Art terms

Abstract Expression­ism

The dominant artistic movement in the 1940s and 1950s, Abstract Expressionism was the first to place New York City at the forefront of international modern

7 examples

Abstraction

Non-representational works of art that do not depict scenes or objects in the world or have discernable subject matter.

4 examples

Action painting

Art critic Harold Rosenberg coined the term “action painting” in 1952 to describe the work of artists who painted using bold gestures that engaged more

3 examples

Allover painting

An approach to painting that emerged with the Abstract Expressionists, in which each area of the composition is given equal attention and significance.

5 examples

Aquatint

An intaglio printmaking technique that creates tonal areas. Its name reflects its watercolor-like effects. Powdered resin is sprinkled on a metal plate

5 examples

Architectural fragment

An object formerly part of a built structure, intended to be part of a built structure, or representing a structural element of a building.

6 examples

Architectural model

A presentation of an architectural concept in three-dimensional form. Can also refer to digital files representing the same.

6 examples

Architecture

The science, art, or profession of designing and constructing buildings and other structures for use or habitation by humans; a building, or buildings

6 examples

Arte Povera

A movement of young Italian artists who attempted to create a new sculptural language through the use of humble, everyday materials. Meaning “poor art,”

4 examples

Artist’s book

A term referring to publications conceived, designed, and illustrated by artists, often self-published or published by arts organizations in large or unlimited

3 examples

Arts and Crafts movement

Informal movement in design and architecture that championed the unity of the arts, the experience of the individual craftsperson, and the qualities of

6 examples

Assemblage

A three-dimensional work of art made from combinations of materials including found objects or non-traditional art materials.

8 examples

Audio

Sound as recorded, transmitted, or reproduced. Could include or refer to the use of noise and/or silence.

6 examples

Automatism

Strategies of writing or creating art that aimed to access the unconscious mind. The Surrealists, in particular, experimented with automatist techniques

5 examples

Avant-garde

French for “advanced guard,” originally used to denote the vanguard of an army and first applied to art in France in the early 19th century. In reference

7 examples

Bauhaus

The school of art and design founded in Germany by Walter Gropius in 1919, and shut down by the Nazis in 1933. The faculty brought together artists, architects,

8 examples

Ben-Day dots

An inexpensive mechanical printing method developed in the late 19th century and named after its inventor, illustrator and printer Benjamin Henry Day,

4 examples

Biomorphic

Derived from the Greek words bios (life) and morphe (form), the term refers to abstract forms or images that evoke naturally occurring forms such as plants,

6 examples

Black Mountain College

A small liberal arts college founded in 1933 by John Rice on a farm in Asheville, North Carolina, and continued under changing leadership until 1957. Courses

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Canvas

A closely woven, sturdy cloth of hemp, cotton, linen, or a similar fiber, frequently stretched over a frame and used as a surface for painting.

6 examples

Cartes-de-visite

Small photographs mounted to cardstock, patented in 1854. These “visiting” cards, most often featuring individual or celebrity portraits, were popularly

2 examples

Cast

(verb) To form a material, such as molten metal or plastic, into a particular shape by pouring or pressing into a mold; (noun) something formed in a mold;

6 examples

Charcoal

Among the earliest known drawing materials, charcoal sticks are produced by burning vines or twigs of wood in an airless atmosphere. The black tonality

9 examples

Chine collé

A technique, used in conjunction with printmaking processes such as etching or lithography, that results in a two-layered paper support: a tissue-thin

4 examples

CoBrA

A European avant-garde movement active in the aftermath of World War II (from 1948 to 1951), whose name was derived from the first letters of the three

2 examples

Collage

Derived from the French verb coller, meaning “to glue,” collage refers to both the technique and the resulting work of art in which fragments of paper

12 examples

Collotype

A reproductive printmaking technique that is photographically based. Although collotype is increasingly rare, in the early 20th century it was employed

1 example

Colored pencil

An implement for drawing that contains a rod of pigments or dyes, known as “colorants,” mixed with fillers (including kaolin, chalk, or talc), synthetic

5 examples

Color Field painting

A form of abstract painting that emerged in the 1950s and 1960s, characterized by large areas of color, typically without strong tonal contrasts or a defined

4 examples

Combine

Term coined by Jasper Johns to describe a body of work by Robert Rauschenberg consisting of three-dimensional objects integrated into paintings. Rauschenberg

3 examples

Conceptual art

In the 1960s, many artists experimented with art that emphasized ideas over objects and materials traditionally associated with art making. In 1967, Sol

7 examples

Constructivism

Developed by the Russian avant-garde at the time of the October Revolution of 1917. Declaring that a post-Revolutionary society demanded a radically new

6 examples

Contact print

When light-sensitized paper is placed in direct contact with a negative and then exposed, the result is a contact print. A printing frame is often used

3 examples

Critical Design

A term first used by Anthony Dunne in his book, Hertzian Tales (1999), referring to an attitude toward design rather than a movement or method. It follows

1 example

Cubism

Originally a term of derision used by a critic in 1908, Cubism describes the work of Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque, and those influenced by them. Working

7 examples

Dada

An artistic and literary movement formed in response to the disasters of World War I (1914–18) and to an emerging modern media and machine culture. Dada

7 examples

Decalcomania

A transfer technique, developed in the 18th century, in which ink, paint, or another medium is spread onto a surface and, while still wet, covered with

6 examples

Degenerate art

The term adopted by the Nazi regime to describe works deemed to be “an insult to German feeling.” An exhibition of the same name opened in Munich in 1937,

5 examples

Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider)

Formed in 1911 in Munich as an association of painters and an exhibiting society led by Vasily Kandinsky and Franz Marc. Using a visual vocabulary of abstract

4 examples

Design

This term is most commonly associated with graphics, furniture, lighting, and products, but also encompasses a wide variety of related practices, including

12 examples

de Stijl

A term describing the abstraction pioneered by the Dutch journal De Stijl (The Style), founded in 1917 by the painter and architect Theo van Doesburg.

8 examples

Diazotype

A printmaking technique initially developed as an alternative to the blueprint, which it ultimately replaced, for the reproduction of maps, plans, etc.

3 examples

Die Brücke (The Bridge)

The artists’ group Die Brücke was established in 1905, a moment that is recognized as the birth of Expressionism. The affiliated artists often turned to

6 examples

Digital print

A general term for any print that incorporates digital technology into the creation of an image or its printing. Until the mid-1990s, most digital images

3 examples

Diptych

A work of art consisting of two sections or panels, usually hinged together.

8 examples

Direct Cinema

A method of documentary filmmaking developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s in the US and Canada, in which filmmakers sought to capture their subjects

1 example

Documentary film

A genre encompassing nonfiction films intended to capture some aspect of reality, often for the purposes of instruction, education, or the development

1 example

Double exposure

In photography and filmmaking, a technique in which film is exposed twice to capture and merge two different images in a single frame.

1 example

Drawing

A unique work of art, often on paper, made with dry or wet mediums including pencil, charcoal, chalk, pastel, crayon, pen, ink, watercolor, or oils. In

8 examples

Drypoint

An intaglio printmaking technique that creates sharp lines with fuzzy, velvety edges. A diamond-pointed needle is used to incise lines directly into a

7 examples

Dye transfer print

A full-color photographic printing process that was popular between the 1920s and the 1950s. In these prints, three layers of dye—cyan, magenta, and yellow—are

6 examples

Earthwork

Art that is made by shaping the land itself or by making forms in the land using natural materials like rocks or tree branches. Earthworks range from subtle,

8 examples

Edition

A set of identical prints made from the same printing surface. Editions may be limited or unlimited in number. Often a certain number of prints—including

8 examples

Embossing

A method of printing the deeply incised areas of a metal printing plate without ink, which creates a raised impression on the paper. Small or shallow objects

1 example

Enamel

A type of paint made from very fine pigments and resin that form a glossy surface. Also, the application of this paint to a material in order to create

6 examples

Engraving

An intaglio printmaking technique that creates a crisp, precise line that swells in the middle and tapers at the end. Lines are incised on a bare metal

6 examples

Etching

An intaglio printmaking technique that creates thin, fluid lines whose effects can vary from graceful and serpentine to tight and scratchy. An etching

6 examples

Expressionism

Encompasses varying stylistic approaches that emphasize intense personal expression. Renouncing the stiff bourgeois social values that prevailed at the

4 examples

Exquisite corpse

A game in which each participant takes turns writing or drawing on a sheet of paper, folding it to conceal his or her contribution, and then passing it

6 examples

Fauvism

A style of painting in the first decade of the 20th century that emphasized strong, vibrant color and bold brushstrokes over realistic or representational

5 examples

Feminist art

Art that seeks to challenge the dominance of men in both art and society, to gain recognition and equality for women artists, and to question assumptions

9 examples

Figurative

Art retaining strong references to or depictions of the real world and particularly to the human figure.

7 examples

Fluxus

Founded by George Maciunas and chiefly active from the early 1960s to the late 1970s, Fluxus was a loose international group of artists, poets, and musicians

6 examples

Found object

An object—often utilitarian, manufactured, or naturally occurring—that was not originally designed for an artistic purpose, but has been repurposed in

6 examples

Frottage

A technique that involves rubbing pencil, graphite, chalk, crayon, or another medium onto a sheet of paper that has been placed on top of a textured object

8 examples

Furniture and interiors

An object or environment designed to accommodate human activities such as sitting, sleeping, or eating. Examples include chairs, tables, and kitchens.

4 examples

Gelatin silver print (developing-out paper)

Formulated to react quickly when exposed to light, this paper contains silver halides in a gelatin binder. It is intended for handling in the controlled

5 examples

Gelatin silver printing-out-paper print (POP)

A process common from 1860 to 1940, printing-out-paper (POP) uses strong levels of ultraviolet sunlight to bring out a visible image, rather than the chemical

7 examples

Gouache

A water-based matte paint, sometimes called opaque watercolor, composed of ground pigments and plant-based binders, such as gum Arabic or gum tragacanth.

9 examples

Graphic design

Visual communication through the use of type, space, image, and color. Examples include printed materials like posters, books, and album covers, as well

5 examples

Graphite

A soft, greasy mineral form of carbon with a steel-gray to black metallic luster, used as a drawing material. Until the 18th century, natural lump graphite

6 examples

Happenings

Emerging from the live performances and spectacles of Dada and Surrealism, Happenings were events created by artists in the late 1950s and early 1960s.

2 examples

Illustrated book

A term referring to any book to which an artist has contributed imagery, but often designating deluxe limited-edition volumes created in collaboration

2 examples

Impressionism

A label applied to a loose group of mostly French artists who positioned themselves outside of the official Salon exhibitions organized by the Académie In 1874, they held their first group exhibition in Paris. Most critics derided their work, especially Claude Monet’s Impression, Sunrise (1872), which was called a sketch or impression, rather than a finished painting. From this criticism, they were mockingly labeled Impressionists. They continued exhibiting together until 1886, at which point many of the core artists were taking their work in new directions.

3 examples

Industrial design

A process of design that emerged after the Industrial Revolution, applied to products that are mass-produced and machine-made.

9 examples

Ink

Traditional black drawing ink, which originated in Asia and is therefore often referred to as India ink or Chinese ink, consists of very fine particles

10 examples

Inkjet print

A print created by a contact-free printer that distributes droplets of ink over a surface to create an image. Most often a print head with nozzles moves

6 examples

Installation

An art form that comprises visual elements in any medium and the space they inhabit.

5 examples

Institutional critique

A form of conceptual art, which emerged in the late 1960s, centered on the critique of museums, galleries, private collections, and other art institutions.

7 examples

Intaglio

A general term for metal-plate printmaking techniques, including etching, drypoint, engraving, aquatint, and mezzotint. The word comes from the Italian

6 examples

International Style

A style of modern architecture that emerged in Europe (principally Germany and France) in the 1920s and 1930s. Historian Henry-Russell Hitchcock and architect

7 examples

Kinetic art

Art that moves or has an element of motion. Artists making kinetic art may use motors to produce motion or may structure the work so that it is responsive

4 examples

Lead

A soft, malleable, dense metallic element with many different applications and uses, especially in the marking substance in pencils or as a material for

6 examples

Letterpress

A relief printing technique for printing text and other images that are outlined and mechanically cut from metal or wood. The raised surface is inked and

6 examples

Linoleum cut

A relief printmaking technique, also called linocut, that is usually characterized by flat, clearly delineated areas of color. An image is cut or gouged

5 examples

Lithography

A printmaking technique that involves drawing with greasy crayons or a liquid called tusche, on a polished slab of limestone; aluminum plates, which are

8 examples

Mail art

A practice emerging in the 1960s based on sending and exchanging works of art through the postal service. In the following decades, mail art networks expanded

2 examples

Mass production

The production of large amounts of standardized products through the use of machine-assembly production methods and equipment.

6 examples

Merz

A term invented by Dadaist Kurt Schwitters to describe collage and assemblage works he made from scavenged scrap materials. He took the word Merz from

2 examples

Mexican Muralism

A movement beginning in the early 1920s in Mexico in which the government commissioned artists to make art that would educate the mostly illiterate population

2 examples

Mezzotint

An intaglio printmaking technique that creates soft, velvety gradations of tone. The term comes from the Italian mezzotinto, meaning “half tint.” In this

3 examples

Minimalism

A primarily American artistic movement of the 1960s, characterized by simple geometric forms devoid of representational content. Relying on industrial

6 examples

Mobile

A type of sculpture consisting of balanced, separate parts that move, especially in response to air currents.

1 example

Monochrome

A work of art rendered in only one color.

6 examples

Monotype

A unique print, typically painterly in effect, made by applying paint or printing ink to a flat sheet of metal, glass, or plastic. The painted image is

8 examples

Montage

An assembly of images that relate to one another in some way to create a single work or part of a work of art. A montage is more formal than a collage,

2 examples

Multiple

A term referring to small-scale, three-dimensional works of art conceived and produced in relatively large editions, and often issued by the same individuals

6 examples

Mural

A large painting applied to a wall or ceiling, especially in a public space.

3 examples

Neo-Impressionism

A term coined by French art critic Fénéon in 1886, applied to an avant-garde art movement that flourished principally in France from 1886 to 1906. Led

3 examples

Neon

A form of lighting used especially on advertising signs, consisting of glass tubes filled with neon or other gases that emit colored light when subjected

2 examples

Neo-Plasticism

An artistic philosophy that called for the renunciation of naturalistic representation in favor of a stripped-down formal vocabulary principally consisting

2 examples

Op art

An abstract style, also known as Optical Art, developed in the 1960s and featuring geometric shapes and lines in black and white or vivid colors. Based

3 examples

Orphism

A Cubist-influenced style of painting pioneered around 1912 by Robert and Sonia Delaunay and František Kupka, who turned to abstraction as a way to explore

2 examples

Papier mâché

French for “chewed-up paper,” a technique for creating three-dimensional objects, such as sculpture, from pulped or pasted paper and binders such as glue

3 examples

Pastel

A soft drawing stick composed of finely ground pigment mixed with a gum tragacanth binder. Pastel sticks are often applied to a textured paper support.

7 examples

Patina

A fine crust or film on bronze or copper, usually green or greenish-blue, formed by natural oxidation; the sheen on a surface, such as one made of wood,

2 examples

Pencil

An implement for drawing or writing. Early pencils were composed of small fragments of natural graphite or soft metallic lead secured in wood or bone holders.

3 examples

Performance

An event that could include a diverse range of actions, movements, gestures, and choreography. Performance is often preceded by, includes, or is later

6 examples

Periodical

A magazine or newspaper published at regular intervals.

6 examples

Perspective

Technique used to depict volumes and spatial relationships on a flat surface, as in a painted scene that appears to extend into the distance.

3 examples

Photography

For much of the history of the medium, a photograph was defined as a chemical image rendered visible by the action of light on photosensitive compounds.

9 examples

Photogravure

A general term for any metal-plate intaglio printing process in which the image has been transferred to the plate by photographic means. Acid is used to

7 examples

Photomontage

A collage work that includes cut or torn and pasted photographs or photographic reproductions.

3 examples

Pictorialism

An international movement comprised of loosely linked camera clubs and societies that sought to highlight the artistic possibilities of photography and

10 examples

Plastic

A term applied to many natural and synthetic materials with different forms, properties, and appearances that are malleable and can be molded into different

6 examples

Platinum print

A photographic print made using the light sensitive gelatin and other colloids so that they become insoluble when exposed to light

6 examples

Pointillism

A painting technique developed by French artists Georges-Pierre Seurat and Paul Signac in which small, distinct points of unmixed color are applied in

3 examples

Pop art

A movement comprising initially British, then American artists in the 1950s and 1960s. Pop artists borrowed imagery from popular culture—from sources including

6 examples

Portfolio

A group of prints, often focused on a common theme, by a single artist or a group of artists, usually housed in a protective box or folder, and containing

2 examples

Poster

A large, usually printed placard, bill, or announcement, often illustrated, that is posted to advertise or publicize something, or used for decoration;

7 examples

Post-Impressionism

A term coined in 1910 by the English art critic and painter Roger Fry and applied to the reaction against the naturalistic depiction of light and color

6 examples

Postmodernism

In art, postmodernism refers to a reaction against modernism. It is less a cohesive movement than an approach and attitude toward art, culture, and society.

6 examples

Prefabrication

In architecture, the assembly of buildings or their component parts at a location other than the construction site. Prefabricated units may include doors,

3 examples

Primitive Art

A term that has been used to refer to the art of various historical European periods and of non-Western societies. In the mid-19th century, it was primarily

5 examples

Print

A work of art on paper that usually exists in multiple copies. It is created not by drawing directly on paper, but through a transfer process. The artist

6 examples

Printer

The specialized technician or establishment that provides expertise on printing and often collaborates with artists to make prints. The printer also executes

1 example

Product design

The design of items intended to be manufactured, most often for specific utilitarian purposes. Examples include typewriters, kitchen appliances, and utensils.

7 examples

Proof

A print that is not part of the regular numbered edition, including examples printed in advance of the edition, such as “trial proofs,” that are used to

6 examples

Propaganda

Any systematic, widespread dissemination or promotion of particular ideas, doctrines, practices, etc. to further one’s own cause or to damage an opposing

5 examples

Radical Architecture

A cohort of Italian architects and designers active from the late 1960s through the 1970s. They placed themselves in opposition to the rationalism and

4 examples

Rayograph

A term invented by Man Ray, in which he merged his name with the word “photograph” to describe his particular approach to the technique of making photograms.

4 examples

Readymade

A term coined by Marcel Duchamp in 1916 to describe prefabricated, often mass-produced objects isolated from their intended use and elevated to the status

4 examples

Relief

Figures or forms carved or molded so as to project from a flat surface, as in sculpture, or the apparent projection of such shapes in a painting or drawing.

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Resin

Any of numerous plant-based, clear, translucent, yellow or brown, solid or semisolid, viscous substances—including copal, rosin, and amber—used principally

6 examples

Salted paper print

The earliest paper-based photographic material. So named because it was made by coating water containing a soluble salt onto a sheet of paper, which was

5 examples

Score

A written notation of a musical or dance composition, which allows the work to be performed at a later date or by another performer. Composers interested

1 example

Screenprint

A stencil-based printmaking technique in which the first step is to stretch and attach a woven fabric (originally made of silk, but now more commonly of

8 examples

Self-portrait

A representation of oneself made by oneself.

6 examples

Shadow box

A shallow enclosing case usually with a glass front in which something is set for protection and display.

3 examples

Short

A short film. Today, any film running for 40 minutes or less and therefore not considered long enough to be a feature-length film.

1 example

Silkscreen

A stencil-based printmaking technique in which the first step is to stretch and attach a woven fabric (originally made of silk, but now more commonly of

8 examples

Sketch

A rendering of the basic elements of a composition, often made in a loosely detailed or quick manner. Sketches can be both finished works of art or studies

6 examples

Skyscraper

A very tall building, often higher than 492 feet (150 meters). The term was first applied to steel-framed buildings of at least 10 stories in the late

5 examples

Social Realism

A movement that flourished between the two World Wars in response to the social and political turmoil and hardships of the period. Artists turned to realism

5 examples

Software

A set of coded instructions to direct the actions of a computer. Used by artists and designers to create everything from usable software like fonts and

5 examples

Stencil

Produces an image or pattern by applying pigment to an intermediate object—usually a thin sheet of material such as paper, plastic, wood, or metal—with

3 examples

Street photography

A type of photography nearly as old as the medium itself, in which photographers seek their subjects on the streets and in public places, aiming to capture

5 examples

Suprematism

A term coined by Russian artist Kazimir Malevich in 1915 to describe a new mode of abstract painting that abandoned all reference to the outside world.

4 examples

Surrealism

An artistic and literary movement led by French poet André Breton from 1924 through World War II. Drawing on the psychoanalytic theories of Sigmund Freud,

8 examples

Symbolism

An international avant-garde artistic movement that began in France and spread across Europe and North America during the last two decades of the 19th

4 examples

Tempera

A painting medium in which colored pigment is mixed with a water-soluble binder, such as egg yolk; a painting done in this medium.

6 examples

Textile

A work consisting of natural or artificial fibers, often woven. Can refer to artist-created sculptures, hand-woven works, and industrially produced fabrics.

6 examples

The New Art

An international, middle-class artistic movement of the late 19th and early 20th centuries that emphasized the unity of the arts and sought to reflect

5 examples

The New Objectivity

A modern realist movement, often associated with portraiture, that developed in Weimar Germany in the 1920s as a challenge to Expressionism.. As its name

8 examples

Tintype

An autopostive photographic print on a piece of blackened iron, in effect a less expensive version of the ambrotype.

4 examples

Triptych

A work of art consisting of three sections or panels, usually hinged together.

5 examples

Typography

The art and technique of designing, arranging, and printing with type.