From prehistoric cave paintings to contemporary artworks
Follow the development of artistic expression from prehistoric ritual to contemporary media. Discover what techniques, materials, and ideas helped shape art throughout the ages.
c. 40,000–4,000 BCE
In the Paleolithic Age, also known as the Old Stone Age, small bands of hunter-gatherers starts painting bison, horses, and handprints to bring good fortune to the hunt and to communicate with nature spirits. The materials are very primitive, with pigment of ochre and charcoal applied directly to rock using their hands.
c. 7,500–3,000 BCE
During the New Stone Age, humans create the first settlements and become farmers. They learn new techniques, such as pottery, and use it both to store the harvest, but also to model goddesses, cattle, and ancestors.
c. 4,000–600 BCE
In ancient Mesopotamia civilization starts to take form. Artists create tributes to kings and gods, carving and forming materials such as clay and alabaster, but also more luxurious materials such as lapis, and precious metals.
c. 3,100–30 BCE
Skilled draftsmen and stone carvers portray pharaohs, gods, and daily rites to guarantee the afterlife, cutting limestone and granite, and filling sunk relief with mineral color, and sheathing shrines in gold leaf.
c. 2,800–1,100 BCE
Around the Aegean Sea Cycladic carvers, Minoan fresco painters, and Mycenaean goldsmiths create goddess figures, sea creatures, and rulers, shaping marble into figures, and laying fresco on palace walls.
c. 800–480 BCE
Workshop sculptors and temple builders create kouroi (sculptures of young men) and korai (sculptures of young, draped maidens). The techniques they use include carving marble, casting bronze by the lost-wax method, and painting black-figure pottery.
c. 510–323 BCE
Sculptors like Phidias and Polykleitos, and architects on the Acropolis, portray athletes and gods using marble, casting bronze, and paint on red-figure vessels.
c. 323–32 BCE
The elites of society pay highly skilled artists to create marble sculptures, bronze figures, colored mosaics and wall paintings. Artists begin gaining more individual recognition, even signing some works. The marble sculptures typically depict mythological scenes, and are made with extreme naturalism, with realistic human figures in dramatic poses.
c. 900–27 BCE
Craftsmen in Etruscan and Republican Rome work out of their workshops, with influence and inspiration from earlier Greek artists. They are skilled in terracotta, bronze, marble and wall-painting, and have wealthy patrons from political, aristocratic and religous classes, as well as the state. The subjects of their art are portraits of people of status, depictions of historical triumphs and victories, and political messages hailing the republic.
27 BCE – 476 CE
Engineers, sculptors, and wall painters depict emperors, victories, and domestic idylls to promote the empire and adorn daily life. They use concrete, marble, bronze, and fresco painting to create a recognizable architectural and artistic language across the empire.
3rd–6th centuries
Mosaicists, manuscript artists, and wall painters depict Christ, heroic believers, and easily recognizable symbols to explain new religious ideas in a changing empire. They assemble images from small pieces of colored glass and gold on church walls, paint scenes onto fresh plaster, and illustrate handwritten religious books using dye.
4th–15th centuries
In the Christian Eastern Roman Empire, Byzantine art develops. The subject matter is almost entirely religious, centering on Christ, the Virgin Mary, and various biblical scenes. The artists are mainly anonymous craftsmen, working out of workshops connected to monastaries or the imperial court. They do commissioned work for the Church and the imperial elites, who buy it both as a display of faith, but also to show off religious and political authority. Their choice of materials consists of tempera and gold leaf painted on wooden panels, elaborate mosaics using colored glass, and illuminated manuscripts. The icons they depict are stylized and flattened, often with golden backgrounds, removing them from any earthly and realistic setting, and instead emphasizing the divine.
7th–14th centuries
Religious institutions and wealthy individuals commission art works from highly skilled, but still anonymous, craftsmen. Since religious tradition discourages depicting God and avoids human figures in sacred context, the artists focus on the non-figurative with colorful geometric patterns, and beautiful calligraphies of verses from the Qur'an. What makes Islamic art unique is its ability to convey spiritual depth without images of people or divine figures, instead using pattern, rhythm, and abstraction to suggest an ordered universe shaped by a single, eternal God.
10th–12th centuries
Skilled but anonymous craftsmen are commissioned by the Church to create art that teaches the biblical content and moral lessons to an illiterate population. The messages are given through illuminated manuscripts, frescos, metal works, and stone sculptures, mostly integrated into the architecture of grand churches. The imagery has intensity, meant to instruct, warn and inspire awe.
12th–15th centuries
Gothic art and architecture develops, having curches built with narrow towers, intricate sculptured facades, and distinct, pointed arches. Artists still work out of rather anonymous workshops, but are becoming more specialized, and their patrons are still mainly representatives of the Church. These patrons commission art to glorify God, but also to demonstrate power and pride in public spaces. The biblical figures, created in painted glass, illuminated manuscripts, painted panels, and stone sculptures, are made more human than in earlier medieval art, inviting viewers to feel empathy rather than fear alone.
c. 1250–1400
In Italy, individual artists, such as Giotto and Duccio, begin standing out for their personal style and skill. The art makes a gradual shift from medieval traditions toward a more natural and human-centered view fo the world. Patrons are men of the Church, the city governments, and wealthy families, who commission frescos and tempera on wood panels, to express devotion, civic pride, and social status.
c. 1400–1495
A renewed interest in the natural world, classical antiquity, and the potential of the human intellect flowers during the Early Renaissance in Italy. Artists, such as Masaccio and Donatello, are trained and highly skilled professionals and are given individual recognition for their skill and innovation. The patrons have not changed much, and the subject matter is still largely religious, but artists also depict portraits, mythological scenes, and historical narratives drawn from ancient Greece and Rome. The artists still work in fresco and tempera, but also increasingly start using oil paint. The art evolves with the use of groundbreaking techniques such as linear perspective, anatomical study, and careful understanding of light.
c. 1495–1520
In Italy, artists such as Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Raphael are celebrated for their exceptional skill and technical mastery. The most famous and celebrated artists compete for commissions for ambitious projects from the papacy in Rome, wealthy banking families, and the ruling elites. The subject matter and tools have not changed much since the early renaissance, but the new techniques have now been perfected.
c. 1425–1580
In Northern Europe, painters and printmakers, such as van Eyck, Dürer, and Holbein, combine deep religious devotion with careful observation of the everyday world. Their patrons are wealthy merchants, civic leaders, and reformers of the Church, who commission portraits, devotional panels, and prints. The artists work mainly in oil on oak panels, layering transparent glazes to achieve luminous color, and they engrave copper plates to spread their imagery widely. Their work is known for its meticulous detail and subtle realism.
c. 1520–1600
After the High Renaissance, Italian painters such as Pontormo, Parmigianino, and Bronzino move away from balanced, natural proportion in favor of elongated figures, complex poses, and unusual color. Their patrons are still the Church and the noble courts, who commission religious scenes, portraits, and intricate allegories. The artists work in oil and fresco, using cool, acidic palettes and refined contours to display sophistication and intellectual ambition.
c. 1600–1750
Across Catholic Europe, artists such as Caravaggio, Bernini, and Rubens create dramatic, emotionally charged works that aim to inspire faith and to glorify monarchs. Their patrons are the papacy, kings, princes, and religious orders, who commission altarpieces, portraits, and sculptures of martyrs, saints, and rulers in moments of intense action. The artists use oil paint on canvas with strong contrasts of light and shadow, carve marble enriched with gilding, and paint vast ceiling frescoes that appear to dissolve the architecture into the heavens.
c. 1588-1672
In the newly independent and Protestant Dutch Republic, artists such as Rembrandt, Vermeer, Hals, and Ruisdael work for a society in which the Church no longer commissions large religious art. Their patrons are merchants, civic guards, and middle-class households, who buy portraits, domestic interiors, landscapes, and still lifes for their own homes. The artists work mainly in oil on panel and canvas, layering glazes to capture subtle effects of light, and many also etch copper plates to reach a wider market.
c. 1730–1780
In France, artists such as Watteau, Boucher, and Fragonard create light, playful, and decorative works for the aristocracy of the courts of Louis XV and Louis XVI. Their patrons are nobles and wealthy collectors, who commission paintings of garden parties, intimate boudoir scenes, and mythological flirtations. The artists work in oil and pastel with delicate, feathered brushwork in soft pinks and pale blues, and their style spills over into interior design with gilded stucco and curving paneling that turn whole rooms into ornate, playful spaces.
c. 1760–1850
In an age of revolution and reform, artists such as David, Ingres, and Canova revive the styles and subjects of ancient Greece and Rome to express moral seriousness and civic virtue. Their patrons range from royal courts and academies to revolutionary governments and Napoleonic regimes, who commission paintings and sculptures of Roman heroes, virtuous matrons, and stoic exemplars. The artists draw with crisp, controlled outlines, polish marble to a cool and idealized finish, and compose oil paintings with clear light and architecture inspired by classical antiquity.
c. 1770-1850
In response to the rationalism of the Enlightenment and the upheaval of revolution, artists such as Delacroix, Turner, Friedrich, and Goya turn to subjects of strong emotion: storms, ruins, rebellions, and visions. Their patrons include royal courts, private collectors, and a growing public market, who acquire paintings and prints that explore inner feeling, national identity, and the power of nature. The artists work in oil on canvas with sweeping brushwork, in vaporous watercolor, and in print, seeking to make the sublime tangible and the inner life of the artist visible.
c. 1840–1880
In mid-nineteenth-century France, artists such as Courbet, Daumier, and Millet reject romantic and academic ideals, and instead choose subjects from contemporary life: laborers, peasants, courtrooms, and village funerals. Their patrons are private collectors, dealers, and the popular press, who buy paintings and lithographs that comment on social hardship and political injustice. The artists work in oil with palette knives and coarse brushes to give their pictures a rough, unidealized surface, and they print lithographs that carry their images into newspapers and onto the streets.
c. 1860–1886
In Paris, artists such as Monet, Renoir, Degas, and Morisot break away from the official Salon and exhibit their work independently, depicting modern subjects such as café life, suburban gardens, river outings, and ballet rehearsals. Their patrons are private dealers and middle-class collectors, who acquire paintings that capture fleeting effects of light and atmosphere. The artists work in oil paint on portable canvases, often outdoors, with rapid, broken brushstrokes and bright, unmixed color, favoring open composition and immediacy over polished finish.
c. 1886–1905
After Impressionism, artists such as Van Gogh, Gauguin, Seurat, and Cézanne build on its color and immediacy but seek a stronger sense of form, structure, and personal expression. Their patrons are private collectors and dealers, who acquire paintings of night cafés, Tahitian villages, weekend bathers, and the mountains of Provence. The artists work in oil with thick, expressive impasto, with bold outlined areas of color, with patient dots of pure pigment, and with deliberate brushstrokes that make the structure of the picture visible.
c. 1880–1910
Across Europe, artists such as Moreau, Redon, and Klimt, and architects such as Horta and Guimard, react against industrial rationalism and academic realism by turning to myths, dreams, and decorative beauty. Their patrons are wealthy private collectors, art dealers, and progressive city builders, who commission paintings, prints, posters, jewelry, and entire buildings. The artists draw with lithographic crayon, lay gold leaf on tempera panels, and bend iron and glass into sinuous, plant-like lines that flow across surfaces and structures.
c. 1905–1920
In France and Germany, artists such as Matisse, Derain, Kirchner, and Kandinsky push color and form beyond observation in order to communicate feeling and inner experience. Their patrons are private collectors, dealers, and a small circle of avant-garde supporters, who acquire paintings of portraits, city streets, and forest scenes rendered in bold, non-naturalistic color. The artists work in oil with intense, unmixed pigments and simplified shapes, and they cut woodblocks to print images with rough, expressive contours.
c. 1907–1919
In Paris, Picasso, Braque, and Gris develop a new way of seeing in which everyday subjects, such as guitars, bottles, and sitters, are broken into fragmented planes shown from multiple viewpoints at once. Their patrons are forward-looking dealers and a small circle of private collectors, who acquire these radical paintings, drawings, and collages. The artists restrict their oil palettes to muted ochres and greys, and invent collage by gluing pieces of newspaper, wallpaper, and other printed materials directly onto the picture surface.
c. 1909–1916
In Italy and Britain, artists such as Balla, Boccioni, Severini, and Wyndham Lewis embrace the speed, machinery, and energy of the modern industrial city, and reject the weight of past tradition. Their patrons are private collectors and avant-garde supporters, who acquire paintings and sculptures of engines, crowds, dancers, and city life in motion. The artists work in oil paint with sharp, diagonal strokes that suggest movement, cast bronze sculptures of striding figures, and publish manifestos and journals printed with bold, tilted typography.
c. 1916–1924
In response to the slaughter of the First World War, artists such as Duchamp, Höch, and Arp, gathering at the Cabaret Voltaire in Zurich and in cities like Berlin and New York, reject reason and academic tradition in favor of nonsense, irony, and chance. They have no traditional patrons, instead exhibiting in small galleries and journals to a circle of fellow artists and intellectuals. The artists work with readymade objects taken from daily life, with photomontage assembled from cut-up newspapers and magazines, and with random procedures that question what art can be.
c. 1924–1950
Inspired by the writings of Freud, artists such as Dalí, Ernst, Miró, Tanguy, and Kahlo seek to uncover the workings of the unconscious mind through dreamlike, irrational imagery. Their patrons are private collectors, dealers, and a growing international avant-garde audience, who acquire paintings, drawings, and objects depicting dream landscapes, biomorphic forms, and unsettling self-portraits. The artists work in oil with the careful glazes of the Old Masters to give their dreams a hyper-real surface, and they also experiment with automatic drawing, with frottage, and with collage to allow chance and memory to shape the image.
1919–1933
In Germany and across Europe, teachers and students at the Bauhaus school, such as Gropius, Klee, and Moholy-Nagy, along with architects like Le Corbusier, work to unite the arts with modern industry. Their patrons are progressive cities, manufacturers, and clients of new housing, who commission everything from buildings and chairs to typefaces and household objects. The artists and architects design modular housing, lamps, alphabets, and furnishings using tubular steel, glass curtain walls, plywood, and primary colors, and they experiment with photograms and clean sans-serif printing to bring a unified modern visual language to everyday life.
c. 1943–1965
After the Second World War, the center of the Western art world shifts to New York, where artists such as Pollock, de Kooning, Rothko, and Frankenthaler turn to large-scale abstract painting as a way to express inner emotional and existential states. Their patrons are private collectors, museums, and a growing community of dealers and critics in New York, who acquire ambitious, often very large canvases. The artists work on unstretched canvas spread on the studio floor, using poured house enamel, thinned oil stains, palette knives, and broad gestures, with the size of the work meant to surround and engulf the viewer.
c. 1955–1970
In the United States and Britain, artists such as Warhol, Lichtenstein, Rauschenberg, and Oldenburg respond to the rise of mass media and consumer culture by drawing their subjects from advertising, comic books, supermarket shelves, and television. Their patrons are private collectors, galleries, and museums, who acquire paintings, prints, and sculptures of soup cans, cartoon panels, billboards, and oversized everyday objects. The artists work with silkscreen printing to repeat images mechanically, imitate the Ben-Day dots of newsprint, assemble works from discarded consumer goods, and use glossy industrial paints that recall packaging and advertising.
c. 1960–present
From Minimalism’s plain boxes and fields of light, through conceptual art, performance, video, and the global digital practices of today, contemporary art constantly expands what art can be and how it reaches its audience. Artists work for an international network of patrons, including museums, biennials, private collectors, public commissions, and online audiences, addressing themes such as identity, politics, ecology, and the systems that shape modern life. They fabricate industrial units, wire fluorescent tubes, stage actions in public space, print photo-texts, bend steel and titanium, edit video essays, model virtual worlds, weave recycled materials, and distribute their work through screens and networks as readily as through galleries, shifting the emphasis from finished object to idea, experience, and engagement.