How Art History Influences Modern Creators

The relationship between past and present is particularly vibrant in the art world. Contemporary artists constantly engage with art history, drawing inspiration from techniques, themes, and aesthetic philosophies developed over centuries. This dialogue between past and present isn't just about reverence for tradition—it's a dynamic conversation that fuels innovation and helps artists contextualize their work within the broader tapestry of human creative expression.

The Legacy of Historical Movements

Every major art movement throughout history has left an indelible mark on the creative landscape, providing contemporary artists with a rich palette of approaches and ideas to draw from. Understanding how these historical movements continue to resonate today helps us appreciate the depth and nuance in contemporary art.

Renaissance Influences

The Renaissance period (14th-17th centuries) revolutionized art with its emphasis on realism, perspective, and anatomical accuracy. Today, many contemporary realist painters still employ techniques pioneered by masters like Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo.

Jenny Saville, for instance, creates monumental figure paintings that combine Renaissance understanding of anatomy with contemporary themes and raw emotional intensity. Her work demonstrates how classical techniques can be repurposed to address modern concerns about body image and identity.

Baroque Drama and Lighting

The theatrical lighting and emotional intensity of Baroque art (17th century) continues to inspire contemporary photographers and painters. The dramatic chiaroscuro (strong contrast between light and dark) pioneered by Caravaggio can be seen in the work of photographers like Gregory Crewdson, who creates elaborately staged cinematic scenes with theatrical lighting that creates psychological tension.

Impressionism's Legacy

The Impressionist movement's (late 19th century) approach to light, color, and capturing fleeting moments revolutionized painting and liberated artists from academic constraints. Contemporary painters like Richard Schmid and Quang Ho continue to work in a neo-impressionist style, combining impressionist approaches to light and color with more defined forms.

Beyond painting, impressionist ideas about capturing light and atmosphere have influenced everything from digital art to cinema, where cinematographers often use impressionist principles to create mood through lighting and color.

Modernist Abstraction

The abstract explorations of early 20th-century modernists like Kandinsky, Mondrian, and Malevich opened doors that contemporary artists continue to walk through. The move away from representation toward expression through pure form, color, and line remains a fundamental approach in contemporary abstract art.

Artists like Gerhard Richter have built careers that bridge abstraction and representation, creating dialogue between these seemingly opposed approaches. His abstract works echo the formal explorations of mid-century abstract expressionism while introducing contemporary techniques and sensibilities.

Specific Techniques and Approaches

Beyond broad movements, specific historical techniques continue to be relevant to contemporary practice, often adapted and reimagined for modern contexts.

Classical Drawing Methods

The rigorous drawing methods developed during the Renaissance and refined in 19th-century academic ateliers are experiencing a revival. Contemporary ateliers like the Florence Academy of Art and the Grand Central Atelier in New York teach classical drawing and painting techniques to new generations of artists.

Even artists working in highly contemporary styles often build their practice on foundations of classical drawing. This technical foundation provides them with tools to realize their vision, whether that vision is traditional or cutting-edge.

Historical Painting Techniques

Traditional painting methods like glazing (building up thin, transparent layers of paint), impasto (thick, textural application of paint), and grisaille (monochromatic underpainting) remain relevant to contemporary painters, who often combine these approaches with modern materials and subjects.

Contemporary artist Kehinde Wiley, known for his portraits of African Americans in heroic poses derived from Old Master paintings, uses traditional oil painting techniques to create work that addresses contemporary issues of race and representation. His work demonstrates how historical techniques can be repurposed to challenge and expand the very traditions they come from.

Printmaking Traditions

Historical printmaking techniques like woodcut, etching, and lithography continue to be practiced and reimagined by contemporary artists. Japanese ukiyo-e woodblock prints, for example, have influenced artists from the Impressionists to contemporary graphic novelists and illustrators.

Contemporary artist Kiki Smith uses traditional etching and lithography techniques to create powerful works exploring themes of feminism and the body. The tactile qualities and distinctive aesthetics of these historical processes offer something unique that digital reproduction cannot replicate.

Recontextualizing Historical Themes

Contemporary artists often engage with the themes, narratives, and iconography of historical art, reinterpreting them through contemporary lenses.

Mythology and Religious Imagery

The rich iconography of classical mythology and religious art provides contemporary artists with a visual language that carries deep cultural resonance. Artists like Bill Viola create video installations that reference Renaissance and Baroque religious paintings but use contemporary media to create immersive experiences.

Contemporary photographer Cindy Sherman has created series that reference historical portraits, religious paintings, and Old Master works, often inserting herself as the subject and questioning traditional representations of women in art history.

The Portrait Tradition

Portraiture, one of the oldest genres in art, continues to evolve in the hands of contemporary artists. Lucian Freud's intensely observed portraits carried forward the psychological depth of Rembrandt while introducing a modern sensibility about the body and human vulnerability.

Amy Sherald, who painted Michelle Obama's official portrait, uses a distinctive grayscale for skin tones in her portraits of African Americans, creating work that engages with historical portraiture while questioning how race has been represented in art history.

Landscape Reimagined

The landscape tradition, from Dutch Golden Age painting to Chinese Shan Shui (mountain-water) painting, continues to inspire contemporary artists grappling with our changing relationship to the natural world.

Contemporary landscape artists like April Gornik create work that references 19th-century Romantic landscapes but addresses contemporary environmental concerns. Similarly, Chinese artist Xu Bing creates landscapes using traditional techniques but incorporates modern elements like industrial pollution and urban development.

Postmodern Appropriation and Quotation

Postmodern approaches to art history often involve direct quotation, appropriation, and pastiche—explicitly referencing historical works as a way to comment on art history itself.

Appropriation Art

Artists like Sherrie Levine have created works that directly reproduce historical masterpieces, raising questions about originality, authorship, and the cultural authority of the art historical canon. Her series "After Walker Evans" rephotographed Evans' famous Depression-era photographs, creating new works that were simultaneously copies and original statements about reproduction and authorship.

Sampling and Remixing

Contemporary digital artists often "sample" elements from art history much as musicians sample sounds, creating new works that remix historical references. This approach acknowledges the impossibility of creating in a vacuum and embraces the rich tapestry of visual culture that precedes us.

The accessibility of historical images through digital archives and the internet has accelerated this tendency, allowing artists to easily reference and incorporate elements from across art history.

Cross-Cultural Influences

Art history is increasingly understood as a global phenomenon, with contemporary artists drawing inspiration from traditions outside their own cultural backgrounds.

Eastern Influences on Western Art

Japanese ukiyo-e prints famously influenced the Impressionists, but this cross-cultural exchange continues today. Contemporary Western artists draw inspiration from Asian calligraphy, Buddhist art, Islamic geometric patterns, and many other non-Western traditions.

Chinese-born artist Cai Guo-Qiang combines traditional Chinese concepts and materials (including gunpowder) with contemporary installation approaches, creating work that bridges East and West.

Indigenous and Traditional Art Forms

Contemporary artists from indigenous backgrounds often engage with both Western art history and their own cultural traditions, creating powerful syntheses that challenge colonial narratives about art.

Australian Aboriginal contemporary artists like Emily Kame Kngwarreye have created work that draws on ancient traditional designs and techniques while participating in the contemporary art world, forcing a reconsideration of what "contemporary" and "historical" mean in art.

Technology and Historical Techniques

Perhaps one of the most exciting developments is how contemporary artists use cutting-edge technology to engage with historical techniques and approaches.

Digital Tools for Traditional Techniques

Digital painting software now allows artists to simulate traditional media with remarkable accuracy. Programs like Corel Painter and Procreate include brushes that mimic everything from watercolor to oil paint, allowing digital artists to draw on centuries of painting technique.

AI and Art History

Artificial intelligence is being used to analyze and even create art based on historical styles. AI systems trained on art historical databases can generate new works that combine elements from different periods and artists, raising fascinating questions about creativity, authorship, and the nature of artistic influence.

Artist Refik Anadol uses AI to process vast datasets of historical images, creating data sculptures and immersive installations that represent art history as flowing, evolving systems rather than static artifacts.