art terminology

Question 1

Abstraction

Answer 1

Non-representational or non-objective art. The heyday of abstraction was the early 20th century and artists who employ abstraction pull visual forms away from the “real” world through simplification, stylization or distillation of forms. Abstraction’s language is the language of color, texture, gesture, line and scale to name a few.

Question 2

Appropriation

Answer 2

The act of taking, in this case, works by another artist and putting them into a new context. Usually this is done without the permission of person the original idea came from. It results in recontextualizing the “old” work and the creation of a “new” art piece.

Question 3

Avant-garde

Answer 3

A French term that means “advance guard.” It’s a term that can be applied to artists and artworks as well as art movements as a whole. It is usually a stand-in phrase for art that is experimental, unusual, and forward-thinking.

Question 4

Composition

Answer 4

The term broadly applied to how the elements of an artwork are arranged. Certain strategies for composition have been around for hundreds of years like the Golden Mean and the Rule of Thirds.

Question 5

Distortion

Answer 5

In painting and drawing, distortion means changing the visual appearance of a figure or object — pulling, twisting, stretching and changing something for expressive purpose.

Question 6

Impressionism

Answer 6

Impressionism was the 19th century art movement known for artists who produced paintings that were of everyday scenes, painted with small but visible brushstrokes, with an emphasis on the accurate depiction of light and its changeable nature.

Question 7

ACCENT

Answer 7

Emphasis given to certain elements in a painting which makes them attract more attention. Details that define an object or piece of art.

Question 8

AESTHETIC

Answer 8

Pertaining to the beautiful, as opposed to the useful, scientific, or emotional. An aesthetic response is an appreciation of such beauty.

Question 9

ANALOGOUS COLORS

Answer 9

Colors that are closely related, or near each other on the color spectrum. Especially those in which we can see common hues.

Question 10

BRUSHWORK

Answer 10

The characteristic way each artist brushes paint onto a support.

Question 11

CONTOUR

Answer 11

A line that creates a boundary separating an area of space or object from the space around it.

Question 12

CONVERGING

Answer 12

Lines that go towards the same point.

Question 13

dynamic

Answer 13

Giving an effect of movement, vitality, or energy.

Question 14

harmony

Answer 14

The unity of all the visual elements of a composition achieved by repetition of the same characteristics.

Question 15

intensity

Answer 15

The degree of purity or brilliance of a color. Also known as chroma or saturation.

Question 16

NEGATIVE SPACE

Answer 16

The space in a painting around the objects depicted.

Question 17

NON-OBJECTIVE

Answer 17

Completely non-representational; pure design; fully abstract.

Question 18

organic

Answer 18

An image that shows a relationship to nature as opposed to man-made images. Any shape that resembles a naturally occurring form or that suggests a natural growing or expanding process.