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A

abstraction or abstract art - Imagery, which departs from representational accuracy, to a variable range of possible degrees, for some reason other than verisimilitude. Abstract artists select and then exaggerate or simplify the forms suggested by the world around them.

Abstract Expressionism - Painting style developed after the Second World War in New York City that stressed elements and principles of art as subject matter and emotion rather than planned design. Abstract Expressionism is also called Action Painting because artists applied paint freely to huge canvases.

academies - Art schools that developed in western Europe after the French Revolution. They replaced the apprentice system.

acrylic paint - Pigments mixed with an acrylic vehicle.

action painting - See abstract painting.

active - Expressing movement. Diagonal and zigzag lines and diagonally slanting shapes and forms are active. Opposite of static.

aesthetic experience - Your personal experience with a work of art.

aesthetic judgment - Values used in judging a work of art involving reasons for finding a work of art beautiful or satisfying. 

aesthetics or athetics - The branch of philosophy that deals with the nature and value of art objects and experiences. It is concerned with identifying the clues within works that can be used to understand, judge, and defend judgments about those works. Originally, any activity connected with art, beauty and taste, becoming more broadly the study of art's function, nature, ontology, purpose, and so on.

after image - Weak image of complementary colour created by a viewersâ brain as a reaction to prolonged looking at a colour. After staring at red, the viewer sees an after image of green.

Age of Faith - See Middle Ages.

air brush - Atomizer operated by compressed air used for spraying on paint.

analogous colors - Color that are next to each other on the color wheel and are closely related. For example, blue, blue-green, and green all have the color blue in common. Families of analogous colors include the warm colors (red, orange and yellow) and the cool colors (green, blue and violet). Analogous colors are sometimes referred to as adjacent colors.

animation - The art of moving cartoons. A series of drawings are photographed, and the figures seem to move when they are projected one after another.

appliquŽ - An art form in which cutout fabric decorations are fastened to a larger surface to create a new design.

apprentice - Student artist. In the Middle Ages, apprentices learnt from master artists in craft guilds.

approximate symmetry - Balance that is almost symmetrical. This type of symmetry produces the effect of stability, as formal balance does, but small differences make the arrangement interesting.

arbitrary colours - Colour chosen by the artist to express his or her feelings. Opposite of optical colour.

arch - Curved stone structure supporting weight of material over an open space. Doorways and bridges use arches.

architect - A person who designs buildings that are well constructed, aesthetically pleasing, and functional.

architecture - Art form of designing and planning construction of buildings, cities, and bridges.

armature - Framework for supporting material used in sculpting.

Armory Show - first large exhibition of modern art in America. It was held in the 69th Regiment Armory building in New York City in 1913. The ashcan School artists, who were influenced by modern European art, helped organize the exhibit.

art - The use of skill and imagination to produce beautiful objects.

art critic - a person who describes, analyzes, interprets, evaluates, and expresses judgments of the merits, faults and value of artworks.

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. Critical methods vary considerably in their approaches to considering the forms, contents, and contexts of works of art. There are several stages to critical analysis:

1. initial reaction (involving initial identification) to a work.
2. description (involving further identification) -- identifying subject matter and / or elements of art in a work.
3. analysis (open to even further identification) -- identifying order (organization) in a work -- how principles of art have been used to arrange the elements of art in a work.
4. interpretation (identifying meaning) -- the artist's expression / communication of feelings, moods, and ideas in a work.
5. evaluation (judgment) -- assessing the meaning and artistic merit in a work.

Art Deco - Art Deco is an elegant style of decorative art and especially architecture from 1920âs to 1930âs, similar in some regards to the earlier Art Nouveau style, but with a more Modernist esthetic. The Art Deco style is reminiscent of the Precisionist art movement, which developed at about the same time. Well-known artists within the Art Deco movement included Tamara de Lempicka, glass artist Rene Lalique, fashion illustrator Erte and graphic designer Adolphe Mouron, known as Cassandre.

Art Nouveau - An elegant decorative art style characterized by intricately detailed patterns of curving lines from late 19^{th century to early 20th century. Somewhat rooted in the British Arts and Crafts Movement of William Morris, Art Nouveau became popular across Europe and in the United States. Leading practitioners included Aubrey Beardsley, Gustav Klimt, Alphonse Mucha, and the American glassmaker Louis Comfort Tiffany. Art Nouveau remained popular until about the time of World War I, and was ultimately replaced by the Art Deco style.}

Ashcan School - Group of American artists working in the early 20th century who used city people and city scenes for subject matter. Originally called ã The eightä, they helped to organize the Armory Show.

assemblage - Three- dimensional work of art consisting of many pieces assembled together.

asymmetry or asymmetrical balance - The parts of a design organized so that one side differs from the other without destroying the overall harmony. Also known as informal balance.

atmospheric perspective - Effect of air and light on how an object is perceived by the viewer. The more air between the viewer and the object, the more the object seems to fade. A bright object seems closer to the viewer than a dull object.

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B

background - Part of the picture plane that seems to be farthest from the viewer.

balance - Principle of design concerned with equalizing visual forces, or elements, in a work of art. If a work of art has visual balance, the viewer feels that the elements have been arranged in a satisfying way. Visual imbalance makes the viewer feel that the elements need to be rearranged. The two types of balance are formal ( or symmetrical) and informal ( or asymmetrical) .

Baroque Art - Emerged in Europe around 1600, as an reaction against the intricate and formulaic Mannerist style which dominated the Late Renaissance. Baroque Art is less complex, more realistic and more emotionally affecting than Mannerism. This movement was encouraged by the Catholic Church, the most important patron of the arts at that time, as a return to tradition and spirituality. One of the great periods of art history, Baroque Art was developed by Caravaggio, Annibale Carracci, and Gianlorenzo Bernini, among others. This was also the age of Rubens, Rembrandt, Vel‡zquez, and Vermeer. In the 18th century, Baroque Art was replaced by the more elegant and elaborate Rococo style.

Bauhaus - The Bauhaus School is a school of design founded in Weimar, Germany in 1919 by Walter Gropius. Its signature modernist style, integrating Expressionist art with the fields of design and architecture, was enormously influential throughout the world. It was later led by the architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. The school's faculty included such artists as Paul Klee, Lyonel Feininger, Wassily Kandinsky, Johannes Itten, Oskar Schlemmer , Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, Josef Albers and Anni Albers. Others associated with the Bauhaus include Gunta Stolzl, Lux Feininger and George Grosz. The school was closed by the Nazis in 1933, and many of the artists subsequently emigrated to the United States in search of intellectual freedom.

binder - A liquid that holds together the grains of pigment.

blending - Technique of shading through smooth, gradual application of dark value.

block - Piece of engraved wood or linoleum inked to make a print.

brayer - Roller with a handle used to apply ink to a surface.

buttress - Projecting brick or stone structure that supports an arch or vault. A flying buttress is connected with a wall by an arch. It reaches over the side aisle to support the roof of cathedral.

Byzantine art - The art of the Byzantine Empire, centered in Constantinople (now Istanbul). It was centered around the Orthodox church, in the painting of icons and the decoration of churches with frescoes and mosaics. The Byzantine style basically ended with the fall of Constantinople to the Turks in 1453, during the European Renaissance era. However, its influence continued in Russia and elsewhere where the Orthodox church held sway.

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C

calligraphic lines - Flowing lines made with brush strokes similar to Oriental writing.

calligraphy - An Oriental method of beautiful hand writing.

canvas - Rough cloth on which an oil painting is made. It can be substituted by linen.

caricature - Humorous drawing that exaggerates features of a person to make fun of or criticize him or her. Caricatures are often used in editorial cartoons.

carving - Shaping wood, stone, plaster, or marble by cutting and chipping.

cast - Shaped by pouring melted or liquid material into a mold and letting it harden.

catacombs - Rock tunnels under the city of Rome that early Christians used as meeting places. Paintings on Catacomb walls used secret symbols because Christianity was illegal until the fourth century.

cathedral - main church in a district.

central axis - A dividing line that works like the point of balance in the balance scale. The central axis is used to measure visual weight in a work of art. It can be vertical (balance between sides is measured) or horizontal (balance between top and bottom is measured) .

ceramics - Art of making objects with clay to produce pottery and sculpture. Pottery is fired in a kiln to make it stronger.

characters - Chinese or Japanese line drawings that stand fore letters, ideas, objects, or verbal sounds. They are formed by calligraphic lines.

chiaroscuro - The arrangement of light and shadow. This technique was introduced by Italian artist during the Renaissance and used widely by Baroque artists. Chiaroscuro is also called modeling and shading.

cityscape - Painting or drawing in which a city is the main feature.

classical - Referring to the art of ancient Greece and Rome. The Greeks created art based on the ideals of perfect proportion and logic instead of emotion. The Romans adapted Greek art and spread throughout the civilized world.

(Victorian) Classicism - British style of historical painting inspired by the art and architecture of Classical Greece and Rome. In the 19th century, an increasing number of Europeans made the "Grand Tour" to Mediterranean lands. There was a great popular interest in the region's ancient ruins and exotic cultures, and this interest fuelled the rise of Classicism in Britain, and Orientalism, which was mostly centered in continental Europe. The Classicists were closely associated with the Pre-Raphaelites, many artists being influenced by both styles to one degree or another. Both movements were highly romantic and were inspired by similar historical and mythological themes -- the key distinction being that the Classicists embodied the rigid Academic standards of painting, while the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood was initially formed as a rebellion against those same standards.
Lawrence Alma-Tadema and Frederick Leighton were the leading Classicists, and indeed in their lifetimes were considered by many to be the finest painters of their generation.

clay - Stiff, sticky earth that is used in ceramics. It is wet, and it hardens after drying or heating.

clustering - Technique for creating a focal point by grouping several different shaped closely together.

coil - Long roll joined into a circle or spiral. Clay coils are used to make pottery.

collage - Two-dimensional work of art consisting of bits and pieces of textured paper and fabric pasted onto a painting.

colour - An element of art that is derived from reflected light. The sensation of colour is aroused in the brain by response of the eyes to different wavelengths of light. Colour has three properties: hue, value, and intensity.

colour-field painting - Twentieth-century style of painting using flat areas of colour for the pure sensation of colour. Artists creating colour-field paintings are not trying to express emotion or use a precise design.

colour scheme - Plan for organizing colours. Types of colour schemes include monochromatic, analogous, complementary, triad, split complementary, warm, and cool.

colour spectrum - The effect that occurs when light passes through a prism; the beam of white light is bent and separated into bands of colour. Colours always appear in the same order by wavelengths, from longest to shortest: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, violet,. A rainbow displays the spectrum.

colour triad - Three colours spaced an equal distance apart on the colour wheel. The primary colour triad is red, yellow, and blue; the secondary colour triad is orange, green, and violet. A colour triad is a type of colour scheme.

colour wheel - The spectrum bent into a circle.

compass - Instrument used for measuring and drawing arcs and circles.

complementary colors - Colors that are directly opposite each other on the color wheel, such as red and green, blue and orange, and violet and yellow. When complementary colors are mixed together they form the neutral colors of gray.

composition - The plan, placement or arrangement of the elements of art in a work.

Contemporary Realism - The straightforward realistic style of painting which continues to be widely practiced in this post-abstract era( late 1960âs - present) in America. It is different from Photorealism, which is somewhat ironic and conceptual in its nature. Contemporary Realists form a disparate group, but what they have in common is that they are literate in the concepts of Modern Art, but choose to work in a more traditional form. Many actually began as abstract painters, having come through an educational system dominated by an establishment dismissive of representational painting. Among the best-known artists associated with this movement are Neil Welliver, William Bailey, and Philip Pearlstein. There is an identifiable "group" of Contemporary Realists, but we have used a fairly loose definition to allow inclusion of a larger number of 20th-century realists.

content - The message the work communicates. The content can relate to the subject matter or be an idea or emotion. Theme is another word for content.

continuation - Technique for creating unity by arranging shapes so that the line or edge of one shape continues a line or edge of the text.

contour drawing - Drawing in which only contour lines are used to represent the subject matter. Artists keep their eyes on the object they are drawing and concentrate on directions and curves.

contour lines - Lines that surround and define the edges of a subject, giving it shape and volume. These should not be confused with a form's outlines.

contrast - Technique for creating a focal point by using differences in elements.

convergence - Technique for creating a focal point by arranging elements so that many lines or shapes point to one item or area.

cool colors - Colors are often described as having temperature -- as warm (purples, reds, oranges, and yellows), neutral (violets and greens), or cool (blue-greens and blues). Cool colors are often associated with water, sky, spring, and foliage, and suggest cool temperatures. They appear on one side of the color wheel, bordered by the neutral colors, and opposite the warm colors. Psychologically, cool colors are said to be calming, unemphatic, depressive; and optically, they generally appear to recede.

craft guilds - Group of artists working in western European towns in the Middle Ages. Master artists taught apprentices their skills.

crafts - Art forms creating works of art that are both beautiful and useful. Crafts include weaving, fabric design, ceramics, and jewelry making.

Crayons - Pigments held together with wax and molded into sticks.

Credit line - A list of important facts about a work of art. A credit line usually includes the artistâs name, the title of the work, year completed, medium used, size (height, width, and depth), location (gallery, museum, or collection and city), donors, and date donated.

crewel - Loosely twisted yarn used in embroidery.

criteria - Standards of judgment.

crosshatching - The technique of using crossed

Cubism - Cubism was developed between about 1908 and 1912 in a collaboration between Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque. Their immediate influences are said to be Tribal Art (although Braque later disputed this) and the work of Paul Cezanne. The movement itself was not long-lived or widespread, but it began an immense creative explosion which resonated through all of 20th century art. The key concept of Cubism is that the essence of objects can only be captured by showing it from multiple points of view simultaneously. Cubism had run its course by the end of World War I, but among the movements directly influenced by it were Orphism, Purism, Precisionism, Futurism, Constructivism, and, to some degree, Expressionism.

culture - Behaviors, customs, ideas, and skills of a group of people. Studying art objects produced by a group of people is one way to learn about a culture.

curved lines - Lines that are always bending and change direction gradually.

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D

Dada - Dada was a protest by a group of European artists against World War I, bourgeois society, and the conservativism of traditional thought. Its followers used non sequiturs and absurdities to create artworks and performances which defied intellectual analysis. They also included "found" objects in sculptures and installations. The founders included the French artist Jean Arp and the writers Tristan Tzara and Hugo Ball. Francis Picabia and Marcel Duchamp were also key contributors. The Dada movement evolved into Surrealism in the 1920's.

dadaists - Early twentieth-century artists using fantastic and strange objects as subject matter.

Dark Ages - See Middle Ages.

decalcomania - The technique of creating random texture patterns by pulling apart surfaces between which blobs of paint have been squeezed.

dense - Compact; having parts crowded together. Dense materials are solid and heavy. Opposite of soft.

description - A list of all the things you see in the work.

design - Plan, organization, or arrangement of elements in a work of art.

design qualities - how well the work is organized. This aesthetic quality is favored by formalism.

De Stijl - Dutch for ãthe styleä. A painting style developed by Mondrian on Holland in the early twentieth century that uses only vertical and horizontal lines; black, white, and gray: and the three primary colours.

diagonal lines - Lines that slant.

dimension - Amount of space an object takes up in one direction. The three dimensions are height, width, and depth.

distortion - Deviations from expected, normal proportions

divine proportion - See golden mean.

dome - Hemispherical vault or ceiling over a circular opening. A dome rises above the center part of a building.

dominant element - Element of a work of art noticed first. Elements noticed later are called subordinate.

dominant element - Element of a work of art noticed first. Elements noticed later are called subordinate.

dyes - Pigments that dissolve in liquid. Dye sinks into a material and stains it.

Dynamism - Term used by the Futurists to refer to the forces of movement.

dynasty - A period of time during which a single family provided a succession of rulers.

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E

edition - A series of identical prints made from the same plate.

elements of art - Basic visual symbols in the language of art. The elements of art are line, shape, form, space, colour, value, and texture.

embroidery - Method of decorating fabric with stitches.

emotionalism - Theory that requires a strong communication of feelings, moods, or ideas from the work to the viewer. One of the three theories of art, the others being formalism and imitationalism.

emphasis - Any forcefulness that gives importance or dominance (weight) to some feature or features of an artwork; something singled out, stressed, or drawn attention to by means of contrast, anomaly, or counterpoint for aesthetic impact. A way of combining elements to stress the differences between those elements and to create one or more centers of interest in a work. Often, emphasized elements are used to direct and focus attention on the most important parts of a composition -- its focal point. Emphasis is one of the principles of design.

engraving - Method of cutting a design into a material, usually metal, with a sharp tool. A print can be made by inking an engraved surface.

exaggeration - Deviations from expected, normal proportions.

Expressionism - A style of art in which the intention is not to reproduce a subject accurately, but instead to portray it in such a way as to express the inner state of the artist. The movement is associated with Germany in particular from 1905 to 1940âs, and was influenced by such emotionally-charged styles as Symbolism, Fauvism, and Cubism. There are several different and somewhat overlapping groups of Expressionist artists, including Die BrŸcke, Der Blaue Reiter, Die Neue Sachlichkeit and the Bauhaus School. Leading Expressionists included Wassily Kandinsky, George Grosz, Franz Marc, and Amadeo Modigliani. In the mid-20th century, Abstract Expressionism (in which there is no subject at all, but instead pure form) was developed into an extremely influential style.

expressive qualities - Those qualities that communicate ideas and moods.

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F

fabric - Material made from fibers. Cloth and felt are fabrics.

fauves - French for ãwild beastä. A group of early twentieth-century painters who used brilliant colours and bold distortions in an uncontrolled way. Their leader was Henri Matisse.

Fauvism - An early twentieth century art movement and style of painting in France. The name Fauves, French for "Wild Beasts," was given to artists adhering to this style because it was felt that they used intense colors in a violent, uncontrolled way. The leader of the Fauves was Henri Matisse (French, 1869-1954).

Federal Art Project - Government program established during the Depression to create jobs for American artists.

fiber - Thin, threadlike linear material that can be woven or spun into fabric.

fiberfill - Lightweight, fluffy filling material made of synthetic fibers.

figure - Human form in a work of art.

Fine art - Works of art made to be enjoyed, not used, and judged by the theories of art. Opposite of functional art.

fire - To apply heat to harden pottery.

flowing rhythm - Visual rhythm created by repeating wavy lines.

focal point - The first part of a work to attract the attention of the viewer. Focal points are created by contrast, location, isolation, convergence, and use of the unusual.

foreground - Part of the picture plane that appears closest to the viewer. The foreground is usually at the bottom of the picture.

foreshortening - To shorten an object to make it look as if it extends backward into space. This method reproduces proportions a viewer actually sees, which depend on the viewerâs distance from the object or person

form - Objects having three dimensions. Like a shape, a form has height and width, but it also has depth. Forms are either geometric or free-form.

formal balance - Way of organizing parts of a design so that equal, or very similar, elements are placed on opposite sides of a central axis. Formal balance suggests stability. Symmetry is a type of formal balance. Opposite of informal balance.

formalism - An aesthetic and critical theory of art which places emphasis on form -- the structural qualities instead of either content (sometimes called literal or allegorical qualities) or contextual qualities. According to this point of view, the most important thing about a work of art is the effective organization of the elements of art through the use of the principles of design.

found materials - Natural objects (such as stones or leaves) and ordinary, manufactured objects (such as coins, keys, wire, or paper plates) found by chance that can be used to create a work of art.

free-form shapes - Irregular and uneven shapes. Their outlines are curved, or angular, or both. Free-form shapes are often natural. Opposite of geometric shapes.

freestanding - Work of art surrounded on all sides by space. A three-dimensional work of art is freestanding. Opposite of relief.

frottage - A method of placing a freshly painted canvas right-side-up over a raised texture and scraping the surface of the paint.

Functional art - Works of art made to be used instead of only enjoyed. Objects must be judged by how well they work when used.

Futurism - An Italian modernist movement celebrating the technological era (1900 to 1914). It was largely inspired by the development of Cubism. The core themes of Futurist thought and art were machines and motion. Futurism was founded in 1909 by Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, along with painters Giacomo Balla, Umberto Boccioni, Carlo Carrˆ, and Gino Severini.

Futurists - Early twentieth-century Italian artists who arranged angular forms to suggest motion. They called the forces of movement dynamism.

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G

gallery - Place for displaying or selling works of art.

genre painting - Paintings that have scenes from everyday life as their subject matter.

geometric shapes - Precise shapes that can be described using mathematical formulas. Basic geometric shapes are the circle, the square, and the triangle. Basic geometric forms are the cylinder, the cube, and the pyramid. Opposite of free-from shapes.

gestures - An expressive movement.

gesture drawing - Line drawing done quickly to capture movement of the subjectâs body.

glaze - In ceramics, a thin, glossy coating fired into pottery. In painting, a thin layer of transparent paint.

The Golden Age of Illustration - It was a period of unparalleled excellence in book and magazine illustration (1880âs to 1920âs). It was made possible by advances in technology permitting accurate and inexpensive reproduction of art, combined with an enormous public demand for new graphic art. In Europe, Golden Age artists were strongly influenced by the Pre-Raphaelites and by such design-oriented movements as the Arts and Crafts Movement, Art Nouveau, and Les Nabis. Leading artists included Arthur Rackham, Walter Crane, Edmund Dulac, Aubrey Beardsley, and Kay Nielsen. American illustration of this period is largely the story of the Brandywine Valley tradition, which was begun by Howard Pyle and carried on by his students, who included N.C. Wyeth, Frank Schoonover, Edwin Austin Abbey, and Maxfield Parrish.

Golden Mean - A line divided into two parts so that the smaller line has the same proportion, or ratio, to the larger line as the larger line has to the whole line. Perfect ratio (relationship of parts) discovered by Euclid, a Greek philosopher. Its mathematical expression is 1 to 1.6. It was also called the Golden Section and the Golden Rectangle. The long sides of the Golden Rectangle are a little more than half again as long as the short sides. This ratio was rediscovered in the early 16th century and named the Divine Proportion.

Gothic Art - The style of art produced in Europe from the middle ages up to the beginning of the Renaissance (5th Century to 16th Century A.D.). Typically religious in nature, it is especially known for the distinctive arched design of its churches, its stained glass, and its illuminated manuscripts. In the late 14th century, anticipating the Renaissance, Gothic Art evolved towards a more secular style known as International Gothic. One of the best-known artists of this period is Simone Martini. Although superseded by Renaissance art, there was a Gothic Revival in the 18th and 19th centuries, which was largely rooted in nostalgia.

gouache - Pigments ground in water and mixed with gum to form opaque watercolour. Gouache resembles school tempera or poster paint.

grattage - Technique of scratching into wet paint with a variety of tools, such as forks, razors, and combs for the purpose of creating different textures.

grid - Pattern of interesting vertical and horizontal lines.

The Group of Seven - Canadian wilderness landscape painters inspired by the work of Tom Thomson, who died under mysterious circumstances while on a trek in Ontario's Algonquin Park in 1917 (his body was found floating in Canoe Lake, but an autopsy showed an injury to the head and no evidence of water in his lungs). Group of Seven artists were strongly influenced by Post-Impressionism, creating bold, vividly-colored canvases, and instilling elements of the landscape with symbolic meaning (1920 to 1960's). The group was not limited to the seven founding members, and they eventually changed their name to the Canadian Group of Painters. Besides Thomson, the group included Franklin Carmichael, A.J. Casson, Lionel Fitzgerald, Lawren Harris, Edwin Holgate, A.Y. Jackson, Arthur Lismer, J.E.H. MacDonald, F.H. Varley. Emily Carr was inspired by the group early in her career.

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H

hard-edge - In two-dimensional art, shapes with clearly defined outlines. Hard-edge shapes look dense. Opposite of soft-edge.

harmony - The principle of design that creates unity by stressing similarities of separate but related parts.

hatching - Technique of shading with a series of fine parallel lines.

Hierarchical proportion - When figures are arranged in a work of art so scale indicates importance.

Hieroglyphics - Picture writing used by ancient Egyptians.

high-key painting - Painting using many tints of a colour.

highlights - Small areas of white (or very bright tint like Naples yellow) used to show the very brightest spots. Highlights show the surfaces of the subject that reflect the most light. They are used to create the illusion of form. Opposite of shadows.

high relief - Sculpture in which areas project far out from a flat surface.

high-resolution - Producing a sharp image.

hologram - Images in three- dimensions created with a laser beam.

horizon - Point at which earth and sky seem to meet.

horizontal line - Line parallel to the horizon. Horizontal lines lie flat and are parallel to the bottom edge of paper or canvas.

hue - The name of a spectral colour. Hue is related to the wavelength of reflected light. The primary hues are red, blue, and yellow; they are called primary because they cannot be made by mixing other hues together. The secondary hues, made by mixing two primary hues, are orange, green, and purple. Hue is one of three properties of colour.

Hyper-Realism - See New Realism.

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I

image - A picture, idea, or impression of a person, thing, or idea; or a mental picture of a person, thing, or idea. The word imagery refers to a group or body of related images.

implied lines - A series of points that the viewerâs eyes automatically connect. Implied lines are suggested, not real.

impression - Mark or imprint made by pressure.

Impressionism - An art movement and style of painting that started in France during the 1860s. Impressionist artists tried to paint candid glimpses of their subjects showing the effects of sunlight on things at different times of day. The leaders of this movement were: Camille Pissarro (French, 1830-1903), Edgar Degas (French, 1834-1917), Claude Monet (French, 1840-1926), and Pierre Renoir (French, 1841-1919). Some of the early work of Paul Cezanne (French, 1839-1906) fits into this style, though his later work so transcends it that it belongs to another movement known as Post-Impressionism.

imitationalism - An aesthetic theory focusing on realistic presentation. One of the three theories of art, the others being emotionalism and formalism.

industrial designers - People who design the products of industry.

informal balance - Way of organizing parts of a design so that unlike objects have equal visual weight or eye attraction. Asymmetry is another term for informal balance. Opposite of formal balance.

intensity - The brightness or dullness of a hue. A pure hue is called high-intensity colour. A dulled hue (a colour mixed with its complement) is called a low-intensity colour (or muddy colour). Intensity is one of the three properties of colour.

interior designer - A person who plans the design and decoration of the interior spaces in homes and offices.

intermediate colours - A colour made by mixing a primary colour with a secondary colour. Red-orange is an intermediate colour.

interpretation - The meaning or mood of the work.

invented texture - A kind of texture that does not represent a real texture but creates sensation of one by representing lines and shapes in a two-dimensional pattern. Opposite of simulated texture.

isolation - Technique for creating a focal point by putting one object to emphasize it.

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J

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K

kiln - Furnace in which clay is fired in order to harden it. A kiln may be electric, gas, or wood burning.

kinetic sculpture - A work of art that actually moves in space.

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L

landscape - A painting, photograph or other work of art which depicts scenery such as mountains, valleys, trees, rivers and forests. There is invariably some sky in the scene.

landscape architect - A person who designs playgrounds, parks, and outdoor areas around buildings and along highways.

layout - The way items are arranges on the page.

line - A mark drawn with a pointed, moving tool. Although lines can vary in appearance (they can have different lengths, widths, textures, directions, ad degree of curve), they are considers one-dimensional and are measured by length. A line is also considered as a path of a dot through space and is used by an artist to control the viewerâs eye movement. There are five kinds of lines: vertical, horizontal, diagonal, curved, and zigzag.

linear perspective - A graphic system that creates the illusion of depth and volume on a flat surface. In one-point linear perspective, all receding lines meet at a single point. In two-point linear perspective, different sets of lines meet at different points.

literal qualities - The realistic qualities that appear in the subject of the work.

location - The technique of using placement of elements to create a focal point. Items near the center of a work of art are usually noticed first.

logos - Identifying symbols.

loom - machine or frame for waving.

low-key painting - Painting using many shades or dark values of a colour. Opposite of high-key painting.

low-relief - See bas-relief.

lucite - The trademark for an acrylic plastic molded into transparent sheets, tubes, or rods.

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M

Mannerism - the artistic style which gained popularity in the period (mid to late 16^{th century) following the High Renaissance, takes as its ideals the work of Raphael and Michelangelo Buonarroti. It is considered to be a period of tecnical accomplishment but of formulaic, theatrical and overly stylized work. Mannerist Art is characterized by a complex composition, with muscular and elongated figures in complex poses. Discussing Michelangelo in his journal, Eug�ne Delacroix gives as good a description as any of the limitations of Mannerism:}

manufactured shapes/forms - Shapes or forms made by people either by hand or by machine. Opposite of natural shapes/forms.

mat - To frame a picture or drawing with a cardboard border.

matte surface - Surface that reflects a soft, dull light. Paper has a matte surface. Opposite of shiny surface.

medallion - Round, medal-like decoration.

media - See medium.

Medieval - Related to the Middle Ages.

medium - Material used to make art. Plural is media.

Mexican muralists - Early twentieth century artists whose paintings on walls and ceilings used solid forms and powerful colours to express their feeling about the Mexican Revolution. Also called Mexican Expressionists.

Middle ages - Period of roughly one thousand years from the destruction of the Roman Empire to the Renaissance. Culture centered around the Church. The Middle Ages are also called the Dark ages (because few new ideas developed) and the Age of Faith (because religion was a powerful force.)

middle ground - Area in a picture between the foreground and the background.

Minimalism - A style of art developed in the 1960âs in which objects are stripped down to their elemental, geometric form, and presented in an impersonal manner. It is an Abstract form of art which developed as a reaction against the subjective elements of Abstract Expressionism. Minimalist art frequently takes the form of installations or sculpture, for example with Donald Judd, Dan Flavin, Carl Andre, and Sol LeWitt. However, there are also a number of minimalist painters, including Ellsworth Kelly, and Frank Stella.

mobile - Moving sculpture in which shapes are balanced and arranged on wire arms and suspended from the ceiling to move freely in the air currents.

modeling - See chiaroscuro.

modular sculpture - Freestanding sculpture that joins modules.

module - A three-dimensional motif.

Monkâs cloth - Heavy cloth with a basket weave, often used for curtains.

monochrome - One colour. A monochromatic colour scheme uses only one hue and the values, tints, and shades of that hue for a unifying effect.

mortar and pestle - Ceramic bowl and tool for grinding something into a powder.

mosaic - A picture or design made of tiny pieces (called tesserae) of colored stone, glass, tile or paper adhered to a surface.

motif - A unit that is repeated in visual rhythm. Units in a motif may or may not be an exact duplicate of the first unit.

movement - Principal of design that deals with creating the illusion of action or physical change in person.

mural - Painting on a wall or ceiling.

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N

Les Nabis - A Parisian group of Post-Impressionist artists and illustrators who became very influential in the field of graphic art from 1891 to 1899. Their emphasis on design was shared by the parallel Art Nouveau movement. Both groups also had close ties to the Symbolists. The core of Les Nabis was Pierre Bonnard, Maurice Denis, Ker Xavier Roussel, Felix Vallotton, and Edouard Vuillard.

negative spaces - Empty spaces surrounding shapes and forms. The shaped and size of negative spaces affect the interpretation of positive spaces. Negative spaces are also called ground.

Neoclassical Art - A severe, unemotional form of art harkening back to the style of ancient Greece and Rome from mid-18th century to early-19th century. Its rigidity was a reaction to the overbred Rococo style and the emotional Baroque style. The rise of Neoclassical Art was part of a general revival of classical thought, which was of some importance in the American and French revolutions. Important Neoclassicists include the architects Robert Adam and Robert Smirke, the sculptors Antonio Canova, Bertel Thorvaldsen, and Jean-Antoine Houdon, and painters Anton Raphael Mengs, Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, and Jacques-Louis David. Around 1800, Romanticism emerged as a reaction to Neoclassicism. It did not really replace the Neoclassical style so much as act as a counterbalancing influence, and many artists were influenced by both styles to some degree. Neoclassical Art was also a substantial direct influence on 19th-century Academic Art.

Neo-Plasticism - A Dutch movement from 1920 to 1940 founded (and named) by Piet Mondrian in Holland. It is a rigid form of Abstraction, whose rules allow only for a canvas subsected into rectangles by vertical and horizontal lines, colored using a very limited palette. Neo-Plasticism was somewhat influential on Russian Constructivism.

natural shapes/forms - Shapes or forms made by the forces of nature. Opposite of manufactured shaped/forms.

neutral colours - Black, white, and gray. Black reflects no wavelengths of light, white reflects all wavelengths of light, and gray reflects all wavelengths of light equally but only partially.

New Realism - Twentieth-century American artistic style in which subjects are portrayed realistically. Also called Hyper-Realism, Photo-Realism, and Super-Realism.

nonobjective art - Artworks having no recognizable subject matter (not recognizable as such things as houses, trees, people, etc.) Also known as non-representational art.

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oil paint - Slow-drying paint made by mixing pigments in oil and usually used in canvas.

opaque - Quality of a material that dose not let any light pass through. Opposite of transparent.

Optical Art - A mathematically-oriented form of (usually) Abstract art developed from 1950âs to 1960âs, which uses repetition of simple forms and colors to create vibrating effects, moirŽ patterns, an exaggerated sense of depth, foreground-background confusion, and other visual effects. In a sense all painting is based on tricks of visual perception: using rules of perspective to give the illusion of three-dimensional space, mixing colors to give the impression of light and shadow, and so on. With Optical Art, the rules that the eye applies to makes sense of a visual image are themselves the "subject" of the artwork. In the mid-20th century, artists such as Josef Albers, Victor Vasarely, and M.C. Escher experimented with Optical Art. Escher's work, although not abstract, also deals extensively with various forms of visual tricks and paradoxes. In the 1960's, the term "Op Art" was coined to describe the work of a growing group of abstract painters. This movement was led by Vasarely and Bridget Riley. Other Op Artists included Richard Anuszkiewicz, Jesœs-Rafael Soto, Kenneth Noland, Fran�ois Morellet, and Lawrence Poons.

Op Art - Optical art. Twentieth-century artistic style in which artists tried to create the impression of movement on the surface of paintings with hard edges, smooth surfaces, and mathematical planning.

optical colour - Colour perceived by the viewer due to the effect of atmosphere or unusual light on the actual colour. Opposite of arbitrary colour.

outline - A line that shows or create the outer edges of a shape.

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paint - Pigment mixed with oil or water. Pigment particles in paint stick to the surface of the material on which the paint is applied.

palette - Tray for mixing colours of paints.

papier-m‰chŽ - French for ãmashed paperä. Moddeling material made of paper and liquid paste and molded over a supporting structure called the armature.

parallel lines - Lines that move in the same direction and always stay the same distance apart.

pastels - Pigments held together with gum and molded into sticks.

paste-up - Model of a printed page. It is photographed for the purpose of making a plate for the printing process.

pattern - Two-dimensional decorative visual repetition. A pattern has no movement and may or may not have rhythm.

perception - The act of looking at something carefully and thinking deeply about what is seen.

perspective - The technique artists use to project an illusion of the three-dimensional world onto a two-dimensional surface. Perspective helps to create a sense of depth-- of receding space. Fundamental techniques used to achieve perspective are: controlling variation between sizes of depicted subjects, overlapping some of them, and placing those that are on the depicted ground as lower when nearer and higher when deeper.

photogram - Image on blueprint paper developed by fumes from liquid ammonia.

photography - A technique of capturing optical images on light-sensitive surfaces.

photojournalists - Visual reporters.

Photorealism - A movement which began in the late 1960's, in which scenes are painted in a style closely resembling photographs. The subject matter is usually mundane and without particular interest; the true subject of a photorealist work is the way we unconsciously interpret photographs and paintings in order to create a mental image of the object represented. The leading members of the photorealist movement are Richard Estes and Chuck Close. Estes specializes in street scenes with elaborate reflections in window-glass; Close does enormous portraits of neutral faces. Other photorealists also typically specialize in a particular subject matter: trucks, horses, diners, etc. See New Realism.

picture plane - The surface of a painting or drawing.

pigments - Finely ground, coloured powders that form paint when mixed with a liquid. Pigments are also used to make crayons and pastels.

plaster - Mixture of lime, sand, and water that hardens on drying.

point of view - Angle from which the viewer sees an object. The shapes and forms a viewer sees depend on his or her point of view.

Pointillism - A form of painting developed in France during 1880âs, in which the use of tiny primary-color dots is used to generate secondary colors. It is an offshoot of Impressionism, and is usually classified as a form of Post-Impressionism. It is very similar to Divisionism, but where Divisionism is concerned with color theory, Pointillism is more focused on the specific style of brushwork used to apply the paint. The term "Pointillism" was first used with respect to the work of Georges Seurat, and he is the artist most closely associated with the movement. Among the relatively few artists following this style were Paul Signac and Henri-Edmond Cross. Pointillism is considered to have been an influence on the development of Fauvism.

polymer medium - Liquid used in acrylic painting as a thinning or finishing material.

Pop Art - A style of art developed during 1950âs and 1960âs which explores the everyday imagery which is part of contemporary consumer culture. Common sources include advertisements, consumer product packaging, celebrities, and comic strips. Leading Pop artists include Robert Rauschenberg, Andy Warhol, and Roy Lichtenstein.

Post-Impressionism - An umbrella term used to describe a variety of artists who were influenced by Impressionism but took their art in different directions in France from 1880âs to 1900. There is no single well-defined style of Post-Impressionism, but in general it is less casual and more emotionally charged than Impressionist work. The classic Post-Impressionists are Paul Cezanne, Paul Gauguin, Vincent van Gogh, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and Henri Rousseau. The Pointillists and Les Nabis are also generally counted among the Post-Impressionists.

portrait - Image of a person, especially the face and upper body.

positive spaces - Shapes or forms in two-and three-dimensional art. Empty spaces surrounding them are called negative spaces or ground.

Post-Impressionism - French painting style of the late nineteenth century that used basic structures of art to express feelings and ideas. The Post-Impressionism movement, which immediately followed Impressionism, was led by Paul Cezanne, Vincent van Gogh, and Paul Gauguin.

prehistoric - Period before history was written down.

Precisionism (also known as Cubist Realism) - A style of representation developed during 1920âs to 1930âs, in which an object is rendered realistically, but with an emphasis on its geometrical form. An important development in American Modernism, it was inspired by the development of Cubism in Europe. Charles Sheeler and Charles Demuth are most closely associated with Precisionism. The urban works of Georgia O'Keeffe are also highly typical of this style. Dealing as it did with pure form more than with narrative or subject matter, Precisionism gradually evolved towards Abstraction, and faded away as an important influence.

Pre-Raphaelite - Started in England in 1848 by seven artists: Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Michael Rossetti, William Holman Hunt, James Collinson, John Everett Millais, Frederic George Stephens, and Thomas Woolner, The groupâs goal was to develop a naturalistic style of art, throwing away the rules and conventions drilled into students' heads at the Academies. Raphael was the artist considered to have attained the highest degree of perfection, so much so that students were encouraged to draw from his examples rather than from nature itself; thus they became the "Pre-Raphaelites". The group popularized a theatrically romantic style, marked by great beauty, an intricate realism, and a fondness for Greek and Arthurian legend. The movement itself did not last past the 1850's but the style remained popular for decades, and influenced the Arts and Crafts Movement, the Symbolists, and even the Classicists.

the primary colors - The colors yellow, red (magenta), and blue (cyan) from which it is possible to mix all the other colors.

principles of design - Rules that govern how artists organize the elements of art. The principles of design are rhythm, movement, balance, proportion, variety, emphasis, harmony, and unity.

print - Impression created by an artist made on paper or fabric from a printing plate, stone, or block and repeated many times to produce identical images.

printing plate - Surface containing the impression transferred to paper or fabric to make a print.

printmaking - A process in which an artist repeatedly transfers an original image from one prepared surface to another.

prism - Wedge-shaped piece of glass that bend white light and separates it into spectral hues.

profile - Side view of a face.

progressive rhythm - Visual rhythm that changes a motif each time it is repeated.

proportion - Principle of art concerned with the size relationships of one part to another.

protractor - Semicircular instrument used to measure and draw angles.

proximity - Technique for creating unity by limiting negative spaces between shapes.

pyramids - Tombs of Egyptian pharaohs, who were rulers worshiped as gods.

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radial balance - Type of balance in which forces or elements of a design come out (radiate) from a central point.

random rhythm - Visual rhythm in which a motif is repeated in no apparent order, with no regular spaces.

rasp - File with sharp, rough teeth used for cutting into a surface.

Realism - An approach to art in which subjects are portrayed in as straightforward manner as possible, without idealizing them and without following the rules of formal theory. The earliest Realist work began to appear in the 18th century, as a reaction against the excesses of Romanticism and Neoclassicism. This is evident in John Singleton Copley's paintings, and some of the works of Goya. But the great Realist era was the mid-19th century, as artists became disillusioned with the Salon system and the influence of the Academies. Realism came closest to being an organized movement in France, inspiring artists such as Corot and Millet, and engendering the Barbizon School of landscape painting. Besides Copley, American Realists included Thomas Eakins, and Henry Ossawa Tanner, both of whom also received formal training in France. French Realism was a guiding influence on the philosophy of the Impressionists. The Ashcan School, the American Scene Painters, and, much later, on the Contemporary Realist movement are all following the American Realist tradition.

realists - Artists in the nineteenth century who portrayed political, social, and moral issues.

real texture - Texture that can be perceived through touch. Opposite of visual texture.

recede - To move back or to become more distant.

reformation - Religious revolution in western Europe in the sixteenth century. It started as a reform movement in the Catholic Church and led to beginnings of Protestantism.

regionalists - Artists who painted the farmlands and cities of American realistically.

regular rhythm - Visual rhythm achieved through repeating identical motifs using the same intervals of space between them.

relief - Type of sculpture in which forms project from a flat background. Opposite of freestanding.

Early Renaissance (Centered in Italy, 15th Century) - The Renaissance was a period or great creative activity, in which artists broke away from the restrictions of Byzantine Art. Throughout the 15th century, artists studied the natural world, perfecting their understanding of such subjects as anatomy and perspective. Among the many great artists of this period were Paolo Uccello, Sandro Botticelli, Domenico Ghirlandaio, and Piero della Francesca. During this period there was a parallel advancement of Gothic Art centered in Germany and the Netherlands, known as the Northern Renaissance. The Early Renaissance was succeeded by the mature High Renaissance period, which began around 1500.

The High Renaissance (Centered in Italy, Early 16th Century) - The High Renaissance was the culmination of the artistic revolution of the Early Renaissance, and one of the great explosions of creative genius in history. It is notable for three of the greatest artists in history: Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo Buonarroti, and Raphael. Also active at this time were such masters as Giovanni Bellini, Giorgione and Titian. By about the 1520's, High Renaissance art had become exaggerated into the style known as Mannerism.

Mannerism - Mannerism, the artistic style which gained popularity from mid to late 16^{th century following the High Renaissance, takes as its ideals the work of Raphael and Michelangelo Buonarroti. It is considered to be a period of tecnical accomplishment but of formulaic, theatrical and overly stylized work. Mannerist Art is characterized by a complex composition, with muscular and elongated figures in complex poses. Discussing Michelangelo in his journal, Eug�ne Delacroix gives as good a description as any of the limitations of Mannerism:}

repetition - Technique for creating rhythm and unity in which a motif or single element appears again and again.

represent or representation - To stand for; symbolize. To depict or portray subjects a viewer may recognize as having a likeness; the opposite of abstraction. A representation is such a depiction.

reproduction - Copy of a work of art.

rhythm - A visual tempo or beat. The principle of design that refers to a regular repetition of elements of art to produce the look and feel of movement. It is often achieved through the careful placement of repeated components which invite the viewer's eye to jump rapidly or glide smoothly from one to the next. In any artwork, it is possible to distinguish between rhythm of color, line, and form. In the continuity of the three comes the whole rhythm of that work.

Rococo - The style succeeded Baroque Art in Europe from 1715 to 1774. It was centered in France, and is generally associated with the reign of King Louis XV (1715-1774). It is a light, elaborate and decorative style of art. Quintessentially Rococo artists include Watteau, Fragonard, Fran�ois Boucher, and Tiepolo. Rococo was eventually replaced by Neoclassicism, which was the popular style of the American and French revolutions.

Romanesque - Style of architecture and sculpture developed during the Middle Ages in western Europe that featured massive size; solid, heavy walls; wide use of the rounded Roman arch; and many sculptural decorations.

Romanticism - It might best be described as anti-Classicism. A reaction against Neoclassicism, it is a deeply-felt style which is individualistic, beautiful, exotic, and emotionally wrought developed from late 18th century to mid 19th century. Although Romanticism and Neoclassicism were philosophically opposed, they were the dominant European styles for generations, and many artists were affected to a greater or lesser degree by both. Artists might work in both styles at different times or even mix the styles, creating an intellectually Romantic work using a Neoclassical visual style, for example. Great artists closely associated with Romanticism include J.M.W. Turner, Caspar David Friedrich, John Constable, and William Blake. In the United States, the leading Romantic movement was the Hudson River School of dramatic landscape painting. Obvious successors of Romanticism include the Pre-Raphaelite movement and the Symbolists. But Impressionism, and through it almost all of 20th century art, is also firmly rooted in the Romantic tradition.

rough texture - Irregular surface that reflects light unevenly. Opposite of smooth texture.

rubbing - Technique for transferring textural quality of a surface to paper by placing paper over the surface and rubbing the top of the paper with crayon or pencil.

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safety labels - Labels identifying art products that are safe to use or that must be used with caution.

scale - Size as measured against a standard reference. Scale can refer to an entire work of art or to elements within it.

score - To make neat, sharp creases in paper using tool.

sculpture - Three-dimensional work of art created out of wood, stone, metal, or clay by carving, welding, casting, or molding.

seascape - Painting or drawing in which the sea is the subject.

the secondary colors - The colors obtained by mixing equal amounts of two primary colors.

The Sensation shows :Young British Artists (YBA) from the Saatchi Collection
- The Sensation shows in London (Royal Academy of Arts, 1997 ) and New York (Brooklyn Museum of Art, 2000 ) were sources of intense controversy or noisy hype, depending on your point of view, but they certainly succeeded in sparking some of the most serious debates on the role of art in society in recent years. In London, the lightning rod for controversy was Marcus Harvey's portrait of notorious child murderer Myra Hindley, done Chuck Close-style using hundreds of children's handprints. This piece was physically attacked at least twice: once it was pelted with eggs and on another occasion it had ink thrown at it. (Harvey's approach to conservation is worth noting: he cleaned the stains off the painting with a scouring pad.) When the show came to New York, public fury centered around Chris Ofili's painting The Holy Virgin Mary, which portrays an African Madonna and is accessorized by a clump of elephant dung. A good summary of the way the controversy raged in the American press can be found here. "Britart" stars whose work appeared in the show included Jenny Saville, Damien Hirst, Gillian Wearing, Rachel Whiteread and Tracey Emin. In retrospect, it's undoubtedly significant that Charles Saatchi made his fortune in advertising. Sensation was a huge success which brought in millions of dollars in revenue, and generated many more millions worth of free publicity for Saatchi and his artists, not to mention the many politicians, pundits and critics who waded into the debate on "decency" vs. free speech.

shading - See chiaroscuro.

shadows - Shaded areas in a drawing or painting. Shadows show the surfaces of the subject that reflect the least light and are used to create the illusion of form. Opposite of highlights.

shape - A two- dimensional area that is defined in some way. While a form has depth, a shape has only height and width.

shiny surface - Surface that reflects bright light. Window glass has a shiny surface. Opposite of matte surface.

sighting - Technique for determining the proportional relationship of one part of an object to another.

silhouette - Outline drawing of a shape. Originally a silhouette was a profile portrait, filled in with a solid colour.

simplicity - Technique for creating unity by limiting the number of variations of an element.

simulated texture - A kind of visual texture that imitates real texture by using a two-dimensional pattern to create the illusion of a three-dimensional surface. A plastic tabletop can use a pattern to simulate the texture of wood. Opposite of invented texture.

sketch - Quick, rough drawing without much detail that can be used to plan or reference for later work. The initial rough sketches for the intended projects are called thumbnails.

slip - Creamy mixture of clay and water used to fasten pieces of clay together.

smooth texture - Regular surface that reflects light evenly. Opposite of rough texture.

Social Realism - A form of naturalistic realism in 1930âs, focusing specifically on social problems and the hardships of everyday life. The term most commonly refers to the urban American Scene artists of the Depression era, who were greatly influenced by the Ashcan School of early 20th century New York City. Social Realism is a rather pejorative label in the United States, where overtly political art in general, and socialist politics in particular, are extremely out of favor. Ben Shahn, Jacob Lawrence, and Jack Levine are the best-known American Social Realists.

soft sculpture - Sculpture madder with fabric and stuffed with soft material.

solvent - The liquid that controls the thickness or the thinness of the paint.

space - The element of art that refers to the emphasis or area between, around, above, below, or within objects. Shapes and forms are defined by space around and within them.

spectral colours - Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple.

split complementary colours - One hue and the hues on each side of its complement on the colour wheel. Red-orange, blue, and green are split complementary colours. Split complementary colours can be used as a colour sheme.

stained glass - Coloured glass cut into pieces, arranged in a design, and joined with strips of lead.

static - Inactive. Vertical and horizontal lines and horizontal shapes and forms are static. Opposite of active.

still life - Painting or drawing of inanimate (nonmoving) objects.

stippling -Technique of shading using dots.

Stitchery - Technique for decorating fabric by stitching fibers onto it.

Stone Age - Period of history during which stone tools were used.

storyboards - A series of still drawings that show a storyâs progress for animation. Storyboards are an outline for the development of a film.

style - The artistâs personal way of using the elements of art and principles of design to express feelings and ideas.

subject - The image viewers can easily identify in a work of art.

subordinate element - Element of a work of art noticed after the dominant element.

Super- Realism - See new realism.

Surrealism - A style in which fantastic visual imagery from the subconscious mind is used with no intention of making the artwork logically comprehensible (1924 to 1950âs). Founded by Andre Breton in 1924, it was a primarily European movement which attracted many members of the chaotic Dada movement. It was similar in some respects to the late 19th-century Symbolist movement, but deeply influenced by the psychoanalytic work of Freud and Jung. The Surrealist circle was made up of many of the great artists of the 20th century, including Jean Arp, Max Ernst, Giorgio de Chirico, Man Ray, Joan Miro, and Rene Magritte. Salvador Dali, probably the single best-known Surrealist artist, was somewhat of an outsider due to his right-wing politics - during this period leftism was fashionable among Surrealists, in fact in almost all intellectual circles. The Magic Realists were American artists somewhat influenced by the Surrealists.

Symbolism - A 19th-century movement in which art became infused with a spooky mysticism. It was a continuation of the Romantic tradition, which included such artists as Caspar David Friedrich and John Henry Fuseli. Anticipating Freud and Jung, the Symbolists mined mythology and dream imagery for a visual language of the soul. More a philosophy than an actual style of art, they influenced the contemporary Art Nouveau movement and Les Nabis. The leading Symbolists included Gustave Moreau, Odilon Redon, and Pierre Puvis de Chavannes. The movement was also a major influence on some of the Expressionists, especially through the work of Edvard Munch and Franz von Stuck.

shade - A dark value of a hue by adding black to it. Opposite of tint.

soft-edged - In two-dimensional art, shapes with fuzzy, blurred outlines. Soft-edged shapes look soft. Opposite of hard-edged.

symbol - Something that stands for, or represents, something else.

symmetry or symmetrical balance - The parts of an image or object organized so that one side duplicates, or mirrors, the other. Also known as "formal balance" .

synthetic - Made by chemical processes rather than natural processes.

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tapestry - Fabric wall hanging that is woven, painted, or embroidered.

tempera - Paint made by mixing pigments with egg yolk (egg tempera) or another liquid.

tertiary colors or intermediate colors- The colors that are produced by mixing unequal amounts of two primary colors. For example, adding more red to the combination of red and yellow will produce the intermediate color of red-orange. Intermediate colors are located between the primary and secondary colors on a color wheel. Other intermediate colors are orange-yellow, yellow-green, green-blue, blue-violet, and violet-red (also known as purple)

tessellation - A collection of shapes which fit together to cover a surface without overlapping or leaving gaps. Often a repeating geometric pattern, many of which may also be referred to as tiling.

texture - An element of art which refers to the surface quality or "feel" of an object, its smoothness, roughness, softness, etc. Textures may be actual or simulated. Actual textures can be felt with the fingers, while simulated textures are suggested by the way the artist has painted certain areas of a picture. Words describing textures include: flat, smooth, shiny, glossy, glittery, velvety, soft, wet, gooey, furry, sandy, leathery, prickly, abrasive, rough, furry, bumpy, corrugated, and sticky.

tint - A light value of a hue made by mixing the hue with white. Opposite of shade.

totality - Arrangement of colours in a painting so that one colour dominates the work of art.

transparent - Quality of a material that allows light to pass through. Opposite of opaque.

Trompe lâoeil - French for ãdeceive the eyeä. Style of painting in which painters try to give the viewer the illusion of seeing a three-dimensional object, so that the viewer wonders whether he or she is seeing a picture or something real.

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Ukiyo-e (pronounced oo-kee-oh-ay) - A style of popular art in Japan during the Edo period (1600s to 1867), inexpensive and usually depicting scenes from everyday life. Ukiyo translates as "floating world" - an ironic wordplay on the Buddhist name for the earthly plane, "the sorrowful world". Ukiyo was the name given to the lifestyle in Japan's urban centers - the fashions, the high life, and the pleasures of the flesh. Ukiyo-e is the art documenting this era. Ukiyo-e is especially known for its exquisite woodblock prints. After Japan was opened to the West after 1867, these prints became very well-known and influential in European, especially in France. So-called Japonisme influenced such artists as Toulouse-Lautrec, Edgar Degas, Vincent van Gogh, James McNeill Whistler and the graphic artists known as Les Nabis. The founder of the Ukiyo-e school is considered to be the 17th-century artist Hishikawa Moronobu. Among the most famous artists who followed were Hiroshige, Hokusai, Utamaro and Sharaku.

undercut - A cut made below another so that an overhang is left.

unity - The quality of wholeness or oneness that is achieved through the effective use of the elements and principles of art. Unity is created by simplicity, repetition, proximity, and continuation.

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value - The art element that describes the darkness or lightness of an object. Value depends on how much light a surface reflects. Value is also one of the three properties of colour.

vanishing point - Point on the horizon where receding parallel lines seem to meet.

variety - Principle of design concerned with difference or contrast.

vault - Arched roof, ceiling, or covering made of brick, stone, or concrete.

vehicle - Liquid like water or oil, that pigments are mixed with to make paint or dye.

vertical lines - Lines that are straight up and down. Vertical lines are at right angles to the bottom edge of the paper or canvas and the horizon, and parallel to the side of the paper or canvas.

visual arts - The arts that produce beautiful objects to look at.

visual rhythm - Rhythm you receive through your eyes rather through your ears.

visual texture - Illusion of a three-dimensional surface based on the memory of how things feel. There are two types of visual texture: invented and simulated. Opposite of real texture.

visual weight - Attraction that elements in a work of art have for the viewerâs eyes. Visual weight is affected by size, contour, intensity of colours, warmth and coolness of colours, contrast in values, texture, and position.

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warm colors - Colors are often described as having temperature -- as warm (purples, reds, oranges, and yellows), neutral (violets and greens), or cool (blue-greens and blues). Warm colors are often associated with fire and sun. They appear on one side of the color wheel, bordered by the neutral colors, and opposite the cool colors. Psychologically, warm colors are said to be stimulating and passionate. Optically, warm colors generally appear to advance, coming toward the viewer.

warp - In weaving, lengthwise threads held in place on the loom and crossed by welt threads.

weaving - Art of making fabric by interlacing two sets of parallel threads, held at right angles to each other on a loom.

weft - In weaving, crosswise threads that are carried over and under the warp threads.

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yarn - Fibers spun into strands for weaving, knitting, or embroidery.

Z

zigzag lines - Lines formed by short, sharp turns. Zigzag lines are a combination of diagonal lines. They can change direction suddenly.

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