Is there a way to tell what movement inspired a work of art?

Art, Culture, and Politics Read more from
Chapter Contemporary Art, 1960s–present

Many works of art in museum and galleries blur the lines between multiple art movements and styles. Nevertheless, here is a quick-and-dirty guide to recognizing some common forms of modern and contemporary Art.

Is there a way to tell what movement inspired a work of art?

Movement or Style	Description of Artwork
The painting is enormous, with thick brushstrokes, paint splatters, and bold colors.	This is most likely an example of Abstract Expressionism, which is often large, abstract, and brightly colored.
It’s not clear if the artwork is a painting or a sculpture, but it is a painted square that sticks out of the wall.	Minimalist art is geometric, simple, and often blurs the line between painting and sculpture.
This piece of art is a telephone with a lobster for a handle.	This example could be a number of things, but it is likely either Dada or Surrealist. Both movements make art out of normal, everyday objects—transforming them from functional objects to works of visual art.
This is a photograph of a Depression-era farmer with his family.	During the Great Depression, social realism was a movement that highlighted the realities of American life in paintings and photographs. Similarly, American Regionalism depicted rural American life.
A sculpture hangs from the center of a gallery display, slowly rotating.	Kinetic art, such as the mobiles made by Alexander Calder, is always moving, and meant to be seen from multiple perspectives.
This painting is glossy and large, and depicts logos and brand names of familiar products.	This sounds like pop art, which often depicts mass media and consumer images.
This work of art is composed of random materials such as trash, children’s toys, or old clothes.	Arte Povera is often composed of non-art materials. This type of art could also be an assemblage, or one of Robert Rauschenberg’s combines.
The entire room seems to be a work of art.	This is an example of installation art, art that encompasses a whole environment.
The painting depicts a violin, but the image is repeated multiple times, is partially abstract, and is made up of jagged, geometric lines.	This sounds like an example of Cubism. Cubists like Picasso and Braque were interested in depicting an object from multiple viewpoints and often accomplished this through fragmentation and collage.