The Top Five Genes of 2012

Art.sy's ever-expanding Art Genome currently contains over 900 genes, pertaining to movements, mediums, techniques, influences, content, and more. Here we present the top five genes of 2012, ranked according to pageviews:

5. Street art, represented by Banksy, the anonymous and notoriously provocative graffiti and stencil artist.

4. Abstract Expressionism, as exemplified by Jackson Pollock and his monumental "action" paintings of vigorous gestures and drips. 

3. Painting, represented by one of Vincent van Gogh's painterly sunflower still lifes.

2. Pop art, epitomized no better than by one of Andy Warhol's Campbell's soup cans. 

1. Photography, whose current ubiquity as a fine art form is indebted in part to Gustave le Gray and his refinement of the medium in the mid-19th century, as evidenced in a crisp seascape.

Here's to discovering new genes in 2013!