Prehistoric Art (~40,000 BCE – 4,000 BCE)

Global: Cave & Rock Art, Venus Figurines, Petroglyphs & Pictographs

Brazil: Serra da Capivara cave paintings (~36,000 BCE), Marajoara & Santarém pottery (pre-Colonial)

Canada: Petroglyphs & pictographs (Algonquian, Haida, Inuit, ~10,000 BCE–Present)

Ancient Art (~4,000 BCE – 400 CE)

Global: Mesopotamian, Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Persian, Early Buddhist, Han Dynasty, Mesoamerican (Olmec, Maya, Aztec)

Brazil: Indigenous Amazonian ceramics, early tribal artforms

Canada: Thule carvings & masks (~1000 CE, Inuit ancestors), Haida totemic art

Medieval Art (400–1400)

Global: Byzantine, Islamic, Romanesque, Gothic, Ethiopian Christian, Indigenous American

Brazil: Early Indigenous art, influenced by pre-Colonial spiritual traditions

Canada: Indigenous art continues (Haida, Inuit, Algonquian), Birchbark scrolls, Totem poles (~900–Present)

Renaissance (1400–1600)

Global: Early, High, Venetian, Northern Renaissance, Mannerism

Brazil: Arrival of Portuguese Colonial Art (~1500s), European religious influences

Canada: Indigenous art remains dominant (no Renaissance equivalent), earliest contact-era beadwork & quillwork

Baroque & Rococo (1600–1780)

Global: Baroque, Rococo, Mughal Miniatures

Brazil: Baroque religious architecture & sculptures (Aleijadinho, 18th century)

Canada: French Colonial Art (~1600s), religious & missionary art, Indigenous wampum belts

Neoclassicism & Romanticism (1750–1850)

Global: Neoclassicism, Romanticism, Hudson River School, Gothic Revival

Brazil: Academic Art Period (Pedro Américo, Victor Meirelles), Indianist Movement (Romanticizing Indigenous people)

Canada: Gothic Revival (Parliament Buildings), Romantic landscape painting (Cornelius Krieghoff)

Realism & Pre-Impressionism (1840–1885)

Global: Realism, Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, Tonalism, Ashcan School

Brazil: Transition from Romanticism to Realism, Abolitionist Art (depicting slavery & emancipation)

Canada: Early Canadian landscape realism, First Nations beadwork incorporating trade materials

Impressionism & Post-Impressionism (1860s–1914)

Global: Impressionism, Post-Impressionism, Pointillism

Brazil: Some European influence but largely focused on academic painting

Canada: Tom Thomson & The Group of Seven (Post-Impressionist-inspired landscapes, 1910s)

Modernism (1900–1970s) (Multiple avant-garde movements)

Global: Fauvism, Expressionism, Cubism, Futurism, Constructivism, Harlem Renaissance, Bauhaus

Brazil: Modernist Week (1922), Anthropophagic Movement (cultural “cannibalism,” inspired by Surrealism & Dada)

Canada: Automatistes (1940s–50s, influenced by Surrealism & Abstract Expressionism)

Abstract & Pop Art Movements (1940s–1970s)

Global: Abstract Expressionism, Color Field Painting, Op Art, Pop Art, Arte Povera, Minimalism, Conceptual Art

Brazil: Concrete Art Movement (1950s–60s), Neo-Concrete Movement (Lygia Clark, Hélio Oiticica)

Canada: Painters Eleven (Abstract Expressionist group, 1950s)

Postmodern & Contemporary Art (1970–Present) (Simultaneous movements)

Global: Postmodernism, Deconstructivism, Neo-Expressionism, Street Art, Digital Art

Brazil: Tropicália Movement (1960s–Present, merges music, art, and resistance), Street Art (Os Gêmeos, 1990s–Present)

Canada: Indigenous Resistance Art (Kent Monkman, Christi Belcourt), Indigenous Futurism (VR, digital art, 2000s–Present)