art history terms Flashcards
Abstract
Latin term “drawn away” - departure from lifelike depiction of reality; not representative
Academies of note
art academy- teaches fundamentals of painting and sculpture vs prior apprenticeship of guilds;
Royal Academy Paris 1648 casts/ sculptures
chiaroscuro
part of drawing, line and chiaroscuro (treatment of light and shading) Creates 3D look, creates drama or mystery
Academic
artist trained at academy - following the principles taught - depict scenes from Bible, ancient history, or mythology. Crisp outlines and smooth paint surfaces
Aesthetics
philosophy focusing on question of beauty and ugliness
Allegory
~parable, story that illustrates a moral truth; figures - female personification of liberty, justice, truth, vanity - often contained in objects they hold or dress - justice=blindfold, truth=nude, vanity=mirror
Anxiety of influence
uneasiness of being confronted with famous earlier works - may be assoc with rebellious interpretations
Arabesque
geometric patterns
Assumption
Virgin Mary into heaven
Attribute
identifying object carried by figure (ex keys of st peter, apple of venus…)
Avante Garde-
term in 1910 artistic forefront - ahead of their contemporaries
Beau-Arts Architecture
late 19th, early 20th century - formal planning, Classical elements and abundant decoration
Cameo
image in relief on stone or glass with effect from layers in different colors
complementary
red - green, yellow- purple, blue - orange for optimum color contrast
conversation piece
portrait full length of group in conversation or activity like a game or music making
Decorative
decus = adorns, or beautifies. often negative ring - suggesting devoid of meaning, but more recently positive meaning - aesthetic enhancement
Divisionism
term from neo impressionist painter Paul Signac - paint applied in small patches, lines or dotes (pointillism) to create optical mixture
Eclecticism
selecting the best of various doctrines applied to architecture and arts
Ecole des Beaux arts -
school of fine arts - france 1793; Rome prize from juries of salons, influence declined in 1800s
Emblem
form used as identifying mark ex flour de lis -> french royals, bee -> napolean
Envoi
work sent yearly to French Academy to show progress
Eros
winged male = cupid spirit of love
Exemplum virtutis
example of virtue - neoclassical art goal to educate the public showing virtuous deeds of historic role models
Facture
french term referring to brushwork
Fascis
bundle of rods tied together with traps carried by ancient roman attendants - signify authority or unity
Friendship picture
gift from one artist to another as token of admiration
Genre painting
painting of a scene of daily life
Gesamtkunstwerk
term from R Wagner - using several art forms to achieve totalizing effect, single idea
Grande Machine
“big contraption” - slang term for large history painting intended for the Salon
Hierarchy of genres
history painting> landscape, portrait, genre painting (daily life) > still life
Horror Vacui
latin “fear of emptiness” = excessively crowded composition
Hue
addition of white (no white= saturated, highest intensity)
Icon
greek “image” - image of holy figure unmoving, expressionless, non-narrative
idealism
improving reality to peferction that does not exist
Illusionistic
form of representation creating strong illusion of reality
Impasto
heavy application of oil paint - marks of brush or knife
Leitmotiv
“leading motif” - what recurs in an artists work
Naturalism
art representing figures an objects c/w their appearance in reality; 19th century photograph like appearance
Oeuvre
french for work - collective work of artist
Pathetic Fallacy
Ruskin (1856) term for displaying parallels between state of mind of figures an conditions of nature esp in Romantic art (angry storm, sad rain..)
Pendant
work forming a pair - ex husband and wife portraits
Phrygian bonnet -
soft red cap with rounded peak work by freed slaves in and rome - symbol of freedom in french rev (bonnet rouge)
Plein air painting
working outside
Putto
naked infant boy representing a pagan spirit or angel
Relief
low or high 3D figure out of surrounding flat surface
Repoussoir
landscape painters - use of foreground elements to frame the composition and suggest depth/distance
Ruckenfigure
figure seen form the back (Caspar David Friedrich d 1840 - used a lot)
Satire
human follies for ridicule - often in prints
Scatology
bodily function theme -
Sfumato
from italian sfumare - to blur - forms have fuzzy blurred contour
vanitas stil life
still life objects that symbolize death
Symbolic Realism -
pre-Raphaelites - realism and symbolism were inseparable - every detail considered meaningful
Tableau
french for painting - esp for exhibition
Tempera
pint - pigments mixed with water with binder such as egg yolk, gum or wax - used in middle ages to early Renaissance replaced in 1400s with oil
Tonal painting
color is subordinated to tone - gray or brown predominate - light and dark more than local colors (natural color) esp Hague/ Netherlands school
Verisimilitude
appearance of being real
Zeitgeist -
spirit of time from Hegel d1831; transition from one style to the next reflects larger historical transformation
art phases
classical
Rococo
neoclassical - recalling classical antiquity
romantic - intimacy, spiral, color, aspiration (but often inspired by the past, bible etc)
realists - (Courbet - no angels because he hadn’t seen one)
abstract/nonobjective (Manet) -
Long hair
symbol of sexual allure - (esp Edvard Munch); Picasso Nude with mirror
July Monarchy (1830-1848) - 3 landscape themes
landscapes sought at time of urbanization; 1) historical (academy -Corot), 2)picturesque (castles etc, from England reflected desire to travel), 3) Naturalism-Barbizon School (faithful depiction light and atmosphere - Constable inspired, Rousseau leading)
Realism
1848 revolution - Louis Napoleon III in 2nd republic; ordinary common life - Gustave Courbet - Burial at Organs c1850 criticized for depicting the ordinary
Salon - & its demise
3rd republic and the demise of the state sponsored salon: issues display of best or market? large/grand or small marketable? academician judges or people? >7k admissions 1873; In 1880 - Salons per Society of French Artists, state run triennial exhibitions - but too large/ too many -
Naturalism
Naturalism c1870-1890 salons; revised Realism observational wo political overtones & devoid of references to past art & with detail and finish typically peasant life; followed technical academic painting procedure; ex Bassein-Lepage
Impressionism
world as seen rather than as known; between realism and abstraction. new viewpoints, unfinished looking - sketch/etude- like. after Monets Sunrise-Impression. First private exhibition 1874.
Include Bazille, Caillebotte, Cassatt, Degas, Monet, Berthe-Morisot, pissarro, Renoir, Sisley.
Neo-impressionism
Seurat- going beyond impressionists - turning choppy brushwork into systematic pointillism. Signal followed, and Pissarro with similar technique; A Sunday at la Grande Jate 1884
