The most prominent schools of fine art
As an introduction to the subject of fine art schools, we must stop at the arts. Which is considered one of the means that transmit the culture of every society. Among those arts is “fine art“, which is a reflection of reality that is formulated artistically in several forms according to the methodology and idea of each plastic artist. This is what led to the establishment of many schools of fine art that adopted the different tastes, ideas and feelings of artists. Art is one of the most important things that interest a person. It builds a society through which a message is delivered to the public, real stories are told, the world is introduced to them, and human attitudes are known. It first appeared in Europe and then moved to Arab artists until it became all over the world. In this article, we will present the most prominent schools of fine art separately, which are:
The realist school – the classical school – the impressionist school – the symbolic school – the expressionist school
The Dada school – the surreal school – the abstract school – the cubist school – the romantic school
One of the schools of fine art is the realistic school
The Desperate Man by Gustave Courbet
The realist school appeared in the nineteenth century in response to the romantic school, as it focused on objectively transferring reality away from the subjectivity and impressions of the artist. transforming it into a work of art that mimics nature, And all the criteria of the romantic school that focused on the fictional form in its paintings were rejected, The realist school wants the artist to be objective and detached from subjectivity. So that it conveys reality with accuracy and clarity and from the reality of daily life, It enters the lives of the masses and provides solutions to their problems. then makes his artistic work a means of communication with the public, Among the most prominent artists in the realist school is the French artist Gustave Courbet, who led the realism movement in painting and was committed to drawing only what he could see. Among his most prominent opinions on the artwork is that the artist cannot paint an angel without seeing it. No matter how far his imagination is, he cannot come up with a realistic picture of the angel
One of schools of fine art is also the classical school
The Gioconda (Mona Lisa) by Leonardo da Vinci
The classical school of plastic art is the cornerstone and relied heavily on delicate drawing and sculpture, This type of art began to be used in the eighteenth century. As its laws spread for the first time in Greece, which every artist must abide by, It includes consistency, balance, moderation, and a distance from expressing the artist’s own emotions and feelings. For example, when the artist sculpts, he chooses the physical perfection of a man or a woman, so the artwork appears as if it were a real image with the same size and measurements as the real human being. This school flourished in Europe from the middle of the eighteenth century until the nineteenth. Among the most prominent artists in this school is the Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci, the owner of the Gioconda painting, famous for the Mona Lisa
Schools of Fine Art – Impressionist School
Sunrise Impression by Claude Monet
The Impressionist or Impressionist school is an artistic school that existed in the nineteenth century. The first to use this new style was the French artist Claude Monet. Where the name of the school was derived from the name of his painting (Impression of the Sunrise), and this school relied on conveying reality away from imagination. It is an art completely derived from nature. It was given this name because it conveys the artist’s impression of the scene away from accuracy and detail. The artists of this school can be called environmental artists. Because they decided to carry out their work outside the studio to nature and the open air, Where their works were distinguished by their bright, joyful colors, with the use of the element of shadow and light. They did not care about the shape and the clear lines, but rather they expressed their art through colors because they see that the colors give the shape importance and aesthetic value. The Impressionist school has several styles, which are:
Pointing method: It is a technique in which contiguous points are drawn, such as the image that forms on the television screen when transmission is lost.
partition method: It is a method of drawing in pure colors without changing colours. Meaning dividing the painting into several colors without mixing them.
Third method: It is a method based on drawing the same things, but at variable times. For example, drawing a scene during the day, then drawing the same scene at sunset, to show the viewer the difference in colors in the same scene.
Schools of Fine Art – the symbolic school
A Thracian Woman painting by Gustave Moreau
It is a style taken from nature, artistically formulated in a new way, so that each artist releases his thoughts and feelings according to the environment in which he lives, using colors to express the psychological truth. This school believes that each color has a symbol that indicates the artist’s condition in reality and is formed in an artistic way. The viewer must taste the paintings in order to reach the meaning intended by the artist.
The symbolist school was not limited to fine art. Rather, it included literary works that influenced American and European literature in the twentieth century. This school came as a response to the realist and impressionist school, which was characterized by clarity and distance from ambiguity. Among the most prominent artists of the symbolist school is the French artist Gustave Moreau, who was inspired by the themes of his works from the ancient intellectual and mythical heritage.
Schools of Fine Art – the expressive school
Works by German artist Ernst Kirchner
It is the unreal artistic style in which the artist artistically formulates the emotions and responses elicited by events within the person. This school arose during the First and Second World Wars. The artistic style of the artists’ work was, expressions of fear, terror and distortion, emotional and fantasy drama themes, Showcasing hallucinations, using clashing colors and jagged lines to depict scenes characterized by instability and emotional atmospheres. Expressionist art contrasts with natural art. Because the natural is based on simulating the external reality, while the expressionist is concerned with what is going on inside. Therefore, the artists developed their style and personalities to express what is inside them, to clearly highlight the psychological state, Creativity distinguishes every artist from other artists. This school appeared in Germany in the twentieth century. One of the most famous pioneers of expressionism was the German artist Ernst Kirchner, whose style was characterized by stark colors.
A strangest school of fine art – the Dada school
Mona Lisa with a mustache by Marcel Duchamp
World War 1 affected the arts, Where it produced an aggressive conception of the arts, which in turn led to the emergence of the Dada school, Because of the artists’ trauma with the war and the widespread violence at the time, the fine art movement shifted from abstract creativity to extremism and the destruction of the rational trend. and making art against art, The aim is to deliver a message to the public that wars are capable of distorting everything that is beautiful and tearing art apart to become nihilistic. This message was not limited to fine art only. Writers, poets, playwrights and musicians were also influenced by it. Among the pioneers of this movement is the French artist Marcel Duchamp, who transformed the painting (Mona Lisa) into a woman with a mustache in order to distort beauty. And create new facts to arouse people’s awareness. rejects art with its beautiful content, It was the beginning of the spread of Dadaism in Switzerland, and then it spread to America, Russia and Japan. But after the end of the First World War, this aggressive movement that generated the Surrealist school, which attracted artists, writers and thinkers, ended.
Schools of Fine Art – The Surrealist School
Painting entitled Saint Anthony by Salvador Dali
After the end of the First World War, writers, artists and thinkers woke up to a bitter reality left by the war. They knew that Dadaism was a movement of destruction, violence, and distortion of beauty. They believed in the human ability to change. Therefore, artists and writers moved away from Dadaism, and surrealism was born in France and flourished in the twentieth century. Its goal was to distance itself from reality and to create ideas and imaginative perceptions. Surrealism concerned itself with the content and the transition from the obvious to the ambiguous. Colors are supported to express dreams and subconscious thoughts. and create a sense of unreality, The audience should translate and taste the ideas of this artist to realize their meaning. One of the most prominent pioneers of this movement and the first surrealist theorist and spokesperson for it is the French artist André Breton, who officially stopped the surrealist movement with his death. But her thoughts are still going.
Schools of Fine Art – the abstract school
From the works of the Egyptian artist Mohsen Attia
Abstract art is one of the types of art of the twentieth century and means moving away from accurate descriptions of reality. and reformulated with a new artistic vision, From it flows lines, shapes, and tones of color that resemble the steps of the musical scale that search for the essence in brief forms that carry within them the art that evoked the artist’s feelings. This type of art is based on non-objective art, But the abstract artist must possess a wide imagination and a strong sense of forming shapes and colors. The viewer has to translate this work as he sees it. This is what makes the paintings in the area of discussion among people interested in this field.
Among the types of abstract art:
curvature: It contains curved lines to draw different patterns like faces, swirls, etc.
Associated with color or light: It is the flow of a number of colors that lead to the inability of the viewer to distinguish well.
Geometric: It is a drawing of geometric shapes (squares, triangles, circles ………….
Simple: It is the use of geometric shapes and triangular drawing in the utmost simplicity, and this is what makes it very popular compared to the types of abstract art.
gestural: It is one of the most difficult types, because artists focus on their feelings and the depth of their feelings, away from the subject of work.
One of the characteristics of this school is that it has a direct impact on the art of interior decoration for homes and offices, which plays a key role in expressing the amount of attention to small details. Among the most famous Arab abstract artists is the Egyptian artist Mohsen Attia, about whom the art critic Salah Bisar said (The artist Mohsin Attia remained faithful to abstract painting from the beginning of the seventies until now, And that the visual language with its symbols and what it reflects of lines, colors and structures, It appears in abstract codes capable of transporting us to the ports of amazement and the ports of dreams.