Art Appreciation 1
Content and Meaning
One of the four aspects of art, relating to subject represented (content) but also to the deeper meaning and significance of the work; subject to Interpretation and may change over time and in changing contexts.
Color
Optical effect cause when reflected white light of the spectrum is divided into a separate wavelength.
Patron
Organization or individual who sponsors the creation of works of art.
Outline
Outermost line of an object or figure, by which it is defined or bounded.
Composition
Overall design or organization of an artwork.
Impasto
Paint applied in thick layers.
Egg Tempera
Painting technique in which pigment is mixed with egg yolk.
Encaustic
Painting technique in which pigment is mixed with hot wax nd applied quickly.
Oil
Painting technique in which pigment is mixed with oil.
Fresco
Painting technique in which pigment mixed with water is applied to wet lime plaster (buon fresco) or dry plaster (fresco secco).
Mural
Painting that is painted directly onto a wall surface.
Frieze
Part of a classical entablature between the architrave and the cornice, usually decorated with relief sculpture.
Stencil
Perforated template allowing ink or paint to pass through to print a design.
One Point Perspective
Perspective system with a single vanishing point on the horizon.
Picture reproduced on paper, often in multiple copies.
Silkscreen
Planography; stencil is applied to a mesh screen, and then squeegeed through screen
Vanishing Point
Point in a work of art in which imaginary sight lines appear to converge.
Contrapposto
Pose in sculpture, invented by Greeks, in which the human figure stands with most of its weight on one leg; the upper body twists in the opposite direction, creating a sense of movement.
Emphasis
Principle of drawing attention to particular content in an artwork.
Positive Print
Print made from treating a negative with chemicals and re-exposing it to light, in which light areas are light and dark areas are dark.
Monoprint
Print made with any print technique, in which the artist prepares the image for printing, but inks or modifies each impression in a unique way, often to explore themes or variations.
Monotype
Print technique in which the artist makes a permanent image on a glass or metal and then inks and prints it, producing a unique image.
Relief
Printmaking process in which the inked image is higher that the nonprinted image.
Throwing
Process of making ceramic object on a potter's wheel.
Human Proportion
Proportions based on the human body.
Modernism
Radically new 20th-century architectural movement that embraced modern industrial materials and a machine aesthetic.
Palette
Range of colors used by an artist.
Variety
Rauschenberg used ______ to energize artwork using non-traditional art materials and techniques.
Proportion
Relationship in size between parts and whole of an object.
Rhythm
Repeated use of pattern to establish a sense of movement.
Negative
Reversed image, in which light areas are dark, and dark areas are light; the negative can be reversed in a positive print when treated with chemicals re-exposed to light.
Sketch
Rough preliminary drawing for an artwork.
Absolute
Ruler who believes that he has absolute power over his subjects, a power which may.
Pattern
The repetition of a formal element in an artwork.
Additive
Things are added to make the sculpture (modeling ceramics).
Subtractive
Things are taken away to make the sculpture (carving, construction, earthworks).
Primary Colors
Three basic colors (red, yellow, blue) from which all other colors are derived.
Watercolor
Transparent paint made from a pigment nd a binder dissolved in water.
Pediment
Triangular space that forms the gable of a low-pitched roof in classical architecture.
Cropping
Trimming edges of an image, usually a photograph, so that part of the image is cut off.
Stein
1900s, holding salon gatherings in the home she shared with her brother, Leo Stein.
Shape
2d area, boundaries of which are defined by lines or suggested by changes in value.
Farm Security Administration
A US government agency, created as part of President Roosevelt's New Deal, which between 1935-41 initiated a photographic campaign to document rural poverty.
Plane
A flat surface.
Steel-Frame Construction
A system of architectural construction, using a skeletal steel frame.
Local Color
Actual color of an object.
Earthwork
Additive form of sculpture, in which earth is used as the medium.
Casting
Additive form of sculpture, in which liquid is added to a mold in order to set in a more durable material, such as bronze.
Modeling
Additive; sculpture is made by adding Material such as clay or wax, materials are pliable enough for sculptors to work with their hands; modeling often involves the use of an interior, skeletal armature for support; clay works are made hard and permanent by firing in a kiln at high temperatures.
Edition
All the copies of a print made from a single printing.
Gertrude
American writer, who patronized avant-garde artists and writers in Paris in the early.
Period Style
Characteristic way in which a group of artists uses visual language in an artwork in one historical period, often expressing the priorities of a cultural group.
Style
Characteristic way in which an artist or group of artists uses visual language to give an artwork an identifiable form of visual expression.
Individual Style
Characteristic way in which an artist uses visual language in an artwork.
Fixing
Chemical process used to ensure a photographic image becomes permanent.
Conceptual Unity
Cohesive expression of ideas within an artwork.
Optical Color
Color that is mixed not on the palette, but in the eye and brain of the viewer.
Expressive Color
Color that is not used to describe the natural world, but for other purposes, often to express the artist's mental state or to evoke an emotional response in the viewer.
Pigment
Colored material used in painted often made from finely ground minerals.
Secondary Colors
Colors created by mixing two primary colors.
Biographical Analysis
Considers the artist's personal experiences and opinions and their effect on the meaning of the artwork.
Contextual Analysis
Considers the making and viewing of the artwork in its context (historical, religious, political, economic, social, and so on).
Feminist Analysis
Considers the role of women as subjects, creators, patrons, and viewers of art; explores the ways in which artworks reflect the experience of women.
Sensation
Controversial exhibition, held in 1999 at the Brooklyn Museum, focusing on contemporary British art from the Saatchi Collection.
Perspective
Creation of the illusion of depth in a 2d image by using mathematical principles.
Meaning
Deeper significance of work; the message; subjective to the viewer depending on the time, place, and context.
Abstraction
Degree to which an image is altered from recognizable figures or objects, often simplified, fragmented, or distorted.
Monarch
Derive from God.
Motif
Design or color repeated as a unit in a pattern.
Space
Distance between identifiable points or planes.
Span
Distance bridged between two supports, such as columns or walls.
Contrast
Drastic difference between such elements as color or value.
Dry Media
Drawing media such as pencil, colored pencil, silverpoint, charcoal, chalk, pastel, and crayon.
Gesture Drawing Contour
Drawing that captures main visual and expressive characteristics of a form.
Drawing
Drawing that outlines or defines a form.
2d
Undefined.
Gestalt Unity
Unity of the composition and ideas within an artwork.
Hatching Shading
Use of graduated light and dark tones to represent 3d objects in 2d.
Diversity
Use of ideas, media and formal elements in an artwork.
Hatching
Use of non-overlapping parallel lines in drawing, to convey darkness of lightness.
Cross
Use of overlapping parallel lines to convey dark and light.
Motion Photography
Use of photography to capture the illusion movement, often through single images.
Artistic Photography
Use of photography to express an artist's creative interpretation of a subject.
Photojournalism
Use of photography to tell a news story or to document a real event.
Cast-Iron Construction
Uses skeletal cast-iron structure, often mass produced, and often incorporates glass walls.
Combined Analysis
Using more than one mode of analysis for a more complete understanding of an artwork.
Dome Sphere
Vault, having a circular plan, that resembles the hollow upper half.
Mass
Volume that has, or gives illusion of having weight, density, and bulk.
Modes of Representation
Ways artists approach (or reject) real world figures; works of art can be representational or non-objective; representational artworks may have some a degree of abstraction.
Modes of Analysis
Ways to analyze a work of art to develop a more complete interpretation of its form and/or meaning.
Symmetrical Balance
When a work can be cut in half and the elements on the left and right sides look the same (or nearly the same) across the central axis.
Asymmetrical Balance
When elements on the left and right sides of an artwork are not the same, but the combination of elements counters each other.
Distorted Scale
When size is deliberately distorted to create an abnormal effect.
Monumental Scale
When size is deliberately exaggerated.
Hierarchical Scale
When size is used to indicate importance of figures or objects in a composition.
Unity
Which design principle did Katsushika Hokusai employ in The Great Wave off Shore at Kanagawa in order to achieve compositional harmony?
Camera Obscura
Early form of camera, in which a small hole is place in the exterior wall of a darkened room; light rays from outside project the outside scene onto the opposite wall inside the room.
The Great Depression
Economic depression in America during the 1930s, spurred by the 1929 Stock Market Crash and by crop failures in the Midwest.
Motion
Effect of changing placement in time.
Vault
External, arch-like support that supports a ceiling or roof.
Capstone
Final stone forming the top of a structure.
Iconographic Analysis
Interprets objects and figures as signs and symbols, often based on historical contexts that would have been understood at time it was made.
Digital Photography
Images captured in the form of data called pixels, which can be stored electronically on a computer and then printed.
Film Photography
Images recorded on film with light sensitive coating, producing a negative, from which positive prints can be made.
Axis
Imaginary line showing center of a shape, volume, or composition.
Unity
Imposition of order and harmony on a design.
Glazing
In an oil painting, adding a transparent layer of paint to achieve a richness in texture, volume, and form.
Psychological Analysis
Investigates artwork through interpretation of the mental state of the artist.
Expressive (Irregular) Line
Irregular, imprecise, uncontrolled, passionate, and emotional.
Chiaroscuro
Italian for "light-dark" a method of applying value to a 2d artwork to create the illusion of 3d solid form.
Cartoon
Italian term for preparatory drawing.
Postmodernism
Late 20th-century style of architecture playfully adopting features of earlier architectural styles.
Value
Lightness or darkness of a plane or area.
Contour Line
Line that defines outer edge or profile of an object, suggesting volume in space.
Communicative Line
Line that guides the viewer's attention and suggests a particular feelings.
Analytical (Regular) Line
Line that is controlled, precise and rational.
Directional Line
Line used to direct the viewer's attention.
Line
Mark, or implied mark, between two points.
Support
Material on which a painting is done.
Linear Perspective
Mathematical system that uses converging imaginary sight lines to create the illusion of depth in a 2d artwork.
Cornice
Molding running along the top of a building.
Woodblock
Most common form of relief printing, prints are made by carving away from a block of wood to create a raised image; ink applied to surface transfers the image to a paper by applying pressure in a printing press.
Form
Object defined in 3d (height, width, and depth).
Form
One aspect art, relating to the physical and visual characteristics like; materials, dimensions, techniques, mode of representation, and style.
Function
One aspect of a work of art, relating to the purpose for which it was created; can change over time.
Context
One aspect of art, relating to background; who made it, when and for whom it was made, in which historical period was it made, and under what circumstances it was made.
Function
One aspect of art, relating to purpose for which it was created; this can change.
Impression
Individual print, or pull from a printing press.
Content
One aspect of art, relating to subject represented.
Charles Saatchi
Influential art gallery owner and dealer, responsible for sponsoring and promoting new artists and movements, such as the YBA (Young British Artists).
Wet Media
Ink, quill and pen, and brush drawing.
Planography
Inked image area and the non-inked area are at the same height; printmaker treats parts of an entirely flat surface so the ink adheres only to selected areas.
Intaglio
Inked image is lower than the surface of the printing plate; from Italian word for "cut into."
Photo collage
combination or collection of separate photographs, often with text; a unique image.
Nave
Central space of a church.
Golden Section
An ideal set of harmonious proportions corresponding to 1:1.618
Landscape
An image of the land and its natural forms.
Formal Analysis
Analyzes the physical and visual characteristics of the artwork, including artist's use of the media and techniques, the formal elements and principles of design, the modes of representation, and the style of an artwork.
Hierarchical
Ancient Egyptian artists often used _______ scale to indicate the relative importance of figures or objects in an artwork.
Pyramid
Ancient structure, usually massive in scale, consisting of a square base with four sides that meet at a point or apex, forming a triangular shape.
Salon
Annual art exhibition put on by the Art Academy, first in Paris in 1667; the gathering of a circle of notable people--often figures from the worlds of art, literature and politics--at the home of one member of the group.
Facade
Any side of a building; often used to designate the front or entrance.
Capital
Architectural feature that crowns a column.
Basilica
Architectural form, which was first used for civic buildings in Ancient Rome, but adapted by Early Christians for use as a church.
Arch
Architectural structure, curved or pointed, that spans an opening.
Gothic
Architectural style of the 12th to the 16th centuries, characterized by the use of pointed arches and ornate decoration.
Flying Buttress
Architectural support for a roof or ceiling, attached to the side of a building, usually associated with Gothic architecture.
Green Architecture
Architecture that is designed with structures and processes that are environmentally responsible; also know as sustainable architecture.
Transept
Area of a church in which the transverse arm crosses the nave.
Pattern
Arrangement of predictable repeated elements.
Representational Art
Art that depicts figures and objects so that we recognize what is represented.
Non-Objective Art
Art that does not depict figures or objects in a recognizable way.
Kinetic Art
Artwork that contains moving parts.
Formal Elements of Art
Basic vocab of art--line, shape, form, mass, texture, value, space, color, and time and motion.
Focal Point
Center of interest or activity in an artwork, the area that the artist draws the viewer's attention to.
Drypoint
Form of intaglio printing in which artist raises a burr when gouging the printing plate.
Engraving
Form of intaglio printing in which prints are made by cutting into a metal plate with a sharp tool; ink applied to surface is wiped away before printing, leaving ink in grooves cut into plate.
Etching
Form of intaglio printing, which uses acid to bite the engraved design into the printing surface.
Lithography
Form of planography, in which artist draws a design with oil-based material onto limestone; after being treated to make the design permanent. Surface is cleaned and rolled with oil-based ink, which adheres only to the design, which transfers to paper, usually with a printing press.
Readymade
Form of sculpture in which an everyday, often mass-produced object is presented as a work of art.
Kinetic
Form of sculpture incorporating movement.
Freestanding/In the Round
Form of sculpture that stands alone and can be viewed from all sides.
Armature
Framework or skeleton used to support a sculpture.
Column
Freestanding pillar, usually circular in structure.
King Louis XIV
French King who ruled from...-1715, associated with the absolute monarchy in France, for the expansion of the French Empire, the establishment of the French art academy, and the establishment of Versailles as the capital of France.
Hue
General classification of a color as seen in the visible spectrum, ie: green or red.
Still Life
Genre of photography; a scene of inanimate objects, such as fruits, flowers, etc.
Pope Julius 2
Giuliano della Rovere, served as Pope Julius 2 from 1503-13; known for his patronage of High Renaissance artists and architects Bramante, Michelangelo and Raphael.
Manuscript
Hand-lettered text with hand-drawn pictures.
Undefined
Having height and width.
3d
Having height, width, and depth.
Firing
Heating ceramic, glass, or enamel objects in a kiln, to harden, fuse components or fuse a glaze onto the surface.
Lintel
Horizontal beam over the doorway of a portal.
Grammar
If visual art is a language, the principles of design are the ________ that artists apply to formal elements of art.
Portraiture
Image of a person, usually focusing on the face.
Art Academy
School for training artists, a concept established first in Paris by Charles Le Brun and King Louis XIV in 1649, based on the premise that art education should follow a strict curriculum, centered on the study of classical antiquity and of the nude model.
Construction
Sculptures are assembled using modern machine media and techniques such as sawing, grinding, milling, molding modeling or casting.
Apse
Semicircular or polygonal terminus of a church.
Balance
Sense of visual equality in weight in an artwork.
Geometric Shape
Shape composed of regular lines and curves.
Organic Shapes
Shape composed of unpredictable, irregular lines and curves.
Photomontage
Single photographic image that combines several photographic images; scanned to be reproduced.
Scale
Size of an object in relation to the original, to object around it, or to a system of measurement.
Icon
Small, often portable, religious image venerated by Christian believers. First used by the Eastern Orthodox Church.
Volume
Space filled by a 3d figure or object.
Architectural Order
Style of designing columns and related parts of a Greek or Roman building.
Content
Subject matter represented in an artwork.
Binder
Substance that makes pigments adhere to a surface.
Carving
Subtractive technique in which sculpture is made by cutting away by chipping, carving, sanding, and polishing.
Ground
Surface or background onto which an artist paints or draws.
Texture
Surface quality of a work.
Mobile
Suspended moving sculptures, usually impelled by natural air currents.
Post and Lintel Construction
System of architectural construction in which the space between vertical supports (posts) is spanned by a horizontal beam (lintel).
Arches, Vaults, and Domes Construction
System of construction that uses arches, vaults, and domes.
Isometric Perspective
System using diagonal parallel lines to communicate depth.
Atmospheric Perspective
Technique used to create the illusion of depth, using shades of color and clarity, based on the scientific fact that objects further away are hazy and cooler in tone.
