Abstract
To represent something in a way that is not naturalistic,
by means of exaggeration, simplification, or other manipulation. The
term is also used to describe forms that are abstracted or works of
art that incorporate abstraction. Recognizable references in abstract
art may be only slight or nonexistent.
Abstract
Expressionism
A 20th-century American painting style, also called
"action painting." Artists working in this style
applied paint freely with sweeping, flinging, and dripping gestures
in an effort to express their subconscious emotions.
Additive Sculpture
Sculpture formed by building up material, such
as clay or plaster. Wood pieces, welded metal, or bonded plastic have
also been employed in contemporary additive sculpture. Contrast subtractive
sculpture.
Aesthetic
A system of criteria used for evaluating works
of art. Criteria may be visual, moral, social, or any combination
of these. The term may also refer to the quality of beauty that defines
or is perceived in a work of art.
Airbrush
A tool similar to a spray gun, with a container
holding fluid paint connected to a source of compressed air. Used
most often by commercial artists, airbrushes create smooth gradations
of colors and tones.
Allegory
An imaginative device used in literature and the
visual arts whereby a work takes on a secondary meaning conveyed by
symbols and allusions. Specialized knowledge
may be required to interpret the secondary meaning.
Amulet
Something worn as a charm against evil or injury.
Assemblage
A technique of arranging and assembling unrelated
objects, parts, and materials to form a sculptural collage.
Asymmetry
An arrangement of forms that do not appear the
same on either side of an imaginary line. Compositions
arranged in this manner are called asymmetrical.
Atmospheric
Perspective
A technique for representing three-dimensional
space on a flat surface. As objects get farther away, atmospheric
perspective shows color gradually fading to a bluish gray and details
blurring, imitating the way distant objects appear to the human eye.
Also called aerial perspective.
Avant-Garde
Describes art that departs from the existing norm
or popular styles in an original or experimental
way.
Background
That part of an image that appears to be farthest
from view. Contrast foreground.
Baluster
One of the upright supports of a handrail or chair
back. Also called a banister.
Biomorphic
Describes a form whose contours
are related to plant and animal shapes rather than to geometric
ones.
Broken Pediment
In classical architecture,
the wide, low pitched gable on a building's facade. Later the pediment
became a decorative element, often used above doorways. In a broken
pediment, the top of the triangular gable is removed to add visual
interest.
Brushstroke
The mark left by a loaded (filled) brush on a
surface. Brushstrokes can be distinguished by their direction, thickness,
texture, and quality. Some artists purposefully
obscure individual brushstrokes to achieve a smooth surface. Other
artists make their brushstrokes obvious to reveal the process of painting
or to express movement or emotion.
Bust
A sculpture, usually
a portrait, that represents the head and shoulders
of a person.
Cityscape
An art work whose subject is the physical aspects
of a city-streets, buildings, etc.
Classical
Referring specifically to the art of ancient Greece
of the 5th and 4th centuries B.C. More generally, the term refers
to Greek and Roman art created from 600 B.C. until the fall of Rome.
It may also describe any art thought to be inspired or influenced
by ancient Greek or Roman examples. Classical is also used to describe
perfection of form, with an emphasis on harmony, unity, and restraint
of emotion.
Collage
The technique of creating two-dimensional
or low relief artworks by adhering materials
such as paper, photographs, cloth, and string to a surface. The technique
takes its name from the French verb coller, meaning "to glue
or paste." Also, a work created using this technique.
Commission
To hire an artist or workshop to make a work of
art. The individual or company paying the artist will often give some
guidelines concerning the subject, medium, or
size of the artwork. The artwork itself may be called a commission.
Composition
The arrangement of shapes, forms, colors, areas
of light and dark, and other elements in a work of art.
Contour
The outline or external boundary of a form.
Cool Colors
Predominantly blue or green in color, producing
the impression of coolness.
Engraving
The process of cutting or otherwise incising a
design in a hard material, such as metal. In metal work and sculpture,
engraving is used primarily for surface decoration. In printmaking,
an engraving is a print made from a metal or
wooden plate that has been engraved.
Expressionist
Describes art that exploits and often exaggerates
color, line, and form to express strong feelings.
Figurative
Describes art that represents the human form through
the depiction of a figure, symbol, or likeness.
Fluting
Closely spaced parallel grooves, commonly used
as embellishment for columns, moldings, pilasters,
and other surfaces in architecture. An object decorated with fluting
is described as fluted.
Folk Art
A broad term used to describe a range of artistic
expression of the people of a country or region as well as the art
of some individuals. Many folk artists are not academically trained.
Folk painters are often concerned with recording the ordinary activities
of life. Their direct and honest depiction of subjects usually reflects
social and cultural characteristics. Simple flat figures and decorative
design, bright colors, and unrealistic spatial relationships often
characterize folk painting.
Foreground
The part of an image that appears to be closest
to the viewer. Contrast background.
Gelatin Silver
Print
A print made from a photographic negative exposed
on gelatin silver paper. Developed in the 1880s, this light-sensitive
paper could be exposed by artificial light, making the production
of photographic enlargements possible. Gelatin silver paper is made
by coating a heavy sheet of paper with a gelatin emulsion of silver
bromide and silver iodide.
Geometric
Describes shapes with regular contours,
such as squares, rectangles, circles, and ovals. These are usually
mechanical or human-made.
Gilded
Describes an object that has been covered with
very thin gold leaf to imitate the effect
of solid or inlaid metal.
Glazier
A person who cuts and fits window glass.
Gold Leaf
A very thin sheet or layer of beaten gold.
Gouache
An opaque watercolor paint usually applied to
paper. Also, a work of art produced using gouache watercolors.
High Relief
Relief sculpture in which
the image greatly protrudes from the surrounding surface.
Horizon Line
The most distant line marking the juncture of
earth and sky.
Hue
The name by which a color is distinguished from
other colors in the visible spectrum. The spectrum is usually divided
into six basic hues: red, yellow, purple, blue, green, and orange.
Icon
Things or persons that are considered the most
admirable or recognizable examples of something.
Idealize
To give an ideal form or value to something.
Implied Line
A line that is visually suggested by the arrangement
of forms, lights and darks, or other elements in a work of art.
Impressionism
An extremely influential 19th-century modern art
movement. Impressionist artists frequently used unmixed color and
broken brushstrokes to record the way they
perceived the affects of color and light. They chose nontraditional
subjects and scenes from the modern world.
Inlay
To set material such as metal, stone, wood, tile,
or ivory into a surface in order to create a design or picture.
Lacquer
A natural varnish obtained from the sap of an
Asian sumac tree.
Landscape
A painting, photograph, or other work of art whose
subject is natural scenery such as mountains, valleys, trees, rivers,
and lakes.
Linear
Describes forms that are defined by line rather
than by mass.
Linear Perspective
A system for creating the illusion of depth on
a two-dimensional surface. The system
is based on a scientifically or mathematically derived series of actual
or implied lines that intersect at a vanishing
point on the horizon. Linear perspective determines the relative size
of objects from the foreground of an image
to the background.
Low Relief
A relief sculpture in which
the image protrudes only slightly from the surrounding surface material.
Medium
The physical material with which an artist works
(marble, clay, paint, wood, ink, etc.). The plural form of the word
is media.
Middleground
The part of an image that lies between the foreground
and background.
Mobile
A sculpture made by balancing objects attached
to thin rods or stiff wires. Mobiles are usually suspended from a
ceiling or balanced on a pedestal so that the parts will move freely
in response to air currents.
Modeling
In painting, the use of light and shadow to give
the appearance of three-dimensional
forms.
Molding
An ornamental strip used to embellish a surface.
A molding may be wood, metal, plastic, or other materials.
Motif
A theme, image, or pattern
in a work of art. Motifs are often repeated.
Naturalism
The accurate depiction of a subject. Truth to
appearance.
Neoclassicism
A European revival style based on ancient Greek
and Roman art, architecture, literature, and culture, prevalent during
the late 18th and the 19th centuries. Aided by the archaeological
discoveries of the remains of Pompeii and Herculaneum, the movement
used classical motifs
and techniques to convey symbolic and often
moral messages. Neoclassical compositions
are generally balanced and controlled.
Nonrepresentational
Characteristic of art in which visual form is
used without reference to anything outside of itself.
Organic
Describes curving, natural forms. Contrast to
geometric.
Overlapping
A technique for creating the illusion of depth
by placing one object in front of another.
Painting
As an object (as opposed to the action), it is
an aesthetic work created by applying paint
to a two-dimensional surface such as
canvas, panel, or a wall.
Palette
The selected group of colors an artist has chosen
to use in a particular work of art.
Panorama
A very large landscape
painting that was either installed in a room or attached to rollers
that moved the landscape in relation to the viewer.
Pattern
An artistic or decorative design created by the
regular repetition of shapes, lines, colors, and motifs.
Period Room
A room taken from an historical building and recreated
in a museum to illustrate the styles and social customs of the time.
The furnishings of a period room are not necessarily original to the
buildings, but are from contemporaneous times and arranged as they
would have been in homes.
Perspective
Various methods for suggesting three dimensions
and spatial depth on a two-dimensional
surface. Linear perspective and
atmospheric perspective are
the most commonly used methods.
Photogravure
A commercial printing process that produces high-quality
reproductions of artworks using etched copper plates or cylinders.
Photo Realism
A painting style that achieves
an extreme amount of realism. Often the subject
is reproduced from a photograph.
Picturesque
Describes paintings, usually landscapes,
that emphasize the interesting or unusual elements in a scene. Common
subjects include ruins, river valleys, and natural phenomena.
Pigment
Dry coloring matter, usually an insoluble powder
to be mixed with water, oil, or another base to produce paint and
similar products.
Pilaster
A rectangular column set into a wall, often fulfilling
a purely ornamental function.
Pop Art
An art movement that developed in New York City
in the 1950s. Pop art is derived from commercial art forms and typically
magnifies items from mass culture such as comic strip panels, popular
foods, and brand-name packages. The name pop art refers to the use
of popular culture images. Pop artists used commercial techniques
as well.
Portrait
A painting, drawing, sculpture, photograph, or
other representation of a real person, living or dead, especially
of the face. An artist who specializes in portraits is known as a
portraitist.
Primary Colors
In subtractive color theory (pigments):
cyan, magenta, and yellow. In additive color theory (light): red,
green, and blue. All other colors are mixed from these three primary
colors.
Print
An image reproduced, usually on paper, from a
prepared block, stone, plate, or screen. Images made from photographic
negatives may also be called prints. Numerous copies of a print are
usually made, allowing for a wide distribution of the images.
Raised Relief
Relief sculpture in which
the image is raised by carving or scraping away the surface materials.
Most reliefs are raised. Contrast with sunken
relief.
Raising
A technique used to decorate metal by hammering
the design in from the back of the sheet of metal. The design is raised
from the surface.
Realism
A style of art in which the
subject is portrayed as closely as possible to the way the human eye
sees it.
Regionalism
A movement in 20th-century American art that peaked
during the Great Depression in the 1930s and celebrated life in small-town,
rural America. The most important regionalist artists, Thomas Hart
Benton, John Steuart Curry, and Grant Wood, were all from the Midwest.
Their styles, though different, all have traditional, conservative,
and nationalistic overtones.
Relief
Sculpture in which a figure or design projects
out or up from the surface material from which it is modeled or carved.
Reliefs are classified by the degree of projection, ranging from sunken,
to low, to high
relief.
Representational
Describes art in which the subject is based on
something from the physical world. The degree of naturalism
(truth to appearance) with which the subject is presented may vary
widely.
Rococo
An 18th-century style of
art and architecture which originated in France. Decorative curving
forms and light colors characterize rococo art.
Scale
The relative size of an object when compared to
others of its kind, to its environment, or to humans.
Sculpture
A three-dimensional
work of art formed by carving, modeling, casting, or assemblage.
Secondary Colors
Colors formed by mixing together equal parts of
two primary colors . Examples: red and
yellow form orange, blue and yellow form green, and red and blue form
violet.
Shade
A color that has been darkened by the addition
of black. Example: navy is a shade of blue.
Silkscreen
A printing process in which the ink or paint is
forced through a fine screen onto the surface below. A coating on
the screen allows color to pass through in some places but not others.
Social Realism
Art with subject or content culled from the contemporary
scene, usually focusing on people or groups who are socially, politically
or economically disenfranchised.
Splat
A slat of wood usually placed in the middle of
a chair back. Splats are often decorated.
Still Life
A representation of a group of inanimate objects
arranged by the artist according to a theme, either symbolic
or aesthetic.
Straight
Photography
A style founded on the separation of photography
from the aesthetic principles followed by
other visual arts and an emphasis on photography's functional properties.
Typically the practitioners of straight photography took rapid exposures,
did not manipulate the exposure or the print, and did not pose their
subjects.
Style
A manner, treatment, or execution of a work or
works of art that is characteristic of a civilization, a people, or
an individual.
Stylized
Describes the simplification or generalization
of forms, often according to specific conventions.
Subtractive
Sculpture
Sculpture formed by the
cutting, chiseling, chipping, or scraping away of a material such
as wood or stone.
Sunken Relief
A relief sculpture made
by carving the image into the surface rather than carving away the
surrounding materials.
Surrealism
An art movement of the 1920s that began in France.
The artistic goals of the movement were to tap the subconscious as
a source of creativity. The artists used juxtaposition of unexpected
objects or themes, odd and vacillating view points, and distorted
figures and objects to convey an atmosphere of fantasy or a dreamlike
quality. During World War II, many of the movement's primary artists
left France and came to New York City.
Symbol
An object or image that represents a concept,
ideology, or thing.
Symbolism
The representation of things or ideas by means
of symbols.
Symmetry
Balance achieved in a work of art by distributing
visual weight (objects or designs) equally on either side of the center.
Texture
Both the tactile surface of an artwork itself
(real texture) and the visual illusion of tactile surfaces within
an artwork (illusionistic texture).
Three-Dimensional
Occupying three dimensions, or giving the illusion
of depth or varying distances from the viewer.
Tint
A color diluted with white. Tints are high value
colors. Example: pink is a tint of red.
Two-Dimensional
Having two dimensions; referring to something
that is flat.
Value
The degree of lightness on a scale of grays running
from black to white. Colors are similarly evaluated: the darker ones
(shades) are said to be lower in value, the lighter
ones (tints) higher in value.
Warm Colors
Predominantly red or yellow in color, producing
the impression of warmth. |
