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Vocabulary

Abstract Expressionism: The American style of art popularized during the 1940s in New York. Its prestige continued until the late 1950s. Characterized as non-geometric abstraction, it combined surrealist concepts with the importance of the individual as pioneer.

Abstraction: In painting and sculpture, having a generalized or essential form with only a symbolic resemblance to natural objects.

Academic: Associating with the French Royal Academy in Paris, which stressed traditional draftsmanship, somber color and beauty with classical or historical themes.

Allegory: The expression (artistic, oral or written) of a generalized moral statement or truth by means of symbolic actions or figures.

Baroque period: A period in western art history c. 1580-18th century. In Catholic countries the style formed out of a revolt against Mannerism and a desire to serve the religious impulse of the Counter-Reformation. In Northern European countries the style reflected the ideas of modern philosophy and the scientific revolution. Baroque style is characterized by having dynamic movement and theatrical effects.

biomorphic: Containing irregular, abstract forms based on shapes found in nature.

Classicism: art and architecture which aspires to a state of emotional and physical equilibrium and which is rationally rather than intuitively constructed, art from Greek and Roman antiquity.

Constructivism: Abstract art movement that manifested itself in Russia immediately before the Revolution. Originated by Naum Gabo and his brother, Antoine Pevsner, Constructivists sought to create art that was an investigation of properties such as line, color, form and construction.

Contemporary Art: Art of this time usually implies that the artist is still alive or the work was completed within the past twenty-five years.

Cubism: Begun in the early 1900s, Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque led this art movement which attempted to fully represent three-dimensions on a two-dimensional surface. Based on the object, cubism remained grounded in realism despite its unusual appearances.

dynamism: quality of works of art that show movement through strong diagonal lines, especially popular during the Baroque period.

expressionism: it implies art in which the exaggeration of brushstroke or color communicates the artist's emotion. Expressionistic works tend to distort reality.

Futurism: an art movement founded by Italian writer F. T. Marinetti in 1909. Originally a literary movement, the emphasis was the modern era, celebrating the sensations and sounds of the technological world of the future.

Figurative Style: Representing the likeness of a recognizable human (or animal) figure.

German Expressionism: Style of art practiced by two groups in Germany, Die Brucke and Der Blaue Reiter. Both expressed emotions through choices of color, form, and line in their works.

Ibeji: From the Yoruba culture they are twin figures or the small statues used to represent deceased twins within a family.

Impressionist: An artistic movement or style of painting that began in the 1870s in France and is characterized by a desire to depict actual reflected light and spontaneity in depictions of modern subject matter.

Kinetic Sculpture: Art which incorporates an element of mechanical or random movement, or which gives the illusion of movement by the use of optical techniques. It was popularized by Alexander Calder with his mobiles in the 1930s.

Minimalism: Term coined in the 1960’s to describe art which abandons all pretensions at expressiveness or illusion. Usually the art is three-dimensional and made of basic geometrical forms.

Modern Art: General name given to the succession of cutting edge styles in art and architecture which have dominated Western culture almost throughout the 20th century.

Murano glass: A style of blown glass popularized in Murano, Italy.

Negative space: An enclosed empty space in architecture, sculpture or a painting which makes an essential contribution to the composition.

Neoclassical: Art and architecture which aspires to a state of emotional and physical equilibrium and which is rationally rather than intuitively constructed, art influenced by Greek and Roman antiquity, particularly characteristic of the revival of classical aesthetics during the 18th and 19th centuries in Europe and America.

New Deal: President Franklin Roosevelt’s program for economic recovery during the Great Depression.

Nouveau Realism: A term coined by a French art critic to describe the style of artists such as Yves Klein and Arman, who rejected the free abstraction of the period in order to make use of existing objects, particularly found materials.

Obelisk: A single tapering rectangular block of stone which terminates in a pyramid. Obelisks are particularly associated with ancient Egypt, where they were used as commemorative monuments.

Pop Art: A style of modern art popularized in the 1960s which celebrates popular culture, consumerism and mass culture (i.e. comic strips, pin-ups and packaging), with a mixture of irony and celebration. Pop artists include Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein and Claes Oldenburg.

Surrealist: A participant in the surrealism movement founded by André Breton in 1924. The term is French for “transcending the real.” The movement absorbed the nonsensical Dada movement and was heavily based on the writings of Sigmund Freud. Surrealist practices are meant to liberate the unconscious through various methods and suspend conscious control.

WPA [Works Progress Administration]: Established by the U.S. Government in 1935, the WPA was a cultural program under the New Deal to help unemployed artists and artisans. They were hired to produce works of art and complete constructions projects for tax-supported institutions.