ABSTRACT: Non-representational. Forms and colors are
arranged without reference to reality.
ABSTRACT EXPRESSIONISM: The first major American
Avant-Garde movement, beginning in the 1940s. Expressed
the artist’s state of mind and emotions.
CHIAROSCURO
The treatment and use of light and dark to produce
the effect of modeling.
SFUMATO
“Smoky.” A smokelike haziness that softens the
outlines in a painting.
ATMOSPHERIC/AERIAL PERSPECTIVE
Creating the illusion of distance by variations in
color intensity and line definition.
MEDIUM (pl. MEDIA)
The material an artist uses to create a work.
LINEAR PERSPECTIVE
All parallel lines converge at one or more vanishing points (also called one-point
perspective or multiple-point perspective). Contains a horizon line and multiple
orthogonal lines. Creates spatial depth through use of geometry.
COLOR
Includes hue, value, and saturation.
HUE
Hue and color are interchangeable terms.
PRIMARY colors are red, yellow, and blue
SECONDARY COLORS are the combination of two primary colors
INTERMEDIATE (TERTIARY) COLORS are the combination of a primary color
and a secondary color
COLOR THEORY
ADDITIVE COLOR: Color created by
mixing colors of light
SUBTRACTIVE COLOR: Color created
by mixing colors of pigment
Analogous
Complimentar
y
Monochromati
c
COMPOSITION
The arrangement of formal elements in a work.
CONTRAPPOSTO
The disposition of the human figure in which one part is turned in opposition to
another part (usually hips and legs one way, shoulders and chest another),
creating a counterpositioning of the body about its central axis. Sometimes
called the “weight shift” because the weight of the body tends to be thrown to
one foot, creating tension on one side and relaxation on the other.
CONCEPTUAL ART
An American avant-garde movement of the 1960s whose
premise was that the “artfulness” of art lay in the artist’s
idea rather than its final expression.
POSTMODERNISM
A reaction against modernist formalism, seen as elitist.
Rejects tenets of all previous artforms but often references
the past. Questions everything; seeks to destroy
knowledge.
PHOTOGRAPHY
1826: The first permanent
photograph (Nicéphore
Niépce)
1889: Jacques Louis Mandé
Daguerre reveals the
Daugerrotype, predecessor of
the photograph
Portrait of Daugerre
DIVINE PROPORTION / GOLDEN RATIO
The ratio of two quantities is equal to the ratio of their sum to the whole.
BAROQUE
The dominant European style from approximately 16001750. Features dramatic lighting and elaborate
ornamentation.
TENEBRISM
Painting in the “shadowy manner,” using violent contrasts
of light and dark.
SPACE
1. The literal space a work occupies, as in sculpture.
2. Illusionistic space, created on a two-dimensional plane.
3. Negative space, intentionally left “empty.”
LINE
The extension of a point along a path, made concrete in art by drawing or
chiseling into a plane. May be invisible, drawing the eye through the
composition. May be tangible, as in contour lines.
CLAUDE MONET
IMPRESSIONISM: The first “language” of Modern Art.
Sought to capture a fleeting moment to express the
impermanent nature of life, space, and time.
Self-Portrait with a Beret
JAMES ABBOTT McNEILL
WHISTLER
AESTHETICISM: “Art for art’s sake”
TONALISM: An aesthetic approach
aimed at creating harmony and
elegance. Predecessor of
Impressionism.
Music: Symphonies, Nocturnes, etc.
NATURALISM
The core of the Classical tradition. The style of painted or
sculptured representation based on close observation of
the natural world.
REALISM
A movement that emerged in mid-19th-century France.
Realist artists represented the subject matter of everyday
life in naturalistic style, especially subject matter previously
considered inappropriate for artistic depiction.
NEOCLASSICISM
A style of art and architecture that emerged in the late 18th
century as part of a revival of interest in classical cultures.
Neoclassical artists adopted themes and styles from
ancient Greece and Rome.
ROMANTICISM
A Western cultural phenomenon from about 1750 to 1850
(reaching its height in 1800-1840). Gave precedence to
feeling and imagination over reason and thought.
TROMPE L’OEIL
French, “the fool’s eye,” A form of illusionistic painting that aims to deceive
viewers into believing they are seeing real objects.
ART NOUVEAU
“New art.” Characterized by biomorphic (organic) shapes
and a focus on aesthetic harmony.
Austria and Germany: Jugendstil
Spain: Modernismo
Italy: Floreale
Victor Horta: Tassel House, Brussels
POP ART
Term coined by British art critic Richard Alloway to refer to
art, first appearing in the 1950s, that incorporated elements
from consumer culture, mass media, and popular culture.
READING ASSIGNMENT FOR WEEKS 6 AND 7
How to Look at a Painting
Chapter three, Analysing Distortions to the Visible World”
When Art Really Works
Reclining Woman with Green Stockings, Egon Schiele
Wheat Field with Crows, Vincent van Gogh
The Man with the Puffy Face, Vincent van Gogh
Boats in the Harbor at Collioure, André Derain
Still Life with Apples, Paul Cézanne
Bathers at Ansières, Georges-Paul Seurat
After the Bath, Woman Drying Herself, Edgar Degas
Les Demoiselles d’Avignon, Pablo Picasso
Guernica, Pablo Picasso
The Origin of the Milky Way, Jacopo Tintoretto
The Virgin and Child, Masaccio