Category: Dictionary

Cycladic art : type of Aegean art from the Cyclades – a group of Greek islands – c.2800 BCE to 1100 BCE.

Curvilinear : Design or patternwork (eg. Etruscan/Celtic interlace) based on pattern of curved lines; sinuous.

Crafts : A category embracing most decorative arts.

Contrapposto (“opposite”, “anti-thesis”, “placed against”) : word used in sculpture, referring to the posing of human form so that head and shoulders are twisted in a different direction from hips and legs.

Content, of a painting : This traditionally refers to the message contained and communicated by the work of art, embracing its emotional, intellectual, symbolic, and narrative content.

Contemporary art : A rather loose term, used by museums to describe post-war art, and by art critics to refer to art since 1970.

Conte crayon : Proprietary manufactured chalk.

Concrete Art : Term coined in 1930 when Theo van Doesburg became editor of the magazine art Concret; it is sometimes used as a synonym for abstract art, though the emphasis is not just on geometric or abstract form, but on structure and organization in both design and execution.

Conceptualism/Conceptual Art : Form in which the concepts and ideas are more important than tangible, concrete works of art.

Computer Art : Visual images either computer-generated or computer-controlled using software or hardware tools. Also referred to as Digital art.

Composition, of a painting : Composition describes the complete work of art, and in particular the way that all its elements unite in an overall effect. Compositional elements in a painting might include: size of canvas, subject matter, focal points of the picture (if any), colour scheme, tonal warmth and contrasts, draughtsmanship, representation and meaning, among others.

Colour wheel : A diagrammatic chart showing the placement of colors in relationship to each other. For more details, see: Colour Theory in Painting.

Colour : For a general guide, see: Colour in Painting.

Colourism : Term applied to various periods of painting, e.g. 16th-century Venetian, in which colour was emphasized, rather than drawing. “colourist” is an artist who specializes in, or is famed for, his/her use of colour.

Colorito : Renaissance term for colouring – mastery of colour in painting.

Colonial Art of America : 17th/18th century portraiture, miniatures, architecture, furniture-making and crafts in America. For a comparison, see: Australian Colonial Painting (c.1780-1880).

Collage Art (“pasting”) : Technique originating with Cubism in which paper, photographs, and other everyday materials were pasted on to a support, and sometimes also painted.

Cloisonne enamel : Decorated metal in which a design of metal strips is applied and the compartments (cloisons) formed are filled with coloured glass pastes. (Compare Champleve enamel.)

Classicism : The quality of classic or classical art. The term is applied in particular to the type of art that was the antithesis of Romanticism during the 18th and 19th centuries, when it was held to represent the virtues of restraint and harmony, in contrast to dramatic individual expression.

Cire perdue (Fr.”lost wax”) : Casting process used in bronze sculpture.

Cinquecento : Italian for the 16th century. Traditionally refers to Italian fine art (1500-1600).

Cityscape : Painting or drawing of city scenery.

Chi-Rho : A monogram (the Sacred Monogram) formed by the first two letters – X and P (chi and rho) – of the Greek word for Christ. In religious art it may refer to the Resurrection of Christ.

Christian Art : Church architecture, painting, sculpture or decorative art associated with a Christian message.

Chip carving : Early primitive carved decoration of Northern European oak furniture, executed with a chisel and gouge, until about the 16th century.

Chiaroscuro : The contrasting use of light and shadow. artists who are famed for the use of chiaroscuro include Leonardo da Vinci, Caravaggio and Rembrandt. Leonardo used chiaroscuro to enhance the three-dimensionality of his figures, Caravaggio used it for drama, and Rembrandt for both reasons.

Chinoiserie : Term for a European style of art applied to furniture, ceramics, interior design, based on imaginary pseudo-Chinese motifs.

Chinese Art : One of the most ancient artistic traditions, noted for its calligraphic, ink-and-wash, ceramic and bronze artworks. See: Chinese Pottery.

Champleve enamel : Decorated metal, usually copper, especially popular in Europe from the 11th century to the 14th; a hollowed-out pattern in the metal was filled with coloured glass pastes and the whole object fired, thus fusing glass to metal. (Compare Cloisonne enamel.)

Chalk : The common name for calcium carbonate, which is found as a natural deposit all over the world, and is composed of the remains of tiny crustaceans. Traditionally used in painting and drawing.

Charcoal : Form of carbon used for drawing.

Celadon : Chinese porcelain or stoneware with a distinctive gray-green glaze.

Celtic Art : Hallstatt and La Tene styles of metalwork, and abstract designs characterized by knots, spirals and interlace patterns.

Ceramics : The general term used since the 19th century for pottery and porcelain, i.e. fired clay.

Catholic Art : Usually refers to the style of Catholic Counter-Reformation Art  (c.1560-1700) which followed the Protestant Reformation.

Casting : The duplication of a model in metal or plaster by means of a mold; the model thus formed is a cast.

Cartoon : Full-sized drawing for transferring design to painting, mural, or tapestry. Also: comic drawing; caricature.

Carpet page : In manuscript illumination, a page totally filled with decorative design.

Carolingian art : European art of the period covered by the reign of Charlemagne (CE 768-814) and his successors until CE 900; usually regarded as the foundation of medieval art.

Caricature : Painting or drawing, usually a portrait, that exaggerates features for humorous or satirical effect.

Camera obscura (camera ottica) : device that uses a lens to project a reduced image of an object on to a flat surface so that the outline may be traced. Popular with artists from the Renaissance to the 18th century.

Canvas : The fabric support used for an oil or acrylic painting, usually made of linen or cotton, stretched tightly and tacked onto a wooden frame. Linen is regarded as superior to heavy cotton in a canvas.

Caravaggism : Tendency to follow the style of Caravaggio (1571-1610), exhibited by the Caravaggisti (17th-century painters working in Rome), who made particularly dramatic use of chiaroscuro.

Cabinet picture : small or medium-sized painting executed at an easel, and designed for collectors, especially popular from the 17th century; see Easel Picture.

Byzantine Art : Of the eastern Roman Empire centred on Constantinople, formerly Byzantium, from the 4th century AD. At various times it embraced both Classical Greek realism and stylized, hieratic, Oriental art.

Calligraphy : The Oriental fine art of drawing/writing.

Bust : Portrait sculpture showing the sitter’s head and shoulders only. See Portrait Busts.

Burin : Metal tool used for engraving.

Buon fresco, see: fresco.

Brushwork : General term for manner or style in which paint is applied, and often considered by art historians as an identifying characteristic of a particular artist’s work.

Brush stroke : The individual mark made by each application of paint with a BRUSH, usually retaining the mark of the separate brush hairs.

Brush : Implement for applying paint, usually of hog or sable hair set in a wooden handle.

Bronze : Alloy of copper and tin, used for cast sculpture. Bronze sculpture is made from this alloy. Hence bronzist, a maker of bronze sculpture, plaques, etc.

Body Painting : Ancient art of decorating the body.

Body colour : Watercolour made opaque by mixing with white. Also: term used in painting to describe solid, definitive areas of colour which are then completed or modified with scumbles and glazes.

Body Art : A type of contemporary art in which the artist’s body is the “canvas”.

Blocking in : Before starting a painting, an artist may ‘block-in’ the composition of the painting using rough outlines or geometric shapes to show him how everything fits on the canvas. Virtually all portrait painters use this ‘blocking in’ method.

Black-figure technique : Style of decoration of ancient Greek ceramics, chiefly of 6th-century BCE Corinth. Designs were painted on the object in black metal oxide paint and then incised through to the reddish clay

Biscuit : Unglazed white porcelain, popular in Europe from the mid 17th century.

Biennale (Europe), Biennial (America) : Arts events held every two years: see: Best Contemporary Art Festivals.

Bayeux Tapestry : Anglo-Saxon embroidery depicting the Norman Conquest in 1066.

Batik : An artform which employs wax resistant designs on dyed textile fabrics.

Bas-relief : Form of sculpting characterized by only a slight projection from the surrounding surface.

Bauhaus : A highly influential school (1919-33) of avant-garde design, founded by Walter Gropius (1883-1969) in Weimar. Synonymous with modernist architecture and arts & crafts.

Baroque classicism : classical style – exemplified in the paintings of Nicolas Poussin and the architecture of Carlo Fontana which flourished during the Baroque period.

Banketjea or banquet piece : Banketjea is a Dutch word which means “little banquet”. A Banketjea is the name given to a still life painting which features a range of luxury foods and expensive serving pieces.

Bamboccianti : Group of painters who specialized in bambocciate (Fr. bambochades): low-life and peasant scenes, popular in the Netherlands and Italy in the 17th century. The name derives from Pieter van Laer (1592-1642), a Dutch painter nicknamed “Il Bamboccio” (“Big Baby”).

Bacchanal : Mythological scene popular in paintings of the Renaissance and 17th century depicting the revels of Bacchus, Roman god of wine.

Background : Scene in painting which provides setting for main figures or design; sometimes used synonymously with ground.

Avant-garde : Artists whose work is ahead of that of most of their contemporaries; unconventional, experimental, innovative. Also descriptive of the work produced by such artists.

Automatism in Art : Drawing and painting method associated with Surrealism in which the artist does not consciously create but doodles, allowing the subconscious mind and virtually uncontrolled movement of the hand to produce an image.

Assemblage Art : Modern form consisting of objects collected and assembled together; the components are pre-formed, not made by the artist, and not intended originally as “art material”.

Asian Art : Architectures, arts and crafts from China, Japan, Korea, SE Asia and the Indian subcontinent.

Art Schools : The term usually refers to tertiary colleges offering Bachelor of Fine Arts Degrees (BFA), Bachelor of Design Degrees (BDes), as well as BAs in applied art subjects.

Artifact (or artefact) : Any object of human workmanship. Also: (archeology) an object of prehistoric or aboriginal art, as distinguished from a similar but naturally occurring object.

Arts and Crafts Movement : Mid-19th-century artistic movement in England, inspired by John Ruskin and William Morris; it attempted to raise the standards of design and craftsmanship in the applied arts, and to reassert the craftsman’s individuality in the face of increasing mechanization.

Art Brut :A term used to describe drawings, paintings and any other form of art done by untrained or amatuer artists. Could be applied to drawings done by children, people who are mentally ill or anyone who is does not describe themselve as an “artist” or who are not painting commercially.

Art Critics : Commentators and analysts of the visual arts.

Art Evaluation : How to judge the aesthetics, craftsmanship and artistic technique of a painting.

Art : A form of creative expression. For explanation, see: Definition and Meaning of Art. For forms and categories, see: Types of Art.

Armory Show : International exhibition of modern art held in New York in 1913 in the 69th Regiment Armory building. Exhibits included the work of the more Avant-Garde US artists and of the School of Paris. The exhibition was enormously popular and marked the birth of a real interest in modern art in 20th-century America.

Armature : Framework or skeleton on which a sculptor molds his clay.

Architecture : Science or art of building. Also: the structure or style of what is built. See Architecture: History/Styles.

Archaic Greek art : Greek art of the mid 12th century BCE to c.480 BCE; one of four convenient divisions of Greek art, the others being Geometric, Classical and Hellenistic.

Arabesque : Motif based on interlaced plant forms, found in the fine and decorative arts, in architecture, and especially typical of Islamic design.

Aquatint etching : Process whereby acid is allowed to bite into a copper plate prepared with resin which is then inked and printed.

Applique : Textile decoration in which cut fabric shapes are stitched to a fabric ground as a design.

Applied art : The designing and decorating of functional objects or materials to give them aesthetic appeal, e.g. printing type, ceramics, glass, furniture, metal work and textiles. The term is frequently used to differentiate this type of work from the fine arts (painting, drawing, sculpture) whose value is primarily aesthetic.

Antiquity : Greek and Roman civilization until the fall of the Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. Greek and Roman sculpture was admired during the Renaissance as an ideal art, and study of The Antique formed the basis of the curriculum in most art academics.

Animation Art : The creation of a motion picture from a series of still drawings.

Animal style : Type of nomad art originating with the Celts in the 7th century BCE in southern Russia and the Caucasus; it was characterized by the predominance of animal motifs (zoomorphs), frequently distorted, ornamenting all kinds of portable objects including metalwork, textiles, wood and bone.

Animalier (Animal Artist) : Term was originally used to describe the 19th-century school of French bronze sculptors who specialized in small animal figures. It has since been extended to embrace animal painters, such as Sir Edwin Landseer (1802-73), best-known for his portraits of dogs.

Ancient Art : Umbrella term encompassing early forms of creative expression from ancient Mediterranean civilizations, like Sumerian, Egyptian, Minoan, Mycenean, Persian.

Altarpiece : In Christian church architecture, the picture or decorated screen behind the altar. It may consist of a single painting or an elaborate group of hinged panels.

Allegory : An allegory is the description of a subject in the guise of another subject. An allegorical painting might include figures emblematic of different emotional states of mind, for example envy or love, or personifying other abstract concepts, for example sight, glory, or beauty. These are called allegorical figures. The interpretation of an allegory therefore depends first on the identification of such figures, but even then the meaning can remain elusive.

Alla prima : Technique, commonly used in painting since the 19th century, whereby an artist completes a painting in one session without having provided layers of underpainting.

All-over space : Jackson Pollock was the first artist to use all-over space in his “drip” paintings. It refers to paintings where there is no focal point but where everything on the canvas has the same degree of importance.

Airbrush : Instrument for spraying paint, propelled by compressed air. Invented in 1893, it has been much used by commercial artists, whether for fine lines, large areas, or subtle gradations of colour and tone.

Alabaster : In Antiquity, a carbonate of lime used in Egyptian sculpture, especially for small portable pieces. Also: modern alabaster, a lime sulfate which can be highly polished but is easily scratched, popular in 14th-century Europe for tomb effigies.

African Art : Guide to classical African sculpture, religious and tribal artworks and more.