1990s Art: Top Artists, Styles And Trends

Young British Artists, rave flyers and design going fully digital.

Below: the artists of the 1990s, the styles and movements, what was changing in art and design, and the pictures that were actually up in British homes.

Useful for a themed party, a quiz round, a reminiscence session or working out what someone grew up looking at.

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Shop prints and posters Look back to 1990 Look back to 1991 Look back to 1992

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Artists of the 1990s

  • Damien Hirst, whose shark piece dates from 1991.
  • Tracey Emin - Everyone I Have Ever Slept With (1995) and My Bed (1998).
  • Rachel Whiteread, who won the Turner Prize in 1993 for House.
  • Banksy, starting out in Bristol.
  • David Carson, whose Ray Gun layouts broke every typographic rule.
  • The Designers Republic, behind the look of nineties electronic music.

Styles and movements

  • The YBAs: conceptual, confrontational and extremely good at publicity.
  • Grunge typography - layered, distressed and barely legible on purpose.
  • Rave and club flyer design, printed cheap and collected anyway.
  • Minimalist branding, as a reaction to eighties excess.
  • Cool Britannia iconography, Union Jack included.

Art and design trends

  • Sensation at the Royal Academy in 1997 puts British art on the front pages.
  • Photoshop and the Mac become standard, and the studio darkroom closes.
  • The web arrives and nobody knows how to design for it yet.
  • Lottery money from 1994 funds galleries, including Tate Modern.
  • The Turner Prize becomes an annual national argument.

On the walls at home

  • IKEA prints - the same three pictures in a lot of front rooms.
  • Minimalism on television, magnolia everywhere, laminate on the floor.
  • Club flyers kept in a shoebox.
  • Posters from magazines, folded, with the crease never coming out.

Years covered in the 1990s

  • 1990 - Thatcher resigned, Gazza cried, and the country spent a fortnight thinking England might actually win it. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1990
  • 1991 - Bryan Adams would not get off the top of the chart, the Soviet Union ceased to exist, and Freddie Mercury died. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1991
  • 1992 - Black Wednesday, a general election nobody predicted correctly, and the Premier League arrived. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1992
  • 1993 - Mr Blobby was Christmas number one, which is somehow not the strangest thing about the year. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1993
  • 1994 - The Lottery started, the Channel Tunnel opened, and Wet Wet Wet would not leave the number one spot. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1994
  • 1995 - Blur against Oasis on the Six O'Clock News, and Toy Story changed films for good. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1995
  • 1996 - Football came home, nearly, and the Spice Girls arrived and took the entire decade with them. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1996
  • 1997 - A landslide in May, a death in August, and the best-selling single in British history. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1997
  • 1998 - The Good Friday Agreement, a World Cup sending off nobody forgave, and Furby. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1998
  • 1999 - An eclipse over Cornwall, a millennium everybody was quietly worried about, and boy bands everywhere. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1999
  • That is every 1990s year we have written up so far: 1990 to 1999.

How to use this

  • Themed party: pick one style from the list and let it decide the colours, the lettering and the invitations.
  • Quiz round: read an artist and ask for the decade, or read a style and ask for one artist who worked in it.
  • Reminiscence: ask what picture hung over the fireplace when they were young. Nearly everybody remembers.
  • Anyone born in 1990 turns 50 in 2040, 60 in 2050 and 70 in 2060.

Shop prints and posters

Found your words? Now find the card

Shop prints and posters Look back to 1990 Look back to 1991 Look back to 1992

How to write it so it lands

  • What hung in galleries and what hung at home were two different decades. Both are on this page.
  • For a themed party, take the colour palette from the decade's design rather than its paintings.
  • Charity shops are still the best place to find genuine prints and frames from any era.

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Frequently asked questions

Who were the most important artists of the 1990s?

Damien Hirst, whose shark piece dates from 1991. The full list above names the artists worth knowing from the decade.

What art styles were popular in the 1990s?

The YBAs: conceptual, confrontational and extremely good at publicity. The styles section above covers the rest of the movements.

What art did people have in their homes in the 1990s?

IKEA prints - the same three pictures in a lot of front rooms. The section above lists what was actually on British walls, which is rarely the same as what was in the galleries.

Do you sell fine art?

No. We make our own art prints, greeting cards and pin badges in the UK - original work, printed here. This page is free to read and free to copy.

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