ART GLOSSARY OF TERMS

by Joelle Steele

Here is a short dictionary of terms relating primarily to two-dimensional or "flat" art. It is by no means complete, but it offers brief definitions for some of the more common words and expressions, and for most art movements.

Abstract Art. Art that is a departure from reality, that reflects the artist's interpretation of reality, essentially through the choice of materials and color, and/or through the use of altered forms. Also called non-objective or non-representational.

Abstract Expressionism. An art movement in which the spontaneity of the artist's emotions and thoughts are expressed through and in their art, usually within an abstract or non-representational style.

Abstract Surrealism. See "Surrealism."

Academic Art. Art that conforms to established standards, is overly traditional or conservative, and often lacks originality.

Achromatic. Without color or hue.

Acrylic. Paint that relies on a plastic resin as a binder and is usually water-soluble.

Action Art. A type of non-representational painting that requires physical movement and dynamic application of paint, such as through pouring or spattering.

Aesthetic. Refers to the sense of beauty and the heightening of senses that such beauty provokes in the viewer.

Analogous Color. Color or hues that are closely related, as positioned beside each other on the color wheel.

Analytical Cubism. See "Cubism."

Applied Art. Art that is created for design or decoration of practical or utilitarian objects.

Art Nouveau. An art movement that used plant forms and curvaceous line styles.

Asymmetrical. Lacking symmetry.

Atmospheric Perspective. See "Perspective."

Automatism. The use of automatic or unconscious actions to enhance the flow and expression of unconscious ideas and emotions.

Baroque. A highly dramatic style using extreme contrast and highly exaggerated emotional expression.

Casein. A milk protein used in paint-making.

Chiaroscuro. An Italian word meaning "light dark," and referring to the use of gradations of light and shade to create three-dimensional forms in a two-dimensional format.

Classic Art, Classical Art. A style that relies on a traditional or regular structure, with balance and proportion.

Color Field Art, Color Field Painting. An abstract expressionist style that uses a field of color to evoke an emotional or aesthetic reaction in the viewer.

Complementary Colors. Two colors or hues that are directly opposite each other on the color wheel.

Conceptual Art. Art in which the idea and process by which the idea becomes tangible is more important than the art itself.

Content. The message or meaning – emotional, intellectual, symbolic, etc. – that the artist is communicating through his or her art.

Contrapposto. An Italian word meaning "counterpoise," and referring to the positioning of the human figure around a vertical axis in such a way that the hips and shoulders are in a graceful counter-balance to each other.

Cool Colors. Generally the green-blue-violet range of hues that evoke a visual sense of coolness. See also "Warm Colors."

Cubism. Initiated by a style called analytical cubism and developing into synthetic or collage cubism. Cubism relies on simultaneous multiple views and geometric reconstruction of objects relieved of their three-dimensional form.

Dada. An anarchist movement that shunned contemporary culture and its arts.

Divisionism. See "Pointillism."

Eclecticism. Borrowing from a variety of earlier styles and combining them together into a work of art.

Encaustic. Painting with pigment suspended in hot wax.

Expressionism. An art movement that reflects the emotions of the artist, often using symbolism, an inventive palette, and frequently abstractive or impressionistic techniques.

Fauvism. A style characterized by areas of bright and contrasting colors confined to simplified shapes and forms.

Fine Art. Art that is created for art itself, for its aesthetic appeal.

Folk Art. Art created by people who lack formal training, but following an established tradition of craftsmanship and style. See also "Naïve Art."

Foreshortening. The representation in two-dimensional format of a figure such that the axis projects or recedes from the viewer.

Form. The physical characteristics of an object in its totality.

Formalist. A style in which the emphasis is on the visual relationships in a painting rather than on the subject matter itself.

Fresco. Wall murals created by suspending pigment in water and applying them to a damp lime-plaster surface into which the pigment settles and dries, becoming part of the wall itself.

Futurism. An art movement that grew out of cubism, adding motion and sometimes a sense of danger or drama to the art.

Gesso. A mix of glue and plaster (or chalk) applied as a base to surfaces that will later receive paint. See also "Prime, Priming."

Gouache. A water-soluble paint that is opaque rather than transparent. Not to be confused with tempera.

High Art. See "Modernism."

High Key Colors. The exclusive use of pale or light values to create a soft, ambient feel to the background or a part of a painting.

Horizon. In linear perspective, the horizon is an implied or real line at eye-level used to represent the point where the sky meets the earth and where images disappear at "vanishing points" on the horizon.

Hue. The color property along a wavelength of light that has a name, such as red, yellow, etc.

Humanism. A Renaissance movement that looked back to the classic arts of the ancient world for inspiration into people and humanity.

Icon, Iconography. Images, usually with sacred significance, that are created to express the ideals and beliefs of a religion.

Impasto. Paint that is thick and is applied thickly or heavily, like a paste.

Impressionism. An art movement in which common subjects, usually outdoors in nature, are captured in mood and ambience through the use of color and light in divided brush strokes.

Intensity. See "Saturation."

Intermediate Color. A hue situated between a primary and secondary color on the color wheel.

Linear Perspective. See "Perspective."

Local Color. The real or true color as distinguished from the apparent color that exists due to shadows or reflections.

Low Key Colors. The use of dark values as a background or in an area of a painting.

Mannerism. A style characterized by the dramatic use of light, exaggerated color, and distortions of form and perspective.

Matte. A dull finish as opposed to a shiny or glossy one.

Media, Medium. A material or technique, such as paint applied to canvas with a brush.

Minimalism. A style of art that severely restricts the use of visual elements, relying instead on simple geometric shapes.

Mixed Media. Art made using more than one medium.

Modernism. An idealistic style that breaks with tradition to make art progress into the present or the now. Often referred to as "high art."

Monochromatic. A color scheme limited to variations on a single hue.

Montage. A grouping together, similarly to collage, of previously created works, such as drawings, paintings, or photographs.

Mural. A painting that covers most or all of a wall, often a fresco.

Naïve Art. Art made by people without formal art training. See also "Folk Art."

Naturalism. Art that is a subjective interpretation of reality with some substance of the natural appearance of the object or subject intact. A form of representational art.

Neo-classicism. A revival of classic art in reaction to the over-the-top Baroque and Rococo styles.

Neutral. A color that can be made by mixing complementary hues together to form black, white, gray, or gray-brown.

Non-objective Art. See "Abstract Art."

Non-representational Art. See "Abstract Art."

Oils. Paint in which the pigment binder is oil, usually linseed oil. Also refers to the painting itself.

Opaque. Not transparent or translucent.

Optical Color. The appearance of color produced by placing brush strokes of different colors next to each other as opposed to mixing them together.

Painterly. A style of painting in which loose brushwork in color and contrast characterize the work.

Pastels. As a medium, pastels are pigment in powder form bound together with a gum binder in stick form. See also "Tint."

Perspective. A means of creating the illusion of depth or three-dimensionality on a two-dimensional surface, using linear perspective and reduced saturation to make objects appear smaller and farther away as they disappear into the horizon.

Photorealism. A style of painting in which the art resembles a photograph in its strict adherence to reality. See also "Realism."

Pigment. A coloring agent used in paint and other materials.

Pointillism. Painting with dots or points of color. Termed "divisionism" by Georges Seurat, who developed the style.

Polychromatic. Having many colors, often seemingly at random.

Pop Art. A style that selected its subject matter from the impersonal, mass-media imagery of the everyday world.

Post-Impressionism. A collection of various types of painting styles, such as expressionism and formalism, which adhered to form and expressiveness, as opposed to the loose and formless qualities of impressionism.

Post-Modernism. An imaginative and eclectic style of art that accepts and incorporates the traditional with the modern in all their various representations.

Primary Colors. Hues that cannot be produced by mixing the other hues together, but can create all those other colors when mixed together.

Prime, Primer, Priming. The application of a layer of paint or sizing (a primer), such as gesso, to a surface before applying paint to it.

Realism. A style of art in which subject matter is portrayed as truly as possible to what the eye sees. Also refers to the portrayal of everyday people doing everyday activities. See also "Photorealism."

Renaissance Art. A movement based on the time period by the same name, in which art becomes more people-centered and classical in style. See also "Humanism."

Representational Art. Art in which the subject matter is portrayed in a realistic style.

Rococo. An ornate, romantic, and highly decorative style of art characterized by its small scale, soft pastels, sinuous curves, and asymmetry.

Romanticism. An art movement built on emotional intensity, including depictions of nature in all its glory, exotic locales, danger, and torment. Also any art that is spontaneous and emotional.

Saturation. The relative purity or intensity of a hue, from bright to dull.

Scale. The true or apparent size of an object in relation to other objects or people.

Secondary Colors. Hues that are produced by mixing together two primary colors.

Shade. A hue to which black has been added.

Simultaneous Contrast. An optical effect created when contrasting forms and/or colors emphasize their differences when used or viewed together.

Site-specific. Refers to any art that has been created only for or as part of a particular place and cannot be separated from that environment.

Size, Sizing. A substance (sizing) used to fill in porous surfaces so that they are protected from deterioration by the paints or other media that are later applied to them.

Still Life. A painting or drawing that consists of inanimate objects arranged decoratively to form a scene.

Style. Characteristics in the handling of the media and the treatment of the subject matter that identify a work of art as belonging to a particular artist, culture, genre, art movement, etc.

Stylized. A variation in form that either exaggerates or deemphasizes certain qualities in a work of art.

Support. The physical base onto which paint or other media are applied, such as canvas or paper.

Surrealism. An art movement that grew out of Dada and automatism, and is based on the unveiling of the unconscious mind, dreams, the unreal or fantastic. May be representational or abstract.

Symmetry. A formal composition in which a drawing or painting is balanced along each side of a central axis.

Synthetic Cubism. See "Cubism."

Tempera. A water-based paint that uses egg, glue, or casein as a binder. Not to be confused with gouache.

Texture. The tactile quality of a piece of art, whether real or perceived.

Tint. A hue to which white is added. A pastel color.

Trompe l'Oeil. A painting that looks so real or natural that it "fools the eye."

Two-dimensional Art. Art that has only the dimensions of height and width, such as found in most paintings and drawings.

Value. The lightness or darkness of tones or colors, with white being the lightest and black being the darkest, and the middle values being grays.

Vanishing Point. The point on the horizon line at which all the lines of perspective converge.

Vantage Point. The position from which the artist views his or her subject matter, or from which the viewer observes the completed art.

Warm Colors. Colors that evoke a feeling of warmth, such as red, orange, and yellow. See also "Cool Colors."

Wash. A thin and transparent layer of ink or paint.

Watercolor. A paint that uses water-soluble gum as a binder and is characterized by the transparency that is created by diluting the paint with water. Also, the painting that is created with this media is called a watercolor.