Art History Vocabulary List

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fete galante

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a subject in painting depicting well-dressed people at leisure in a park or country setting, often associated with eighteenth-century French painting

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avant-garde

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In art, avant garde (derived from the French military word meaning "before the group," or "vanguard)" denotes those artists or concepts of a strikingly new, experimental, or radical nature for the time

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academies (academic painting)

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An institution established to train artists. Most academies date from the Renaissance and later; they became poewrful state run institutions in the 17th and 18th centuries. Academies replaced guilds as the venue where students learned both the craft and the theory of art. Academies held exhibitions and awarded prizes; helped artists be seen as trained specialists, rather than craftspeople; and promoted the change in the social status of the artist.

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sublime

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A concept, thing, or state of exceptional and awe inspiring beauty and moral or intellectual expression. It was the goal for 19th century painters.

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history painting

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the term used to denote those paintings that include figures in any kind of historical, mythological, or biblical narrative. considered from the Renaissance until the 20th century as the noblest form of art, history paintings generally convey a high moral or intellectual idea and often are painted in a grand pictorial style.

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realism (French)

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In art, a term first used in Europe around 1850 to designate a kind of naturalism with a social or political message, which soon lost its didactic import and became synonymous with naturalism

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japonisme

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A style in French and American 19th century art that was highly influenced by Japanese art especially prints

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japonisme

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A style in French and American 19th century art that was highly influenced by Japanese art especially prints

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complementary color

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The primary and 2ndary colors across from each other on the color wheel. When juxtaposed, the intensity of both colors increases. When mixed they negate to make a neutral gray-brown.

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abstraction

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Any art that does not represent observable aspects of nature or transforms visible forms into a pattern resembling the original model

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primitivism

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The borrowing of subjects or forms usually from non-Western or prehistoric sources by Western artists.

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passage

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In painting, passage refers to any particular area within a work, often those where painterly brushwork or color changes exist.

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Paul Cezanne's technique of blending adjacent shapes

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automatism

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A technique whereby the usual intellectual control of the artist over his or her brush or pencil is forgone. The artist's aim is to allow the subconsious to create the artwork without rational interference.

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gesturalism

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Painting and drawing in which the brushwork or line visibly records the artist's physical gesture at the moment the paint was applied or the lines laid down.

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Associated especially with expressive styles, such as Zen painting and Abstract Expressionism

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earthworks

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Artwork, usually on a large scale, created by manipulating the natural environment.

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appropriates

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An artist's practice of taking ideas or objects from anotehr source for a new owrk of art.