(‘Local color’ is the term used for the color things appear in the world. Painters flattened out pictorial space, broke with conventional viewpoints and discarded local color. With the invention of photography and it being employed as the dominant conveyor of realism, painting undergoes a period of experimentation. Art historians agree that during this time artists began to radically revise picture making and sculpture. In contrast, art in the first part of the twentieth century underwent a rapid gear change. There were plenty of academicians and commentators who believed these changes amounted to the end of civilization, but from today’s perspective they seem like small shifts of emphasis. To be sure, subjects became less high-flown, compositional effects often deliberately jarring and surface handling more explicit. Whether in sculpture, painting, drawing or printmaking, artworks represented recognizable subjects in a credible human-centered space.
What counted as art in much of the nineteenth century remained pretty stable.
It is true that the hierarchy of the genres was breaking down and the classical ideal was becoming less convincing. The various academies still held sway in Europe.
This section addresses art and architecture from around 1850 up to the present.ĭuring this period, art changed beyond recognition.