Art terms
This glossary explains some of the techniques, mediums, art movements, and other terms you’ll encounter on our website, along with links to examples in the collection.
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Showing all 336 art terms
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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
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Abstraction
Non-representational works of art that do not depict scenes or objects in the world or have discernable subject matter.
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Acrylic paint
A fast-drying paint made of pigment suspended in acrylic polymer emulsion. A key difference between acrylic paint and oil paint is that acrylics are water-based
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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
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Actuality
A nonfiction film, usually lasting no more than one to two minutes, showing unedited, unstructured footage of real events, places, people, or things. Actualities,
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African diaspora
Refers to the many peoples of African descent who live across the globe. For many of the people in this diaspora, their present place of residence is the
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Afrofuturism
First coined in 1993 by the cultural critic Mark Derry, afrofuturism refers to a literary and artistic mode of reimagining Black history and culture—and
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Albumen silver print
A photographic print that uses albumen, more commonly known as egg white, as a binder layer. To make the print, a glass-plate negative is placed in direct Albumen prints are admired for their tonal range and strong blacks. To increase stability, these prints were often toned with gold, which turned the warm yellow image to a lush purple. Albumen silver prints were the dominant process from 1850 through the 1880s, when they were replaced by collodion and gelatin silver prints.
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Alkyd enamel paint
Common household commercial paint made with a chemically modified version of linseed oil that dries quickly to a hard, often glossy finish
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Alligator skinning
A texture that often forms on the surface of dry paints that have a very high medium content and an extended drying time.
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Allover painting
An approach to painting that emerged with the Abstract Expressionists, in which each area
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Ambrotype
A lightly exposed wet-plate glass negative that appears as a positive when placed on a black backing.
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Animal skin glue
Natural adhesive created from animal bones, used in woodworking until synthetic glues were invented
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Appropriation
As an artistic strategy, the intentional borrowing, copying, and alteration of preexisting images, objects, and ideas
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Aquatint
An intaglio printmaking technique that creates tonal areas. Its name reflects its watercolor-like effects. Powdered resin is sprinkled on a metal plate
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Architectural drawing
Also called a rendering, an architectural drawing is used to illustrate a building or portion of a building. These renderings can be done by hand or using
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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.
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Architectural model
A presentation of an architectural concept in three-dimensional form. Can also refer to digital files representing the same.
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Architecture
The science, art, or profession of designing and constructing buildings and other structures for use or habitation by humans; a building, or buildings
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Arte concreto (Brazilian Concrete art)
Two groups interested in Concrete art emerged in the 1950s in the rapidly industrializing country of Brazil. Based in Some Brazilian concrete artists, such as Lygia Clark, Helio Oiticica, and Lygia Pape, grew frustrated with the limits of Concrete art and pushed it to a new level of experimentation. Around 1960 Oiticica said, “All real art does not separate technique from expression.” They called this work, which often included the viewer as a participant, Neo-concrete art.
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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,”
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Artist collective
A pair or group of artists who work together under one name.
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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
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Art Nouveau (New Art)
An international artistic movement of the late 19th and early 20th centuries that emphasized the unity of the arts and sought to reflect the intensive
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Arts and Crafts movement
Founded in England in the 1860s in response to mass industrialization, this design and architecture
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Assemblage
A three-dimensional work of art made from combinations of materials including found or purchased objects.
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Audio
Sound as recorded, transmitted, or reproduced. Could include or refer to the use of noise and/or silence.
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Automatism
Strategies of writing or creating art that aimed to access the unconscious mind. The Surrealists, in particular, experimented with automatist techniques
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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
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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,
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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,
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Binder
The material that holds the pigment together in paint and creates uniform consistency. Binder is often a liquid or an oil, like linseed oil, which is commonly
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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,
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Black Arts movement
This 1960s and 1970s cultural movement, begun by African American artists and intellectuals based in the United States, arose during a time when Black
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Black Maria
The world’s first film studio, developed in 1892–93 by American inventor Thomas Alva Edison and his assistant and protégé, William K. L. Dickson. Comprised
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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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Blockchain
A computer system that runs across many traditional computers and is protected by encryption. Blockchains reliably and securely execute programs, known
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B movie
A low-budget movie, especially one made for use as a companion to the main attraction in a double feature.
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Built environment
The spaces that human design and actions have shaped. These include infrastructural systems like electricity grids or highway networks, cities, buildings
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Calcium white
A white pigment often characterized by a warm tonality and significant transparency
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Calligraphy
Calligraphy is the art of creating handwritten text using highly stylized lettering. Its historical origins span millennia and many regions of the world,
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Calotype
William Henry Fox Talbot patented a photographic process in 1841 that led to a stable negative image. The process Though calotypes are soft and hazy, with visible paper fibers, the invention revolutionized image-making by making it possible to produce multiple prints from one negative image. It was also used as a means of making copies of drawings and documents. The process remained in use through the 1850s, when it was replaced by the albumen silver print.
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Cameraless photography
Cameraless photographs are created by manipulating light, radiation, and/or chemicals to leave an impression on photo-sensitive paper. Examples include
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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.
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Cartes-de-visite
Small photographs mounted to cardstock, patented in 1854. These “visiting” cards, most often featuring individual or celebrity portraits, were popularly
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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;
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Celluloid
The first synthetic plastic material, developed in the 1860s and 1870s from a combination of camphor and nitrocellulose. Tough, flexible, and moldable,
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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
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