Renaissance Art Characteristics

Modern Art Characteristics

1. Renaissance artists used realism in their art. As much as possible they wanted their subjects to look like they do in real life.

2. While Renaissance artists focused on religious themes and subjects, they also focused on humanistic themes and subjects, emphasizing the worth of the individual. Many Renaissance artists painted domestic scenes and ordinary people engaging in everyday activities. When they did focus on religious subjects, they made them appear as real people with thoughts and emotions engaging in typical daily activities.

3. Renaissance artists focused on depicting anatomically correct bodies in their drawings and paintings.

4. Renaissance artists also emphasized perspective in their artwork to add dimension and depth to their work.

5. Renaissance artists also emphasized the use of light and shadows to draw attention to a specific aspect of a painting.

6. The world during the Renaissance was expanding. Renaissance artists began depicting some of these new discoveries (new lands, new people, etc.) in their art.

7. Many Renaissance artists were Italian and were influenced by classical Greek and Roman art, which they expressed in their art.

1. Rather than try to depict objects as realistically and naturally as possible, moderns artists, try to convey the idea, or message, of an object. Objects may be abstract. The artist may depict objects with unusual colors. The sky may appear as green rather than blue. Artists may juxtapose unusual objects next to each other.

2. Modern artists attempt to depict modern life in the form of landscapes, people, still lifes, etc. They also, however, attempt to show the emotional and psychological impact of a rapidly changing world on subjects.

3. The modern city became the subject of many modern artists. This is in large part due to the Industrial Age in which cities grew, new means of transportation became available, and people were able to move around the world more easily.

4. Modern artists, such as those of the Art Nouveau period, use natural and organic forms in their artwork.

5. Photography became more accessible and affordable to people. Artists capitalize on this invention and use this new art form to capture the world around them. Likewise, some modern artists paint from photographs rather than from real life, an option that didn’t exist for Renaissance artists.