The history of Western painting represents a continuous, though disrupted, tradition from Antiquity.^[1] Until the early 20th century it relied primarily on representational and Classical motifs, after which time more purely abstract and conceptual modes gained favor.

Developments in Western painting historically parallel those in Eastern painting, in general a few centuries later.^[2] African art, Islamic art, Indian art,Chinese art, and Japanese art each had significant influence on Western art, and, eventually, vice-versa