I've been experimenting with TimeGlider, a web 2.0 application that allows you to create and manage an interactive timeline with a focus of your own choosing. I decided to try to create one for the development of Modern Art. When you click on the link, don't forget to use the slider on the right to change the viewing options. Dragging it down a bit will make a few items appear beginning in 1841.
It took me a while to get to grips with the application, but the process of selecting significant events proved fascinating. I haven't got very far but I've already made the decision to include things like the invention of oil paint in tubes and the Great Exhibition of 1851 alongside more traditional events like the First Impressionist Exhibition of 1851.
I have made the timeline public so that you can also contribute historical events, exhibitions and works of art that you think are important.
On the subject of timelines and chronology I really recommend checking out the Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History.
