Intro to visual arts midterm

palette

1. A surface used for mixing paints. 2. The range of colors used by an artist or a group of artists, either generally or in a specific work. An open palette is one in which all colors are permitted. A restricted palette is limited to a few colors and their mixtures, tints, and shades.

medium

1. The material from which a work of art is made. 2. A standard category of art such as painting or sculpture. 3. A liquid compounded with pigment to make paint, also called a vehicle and often acting as a binder.

impressionism

1860s in France. painting movement. portraying daily life, especially middle class and leisure. landscapes. Recording how light interacts with life.

surrealism

1900s. imitating dreams and fantasy. Salvador Dali

minimalism

60s-70s. simple, primary forms. industrial materials for sculptures.

style

A characteristic, or a number of characteristics, that we can identify as constant, recurring, or coherent. In art, the sum of such characteristics associated with a particular artist, group, or culture, or with an artist's work at a specific time.

visual balance

A form of balance in art. each area of a painting suggests a certain visual weight, a certain degree of lightness or heaviness.

abstract expressionism

An American art movement of the mid 20th century, characterized by large heroic scale and nonrepresentational imagery.

geodesic dome

An architectural structure invented by R. Buckminster Fuller, based on triangles arranged into tetrahedrons (four-faceted solids).

classical

Ancient Greek and Rome. any art that emphasizes rational order, balance, harmony, and restraint

futurism

Art movement founded in Italy in 1909 and lasting only a few years. concentrated on the dynamic quality of modern technological life, emphasizing speed and movement.

representational

Descriptive of a work of art that depicts forms in the natural world.

naturalistic

Descriptive of an approach to portraying the visible world that emphasizes the objective observation and accurate imitation of appearances. Naturalistic art closely resembles the forms it portrays. Naturalism and realism are often used interchangeably, and both words have complicated histories. In this text, naturalism is construed as a broader approach, permitting a degree of idealization and embracing a stylistic range across cultures. Realism suggests a more focused, almost clinical attention to detail that refuses to prettify harsh or unflattering matters.

trompe l'oeil

French for "fool the eye," representational art that mimics optical experience, almost realism

memento mori

Latin phrase meaning 'remember you must die'. portrait with a skull but other symbols commonly found are hour glasses or clocks, extinguished or guttering candles, fruit, and flowers.

scale

Size in relation to some normal constant size

proportion

Size relationships between parts of a whole, or between two or more items perceived as a unit; also, the size relationship between an object and its surroundings. Compare scale.

canon

The canon can be seen as a body of work, which has been established as representative of the best examples of a particular genre. The works of art that are included in the canon are considered to be masterpieces. The works included in the canon set a standard from which other works of art, whether new or old, which are not included in the canon can be judged.

divine right

The idea that god gives people the right to own/conquer things, depicted in a lot of european/early american works.

intensity

This term is used to describe the brightness, or the dullness of a color.

mannerism

a period of European art that emerged from the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520. Characterized by artificial qualities such as elongated features, meant to promote tension and instability.

contrapposto

a pose that suggests the potential for movement and thus life, in a standing human figure. developed by sculptors in ancient greece, contrapposto places the figure's weight on one foot, setting off a series of adjustments to the hips and shoulders that produce a subtle S-curve.

monochromatic

all the colors, tints, shades, of a single hue

conceptual art

art created with the belief that the essence of art resides in a motivation idea, and that any realizations or recording of the idea are secondary. 60s. moving away from producing objects that could be bought and sold. Often ephemeral.

abstract

art in which the forms of the visual world are purpously simplified, fragmented, or otherwise distorted

cubism

art style in 1800s. objects are analyzed, broken up and reassembled in an abstracted form. Georges Braque and Pablo Picasso.

pop art

art style of the 60s. derives imagery from popular culture, often mass produced. Mundane, focuses on overfamiliar objects and gives them new often political meaning. Andy Warhol.

nonobjective

art that doesn't represent or refer to a world outside itself

direction/movement

artists will rely on tools to to establish story and flow of composition by using visual sense of motion through the work

site-specific

based on a site and required to be there

site-sensitive

based on a site but not required to be there

cool

blues, greens, purples

triadic

color scheme incorporates three hues that are evenly spaced around a color wheel

analogous

colors near eachother on the color wheel

curvilinear

contained by or consisting of a curved line or lines.

rectilinear

contained by or consisting of a straight line or lines.

stylized

depicting forms with style rather than real world proportions

genre

depicts the daily lives of people

iconography

describing images. identifying, describing, and interpreting subject matter in art. part of studying art.

hatching

drawing closely spaced parallel lines for tonal or shading effects

actual texture

feel as they appear

sfumato

from Italian word "smoke," technique of painting that glazes over details for a hazy look. Mona Lisa.

movement

group of artists who agree on general principles

tint

he mixture of a color with white, which increases lightness

implied light

illusion of light

national endowment for the arts

independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence.

dada

international art movement during WW1. refused to make sense or provide comfort. created absurd anti-art.

value

lightness or darkness of a color

geometric

made up of points and lines, some so complex that math is needed to make them

chroma

measure of how pure or intense it is, how saturated the color is.

cross-hatching

method of line drawing that describes light and shadow

tertiary

mixture of secondary

post modernism

modern ideas about art, since the 70s. no progress in art, reflects back on art ideas from the past.

photorealism

movement in the 60s-70s. imitated precision of photography

intermediate

obtained by mixing primary and secondary

secondary

orange, violet, green

organic

organic shapes don't have perfect or uniform measurements

composition

organization of lines, shapes, colors, and other art elements in a work of art

gestural

paint is spontaneously dribbled, splashed or smeared onto the canvas, rather than being carefully applied

fresco

painting medium in which colors are applied to wet plaster. Michelangelo and the Sistine Chapel

visual texture

perceived surface quality

Baroque

period of European history, 16-1700s. Characterized by dramatic scenes, lighting and bold colors. Emotional and a lot of ornate architecture.

pointillism

picture is formed from small dots of color

appropriation

postmodern practice in which one artist reproduces an image created by another artists. Warhol and all the Mona Lisa's

conservation/restoration

preservation of older artworks either through keeping it in safe conditions or going in and retouching damages areas.

hue

property of colors by which they can be perceived, quality of color determined by dominant wavelength of the light

impressionistic

realistic lighting

primary

red, yellow, blue

quotation

referencing other pieces in artwork, also a postmodernism thing

saturation

referred to as "intensity" and "chroma." It refers to the dominance of hue in the color.

found object

regular objects somehow made into art

readymade

regular objects that are just called art. Duchamp.

ecclesiastical/secular

religious vs non religious

modeling

rendering illusion of volume on a two dimensional surface through shading

implied shape

spaces between objects that are placed in relationship to eachother and are seen as shapes

vanitas

specific genre of art in which the artist uses morbid symbolic objects (such as skulls, rotting food, fading flowers etc.) in order to produce in the viewer's mind an acute awareness of the brevity of life and the inevitability of death.

chiaroscuro

strong contrasts between light and dark

implied line

suggest an edge rather than clearly defining one

simultaneous contrast

tendency of color to induce its opposite in hue, intensity, value upon an adjecent color and be mutually affected

optical color mixture

tendency of eyes to blend patches of color placed next to eachother

visual weight

the ability of a region or art element within a composition to draw attention to itself. Visual weight is often created through the use of contrast and/or through the use of color.

realism

the goal is to portray forms in the natural world in a highly faithful manner. Specifically, an art style of the mid-19th century, identified especially with Gustave Courbet, which fostered the idea that everyday people and events are fit subjects for important art. Compare naturalism.

outline

the line by which a figure or object is defined or bounded; contour.

contour line

the line which defines a form or an edge. It is, essentially, the outline or silhouette of a given object or figure.

shade

the mixture of a color with black, which reduces lightness.

impasto

the process or technique of laying on paint or pigment thickly so that it stands out from the surface.

multivalent

the quality or state of having many values, meanings, or appeals

volume

the space that an object or figure fills in a drawing or painting

formalism

the study of art by analyzing and comparing form and style/the way objects are made and their purely visual aspects.

glaze

thin, oily, transparent layer of paint spread over the top of an opaque passage that has been given some time to dry

stippling

to paint, engrave or draw by means of dots or small touches

pydramidal

triangular

complementary

two colors on opposite sides of color wheel that when next eachother make eachother brighter

diptych/triptych

two or three panels attached.

biomorphic

use of organic shapes and line work derived from biology or living organisms

actual light

using light itself as an artistic medium

painterly

visual brushstrokes

in situ

works of art made specifically for host site

warm

yellows, reds