Art Terms

academic art

Art governed by rules, especially works sanctioned by an official institution

action painting

A style of nonrepresentational painting that relies on the physical movement of the artist by using such gestural techniques as vigorous brushwork, dipping, and pouring

apse

A semicircular end to an aisle in a BASILICA or a Christian church

art nouveau

An art movement of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in Europe and the US (emphasized curving, expressive lines based on organic shapes of flowers or vegetation

auroch

Bison that are extinct

automatism

Action without conscious control, such as pouring scribbling or doodling

avant-garde

From military theory that was applied to modern art, the advance guard of troops that moves ahead of the main army

basilica

A Roman town hall with three aisles and an apse at one or both ends Christian made this form for their churches

Bauhaus

German art school in existence from 1919-1933 best known for its influence on design, leadership in art education

capitals

In architecture, the top part or head of a column or pillar

catacombs

Underground burial places in ancient Rome

clerestory

Primary source of light

collage

A work by gluing various materials on a flat surface

color field

Grew out of abstract expression in which large stained or painted areas or fields of color evoke aesthetic and emotional responses

contrapposto

COUNTERPOSE counter positioning of parts of the human figure about a central vertical axis s-curve of the body

en plein air

outdoors

entasis

In classical architecture the slight swelling or bulge in the center of a column

Epic of Gilgamesh

is an epic poem from ancient Mesopotamia that is often regarded as the earliest surviving great work of literature.

Hellenistic

Style of the later phase of ancient Greek art (300-100BCE) characterized by emotion drama, and interaction of sculptural forms with the surrounding space

humanism

A cultural and intellectual movement during the Renaissance, following the rediscovery of the art and literature of ancient GREEK & Rome

icons

Rounded bubbleheads: An image or SYMBOLIC REPRESENTATION often with sacred significance

kore

Greek for MAIDEN a standing clothed woman

kouros

Greek for YOUTH standing nude male

Lamassu

having a human's head, a body of a bull or a lion, and bird's wings.

mosaic

Art medium in which small pieces of colored glass stone or ceramic tile called TESSERAE are embedded in a background material

nave

Tall central space of a church or cathedral usually flanked by side aisles

Palladian

relating to or denoting the neoclassical style of Andrea Palladio, in particular with reference to the phase of English architecture from c. 1715, when there was a revival of interest in Palladio and his English follower, Inigo Jones, and a reaction again

Paris Salon

A room used to entertain the wealthy

pointillism

Using tiny dots or points of color developed by French artist George Seurat in the 1880s

Pompeii

An ancient city in western Italy, south-east of Naples. The city was buried by an eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79; excavations of the site began in 1748, revealing well-preserved remains of buildings, mosaics, furniture, and the personal possessions o

portico

Porch attached to a building supported with columns

salons

An official art exhibition in France juried by members of the official French Academy

sfumato

Smoke like, blended

Pantheon

Temple of ALL gods

Shamanism

Somone who heals, magical, spiritual, and religious

Sumer

was the southernmost region of ancient Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq and Kuwait) which is generally considered the cradle of civilization. The name comes from Akkadian, the language of the north of Mesopotamia, and means "land of the civilized kings".

tenebrism

dark, gloomy, mysterious"), also occasionally called dramatic illumination, is a style of painting using profoundly pronounced chiaroscuro, where there are violent contrasts of light and dark,

tessera

Bit of colored glass, ceramic tile, or stone

Pantokrater

ALL ruler

ziggurat

A rectangular or square stepped pyramid, often with a temple at its top

Classical

Greece and Rome art that flourished in the fifth century BCE(emphasized horizontal and vertical directions emphasized on balance and porportion

Archaic

the 7th-6th centuries BC in Greece,