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 201 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
8 examples
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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.
5 examples
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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
6 examples
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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,
3 examples
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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
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Ambrotype
A lightly exposed wet-plate glass negative that appears as a positive when placed on a black backing.
3 examples
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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
5 examples
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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.
6 examples
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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.
6 examples
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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
6 examples
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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,”
6 examples
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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
3 examples
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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
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Assemblage
A three-dimensional work of art made from combinations of materials including found objects or non-traditional art materials.
10 examples
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Audio
Sound as recorded, transmitted, or reproduced. Could include or refer to the use of noise and/or silence.
6 examples
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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
6 examples
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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
7 examples
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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,
8 examples
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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,
4 examples
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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,
6 examples
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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
0 examples
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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
7 examples
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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.
2 examples
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C
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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.
5 examples
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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
2 examples
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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;
6 examples
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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,
0 examples
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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
9 examples
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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
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Choreography
The art of creating and arranging a wide range of dance, from classical ballet to experimental performance; a work created by this art. A person who creates
3 examples
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Chromogenic color print
The dominant photographic color process of the 20th century is made up of three gelatin layers containing cyan, magenta, and yellow organic dyes. Together,
6 examples
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Cinématographe
A combination motion-picture camera, printer, and projector invented by French photographers, photographic equipment manufacturers, and brothers Auguste
2 examples
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Cinematographer
The person who sets up both camera and lighting for each shot in a film, the cinematographer has a major influence over the look and feel of a shot or
0 examples
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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
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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
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Collotype
A reproductive printmaking technique that is photographically based. Although collotype is increasingly rare, in the early 20th century it was employed
6 examples
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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
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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
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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
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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
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Concrete art
This term was first introduced in 1930 by Dutch artist Theo van Doesburg, who said that “nothing is more concrete, Max Bill, a Swiss artist and designer who was educated at the Bauhaus, became a founder and leader of the Concrete art movement in the later 1930s.
3 examples
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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Daguerreotype
One of the first practical photographic processes, publicly announced in 1839 and named for the French artist/inventor Louis Jacques Mande Daguerre. A
3 examples
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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
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