Art

NOUN:

1. Human effort to imitate, supplement, alter, or counteract the work of nature.

2.
a. The conscious production or arrangement of sounds, colors, forms,
movements, or other elements in a manner that affects the sense of
beauty, specifically the production of the beautiful in a graphic or plastic
medium.
b. The study of these activities.
c. The product of these activities; human works of beauty considered as a
group.
3. High quality of conception or execution, as found in works of beauty; aesthetic
value.
4. A field or category of art, such as music, ballet, or literature.
5. A nonscientific branch of learning; one of the liberal arts.
6.
a. A system of principles and methods employed in the performance of a
set of activities: the art of building.
b. A trade or craft that applies such a system of principles and methods: the
art of the lexicographer.
7.
a. Skill that is attained by study, practice, or observation: the art of the
baker; the blacksmith's art.
b. Skill arising from the exercise of intuitive faculties: "Self-criticism is an
art not many are qualified to practice"(Joyce Carol Oates).
8.
a. arts Artful devices, stratagems, and tricks.
b. Artful contrivance; cunning.
9. Printing Illustrative material.

ETYMOLOGY:
Middle English, from Old French, from Latin ars, art-; see ar- in Indo-European
roots

SYNONYMS: 
1
art , craft, expertise, knack, know-how, technique

These nouns denote skill in doing or performing that is attained by study, practice, or
observation: the art of rhetoric; pottery that reveals an artist's craft; political
expertise; a knack for teaching; mechanical know-how; a precise diving technique.
Outline of Art History

PREHISTORIC 30,000 - 3000 BC (BCE)

Paleolithic (Old Stone Age) 30,000 - 10,000 BC
Mesolithic (Middle Stone Age) 10,000 - 8000 BC
Neolithic (New Stone Age) 8000 - 3000 BC
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ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS 3000 BC - 331 BC (BCE)

Egyptian Art 3200 - 1070 BC
Amarna Art 1370 - 1340 BC
Mesopotamian Art 3500 - 331 BC
Sumerian/Akkadian 3500 - 1750 BC
Assyrian/Neo-Babylonian 1000 - 539 BC
Persian 539 - 331 BC
Aegean Art 3000 - 1100 BC
Minoan (Crete) 3000 - 1475 BC
Mycenean (Greece) 1650 - 1100 BC
Greek Art 800 - 323 BC
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NON WESTERN
Shang Dynasty, China 1766 - 1045 BC
Zhou Dynasty, China 1045 - 256 BC

CLASSIC CIVILIZATIONS 800 BC - 337 AD (BCE-CE)

Hellenistic Art 323-150 BC
Etruscan Art 6th - 5th century BC
Roman Art 509 BC - 337 AD
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NON WESTERN
Olmec, Mexico 800 BC - 600 AD
Zapotec, Mexico 100 - 200 AD
Gandhara, India 2nd - 3rd century AD
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MIDDLE AGES 373 - 1453 AD (CE)

Celtic, Saxon, & Hiberno 200 - 732 AD
Byzantine Art 400 - 1453 AD
Justinian 527 - 565 AD
Islamic Art 622 - 900 AD
Carolingian Art 732 - 900 AD
Ottonian Art 900 - 1050 AD
Romanesque Style 1000 - 1140 AD
Gothic Style 1140 - 1500 AD
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NON-WESTERN
Gupta, India 320 - 647 AD
Mayan, Mexico 300 - 1500 AD
Tang, China 618 - 907 AD
Nara, Japan 645 - 791 AD
Song, China 960 - 1279 AD
Kamakura, Japan 1185 - 1333 AD
Aztec, Mexico 1350 - 1520 AD
Inca, Peru 1100 - 1532 AD
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RENAISSANCE 1400 - 1800 AD (CE)

Renaissance: Italy 1400 - 1600 AD
Renaissance: Europe 1500 - 1600 AD
Baroque 1600 - 1700 AD
Rococo 1700 - 1750 AD
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NON-WESTERN
Ming, China 1368 - 1644 AD
Muromachi, Japan 1392 - 1573 AD
Benin, Africa 1550 - 1680 AD
Edo, Japan 1615 - 1868 AD
Qing, China 1644 - 1912 AD
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PRE-MODERN 1800 - 1880 AD (CE)

Neo-Classicism 1750 - 1880 AD
(USA: Federal/Greek Revival)
(Canada: Georgian Style)
Romanticism 1800 - 1880 AD
(Canada: Victorian)
Realism 1830's - 1850's AD
Impressionism 1870's - 1890's AD
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MODERNISM 1880 - 1945 AD (CE)

Post Impressionism 1880 - 1900 AD
Expressionism 1900 - 1920 AD
Fauvism 1900 - 1920 AD
Cubism 1907 - 1914 AD
Dada 1916 - 1922 AD
Bauhaus 1920s - 1940's AD
Harlem Renaissance 1920s - 1940's AD
Surrealism 1924 1920s - 1940's AD
International Style 1920s - 1940's AD
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MODERN & POST-MODERN 1945 AD - Present (CE)

Abstract Expressionism 1945 - 1960 AD
Op Art 1960s AD
Pop Art 1960s AD
Minimal Art 1960s AD
New Realism 1970s - 1980s AD
Conceptual Art 1970s - 1980s AD
Performance Art 1970s - 1980s AD
Neo-Expressionism 1980s - 1990s AD
Computer Art 1980s - 1990s AD
Post-Modern Classicism 1980s - 1990s AD
Victorian Revival 1980s - 1990s AD