Editing Style (visual arts) (section)

{{Short description|Visual appearance of a creative work, shared with other works of the same movement or school}}
{{redirect|Art style|the video game series|Art Style{{!}}''Art Style''}}
[[File:Picasso la vie.jpg|right|thumb|''[[La Vie (painting)|La Vie]]'' by [[Pablo Picasso]], 1903; falling under the "style label" of [[Picasso's Blue Period]]]]
[[File:Les Demoiselles d'Avignon.jpg|right|thumb|''Les Demoiselles d'Avignon'' (1907), also by Picasso in a different style ("[[Picasso's African Period]]") four years later]]In the [[visual arts]], '''style''' is a "...{{nbsp}}distinctive manner which permits the grouping of works into related categories"<ref>[[Eric Fernie|Fernie, Eric]]. ''Art History and its Methods: A critical anthology''. London: Phaidon, 1995, p. 361. {{ISBN|978-0-7148-2991-3}}</ref> or "...{{nbsp}}any distinctive, and therefore recognizable, way in which an act is performed or an artifact made or ought to be performed and made".<ref>Gombrich, 150</ref> Style refers to the visual appearance of a work of [[art]] that relates to other works with similar aesthetic roots, by the same artist, or from the same period, training, location, "school", [[art movement]] or [[archaeological culture]]: "The notion of style has long been historian's principal mode of classifying works of art".<ref>[[George Kubler]] summarizing the view of [[Meyer Schapiro]] (with whom he disagrees), quoted by Alpers in Lang, 138</ref>
  
Style can be divided into the general style of a period, country or cultural group, group of artists or [[art movement]], and the individual style of the artist within that group style. Divisions within both types of styles are often made, such as between "early", "middle" or "late".<ref>Elkins, s. 1</ref> In some artists, such as [[Picasso]] for example, these divisions may be marked and easy to see; in others, they are more subtle.  Style is seen as usually dynamic, in most periods always changing by a gradual process, though the speed of this varies greatly, from the very slow development in style typical of [[prehistoric art]] or [[Ancient Egyptian art]] to the rapid changes in [[Modern art]] styles. Style often develops in a series of jumps, with relatively sudden changes followed by periods of slower development n style typical of [[prehistoric art]] or [[Ancient Egyptian art]] to the rapid changes in [[Modern art]] styles. Style often develops in a series of jumps, with relatively sudden changes followed by periods of slower development. Additionally, external factors such as social, political, and technological changes often influence the evolution of artistic styles, shaping their direction and characteristics. The influence of cultural exchange and globalization has also played a significant role in the blending and transformation of styles, leading to new and innovative artistic expressions.

After dominating academic discussion in [[art history]] in the 19th and early 20th centuries, so-called "style art history" has come under increasing attack in recent decades, and many art historians now prefer to avoid stylistic classifications where they can.<ref>Elkins, s. 2; Kubler in Lang, 163–164; Alpers in Lang, 137–138; 161</ref>