This web site is dedicated to discussing art, artists, famous painting, and artistic expression. Post about your favorite paintings (and other art forms) and why you like it. Below is a brief description of the most common 'types' of art. Abstract art is now generally understood to mean art that does not depict objects in the natural world, but instead uses color and form in a non-representational way. Abstract expressionism was an American post-World War II art movement. Technically, an important predecessor is surrealism, with its emphasis on spontaneous, automatic or subconscious creation. Baroque is a period as well as the style that dominated it. The Baroque style used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur. Color Field painting was an abstract style that emerged in the 1950s after Abstract Expressionism and is largely characterized by abstract canvases painted primarily with large areas of solid color. An alternate but less frequently encountered term for this style is chromatic abstraction. Constructivism was an artistic and architectural movement in Russia from 1919 onward (especially present after the October Revolution), and a term often used in modern art today, which dismissed "pure" art in favour of art used as an instrument for social purposes, namely, the construction of the socialist system. Contemporary art is recently produced visual art. When recently produced visual art ages, it loses the status of being contemporary. When recently produced visual art ages it becomes, strictly speaking, historical. Ideally, the term is applied to art produced in the present. Expressionism is the tendency of an artist to distort reality for an emotional effect; it is a subjective art form. Expressionism is exhibited in many art forms, including painting, literature, theatre, film, architecture and music. Additionally, the term often implies emotional angst – the number of cheerful expressionist works is relatively small. Folk art describes a wide range of objects that reflect the craft traditions, and traditional social values, of various social groups. Folk art is generally produced by people who have little or no academic artistic training, nor a desire to emulate "fine art", and use established techniques and styles of a particular region or culture. Hard-edge painting consists of rough, straight edges that are geometrically consistent. It encompasses rich solid colors, neatness of surface, and arranged forms all over the canvas. Impressionism was a 19th century art movement that began as a loose association of Paris-based artists, who began exhibiting their art publicly in the 1860s.Characteristics of Impressionist painting include visible brushstrokes, open composition, emphasis on light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage of time), ordinary subject matter, and unusual visual angles. Minimalism involves movements in various forms of art and design, especially visual art and music, where the work is stripped down to its most fundamental features and core self expression Op art, also known as optical art, is used to describe some paintings and other works of art which use optical illusions. Photorealism is the genre of painting resembling a photograph, most recently seen in the splinter hyperrealism art movement. However, the term is primarily applied to paintings from the American photorealism art movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Pointillism is a style of painting in which small distinct points of primary colors create the impression of a wide selection of secondary colors. Pop Art is a visual artistic movement that emerged in the mid 1950s in Britain and in parallel in the late 1950s in the United States. Pop Art is one of the major art movements of the Twentieth Century. Characterized by themes and techniques drawn from popular mass culture, such as advertising and comic books. Realism in the visual arts and literature is the depiction of subjects as they appear in everyday life, without embellishment or interpretation. The term is also used to describe works of art which, in revealing a truth, may emphasize the ugly or sordid. Surrealism is a cultural movement that began in the mid-1920s, and is best known for the visual artworks and writings of the group members. The works feature the element of surprise or unexpected juxtapositions. ************************************* Additional Notes: Mona Lisa, or La Gioconda (La Joconde), is a 16th century oil painting on poplar wood by Leonardo da Vinci, and is one of the most famous paintings in the world. Few works of art have been subject to as much scrutiny, study, mythologizing and parody. It is owned by the French government and hangs in the Musée du Louvre in Paris. The painting, a half-length portrait, depicts a woman whose gaze meets the viewer's with an expression often described as enigmatic. Scream (Skrik, 1893) is a seminal series of expressionist paintings by Norwegian artist Edvard Munch. It is said by some to symbolize the human species taken by an attack of existential angst, with the skyline inspired by the red twilights seen after the 1883 eruption of Krakatoa. No. 5, 1948 is an abstract painting by Jackson Pollock (January 28, 1912 – August 11, 1956), an American painter known for his contributions to the abstract expressionist movement. According to a report in the New York Times, on November 2, 2006, the painting was sold by David Geffen, founder of Geffen Records and co-founder of Dreamworks SKG, to David Martinez, managing partner of Fintech Advisory Ltd, in a private sale for a record inflation adjusted price of $140 million.