Modern Paintings - Eight Different Styles

When one thinks of modern art and modern paintings specifically, there are numerous styles that come to mind. Modernism is not limited to one strict style. Early modern art focuses on realism and impressionism, while abstract and pop art came later. Here are some of the styles in which make up modern art;

Impressionism
Impressionists focused on lighting, providing accurate depictions. Small brush strokes were typically seen. This still generally focused on real life depictions; painting from various angles. One of the most influential impressionist painters was Monet.

Post Impressionism
Impressionists influenced artists to begin blurring and distorting. Real-life scenes were blurred through the transformation of color and form. Van Gogh is a noted artist within this period. He focused more on fluid distortion (as seen in Starry Night) vs geometric distortion. Although scenes were real-life depictions, colors were not very accurate in terms of realism.

Abstract Art 
Abstract art began to move away from the physical world, displaying; color, form and lines. There were various movements within abstract art. Cubism for example, which focused on shapes. Picasso painted a picture depicting nature through three shapes; cones, spheres and cubes. Abstract art is currently extremely popular. Pieces depict emotion, form and bold color choices.

Surrealism
Surrealism added an element of surprise, portraying dream-like pictures. Objects in the real world would be combined through unconventional ways. This provided strange, thought provoking paintings. Salvador Dali is a great example. His paintings depict real-life objects, but skew them in such a way that they are no longer in realistic forms.

Conceptual Art
Artists within this style focused more on the perception of the piece than the art itself. Artists, such as Yoko Ono; were more concerned with how the audience would perceive the content. There were some highly interesting pieces created within this movement.

Pop Art
Pop art is so popular for a reason. This movement focused on everyday items, celebrities and comics. They are bright, vibrant and fun; influenced by culture. Andy Warhol is well known within this movement.

Photorealism 
This movement is exactly as it sounds; realistic paintings were created from a photograph. Technical painting skills were key throughout this movement. In order to recreate a photograph, artists needed to be skilled technically and have an understanding of realism.

Minimalism 
This movement focused on simplicity. The artists decided what was necessary in their depiction, and then that was all that was painted. Simplicity can be beautiful. As you can see, modern paintings widely vary. Look into which style you want, your options are vast