Art Nouveau developed in both Europe and the United States. Tiffany's work with stained glass and Antoni Gaudi's unique architectural style both had many elements from nature. These natural elements included flowers, leaves, and flowing, wavelike patterns.

Gustave Courbet (1819-1877) was a French painter who reacted to the previous generation's bold romanticism and his contemporary critics' love of history painting by developing what he termed "realism." Courbet wished to use his painting to comment on social issues and values, which he felt were valuable topics on which a painter might focus. Courbet sought out landscapes, portraits, and still lifes that depicted the everyday in rough, honest brushstrokes.

Delacroix was a famous nineteenth-century painter known for his orientalist paintings, which illustrated Middle Eastern culture and lifestyle to a Western audience.

John James Audubon was a Frenchman who came to America in 1803 to avoid the Napoleonic Wars. He made a name for himself in the early nineteenth century as a painter of wildlife and landscapes of the then vast American frontier. His The Birds of America, published in sections between 1827 and 1838, not only was a remarkable work of art by an American artist, but helped ornithology immensely in understanding avian wildlife in America.

Vincent van Gogh, Henri Matisse, and Joan Miró were all connected as artists through their use of color and experimentation with forms. Nonetheless, each artist developed his own unique style that largely stood apart from other artists. Van Gogh's postimpressionistic style built on impressionism, while Matisse and Miro's deconstruction of form and representation exploded many of impressionism's notions of art.

All of the painters listed were influences on the Realist artists. Additional influences included Socialism and the European revolutions of 1848. The Realists eventually influenced the pre-Raphaelites and American Scene Painting.

This painting, an 1899 self-portrait by Vincent van Gogh, stands firmly in the tradition of post-impressionism. Post-impressionists took many of the elements of the Impressionists of a generation earlier, including visible brushstrokes, emotional concerns, and everyday scenes, and pushed them further. As seen in this work, the paint is extremely thick and textured, with bright, almost unrealistic colors sharpening the image.

The work of Matthew Brady during the American Civil War pioneered many notable aspects of photography, which was still a new medium and had mostly been devoted to portraiture. Brady's willingness to document the Civil War by going to battlefields reframed the possibilities for photography, notably allowing for the development of photojournalism.

Impressionism grew popular in the nineteenth century as a reaction to France's main artistic competition, the Salon de Paris. The Salon's judges valued grand themes, realistic portrayals, and fine brushwork, whereas the Impressionists focused on everyday scenes, emotional depictions, and visible, thick brushstrokes. Some of the major impressionists include Paul Cézanne, Édouard Manet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and Claude Monet.

Jacques-Louis David first made a name for himself as a historical painter in the 1780s, but his republican sympathies meant he was allied with French revolutionaries. This benefitted him most by allowing him to become the Emperor Napoleon's official court painter. Famous for his portraits of Napoleon, and particularly his large Coronation of Napoleon from 1806, David's style featured bold expressions, bright colors, and dramatic poses.