Art Flashcards

Absolute Symmetry

Term used when each of a composition is exactly the same

In art, the rendering of images and objects in a stylized or simplified way, so that though they remain recognizable, their formal or expressive aspects are emphasized. Compare both representational and nonobjective art.

Abstract Expressionism

A painting style of the late 1940s and early 1950s, predominantly American, characterized by its rendering of expressive content by abstract or nonobjective means.

Acrylic

A plastic resin that, when mixed with water and pigment, forms an inorganic and quick-drying paint medium.

Actual texture

As opposed to visual texture, the literal tactile quality or feel of a thing.

Actual weight

AS opposed to visual weight, the physical weight of material in pounds.

Additive

In color, the adjective used to describe the fact that when different hues of colored light are combined, the resulting mixture is higher in key than the original hues and brighter as well, and as more and more hues are added, the resulting mixture is closer and closer to white. In sculpture, an adjective used to describe the process in which form is built up, shaped, and enlarged by the addition of materials, as distinguished from subtractive sculptural processes, such as carving.

Aesthetic

Pertaining to the appreciation of the beautiful, as oppose to the functional or utilitarian, and, by extension, to the appreciation of any form of art, whether overtly "beautiful" or not

Afocal art

Work in which no single point of the composition demands our attention any more or less than any other and in which the eye can find no place to rest

Afterimage

In color, the tendency of the eye to see the complementary color of an image after the image has been removed.

Ambulatory

A covered walkway, especially around the apse of a church

Analogous colors

Pairs of colors, such as yellow and orange, that are adjacent to each other on the color wheel

Analytic line

Closely related to classical line, a kind of line that is mathematical, precise, and rationally organized, epitomized by the vertical and horizontal grid, as opposed to expressive line

Animation

In film, the process of sequencing still images in rapid succession to give the effect of live motion.

Apse

A smi-circular recess placed, in a Christian church, at the end of the nave

Aquatint

An intaglio printmaking process, in which the acid bites around the powdered particles of resin resulting in a print with granular appearance.

Arbitrary color

Color that has no realistic or natural relation to the object that is depicted, as in a blue horse, or purple cow, but which may have emotional or expressive significance.

Arch

A curved, often semicircular architectural form that spans an opening or space built to wedge-shaped blocks, called voussoirs, with a keystone centered at its top

Architrave

In architecture, the lintel, or horizontal beam, that forms the base of the entablature

Art Deco

A popular art and design style of the 1920s and 1930s associated with the 1925 Exposition Internationale des Arts Decoratifs et Industriels Modernes in Paris and characterized by its integration of organic and geometric forms

Art Nouveau

The art and design style characterized by undulating, curvilinear, and organic forms that dominated popular culture at the turn of the century, and that achieved particular success at the 1900 International Exposition in Paris

Assemblage

An additive sculptural process in which various and diverse elements and objects are combined

Asymmetrical balance

Balance achieved in a composition when neither side reflects or mirrors the other

Atmospheric perspective

A technique, often employed in landscape painting, designed to suggest three-dimensional space in the two-dimensional space of the picture plane, and in which forms and objects distant from the viewer become less distinct, often bluer or cooler in color, and contrast among the various distant elements is greatly reduced.

Autographic line

Any use of line that is distinct to the artist who employs it and is therefore recognizable as a kind of "signature" style

Avant-garde

Those whose works can be characterized as unorthodox and experimental

Axonometric projection

A technique for depicting space, often employed by architects, in which all lines remain parallel rather than receding to a common vanishing point as in linear perspective.

Baroque

A dominant style of art in Europe in the 17th century characterized by its theatrical, or dramatic, use of light and color, by its ornate forms, and by its disregard for classical principles of composition

Barrel vault

A masonry roof constructed on the principle of the arch, that is, in essence, a continuous series of arches, one behind another

Basilica

In Roman architecture, a rectangular public building, entered on one of the long sides. In Christian architecture, a church loosely based on the Roman design, but entered on one of the short ends, with an apse at the other end.

Bilateral symmetry

Term used when the overall effect of a composition is one of absolute symmetry, even though there are clear discrepancies side to side

Binder

In a medium, the substance that holds pigments together.

Burin

A metal tool with a V-shaped point used in engraving

Burr

In drypoint printing, the ridge of metal that is pushed up by the engraving tool as it is pulled across the surface of the plate and that results, when inked, in the rich, velvety texture of the drypoint print

Calligraphy

The art of handwriting in a fine and aesthetic way

Calotype

The first photographic process to utilize a negative image. Discovered by William Henry Fox Talbot in 1841.

Canon or proportion

The "rule" of perfect proportions for the human body as determined by the Greek sculptor Polykleitos in a now lost work, known as the Canon, and based on the idea that each part of the body should be a common fraction of the figures total height.

Cantilever

An architectural form that projects horizontally from its support, employed especially after the development of reinforced concrete construction techniques.

Capital

The crown, or top of a column, upon which the entablature rests.

Carolingian art

European art from the mid-8th to the early 10th century, given impetus and encouragement by Charlemagne's desire to restore the civilization of Rome.

Cartoon

As distinct from common usage, where it refers to a drawing with humorous content, any full size drawing, subsequently transferred to the working surface from which a painting or fresco is made.

Cast iron

A rigid, strong construction material made by adding carbon to iron

Cast shadow

In chiaroscuro, the shadow cast by a figure, darker than the shadowed surface itself

Casting

The process of making sculpture by pouring molten material-often bronze- into a mold bearing the sculpture's impression.

Ceramics

Objects formed out of clay and then hardened by firing in a very hot over or kiln.

Chiaroscuro

In drawing and painting, the use of light and dark to create the effect of three-dimensional, molded surfaces.

Classical line

Closely related to analytical line, a kind of line that is mathematical, precise, and rationally organized, epitomized by the vertical and horizontal grid, as opposed to expressive line.

Coiling

A method of ceramic construction in which long replace strands of clay are coiled on top of one another then smoothed.

Collage

A work made by pasting various scraps of pieces of material- cloths, paper, photographs- onto the surface of the composition

Colonnade

A row of columns set at regular intervals around the building and supporting the base of the roof.

Color wheel

A circular arrangement of hues based on one of a number of various color theories.

Complementary colors

Pairs of colors, such as red and green, that are directly opposite of each other on the color wheel

Composition

The organization of the formal elements in a work of art

Connotation

The meaning associated with or implied by an image, as distinguished from its denotation. (Symbol)

Constructivism

A Russian art movement, fully established by 1921, that was dedicated to nonobjective means of communication.

Conte crayon

A soft drawing tool made by adding clay to graphite.

Content

The meaning of an image, beyond its overt subject matter.

Contour line

The visible border of an object in space.

Contrapposto

The disposition of the human figure in which the hips and legs turned in opposition to the shoulders and chest, creating a counter-positioning of the body.

Convention

A traditional, habitual, or widely accepted method of representation.

Cross-cutting

In film technique, when the editor moves back and forth between two separate events in increasingly shorter sequences in order to heighten drama.

Cross-hatching

Two or more sets of roughly parallel and overlapping lines, set at an angle to one another, in order to create a sense of three-dimensional modeled space.

Cubism

A style of art pioneered by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque in the first decade of the 20th century, noted for the geometry of its forms, its fragmentation of the object, and its increasing abstraction.

Dada (Dadaism)

An art movement that originated during WWI in a number of world capitals, including New York, Paris, Berlin, and Zurich, which was so antagonistic to traditional styles and materials of art that was considered by many to be "anti-war".

Daguerreotype

One of the earliest forms of photography, invented by Louis Jacques Mande Daguerre in 1839, made on a copper plate polished with silver.

Delineation

The descriptive representation of an object by means of outline or contour drawing.

Denotation

The direct or literal meaning of an image, as distinguished from its connotation.

De Stijl

A Dutch art movement of the early 20th century that emphasized abstraction and simplicity, reducing form to the rectangle and color to the primary colors- red, blue and yellow

Diagonal recession

In perspective, when the lines recede to a vanishing point to the right or left of the vantage point.

Dimetric projection

A kind of axonometric projection in which two of the three measurements- height, width, and depth- employ the same scale while the third is different.

Dome

A roof generally in the shape of a hemisphere or half-globe.

Drypoint

An intaglio printmaking process in which the copper or zinc plate is incised by a needle pulled back across the surface leaving a burr.

Earthenware

A type of ceramics made of porous clay and fired at low temperatures that must be glazed if it is to hold liquid.

Editing

In filmmaking, the process of arranging the sequences of the film after it has been shot in its entirety.

Edition

In printmaking, the number of impressions authorized by the artist made from a single master image.

Elevation

The side of a building, or a drawing of the side of a building.

Embroidery

A traditional fiber art in which the design is made by needlework

Encaustic

A method of painting with molten beeswax fused to the support after application by means of heat

Engraving

An intaglio printmaking process in which a sharp tool called a burin is used to incise the plate.

Environment

A form of art that is large enough for the viewer to move around in.

Ethnocentric

Pertaining to the imposition of the point of view of one culture upon the works and attitudes of another.

Expressionism

An art that stresses the psychological and emotional content of the work, associated particularly with German art in the early 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it radically for emotional effect in order to evoke moods or ideas.

Expressive line

A kind of line that seems to spring directly from the artist's emotions or feelings-loose, gestural, and energetic- epitomized by curvilinear forms.

Fauvism

An art movement of the early 20th century characterized by its use of bold arbitrary color. Its name derives from the French word "fauve" meaning "wild beast".

Figure-ground reversal

Term used to describe a two-dimensional work in which the relationship between a form or figure and its background is reserved so that what was figure becomes background and what was background becomes figures.

Firing

the process of baking a ceramic object in a ver hot oven or kiln.

Fixative

A thin liquid film sprayed over pastel and charcoal drawings to protect them from smudging.

Flashback

A narrative technique in film in which the editor cuts to episodes that are supposed to have taken place before the start of the film.

Fluting

The shallow vertical grooves or channels on a column.

Focal point

In a work of art, the center of visual attention, often different from the physical center of the work.

Foreshortening

The modification of perspective to decrease distortion resulting from the apparent visual contraction of an object or figure as it extends backwards from the picture plane at and angle approaching the perpendicular.

Form

The literal shape and mass of an object or figure.More generally, the materials used yo make a work of art, the ways in which these materials are utilized in terms of the formal elements (line, light, color, etc.) and the composition that results.

Fresco

Paintings on plaster, either dry (fresco secco) or wet (buon or true fresco). In the former, the paint is an independent layer, separate from the plaster proper; in the latter, the paint is chemically bound to the plaster, and is integral to the wall or support.

Frontal recession

In perspective, when the line recede to a vanishing point directly across from the vanishing point

Frottage

The technique of putting a sheet of paper over textured surfaces and then rubbing a soft pencil across the paper.

Futurism

An early 20th century art movement, characterized by its desire to celebrate the movement and speed of modern industrial life.

Genre

In cinema, a narrative type, such as a comedy, war films, and horror films. Also, in painting, the representation of scenes from daily life.

Gesso

A plaster mixture used as a ground for painting.

Glaze

In oil painting, a thin, transparent, or semi transparent layer put over a color, usually in order to give it a more luminous quality. In ceramics, a material that is painted on a ceramic object that turns glassy when finished.

Golden section

A system of proportion developed by the ancient Greeks obtained by dividing a line so that the shorter part is to the longer part as the longer part is to the whole, resulting in a ratio that is approximately 5 to 8.

Gothic

A style of architecture and art dominant in Europe from the 12th-15th century, characterized, in its architecture, by features such as pointed arches, flying buttresses, and a vertically symbolic of the ethereal and heavenly.

Gouache

A painting medium similar to watercolor, but opaque instead of transparent.

Grid

A pattern of horizontal and vertical lines that cross each other to make uniform squares or rectangles.

Ground

A coating applied to a canvas or printmaking plate to prepare it for painting or etching.

Happening

A spontaneous, often multimedia, event conceived by artists and performed not only by the artists themselves but often by the public present at the event as well.

Hatching

An area of closely spaced parallel lines, employed in drawing and engraving, to create the effect of shading or modeling.

Heightening

The addition of highlights to a drawing by the application of white or some other pale color.

Hellenism

The art of the 3rd and 2nd centuries B.C.E. in Greece characterized by its physical realism and emotional drama.

Highlight

The spot or one of the spots of highest key or value in the picture

High- (haut-) relief

A sculpture in which the figures and objects remain attached to a background plane and project off of it by at least half their normal depth.

Hue

A color, usually one of the six basic colors of the spectrum- the three primary colors of red, yellow and blue, and the three secondary colors of green, orange, and violet.

Iconography

The images and symbols conventionally associated with a given subject.

Illusionistic art

Generally synonymous with representational art, but more specifically referring to an image so natural that it creates the illusion of being real.

Impasto

Paint applied very thickly to canvas or support

Implied line

A line created by movement or direction, such as the line established by a pointing finger, the direction of a glance, or a body moving through space.

Impression

In printmaking, a single example of an edition.

Impressionism

A late 19th century art movement, entered in France, and characterized by its use of discontinuous strokes of color meant to reproduce the effects of light.

Infrastructure

The systems that deliver services to people- water supply, and waste removal, energy, transportation, and communications.

Installation

An environment that is indoors.artistic genre of three-dimensional works that often are site-specific and designed to transform the perception of a space.

Intaglio

Any form of printmaking in which the line is incised into the surface of the printing plate, including aquatint, drypoint, etching, engraving, and mezzotint.

Intensity

The relative purity of a color's hue, and a function of its relative brightness or dullness; also known as saturation.

Intermediate colors

The range of colors on the color wheel between each both the primary colors and its neighboring secondary colors; yellow-green for example.

International style

A 20th century style of architecture and design marked by its almost austere geometric simplicity.

Investment

In lost-wax casting, a mixture of water, plaster, and powder made from ground-up pottery used to fill the space inside the wax lining go the mold.

Iris shot

In film, a shot which is blurred and rounded at the edges in order to focus the attention of the viewer on the scene in the center.

Isometric projection

A kind of axonometric projection in which all three measurements- height, width, and depth- employ the same scale.

Key

The relative lightness or darkness of a picture or the colors employed in it; used in preference to value.

Kinetic art

Art that moves

Linear perspective

A system for depicting three-dimensional space on a two-dimensional surface that depends on two related principles: that things perceived as far away are smaller than things nearer the viewer, and that parallel lines receding into the distance converge to a vanishing point on the horizon line.

Lithography

A printmaking process in which a polished stone, often limestone, is drawn upon with a greasy material; the surface is moistened and then inked; the ink adheres only to the greasy lines of the drawing; and the design is transferred to dampened paper, usually in a printing press.

Local color

As opposed to optical color and perceptual color, the actual hue of a thing, independent of the ways in which colors might be mixed or how different conditions of light and atmosphere might affect the color.the natural color of a thing in ordinary daylight, uninfluenced by the proximity of other colors.

Long shot

In film, a shot that takes in a wide expanse and many characters at once.

Low- (bas-) relief

A sculpture in which the figures and objects remain attached to a background plane and project off of it by less than one-half their normal depth.

Mannerism

The style of art prevalent especially in Italy from about 1525 until the early years of the 17th century, characterized by its dramatic use of light, exaggerated perspective, distorted forms, and vivid colors.

Mass

Any solid that occupies a three-dimensional volume

Matrix

In printmaking, the master image.

Medium

Any material used to create a work of art.plural form- mediain a painting, a liquid added to the paint that makes it easier to manipulate.

Metalpoint

A drawing technique, especially silverpoint, popular 15th and 16th centuries, in which a stylus with a point of gold, silver, or some other metal was applied to a sheet of paper treated with a mixture of powdered bones (or lead white) and gumwater.

Minimalism

A style of art, predominately American, that dates from the mid-20th century, characterized by its rejection of expressive content and its use of "minimal" formal means.

Mixed media

The combination of two or more media in a single work

Modeling

In sculpture, the shaping of a form in some plastic material, such as a clay or plaster.In drawing, painting, and printmaking, the rendering of a form, usually by means of hatching to chiaroscuro, to create the illusion of a three-dimensional form

Modernism

Generally speaking, the various strategies and directions employed in 20th-century art- cubism, futurism, expressionism, etc.- to explore the particular formal properties of any given medium.

Montage

In film, the sequencing of widely disparate images to create a fast-paced, multifaceted visual impression.

Mosaic

An art form in which small pieces of tile, glass, or stone are fitted together and embedded in cement on surfaces such as walls and floors.

Naturalistic art

Generally synonymous with representational art; but more specifically meaning "like nature" descriptive of any work that resembles the natural world.

Negative shape or space

Empty space, surrounded and shaped so that it acquires a sense of form or volume.

Neoclassicism

A style of the late 18th and early 19th centuries that was influenced by the Greek Classical style and that often employed Classical themes for its subject matter.

Nonobjective art

Art that makes nor reference to the natural world and that explores the inherent expressive or aesthetic potential of the formal elements- line, shape, color- and the formal compositional principles of a given medium.

Objective

As apposed to subjective, free of personal feelings or emotion; hence without bias

Oblique projection

A system for projecting space, commonly found in Japanese art, in which the front of the sides, receding at an angle, remain parallel to each other, rather than converging as in linear perspective.

Oculus

A round, central opening at the top of a dome

Optical color

Spots or dots of pure hues set beside each other and mixed by the viewer's eye.

Optical Painting (Op Art)

An art style particularly popular in the 1960s in which line and color are manipulated in ways that stimulate the eye into believing it perceives movement.

Original print

A print created by the artist alone and which has been printed by the artist or under that artist;s direct supervision.

Overlapping

A way to create the illusion of space by placing one figure behind another

Pastel

A soft crayon made of chalk and pigment. A pale light color.

Penumbra

The lightest of the three basic parts of a shadowed surface, providing the transition from the lighted area to the umbra, or core of the shadow.

Perceptual color

The color as perceived by the eye, changed by the effects of light and atmosphere, in the way, for instance, that distant mountains appears to be blue.

Photorealistic art

Appears to be photographed rather than drawn.

Pop art

A style arising in the early 1960s characterized by its emphasis on the forms and imagery of mass culture.

Post-Impressionism

A name that describes the painting of a number of artists, working in widely different styles, in the last decades of the 19th century in Francethe work or style of a varied group of late 19th-century and early 20th-century artists including Van Gogh, Gauguin, and CÃ©zanne. They reacted against the naturalism of the impressionists to explore color, line, and form, and the emotional response of the artist, a concern that led to the development of expressionism.

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