The idea of "art history" and "movements" was Western and originally dealt exclusively with history of Western painting, using the High Renaissance as the defining standard. With the onset of Modernism, gradually a wider vision of history developed, as we sought to analyze artifacts from other societies and place them within a global overview according to their own cultural values. The subject now encompasses all forms of visual art, from ancient societies to the paintings of today.

This is a reference guide to the major art movements that took place just prior to and during the development of photography since those are the movements that most directly influenced the art during the early formative years of photography and those closest to the images we currently call "vintage".