Traditional art began around the 12th century as European cities grew wealthier and the Roman Catholic church more powerful. Construction of cathedrals required artwork. Traditional art flourished over the next seven centuries. In 1874, the French artist Claude Monet exhibited a work that challenged rules of the traditional salon. In the following decades, other modern artists chipped away at the rules of traditional art. Contemporary art began in the 1970s as part of the general social and political protest of that time. Contemporary artists rebelled against what they considered to be the exclusiveness of the traditional and modern art movements.
Traditional art tends to be oil-based and figurative. Whether portrait or landscape, the subject of the art is clear. Important themes include religion and depiction of the human body. Technical precision and composition are valued. Contemporary art, by contrast, tends to be abstract. The focus is less on representation than on elements of design, such as size, texture and color. Contemporary artists have also used more controversial themes, such as gender relations or obscenity.
Major centers of traditional art were France, Italy, the Netherlands, Britain, Spain and Belgium. New York City and Los Angeles have been centers of contemporary art, but this art movement has not been confined to one location. Contemporary art is a worldwide movement.
Traditional art history movements include renaissance, baroque, romantic and gothic. Contemporary, sometimes called postmodern art, is characterized by more than 50 different types of movements. Some of them are conceptualism, photorealism, pattern and decoration, new image, earthworks, and video.
Traditional artists paint on canvas, fresco and wood. They also use pastels on paper. Contemporary artists are open to a variety of media, among them are performance art, video, photography and installations. Experimentation is an important element of contemporary art, and no medium has been considered off limits.
Traditional artists were often dependent on the church or royalty for patronage. Contemporary artists are dependent on arts funding from the government or private foundations. Private collectors are also important. Masters of traditional art were white men. Contemporary artists come from a much broader range of race, gender and sexual orientation. Traditional artists often served long apprenticeships. Many contemporary artists study at art schools.
The definition of contemporary art changes. A piece of work considered contemporary in 2010 may be moved into a different category in 2020. The Metropolitan Museum of Art notes that objects acquired as contemporary in the early decades of the museum's history have subsequently been moved to other collections in the museum, such as the American Wing or the Department of European Paintings.