An art movement is a tendency or style in art with a specific common philosophy or goal, followed by a group of artists during a restricted period of time (usually a few months, years or decades). Art movements were especially important in modern art, where each consecutive movement was considered as a new avant-garde. Movements have almost entirely disappeared in contemporary art, where individualism and diversity prevail.
Art movements seem to be a nearly exclusively Western art phenomenon. The term refers to tendencies in visual art and architecture, sometimes literature. In music it is more common to speak about genres and styles instead. See also cultural movement, a term with a broader connotation.
Sometimes art movements are ironically referred to as -isms.
See also