image magically affects a person. So the new stage has begun: the art practice shows the development of culture. And even nowadays though people do not believe in the magic of wall paintings, no one will deny the positive influence.
Art - creative spirit- talent are granted from above, from Nature, which we still cannot explain.
All Artworks are unique, original and authentic.
And in spite of the disasters capturing the world throughout the history, people always kept creating the beauty in spite of any hardships. Nowadays when people are isolated due to the coronavirus, it causes the greatest dawn of art, as the majority remains staying at Hamilton and being self isolated, people discover the traction to create the beautiful things in their souls and to share them with the world around.
Once a person has satisfied his basic needs, the first thing he will think about is how to decorate his life.
Contemporary art - the art to reflect what is happening now- is in demand of our society.
It is our time that art finally manifests itself expressively, innovatively, non-traditionally, in order to transform consciousness at another level- exciting, complex and sophisticated art is necessary. Intricate, strange art in which everyone sees his own feelings and impressions. And the less easily an artwork is understood, the more it provokes the anticipation of a connoisseur or a buyer - the more valuable it is. The original and not ordinary paintings that have great artistic value - these are the paintings which transform the soul, change the perception of the environment.
In order to embody the idea of transforming the traditions, to change the attitude towards values, the artist needs to experience this himself in his life and art practices and realize that he or she is the only person who can convey his or her idea to art lovers like no one else does, without imposing any rules or diagnoses.
Philosophical study of contemporary art by a contemporary artist nowadays has acquired incredible scopes.
Setting up the discussions with audience through art forums, art festivals, art exhibitions and diversity of art projects just confirm this theory.
Such public interest inspires and assures the appearance of new talents, experiments on artistic expression and exploration of new materials for creating new paintings.
As we can observe, the time has come for conceptual and abstract art.
Nowadays, the artist moves away from reality, and tries to convey his inner vision of reality, his feelings and experiences, pointlessness or the lack of traditional objects- become the new rules of abstraction art which calls into the world of ideas removing a person as a subject and uniting the artist and his audience with the space. Abstract art literally removes the borders, distances and any separation - it turns on the feelings to embody the space and time in two or three dimensions.
20 and 21st centuries have set up the most important trends and advantage of contemporary art- it’s not anymore only the privilege of having an academic background to produce fascinating canvases, but the focus on expressiveness, artist’s freedom to release himself or herself, to speak with his or her inner voice, to give the authentic inner vision, to share the inner world and inner peace, full with individual contradictions.
Only artistic process itself matters and the result of it immediately prove the fact that these paintings resonate with the souls of contemporary audience.

Neoclassicism - is the art of Ancient Greece and Rome, which is considered the culmination of culture of the 18-19th century. Most often, the theme of their paintings is religious - artists depicted scenes from the Holy Scriptures, the Old and New Testaments. Neoclassicist artists masterfully wielded the brush, perfectly reproduced the play of light and shadow, knew the anatomy and arithmetic of proportions. Masterpieces of that period instilled morality and society values, the basics of humanism. Improvisation, self-expression were not encouraged, nobody would simply purchase or commission such a piece. Only academic works were appreciated.

The source of emotions recognition found its place in times of Romanticism in the 18th century. It was the dawn of this style that led to and reflected the significant success of science and technology.

Realism - painting in this technique appears in France in the 19th century. Painting is practiced as accurately and realistically as possible, without necessity of embellishment and explanation. The main theme: architecture, the process of people’s work, marine, urban or forest landscapes.
Representatives: - I. Repin, A. Savrasov, Edward May, Eduard Manet and others.


Impressionism - impression, light, airspace, movement. The color becomes the main tool to reflect emotions. Artists increasingly preferred to create outdoors. New techniques were discovered in painting, for example thin light strokes, which the artists used to create the impression of visible, light changes and embrace the richness of shadows to capture the precise moments of time.
Representatives: Claude Monet, Edgar Degas, Auguste Renoir and others.


Expressionism talks of transmission of feelings with deep meaning. This trend arose in Austria and Germany of the 20th century.
This style is completely different from what it was before. The subjective reality of the experienced artist, the distortion of forms, the violation of the proportions — ephemeral paintings which existed before only in imagination — become real and get public display.
The time of wars, destruction and martyrs become the main topics at that time.
Representatives: Edward Munch, Vincent van Gogh, August Mack and others.


The reaction to impartial realism is the birth of Symbolism style - dreams, tales and myths.
Artists used mainly the imagination caused by exploring and giving the personal insight into dreams, understanding of mythical motifs with riddles.
Representatives: Arthur Davis, M.A. Vrubel, George Watts and others.


Philosophy and philosophical approach added to art led to rise of Modernism. At the beginning of the 20th century, we see the paintings depicting unconventional forms, usage of unusual new techniques that disobey the rules of academic art, the pieces look more sketchy, the style reflects inner freedom and focuses on individual vision
Representatives: G. Matisse, P. Gauguin, V. Kandinsky and others.


Cubism - multifaceted abstraction appeared in the 20th century in France. Any objects of the environment could now be represented by geometric figures that cause particular emotional response.
Representatives: Pablo Picasso, Juan Gris, Fernand Leger, Paul Cezanne and others.


Surrealism is the reflection of psychological exploration in painting at the beginning of 1920. The human psyche arouses the greatest interest, consciousness and subconsciousness - are valued in their amazing diversity, as far as there are no identical images, no identical consciousnesses. Each painting of surrealists reflected their own irrational traits of personality. Chaos and unpredictability, combination of imaginary objects, collages of the inner world, stylization of figures, analogies or hints - characterize surrealism.
Representatives: Rene Magritte, Salvador Dali, Max Ernst and others.


Shocking direction of painting - Pop Art.
Strange and opaque course. Simple forms, pure colors do not leave anyone indifferent. Vulgarity, banality, routine, stupidity, vices, thoughtlessness, excessive enthusiasm for technology - ridiculed by the masters of this genre.
Representatives: Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Keith Haring, etc.


Artli Gallery represents artists not only from all over the world, but all the styles and trends of contemporary art.
In our monthly contests you will get acquainted with the works of contemporary artists and get the opportunity to contact them directly, enjoy their creativity and purchase their art works.