Art Vocab Part 4 Flashcards
Developed in 15th century Italy, a mathematical system for indicating spatial distance in two-dimensional images, where lines converge in a single vanishing point located on the horizon line, as seen by a stationary viewer. (See also two-point linear perspective.)
one point linear perspective
A description of images which are partly or wholly derived from natural forms, such as curvilinear, irregular, indicative of growth, biologically-based, etc.
organic
An adjective used to describe a style of painting which is based not on linear or outline drawing, but rather patches or areas of color. In painterly two-dimensional images, the edges of forms tend to merge into one another, or into the background, rather than be separated by outlines or contours. Titian and Rembrandt are two artists with ______ approaches; Botticelli’s work is not _______, but more linear/drawing oriented.
painterly
A thin piece of glass, wood or other material, or pad of paper, which is used to hold the paint to be used in painting; also, the range of colors used by a particular painter.
palette
A drawing stick made of pigments ground with chalk and mixed with gum water; also, a drawing executed with these ______ sticks; also, a soft, subdued tint (light shade) of a color.
pastel
Italian term, from the word meaning ‘repent’; refers to the lines or marks which remain after an artist corrects his/her drawing (or painting). Traditionally, this meant that these lines or marks remained unintentionally, in the quest for the perfectly drawn figure, for instance. However, at the end of the 19th century (with Cezanne), these marks became part of the visual expression; his figure drawings, for example, often show several contours in the search for the “correct” one contour. With Cezanne’s drawings, these multiple contours in fact aid in the expression of three dimensions, more than one contour alone would do, giving a sense of roundness and volume. In addition, these _______ contribute in an expressive sense. In drawings and paintings since, some artists have taken advantage of this expressive function of _______, particularly in painting, and have left the marks/lines deliberately, or even created them on purpose. They can add richness to a work.
pentimenti
A type of art which began in the 1960’s (although the Dadaists had some event-oriented artworks in the early part of the 20th century), which consists of events, or performances, presented as art. Sometimes many artists (and others) are involved; sometimes it is performed by a single artist. In the 1960’s, Robert Rauschenberg and others were involved in ‘happenings,’ a similar endeavor, where, for instance, someone would be riding a bicycle around and through the performance area, another person would be reciting a prose poem, music might be playing, lights and images projected onto the walls, etc. ________ can sometimes be taken to extremes, as when, in the 1990’s, an artist shot himself as part of his performance piece.
performance art
A semi-mathematical technique for representing spatial relationships and three-dimensional objects on a flat surface.
perspective
A two-dimensional combining of photographs or parts of photographs into an image on paper or other material (a technique much used by the Surrealists in the 1920’s, such as Max Ernst).
photomontage
The flat plane of the canvas or other support, which is the two-dimensional arena of the image.
pictorial/picture surface
The flat surface on which an image is painted, and that part of the image which is closest to the viewer
picture plane
The areas of a painting or sculpture which are occupied by forms or images, as contrasted with negative space, which are the “empty” areas where no forms/images are located
positive space
A term used to describe the period of art which followed the modern period, i.e., from the 1950’s until recently. The term implies a shift away from the formal rigors of the modernists, toward the less formally and emotionally stringent Pop artists, and other art movements which followed.
postmodern
The category of fine art printing processes, including etching, lithography, woodcut, and silkscreen, in which multiple images are made from the same metal plate, heavy stone, wood or linoleum block, or silkscreen, with black-and-white or color printing inks.
print making
The relation of one part to the whole, or to other parts (for example, of the human body). For example, the human body is approximately 7 to 7-1/2 times the height of the head; the vertical halfway point of the body is the groin; the legs are halved at the knees, etc.
proportion
