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 45 of 314 art terms
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Painting
A work of art made from paint applied to canvas, wood, paper, or another support.
8 examples
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Palette Knife
A type of spatula typically used to mix paint on the palette, but sometimes also used to apply or remove paint from the canvas
0 examples
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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
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Participatory Art
When artists include members of the public in their creative process and encourage them to become co-authors of the work. The participatory art events
8 examples
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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
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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
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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.
4 examples
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Performance
An event that could include a diverse range of actions, movements, gestures, and choreography. Performance is often preceded by, includes, or is later
8 examples
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Period Frames
Frames that relate to the period when the painting was made
0 examples
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Periodical
A magazine or newspaper published at regular intervals.
6 examples
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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
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Photobook
An artist’s book in which the art is photo-based. Photographers have been collecting their pictures in books since photography was invented. The term photobook
6 examples
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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
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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
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Photojournalism
A type of journalism that uses photographs to tell a news story
3 examples
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Photomontage
A collage work that includes cut or torn and pasted photographs or photographic reproductions.
7 examples
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Photostat
A machine that makes quick duplicate positive or negative copies directly on the surface of prepared paper. Also, the resulting copies.
4 examples
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Pictograph
An image or symbol representing a word or a phrase
3 examples
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Pictorial
Picture-like and representational in quality
0 examples
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Pictorialism
An international movement comprised of loosely linked camera clubs and societies that sought to highlight the artistic possibilities of photography and
10 examples
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Pictorial Space
The illusory space behind the picture plane of a painting
0 examples
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Pigment
Pigment is the colored portion of paint, often a finely ground powder that can be either natural or artificially produced.
0 examples
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Plan Drawing
Plans or plan drawings are used to illustrate the layout and orientations of a structure. Plans typically depict a building or project site from an aerial
8 examples
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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
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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
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Pochoir
French word for “stencil.” A method of applying colored paint, usually to paper, through cut-out areas of a thin material, such as paper, copper, or plastic,
1 example
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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
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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
11 examples
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Popular Culture
Cultural activities, ideas, or products that reflect or target the tastes of a broad swath of a society. Popular culture commonly includes—and is transmitted
4 examples
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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
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Portrait
A representation of a particular individual, usually intended to capture their likeness or personality.
11 examples
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Postcards
In 1869 someone sent the first postcard, in Austria. Though it was initially considered improper and insecure, the postcard quickly grew in popularity, In 1893 the World Columbian Exposition, which hosted over 25 million people in Chicago, Illinois, presented the first souvenir postcards. By the early 1900s, new technology, like the No. 3 Folding Pocket Kodak Camera, made printing photographs directly onto greeting cards possible, making photographic postcards an accessible way to stay connected to those far away.
8 examples
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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
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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
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Postmodernism
Postmodernism refers to a reaction against modernism. It is less a cohesive movement than an approach and attitude toward art, culture, and society. Its
6 examples
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Praxinoscope
A popular 19th-century optical toy, invented by a Parisian science teacher named Charles-Émile Reynaud, comprised of a cylinder fitted with a strip of
0 examples
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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
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Primary/secondary Colors
A primary color is one that cannot be made from a combination of any other colors. The primary colors are red, yellow, and blue. A secondary color is made
0 examples
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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Propaganda
Any systematic, widespread dissemination or promotion of particular ideas, doctrines, practices, etc. intended to further one’s own cause or to damage
7 examples
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Prototype
A preliminary model or release of a product built to test its viability, from which other versions are copied or developed.
3 examples
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