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  • abstract art

    abstract art

    art that departs significantly from natural appearances; forms are modified or changed to varying degrees in order to emphasize certain qualities or content; also called nonrepresentational

  • acrylic (acrylic resin)

    acrylic (acrylic resin)

    a clear plastic used as a binder in paint and as a casting material in sculpture

  • aesthetics

    aesthetics

    the study and philosophy of the quality and nature of sensory responses related to, but not limited by, the concept of beauty

  • albumen print

    albumen print

    a paper for making photographic prints, on which egg whites (albumen) coated the paper in order to increase its sensitivity, adding to the brightness of whites in the picture

  • analogous

    analogous

    colors which are next to each other on a color wheel

  • anatomy

    anatomy

    the study of body structure, whether human or animal, including the bones, the muscles, and all the other parts

  • appliqué

    appliqué

    a decoration make by cutting a piece of one material and applying it to the surface of another

  • apprentice

    apprentice

    to place a person under legal agreement to work a specified length of time for a master craftsman in return for instruction

  • aquatint

    aquatint

    an intaglio printmaking process in which value areas rather than lines are etched on the printing plate

  • arch

    arch

    a curved structure designed to span an opening, usually made of stone or other masonry; Roman arches are semicircular; Islamic and Gothic arches come to a point at the top

  • architect architecture

    architect architecture

    the art of designing and constructing buildings (structures), and other environmental features; a person who practices architecture is called an architect

  • art criticism

    art criticism

    the description, analysis, evaluation, interpretation, and judgment of works of art; it is a common assumption that criticism is necessarily negative, when actually it can vary in degrees of positive as well as negative remarks

  • art history

    art history

    knowledge about the contributions artists and art make to culture and society

  • atmosphere

    atmosphere

    the air in any given place

  • background

    background

    part of a painting behind the object shown or the farthest depth of space in the picture

  • balance

    balance

    an arrangement of parts achieving a state of equilibrium between opposing forces or influences; major types are symmetrical and asymmetrical

  • Barbizon School

    Barbizon School

    French landscape artists who worked near Barbizon, France, c.1835-1870

  • Baroque

    Baroque

    the seventeenth-century period in Europe characterized in the visual arts by dramatic light and shade, turbulent composition, and exaggerated emotional expression

  • bas-relief

    bas-relief

    low-relief sculpture that projects slightly from a background

  • base

    base

    A plinth or podium on which a sculpture is exhibited, or the portion of a sculpture on which its weight rests

  • Beaux Arts

    Beaux Arts

    a tradition of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries following principles of the French Academy

  • brayer

    brayer

    a rubber roller used to apply ink in printmaking

  • bronze

    bronze

    an alloy of copper and tin used for sculpture

  • cartoon

    cartoon

    a humorous or satirical drawing

  • casting

    casting

    a process that involves pouring liquid material such as molten metal, clay, wax, or plaster into a mold; when the liquid hardens, the mold is removed, leaving a form in the shape of the mold

  • ceramic

    ceramic

    objects made of clay hardened into a relatively permanent material by firing; also, the process of making such objects

  • chiaroscuro

    chiaroscuro

    Italian for “light-dark”; highly developed by Renaissance painters

  • cityscape

    cityscape

    a landscape, in which a city is viewed in the scene

  • clerestory windows

    clerestory windows

    In architecture, this term refers to a wall of a building which is raised above an adjoining room, and this section of wall has windows

  • collage

    collage

    from the French collerto glue; a work made by gluing materials such as paper scraps, photographs, and cloth on to a flat surface

  • color wheel

    color wheel

    a circular arrangement of contiguous spectral hues used in some color systems; also called a color circle

  • column

    column

    round or square support for a roof

  • commissioned

    commissioned

    in art, the term used for hiring an artist to make a specific work of art

  • complementary colors

    complementary colors

    two hues directly opposite one another on a color wheel whichwhen mixed together in proper proportions, produce a neutral gray; the true complement of a color can be seen in its afterimage

  • composition

    composition

    the bringing together of parts or elements to form a whole; the structure, organization, or total form of a work of art

  • Contemporary Art

    Contemporary Art

    generally defined as art produced during the second half of the twentieth century

  • contrast

    contrast

    a juxtaposition of dissimilar elements in a work of art; the degree of difference between the lightest and darkest part of a picture

  • cool colors

    cool colors

    colors whose relative visual temperatures make them seem cool; cool colors generally include green, blue-green, blue, blue-violet, and violet

  • curator

    curator

    a person who is responsible for collection building, care, research, exhibition, and writing

  • design

    design

    both the process and the result of structuring the elements of visual form; composition

  • dimension

    dimension

    a measure of spacial distance; the dimensions of three-dimensional spaces or objects are given as height by width by depth, and they are conventionally listed in that order

  • documentary

    documentary

    a true-to-life portrayal of a subject

  • dome

    dome

    a generally hemispherical roof or vault; theoretically, an arch rotated 360 degrees on its vertical axis

  • easel

    easel

    a support for an artist’s canvas during painting

  • edition

    edition

    in printmaking, the total number of prints made and approved by an artist, usually numbered consecutively; also, a limited number of multiple originals of a single design in any medium

  • elements

    elements

    artistic design considerations such as color, line, texture, shape or form, and space

  • ellipse

    ellipse

    a closed, symmetric curve shaped like an oval

  • emboss

    emboss

    to raise a relief design on the surface of paper through pressure

  • embroidery

    embroidery

    a design worked on a fabric with a needle and thread or yarn

  • emotionalism

    emotionalism

    an aesthetic and critical theory of art which places emphasis on the expressive qualities; according to this theory, the most important thing about a work of art is the vivid communication of moods, feelings, and ideas

  • emphasis

    emphasis

    a design principle that gives dominance to a particular area through color, size, or repetition

  • en plein air

    en plein air

    French for “in open air” used to describe paintings that have been executed outdoors, rather than in the studio and capture the effects of light and air

  • encaustic

    encaustic

    a painting medium in which pigment is suspended in a binder of hot wax

  • engraving

    engraving

    an intaglio printmaking process in which grooves are cut into a metal or wood surface with a sharp cutting tool called a burin or graver; also, the resulting print

  • etching

    etching

    an intaglio printmaking process in which a metal plate is first coated with acid-resistant wax, then scratched to expose the metal to the bite of nitric acid where lines are desired; also, the resulting print

  • exhibitions

    exhibitions

    a public showing of a piece or a collection of objects

  • expression

    expression

    a process of conveying ideas, feelings, and meanings through selective use of the communicative possibilities

  • faux

    faux

    French for false, artificial, fake

  • figurative

    figurative

    describes artwork representing the form of a human, an animal or a thing; any expression of one thing in terms of another thing

  • focal point

    focal point

    the portion of an artwork’s composition on which interest or attention centers

  • foreground

    foreground

    front part of a picture

  • form

    form

    in the broadest sense, the total physical characteristics of an object, event, or situation

  • formalism

    formalism

    An aesthetic and critical theory of art which places emphasis on form; the structural qualities instead of either content or contextual qualities

  • foundry

    foundry

    a workplace where metal is melted and poured into molds

  • fresco

    fresco

    the technique of painting into freshly laid plaster

  • genre

    genre

    a form of realistic painting of people that depicts ordinary events of the day; not religious, historical, or mythological

  • geometrical

    geometrical

    of or according to geometry characterized by straight lines, triangles, circles, or similar regular forms

  • Georgian

    Georgian

    architecture associated with King Georges I, II, III, and IV

  • gesso

    gesso

    a mixture of glue and either chalk or plaster of Paris applied as a ground or coating to surfaces in order to give them the correct properties to receive paint; gesso can also be built up or molded into relief designs, or carved

  • gestural

    gestural

    a movement or movements collectively, of the body or of part of the body, to express or emphasize ideas, emotions, etc

  • glaze

    glaze

    in ceramicsa vitreous or glassy coating applied to seal and decorate surfaces; glaze may be colored, transparent, or opaque; in oil painting, a thin transparent or translucent layer brushed over another layer of paint, allowing the first layer to show through but altering its color slightly

  • Gothic

    Gothic

    primarily an architectural style that prevailed in western Europe from the twelfth through the fifteenth centuries, characterized by pointed arches, ribbed vaultsand flying buttressesthat made it possible to create stone buildings that reached great heights

  • gouache

    gouache

    an opaque, water-soluble paint; watercolor to which opaque white has been added

  • graphic arts

    graphic arts

    fine or applied visual arts and associated techniques involving the application of lines and strokes to a two-dimensional surface

  • ground

    ground

    the background in two-dimensional works-the area around and between figures; also, the surface onto which paint is applied

  • gum arabic or gum acacia

    gum arabic or gum acacia

    hardened sap secreted by acacia trees, used in solution as a medium, vehicle, or binder for water-soluble pigments

  • Harlem Renaissance

    Harlem Renaissance

    refers to the flowering of African American cultural and intellectual life during the 1920s and 1930s

  • harmony

    harmony

    a principle of design which refers to a way of combining elements of art to accent their similarities and bind the picture parts into a whole

  • highlight

    highlight

    a light area that represents the reflection of light (as in the eye of a model)

  • horizon line

    horizon line

    the distant view where sky meets water or land at the artist’s eye level

  • icon

    icon

    an image or symbolic representation often with sacred significance

  • illusionistic

    illusionistic

    of the philosophy that the material world is an immaterial product of the senses

  • illustrator

    illustrator

    an artist who develops artwork to accompany a story, advertisement, or written text

  • image

    image

    a picture, idea, or impression of a person, thing, or idea; or a mental picture of a person, thing, or idea

  • imagery

    imagery

    mental images; especially the products of imagination

  • Imitationalism

    Imitationalism

    an aesthetic theory of art which places emphasis on a realistic representation of subject matter

  • impasto

    impasto

    in painting, thick paint applied to a surface in a heavy manner, having the appearance and consistency of buttery paste

  • Impressionism

    Impressionism

    a style of painting that originated in France about 1870; paintings of casual subjects, executed outdoors, using divided brush strokes to capture the mood of a particular moment as defined by the transitory effects of light and color

  • incised

    incised

    cuts into a surface, typically in metal, stone, or pottery, often used for lettering and decoration

  • intermediate color

    intermediate color

    a hue between a primary and a secondary on the color wheel, such as yellow-green, a mixture of yellow and green

  • jury

    jury

    in art, a committee for awarding prizes

  • kiln

    kiln

    an oven in which pottery or ceramicware is fired

  • landscape

    landscape

    a scenery painting; also includes the cityscape or seascape

  • line

    line

    a mark with length and direction(s); an element of art which refers to the continuous mark made on some surface by a moving point

  • linear

    linear

    a painting technique in which importance is placed on contours or outlines

  • lithography

    lithography

    a printmaking method in which a metal plate or stone is drawn on with an oily crayon that resists water, while holding the ink for printing

  • loom

    loom

    a device for producing cloth by interweaving fibers at right angles

  • matte

    matte

    a dull finish or surface, especially in painting, photography, and ceramics

  • medallion

    medallion

    a large medal worn around the neck on a heavy chain, ribbon, or rope; or, a relief sculpture resembling a medal, usually of circular or oval design, used as a decoration

  • middleground

    middleground

    in a painting, the area between background and foreground often along the horizon line

  • miniature

    miniature

    refers to objects often several sizes smaller than the actual size of the object; a small painting, especially a portrait, on ivory, vellum, etc

  • modernism

    modernism

    theory and practice in late nineteenth and twentieth-century art, which holds that each new generation must build on past styles in new ways or break with the past in order to make the next major historical contribution

  • mold

    mold

    a hollow form for shaping (casting ) a fluid or plastic medium, such as clay, plaster, plastic or molten metal

  • monochromatic

    monochromatic

    a color scheme limited to variations of one hue, a hue with its tints and/or shades

  • monument

    monument

    a structure, such as a building or sculpture, erected as a memorial

  • mood

    mood

    overall feeling or emotion, often equated with expression

  • motif

    motif

    a consistent or recurrent conceptual element, usually a figure or design

  • movement

    movement

    the effect or representation of motion in painting, sculpture, etc

  • mural

    mural

    a large wall painting, often executed in fresco

  • narrative

    narrative

    a representation in art of an event or story

  • Neoclassicism

    Neoclassicism

    new classicism; a revival of classical Greek and Roman forms in art, music, and literature, particularly during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries in Europe and America

  • non-objective

    non-objective

    art without reference to anything outside itself-without representation; also called non-representational-without recognizable objects

  • oil paint

    oil paint

    paint in which the pigment is held together with a binder of oil, usually linseed oil

  • opalescent

    opalescent

    a white surface having iridescence

  • opaque

    opaque

    impenetrable by light; not transparent or translucent

  • organic

    organic

    an irregular shape or one that might be found in nature

  • ornament

    ornament

    something that decorates, adorns, or embellishes; ornamentation- a class of things ornamental

  • painterly

    painterly

    painting characterized by openness of form, in which shapes are defined by loose brushwork in light and dark color areas rather than by outline or contour

  • palette

    palette

    a board on which an artist mixes paints; certain colors used by a specific artist

  • pastels

    pastels

    sticks of powdered pigment held together with a gum binding agent; pale colors or tints

  • pastoral

    pastoral

    a rural picture or scene, dealing with or portraying a feeling of peaceful innocence

  • patina

    patina

    the fine crust or film on bronze or copper; any thin film, coloring, or mellowed appearance on the surface of an object as a result of age or use

  • pattern

    pattern

    a principle of art and probably the universe itself; pattern means the repetition of an element (or elements) in a work

  • pedestal

    pedestal

    an architectural support or base, as for a column or statue

  • perpendicular

    perpendicular

    intersecting at or forming right angles

  • perspective

    perspective

    a formal method of creating a three-dimensional effect on a two-dimensional surface

  • Photorealism

    Photorealism

    a style of painting that became prominent in the 1970s, based on the cool objectivity of photographs as records of subjects

  • pigment

    pigment

    any coloring agent, made from natural or synthetic substances, used in paints or drawing materials

  • Pop Art

    Pop Art

    objects from commercial art and the popular culture transformed into artworks

  • portrait

    portrait

    a representation of a person, esp. of the face, drawn, painted, photographed, or sculptured

  • Post-Modern

    Post-Modern

    an attitude or trend of the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, in which artists and architects accept all that modernism rejects

  • primary colors

    primary colors

    those hues that cannot be produced by mixing other hues; pigment primaries are red, yellow, and blue; light primaries are red, green, and blue; theoretically, pigment primaries can be mixed together to form all the other hues in the spectrum

  • principles

    principles

    certain qualities inherent in the choice and arrangement of elements of art in the production of a work of art; balance, emphasis, harmony, movement, pattern, proportion, rhythm, unity variety

  • print (artist’s print)

    print (artist’s print)

    a multiple-original impression made from a plate, stone, wood block, or screen by an artist or made under the artist’s supervision  Prints are usually made in editions, with each print numbered and signed by the artist

  • Prix de Rome

    Prix de Rome

    an annual prize awarded by the French government in a competition of painters and artists and sculptors and musicians and architects; the winner in each category receives support for a period of study in Rome

  • proof

    proof

    in graphic arts, a preliminary print that is examined for quality control before final printing is done

  • proportion

    proportion

    the size relationship of parts to a whole and to one another

  • quilts

    quilts

    a coverlet or blanket made of two layers of fabric with a layer of cotton, wool, feathers, or down in between, all stitched firmly together, usually in a decorative crisscross design

  • realism

    realism

    a type of representational art in which the artist depicts as closely as possible what the eye sees

  • relief printing

    relief printing

    a printing technique in which the parts of the printing surface that carry ink are left raised, while the remaining areas are cut away; woodcuts and linoleum prints (linocuts) are relief prints

  • relief sculpture

    relief sculpture

    sculpture in which three-dimensional forms project from a flat background of which they are a part; the degree of projection can vary and is described by the terms high relief and low relief (bas-relief)

  • Renaissance

    Renaissance

    period in Europe from the late fourteenth through the sixteenth centuries, characterized by a renewed interest in human-centered classical artliterature, and learning

  • representational art

    representational art

    art in which it is the artist’s intention to present again or represent a particular subject; especially pertaining to realistic portrayal of subject matter

  • rhythm

    rhythm

    the regular or ordered repetition of dominant and subordinate elements or units within a design

  • Romanticism

    Romanticism

    a literary and artistic movement of late eighteenth and nineteenth-century Europe; art of any period based on spontaneity, intuition, and emotion rather than carefully organized rational approaches to form

  • salon

    salon

    a general term for a group art exhibition in France

  • scagliola

    scagliola

    plasterwork in imitation of ornamental marble, consisting of ground gypsum and glue colored with marble or granite dust

  • scale

    scale

    the size or apparent size of an object seen in relation to other objects, people, or its environment or format

  • screen-printing (serigraphy)

    screen-printing (serigraphy)

    a printmaking technique in which stencils are applied to fabric stretched across a frame and paint or ink is forced with a squeegee through the unblocked portions of the screen onto paper or other surface beneath

  • sculptor

    sculptor

    one who produces sculptures

  • sculpture

    sculpture

    a three-dimensional work of art, or the art of making it; may be carved, modeled, constructed, or cast and can also be described as assemblage, in the round, and relief, and made in a huge variety of media

  • secondary colors

    secondary colors

    pigment secondarys are the hues orange, violet, and green, which may be produced in slightly dulled form by mixing two primaries

  • sensory

    sensory

    of or pertaining to the senses

  • sepia

    sepia

    a dark brown ink or pigment originally prepared from secretion of the cuttlefish

  • shade

    shade

    a hue with black added

  • shadow

    shadow

    an area that is not or is only partially illuminated because an opaque object is between the area and the source of light

  • shape

    shape

    a two-dimensional or implied two-dimensional area defined by line or changes in value and/or color

  • shard

    shard

    a piece or fragment of broken pottery

  • shuttle

    shuttle

    a device used in weaving to carry the woof thread back and forth between the warp threads

  • sketch

    sketch

    generally a rough draft, drawing, or design not finished, but containing adequate detail to complete a finished product at a later time

  • soldered

    soldered

    a method of joining pieces of metal by melting an alloy of tin and lead into the joint to fuse the two edges together; the application of a flux to surfaces to be soldered is generally required

  • space

    space

    an element of art that refers to the distance or area between, around, above, below, or within things

  • still life

    still life

    a painting or other two-dimensional work of art representing inanimate objects such as bottles, fruit, and flowers  Also, the arrangement of these objects from which a drawing, painting, or other work is made

  • streetscape

    streetscape

    an artistic representation of a street

  • studio

    studio

    an artist’s workroom

  • style

    style

    a characteristic handling of media and elements of form that gives a work its identity as the product of a particular person, group, art movement, period, or culture

  • symbol

    symbol

    a form or image implying or representing something beyond its obvious and immediate meaning

  • symbolism

    symbolism

    the practice of representing things by means of symbols or of attributing symbolic meanings or significance to objects, events, or relationships

  • symmetry

    symmetry

    a design (or composition) with identical or nearly identical form on opposite sides of a dividing line or central axis; formal balance

  • techniques

    techniques

    any method of working with art materials to produce an art object

  • tempera

    tempera

    a water-based paint using egg, egg yolk, glue, or casein as a binder

  • textile

    textile

    artifact made by weaving, felting, knitting or crocheting natural or synthetic fibers

  • texture

    texture

    the tactile quality of a surface or the representation or invention of the appearance of such a surface quality

  • three-dimensional

    three-dimensional

    having height, width, and depth

  • tint

    tint

    A hue with white added

  • tones

    tones

    harmony in colors and values in an artwork

  • traditional

    traditional

    of, relating to, or in accord with tradition

  • translucent

    translucent

    allowing some light to pass through, but greatly obscuring the image of objects on the other side

  • two-dimensional

    two-dimensional

    having the dimensions of height and width only

  • typography

    typography

    the art and technique of composing printed materials from type

  • unity

    unity

    the quality of wholeness or oneness that is achieved through the effective use of the elements and principles of design

  • utilitarian

    utilitarian

    having a useful function

  • value

    value

    the lightness or darkness of tones or colors; white is the lightest value; black is the darkest

  • vanishing point

    vanishing point

    in linear perspective, the point on the horizon line at which lines or edges that are parallel appear to converge

  • variety

    variety

    a principle of design that refers to a way of combining elements of art in involved ways to achieve intricate and complex relationships

  • Victorian

    Victorian

    being in the highly ornamented, massive style of architecture, decor, and furnishings popular in 19th-century England

  • visualize

    visualize

    to form a mental image or vision; to imagine

  • warm colors

    warm colors

    colors whose relative visual temperature makes them seem warm; warm colors or hues include red-violet, red, red-orange, orange, yellow-orange, and yellow

  • wash

    wash

    a thin, transparent layer of paint or ink

  • watercolor

    watercolor

    paint that uses water-soluble gum as the binder and water as the vehicle; characterized by transparency and also, the resulting painting

  • welding

    welding

    The process of joining metals by fusing them together under direct, intense heat usually with an oxyacetylene torch; a metal rod may be applied to the joint which melts into any gaps and strengthens the bond

  • woodblock print

    woodblock print

    a type of relief print made from an image that is left raised on a block of wood