From our earliest days, humanity has expressed itself in artistic forms. From the earliest paintings in the caves at Lascaux, France, throughout ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt, through the heyday of Greece and of Rome, and well into modern times, art through different media have been vital aspects of culture.

Art didn’t start out as something that had to be learned, it started as a reaction to the world. A person saw something incredible, something beautiful, something out of the ordinary and wanted to save that moment. So they began to try and copy what they saw.

The earliest surviving artwork that we know of dates to approximately 30,000 B.C.E. and is part of the Prehistoric Period. This art is rough, and seems very primitive to our modern senses, but, it is highly representational of the world these early artists would have seen. They are generally divided into portable pieces – such as small carved figurines – and Cave art – such as the paintings at Lascaux, France.

As we pass into what is known as Ancient Art, we see more advancement and innovation. Many are familiar with the hieroglyphs, sculptures and artwork of Ancient Egypt – especially those dating from the Old Kingdom (2649 – 2150 B.C.E.). It was during this period that the pyramids at Giza were built, and the competition between rival dynasties provided a backdrop for a cultural explosion.

Around this same time period, through out the rest of the world, we see the rise of the Bronze Age. Metallurgy becomes, not only functional, but also artistic.

After about 1,000 B.C.E. we begin to see the rise of a culture that will cause a ripple effect across, at the very least, the western world. The rise of Ancient Greece, and of course, their art. During this same period we see the rise of the Mayan culture in Mexico, The Zhou and Han Dynasties is China, as well as the rise of the Iron Age across Europe. Drawing on the Grecian traditions, we see Etruscan, then Roman art emerge.

The Middle Ages are next, and we continue to see improvements in technique and materials. Art during this time is tied heavily to religious culture. The early Christian Church commissions many of the works we know today, though the Islamic and Judaic art from this period is relatively impressive as well. Apart from the religious contexts, there is also a longing during this period to return to the heyday of Rome. Out of this desire comes the rise of Romanesque artwork. Those who were able to study the ancient works sought to copy the ancient ideals, even if they didn’t completely understand the forms they were following.

At the end of the Medieval Period, and the beginning of the Renaissance, we see the emergence of the Gothic style. This was a direct result of the crusades – and the exchange of ideas that it, so unwittingly, facilitated.

During the rebirth of the Renaissance, we see an emphasis on all things cultural. With the rediscovery of the classical, not only do we see a change in technique, but also in content; we see a distinct turn back towards the stories of the ancient world.

The most active locales in the early Renaissance were it’s birthplace in Italy, as well as in Flanders, the low-lying countryside of Northern Europe. During this period we see works by such artists as Botticelli and Bellini, Heironymous Bosch and Jan van Eyck.

Between 1500 and 1525 the Renaissance reaches it’s apex. Known as the High Renaissance, this is the height of imagination as well as technical craftsmanship and artistic balance and composition. The Masters of this period are, for that reason, still so well known – Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo Buonarroti and Raphael.

Mannerism, the style which ended the Renaissance period, was quite different from the graceful works that preceded it. We went from the realistic, peaceful and graceful, to loud, clashing color palettes, awkward and disproportionate figures and a great deal of unnecessary, and bizarre content.

From this point forward, we begin to see the rise of the style names we are most familiar with – even if we are unsure of their characteristics. So, here’s the basic run down:

From the 17th to the 19th centuries, we have the Baroque, the Rococo, Neoclassicism, Beaux-Arts and Romanticism. In the Baroque we see – through works by those like Rubens and Rembrandt – all things over the top: over-the-top color, over-the-top decoration, over-the-top size (they loved things to be colossal sized!) Basically, lots of drama. During the Rococo, we still see a lot of ornamentation and decoration, but we lose the over emphasis on size, and turn towards an emphasis on detail. The art of this period becomes more casual, more lighthearted. We get lots of pastel colors and curviness. The Neoclassical style is a sort of revolt against the Baroque and Rococo – it focuses on very geometric, very solid, very plain forms – as did the work during the classical period. By the 19th the focus of the art world has turned from Italy and Rome to Paris, France, mostly through the rise of the Academie Des Beaux-arts. It was here that students went to learn what would be called the Beaux-Arts style. It was through this Academie that the French molded societal views on art by holding Salons – or exhibits – of artwork.

Finally we have Romanticism – and not the lovey-dovey kind. It started by throwing out the old values and placing great emphasis on individual wishes. Because of this, Romanticism is highly emotive, and shows incredible imagination and emotion. A subset of this movement was the Hudson River School – one of the first American-born artistic movements, and very much romantic in nature.

In the years to come we see an incredible amount of change in an incredibly short period of time, but, in most aspects, it is easy to see the evolution, or the degeneration in some cases, from the earliest forms – whether cave paintings or from the highly refined High Renaissance. And, it is important to note the common thread – a need within the artist to express and capture the world around them.