Intro Flashcards
Identify 3 types of styles and define them.
Period style: Characteristic manner of a specific time (ex: Gothic).
Regional style: Describes changes in style connected with geography (Italian vs. French Gothic). Especially different in times when communication was limited.
Personal style: Distinctive manner of individual artists or architects.
Define provenance.
History of an object from its origin/source to the present day.
Strong provenance = origin is known (ex: dug right out of ground).
Weak provenance = origin is unknown (ex: sold from gallery to gallery or gifted by private owner)
Define form.
An object’s shape or structure, more related to 3D objects in relation to positive and negative space.
Define composition.
Layout; the way in which an artist organizes forms in an artwork, through placement on a plane or in space.
Ex: “arrangement in gray and black” (1871), J.A.M. Whistler
Ex: “composition in red, yellow, and blue” (1921), Piet Mondrian
Define iconography.
From the Greek “writing of images.” Refers to the content/subject of an artwork and includes symbolic, often religious, meanings of objects, persons, or events depicted in art.
Ex: what is the meaning of this “John the Baptist” painting? What are the connections to other art?
Define connoisseur.
“One who knows.” An expert in determining the artist, age and quality of a work of art.
Ex: how can one identify how old a “John the Baptist” painting is? (Physical evidence under microscope, stylistic evidence of artist, etc.)
Why is the contextual history of Pablo Picasso’s “Guernica” (1937) so important to understanding its shapes, composition, and form?
It was created in response to the bombing of Guernica, a village in northern Spain, by German and Italian warplanes during the Spanish Civil War. It’s a statement against fascism, showing the tragedies of war and the suffering it inflicts upon individuals, particularly innocent civilians. The grayscale color scheme and distorted figures evoke a sense of oppression, pain, and chaos.
Apply today’s art history vocabulary terms to Rosso Fiorentino’s “John the Baptist” (1520s) painting.
A CONNOISEUR would attribute the banner that reads “Ecce Agnus Dei” (Behold the Lamb of God) to John the Baptist. That is also an example of ICONOGRAPHY because John the Baptist was commonly refered to as the Lamb of God in other works of art. Fiorentino was an Italian (REGIONAL STYLE) Renaissance (PERIOD STYLE) painter.
