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Glossary of Art Terms
Glossary of Art Terms
abstract/abstraction - Abstract means the modification of a (usually) naturalform by simplification or distortion. Abstraction is the category of such modified
images. (See also non-objective.)
alla prima - (pronounced ah-la pree-ma) - Italian term, meaning to paint on
canvas or other ground directly, in full, opaque color, without any preliminary
drawing or underpainting done first. (Underpainting is often done to establish the
larger masses of the composition, or to establish tonal values (lights and darks)).
all-over space - A type of space in modern painting characterized by thedistribution of forms equally "all over" the picture surface, as opposed to the
traditional composing method of having a focal point, or center of interest. In "all-
over" space, the forms are seen as occupying the same spatial depth, usually on
the picture plane; also, they are seen as possessing the same degree of
importance in the painting. (In traditional painting, the focal point (or center of
interest) is meant to be the most significant part of the painting, both visually and
subject-wise, for instance, a portrait; whereas with "all-over" space, there is no
one center of interest visually or subject-wise.) The Action painter, Jackson
Pollock, was the first to use all-over (also called infinite) space, in his famous
"drip" paintings of the 1940's and '50's, and this spatial concept has influenced
most two-dimensional art since that time.
assemblage - (pronounced as-sem-blidge) - A type of modern sculpture
consisting of combining multiple objects or forms, often 'found' objects. (A found
object is one that the artist comes upon and uses, as is or modified, in an
artwork.) The most well known assemblages are those made by Robert
Rauschenberg in the 1950's and '60's; for example, one assemblage consisted of
a stuffed goat with an automobile tire encircling its stomach, mounted on a
painted base. The objects are combined for their visual (sculptural) properties, as
well as for their expressive properties.
atmospheric - A quality of two-dimensional images which has to do more with
space than with volume; an 'airiness,.' seen more in contemporary than
traditional images. Also refers to atmospheric perspective, which is a less
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technical type of perspective, using faded and lighter colors to denote far
distance in landscapes.
atmospheric perspective - Atmospheric, or aerial, perspective, is a less
technical type of perspective, which consists of a gradual decrease in intensity oflocal color, and less contrast of light and dark, as space recedes into the far
distance in a landscape painting or drawing. Often, this far distance will also be
represented by a light, cool, bluish-gray. (See also perspective.)
automatic (writing) - Automatic writing was a technique first used by the Dada
and Surrealist artists in the early 20th century, to tap into their subconscious to
write poetry (Freud's ideas on the subconscious had been introduced in the early
part of the 20th century). They would try to connect with their subconscious to
access a 'stream of consciousness,' or more 'free' type of poetry. Visual artists in
these movements also tried to draw or paint "automatically," by allowing their
subconscious to play a large part in the creative process. The Abstract
Expressionists of the 1940's and '50's also used this method, for example,
Jackson Pollock's "drip" paintings.
biomorphic - An attribute related to organic, since it describes images derived
from biological or natural forms; it was a term frequently used in early- to mid-
20th century art. The art of Miro, Arp and Calder contains examples of these
simplified organic forms.
broken color - Broken color was first used by Manet and the Impressionists in
19th century French painting, where color was applied in small "dabs," as
opposed to the traditional method of smoothly blending colors and values (lights
and darks) together. This method results in more of a "patchwork" effect, where
the dabs render the facets of light on forms, and/or the planes of the forms'
volume, by means of color and value. Broken color has continued to be used in
much modern and contemporary painting.
calligraphy/calligraphic - Calligraphy is beautiful personal handwriting, whichhas also been practiced in the Orient and Near East for many centuries. The term
calligraphic is also applied to drawing or painting which contains brushstrokes
reminiscent of calligraphy.
camera obscura - A system of lenses and mirrors developed from the 16th to the
17th centuries, which functioned as a primitive camera for artists. With the
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camera obscura, painters could project the scene in front of them onto their
painting surface, as a preliminary drawing. Vermeer, among others, is thought to
have used the camera obscura.
chiaroscuro - (pronounced kyar-oh-scoor-oh) - Italian term for light and dark,
referring to the modeling of form by the use of light and shade.
collage - (pronounced col-laj) - French word for cut and pasted scraps of
materials, such as paper, cardboard, chair caning, playing cards, etc., to a
painting or drawing surface; sometimes also combined with painting or drawing.
color field painting - A style of painting begun in the 1950's to '70's,
characterized by small or large abstracted areas of color. Mark Rothko is one of
the earliest and best known color field painters; Morris Louis, Jules Olitski and
Helen Frankenthaler are other examples.
complementary colors - Colors which are located opposite one another on the
color wheel (e.g., red and green, yellow and purple, blue and orange); colors
which when mixed together will (in color theory) produce a neutral color (a color
which is neither warm nor cool). In the case of the three primary colors (red,
yellow and blue), the complementary of one primary will be the mixture of the
other two primaries (complementary of red will be a mixture of yellow and blue, or
green). When placed next to one another, complementary colors will make one
another appear much more intense, sometimes in an "eye-popping" sense, which
was utilized by Op artists of the 1960's to create optical effects. Also in color
theory, an object's primary color has its complementary color in its shadows (e.g.,
the shadows on and around a painted yellow apple will contain some purple).
composition - The process of arranging the forms of two- and three-dimensional
visual art into a unified whole, by means of elements and principles of design,
such as line, shape, color, balance, contrast, space, etc., for purposes of formal
clarity and artistic expression.
conception/execution - Conception is the birth process of an artistic idea, from
the initial creative impulse through aesthetic refinement, problem-solving, and
visualization/realization. Execution is the second half of the creative process: the
actual carrying out of the idea, in terms of method and materials, which often
involves compromises and alterations of the initial conception. Artists often see
the initial conception as the guiding force for their aesthetic decisions, in terms of
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formal elements of design, and in terms of the expressive content desired.
Contemporary conceptual artists place more emphasis on the first part of the
creative process; traditional artists are somewhat more concerned with the
techniques and methods involved in producing the artwork. The painter Henri
Matisse advised, in his essay On Painting, that artists should keep their initialimpulse in the front of their minds when working on a painting, to make the best
expressive and formal decisions.
conceptual - Pertaining to the process involved in the initial stages of art-making
(i.e., the initial conception, or idea). Also, the name of a contemporary art
movement which is mainly concerned with this process of conceiving of and
developing the initial idea, as opposed to the carrying-out of the idea into
concrete form. I think that conceptual artists also often think of the idea as the
real work of art, rather than its concrete manifestation. It is possible for a
conceptual art "piece" to not even be a tangible object - it may be an event or a
process, which can't be seen itself, but the results of the event or process may be
displayed, in text or photographs, for instance. Conceptual art tends to be created
across artistic categories - for instance, mixing the mediums of photography, text,
sound, sculpture, etc. My feeling about a lot of the conceptual work I have seen is
that it tends to be an experiential art, rather than the traditional 'passive'
experience of viewing art on a wall or a pedestal. Perhaps because our age and
time demand a more interactive experience; or because art had by the late 20th
century become a 'commodity,' to be bought and sold like any other commodity,and artists felt a need to avoid this commodification. Two examples come to
mind: 1) Maya Lin's memorial to Vietnam veterans in Washington, DC. The
traditional bronze statue of soldiers would not have been nearly as effective as a
memorial to Vietnam veterans; as it is, it has become a powerful catharsis for
Vietnam vets, and also for the two war-era factions - the hawks and the doves -
those who protested the war in the 1960's, and those who supported the Vietnam
war. 2) In the Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC, there is a large collection of
shoes which belonged to Nazi concentration camp victims. Though this may not
be officially a conceptual artwork, it has the characteristics of one, and perhaps
was influenced by conceptual art. A photograph on the wall of such belongings
would be an adequate representation of the horror of that time. But a huge pile of
shoes in a room, to be walked through, to see the different types of shoes which
resemble their former owners in personality and age, is to really experience the
powerful emotions associated with such horror.
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contemporary art - The term contemporary describes the most recent art, in this
case as distinguished from modern art, which is generally considered to have lost
its dominance in the mid-1950's.
content - As opposed to subject matter, content is the "meaning" of the artwork,e.g., in Moby Dick, the subject matter is a man versus a whale; the content is a
complex system of symbols, metaphors, etc. describing man's existence and
nature.
contour - The outer edge of forms which implies three dimensions, in contrast to
an outline, which is a boundary of two-dimensional, flat form. Also, a type of line
drawing which captures this three-dimensional outer edge, with its fullness and
recession of form.
contrapposto - (pronounced con-tra-pos-to) - Italian term, meaning to represent
freedom of movement within a figure, as in ancient Greek sculpture, the parts
being in asymmetrical relationship to one another, usually where the hips and
legs twist in one direction, and the chest and shoulders in another.
cool colors - In color theory, colors are described as either warm, cool, or
neutral. A cool color generally is one which contains a large amount of blue, as
opposed to a warm color, which will contain more yellow. In theory, cool colors
seem to recede in space, as the distant mountains or hills tend to appear light
bluish-gray, and the closer ones will be more green or brown (warmer). In
landscape paintings, artists often paint the distant hills in this pale blue color; and
it is generally thought that cool colors will recede into space in any painting.
However, color is a complex element, and colors often misbehave - it is usually
best to go on a case-by-case basis, because colors are influenced greatly by
what colors they are next to, appearing "warm" in one setting, and "cool" in
another. (I recommend reading the abbreviated version of The Interaction of
Color, by Josef Albers, for his ideas and exercises.)
cross-hatching - The practice of overlapping parallel sets of lines in drawing to
indicate lights and darks, or shading. (Hatching is one set of parallel lines, cross-
hatching is one set going in one direction, with another overlapped set going in a
different, often perpendicular, direction.)
diptych - Two separate paintings which are attached by hinges or other means,
displayed as one artwork.
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directional movement - A principle of visual movement in artworks, which can
be carried by line, dots, marks, shapes, patterns, color, and other compositional
elements. Directional movement in paintings or sculptures directs the viewer's
eye around or through the artwork, in a way which the artist consciously orunconsciously determines. One important function is to keep the viewer's eye
from "leaving" the work, and instead cause the viewer to follow an inventive
(interesting) path within the work, or exit in one area, only to be brought back in
another area.
drawing - Pencil, pen, ink, charcoal or other similar mediums on paper or other
support, tending toward a linear quality rather than mass, and also with a
tendency toward black-and-white, rather than color (one exception being pastel).
earthwork - A type of contemporary art begun in the 1960's and '70's, whichuses the landscape, or environment, as its medium, either by using natural forms
as the actual work of art, or by enhancing natural forms with manmade materials.
Two well-known earthwork artists are the husband and wife team of Christo and
Jeanne-Claude, and Robert Smithson. Some of these earthworks can be very
large, measured in miles. The origin of earth art may have been the environment-
conscious '60's and '70's, but earthworks also refer back to ancient earthworks,
such as the large Native American and other burial mounds. Christo' and Jeanne-
Claude's work is various, usually temporary and site-specific, and ranges from
"wrapping" an island or a building (such as the former German Reichstag
headquarters), to erecting a very high "curtain" of fabric over miles of uninhabited
(and inhabited) land. They work with an army of workers to erect these works,
and also work with the surrounding community to get permission and establish
guidelines of what they can and cannot do, during which meetings they explain
their artistic purposes to community members, and often the residents evolve
from their initial reluctance to give permission, to becoming enthusiastic
supporters. It is a very interesting process to watch, and I think is another
example of how some contemporary art tries to enlist the participation of thepublic in the art-making process, or at the very least to familiarize the public with
artistic motivations. In Christo and Jeanne-Claude's work, I see a kind-of Quixotic
whimsy - when they wrapped the former Reichstag headquarters building in
Germany, it seemed to me to be a poetic expression of victory over the former
Nazi Third Reich tyranny.
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encaustic - The process of using pigments dissolved in hot wax as a medium for
painting; mostly used long ago, but there are some contemporary artists who
have used encaustic, such as Jasper Johns.
engraving - A general term used to describe traditional printing processes, suchas etching, aquatint, drypoint, etc., where an image is made by the use of metal
plates and engraving tools, and printed, usually through a printing press. The
image can be incised into the plate, or drawn with fluid and then dipped in acid to
etch the uncovered areas. These processes are still used by artists, but of course
have been supplanted by more modern processes for general printing purposes.
expressionistic - A characteristic of some art, generally since the mid-19th
century, leaning toward the expression of emotion over objective description.
James Ensor, Edvard Munch and Vincent Van Gogh were perhaps the firstexpressionists, though there was not really a movement per se, but individual
artists. At the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries, expressionism
became widely espoused, particularly by German and Austrian artists, such as
Emil Nolde, Kirchner, Gustav Klimt, and others. Though there is variation, certain
characteristics predominate: bright, even garish, color; harsh contrasts of black
and white (as in woodcuts); exaggeration of form; and distortion or elongation of
figures. There are still many artists whose work has expressionistic tendencies; in
the 1980's there was a period of art called Neo-Expressionist. (The word 'neo'
before an art label means that there is a reprise of work similar to the original
movement.)
figurative - A term used to describe art which is based on the figure, usually in
realistic or semi-realistic terms; also loosely used to describe an artist who paints
or sculpts representationally, as opposed to painting or sculpting in an abstract or
non-objective manner.
figure/ground - The relationship of the picture surface (ground) to the images on
the picture surface (figure). The figure is the space occupied by forms (e.g., aperson in a portrait) (also known as the 'positive' space); the ground is the
"empty" or unoccupied space around the person in the portrait (also known as
the 'negative' space) (The ground is also commonly called the 'background.') In
art since the early 20th century, this division of the picture plane has been
seriously challenged, to the point where there is not a distinction of figure/ground,
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but rather one continuous surface and space, with no 'positive' or 'negative'
space, just one interwoven space.
focal point - In two-dimensional images, the center of interest visually and/or
subject-wise; tends to be used more in traditional, representational art than in
modern and contemporary art, where the picture surface tends to have more ofan overall importance, rather than one important area.
foreshortening - Perspective applied to a single object in an image, for a three-
dimensional effect, which often results in distortion with possible emotional
overtones. It is used particularly with the human figure, in Renaissance and
Mannerist art.
formal - A term used by artists to describe the visual elements of a work of art,
such as composition, space, color, etc., i.e., formal elements.found object - First used in the early years of the 20th century (in the Dadaist
movement), a found object is any object that an artist comes upon, and uses in
an artwork, or as the artwork itself. Marcel Duchamp called these works
'readymades.' He exhibited a urinal in the Society of Independent Artists
exhibition in New York in 1917, under the signature 'R Mutt'; Dada was the
precursor to Surrealism, and was an 'anti-art' movement after World War I, which
sought to avoid order and rationality in art. Dada also questioned the very
meaning of art: what is art? who decides if an object is art? is it art because an
artist places it in a museum and calls it art? etc. Later, Picasso made a bull's
head from found objects: the seat and handle bars of a bicycle.
fresco - Wall painting in water-based paint on moist plaster, mostly from the 14th
to the 16th centuries; used mostly before the Renaissance produced oil paint as
a more easily handled medium.
frottage - (pronounced fro-taj) - French term, meaning to rub a crayon or other
tool onto paper or other material, which is placed onto a textured surface, in order
to create the texture of that surface on the paper. The Surrealist artist Max Ernst
used this technique in some of his collages.
genre - (pronounced jahn-re) - A type of painting representing scenes of
everyday life for its own sake, popular from the 17th century to the 19th century.
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gesso - An undercoating medium used on the canvas or other painting surface
before painting, to prime the canvas; usually a white, chalky, thick liquid. In the
mid-20th century, gesso became available already commercially prepared; before
this time, artists often mixed their own gesso mixture.
gesture/gestural - The concept of gesture in drawing is twofold: it describes the
action of a figure; and it embodies the intangible "essence" of a figure or object.
The action line of a figure is often a graphic undulating line, which follows the
movement of the entire body of the figure being drawn or painted. The term
gestural is an extension of this idea to describe a type of painting which is
characterized by brushstrokes with a gestural quality, that is, flowing, curved,
undulating lines or forms. Gestural composition means a type of composition
based on gestural directional movements. The work of Arshile Gorky, the
Abstract Expressionist, is an example of gestural painting, which often connotes
a spiritual or emotional content.
glaze/glazing - A glaze is a thin layer of translucent oil paint applied to all or part
of a painting, to modify the tone or color underneath. Glazing is the process of
using this technique.
golden section - A mathematical ratio first used by the Greeks in their
architecture, and developed further in the Renaissance, which was said to be in
tune with divine proportion and the harmony of the universe. It has been used by
artists to divide the picture surface (as a compositional device); among others,
Seurat and Mondrian are thought to have used this ratio to create compositions.
graphic/graphic arts - The graphic arts (drawing and engraving) are said to
depend for their effect on drawing, as opposed to color. The term graphic
describes drawings or prints which lean more toward drawing (line) than color
(mass). I think that this division is less pertinent in modern and contemporary art
than in traditional art or art of the past.
grid - A formal visual vehicle much in currency during 20th century art, the grid isa geometric construct of squares or rectangles that form the underlying or actual
structure of some two-dimensional modern art. Though the meaning of the grid to
artists is hard to describe in words, it is more than just a visual armature. In a
way, it can be said to represent the modern and postmodern stance of the 20th
century; and often seems to inspire almost a reverence, as a symbol of aesthetic
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over the course of time a pattern can often be found, as a logical progression or
repeating images. An artist can be said to have a personal iconography, which is
often noted and analyzed by others, including art historians, critics, writers and
the public. Often, the meanings seen in an artist's work by others differs,
somewhat or considerably, from what the artist has intended.ideal art - Art which aims to be the true, eternal reality. In the 18th and 19th
centuries, this included some Neoclassical art, which emulated the forms and
ideas found in classical art (Greece and Rome). In modern times, this could
include artists such as Mondrian and Malevich, who considered pure abstraction
to be the manifestation of this pure reality. Perhaps the theoretical opposite of
ideal art is realism, which tries to depict things not as some ideal, but as they
'really' are.
impasto - An Italian term for oil paint applied very thickly onto the canvas or
other support, resulting in evident brushstrokes (visible).
installation - A type of art, usually sculptural, which is often large enough to fill
an entire space, such as a gallery, and consists of a number and variety of
components. Installation art perhaps began in the 1960's with Ed Kienholz and
George Segal, two American sculptors. Ed Kienholz' work contains such
elements as cars and institutional furniture (suggesting a state hospital or prison),
with the content being death and serious societal issues. Segal's work, in
contrast, consists of lifesize plaster figures (cast from real people and usually
white), engaged in contemporary and mundane activities, such as adding letters
to a movie marquee or waiting for the subway, and often represent the poetry of
the mundane. Installation art is often site-specific, meaning that it is created
specifically for a certain site. There are many contemporary artists creating
installations, such as Judy Pfaff.
linear - Describing a quality related to the use of line in painting or sculpture; can
refer to directional movement in composition, or the actual use of the element of
line in the image or sculpture, as contrasted with the use of mass or shape forms.
local color - The actual color of a form or object, uninfluenced by the effects of
light or reflected color. For instance, a vase may be turquoise (the local color), but
appear pale blue because of sunlight hitting it in certain places; dark blue
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because of areas in shadow; and many subtle color shades in certain areas
because of reflected light from surrounding surfaces.
lyrical - A quality applied to various art forms (poetry, prose, visual art, dance
and music), referring to a certain ethereal, musical, expressive, or poetic qualityof artistic expression. Although difficult to define, when a visual work of art is
described as having a lyrical quality, it means that it possesses a certain spiritual
or emotional quality; perhaps the color relationships may be said to "sing"; or the
linear quality of directional movement may be
of a sensitive and expressive nature; or the work expresses a particularly
profound, passionate or tender sentiment, perhaps related to romanticism or
other lofty expression.
mannerism/mannered - Mannerism was a style of art in 16th century Italy,
characterized by somewhat distorted (usually human) forms and a high emotional
key. Practitioners included the artist Pontormo. In modern and contemporary art,
the term mannered when applied to a style or work of art is somewhat critical,
implying that the style or work of art is done not from the inner convictions and
perceptions of the artist, but rather out of the artist's historical artistic habits or
preconceptions. In other words, the work appears contrived or forced, as
opposed to arrived at by genuine and self-aware creative impulses.
mass/masses - Shapes or forms used in visual art, as contrasted with lines; also
masses often form the large part(s) of the compositional structure, without the
additional complexity of detail.
medium - Material or technique an artist works in; also, the (usually liquid or
semi-liquid) vehicle in which pigments are carried or mixed (e.g., oil, egg yolk,
water, refined linseed oil).
mobile - (pronounced mo-beel) - A type of kinetic sculpture (that which moves),
invented and first used by the artist Alexander Calder. Trained as an engineer,
Calder built many hanging mobiles with various attached forms, which movedand changed with air currents, etc. Many of them were very large, and hang in
museum lobbies or auditoriums, from the ceiling. The forms which rotate and
change their configurations are often of a biomorphic nature, similar to those
used by Hans Arp and Juan Miro.
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modeling - Three-dimensional effect created by the use of changes in color, the
use of lights and darks, cross-hatching, etc.
modern art - Generally considered to be the period from about 1905-6 to the
mid-1950's, when Pop art ushered in what is referred to as the postmodernperiod in art. Modern art is generally characterized by formal experimentation
and exploration, and mostly seriousness of purpose. (Dada and Surrealism may
be the exceptions to this rule.)
motif - (pronounced mo-teef) - A French term which refers to: the subject matter
or content of a work of art (e.g., a landscape motif); also refers to a visual
element used in a work of art, as in a recurring motif (i.e., Warhol used the motif
of soup cans in his early works; or Mondrian used rectangles as a visual motif.
naturalism - A style of painting which uses an analysis of tone (value) and colorof its subject, resulting in a representation of the appearance of forms or
landscapes. Impressionism has naturalistic tendencies, because it analyzes tone
and color in the play of light on surfaces. Naturalism can also have a sensual
character (as against composition and drawing). The Impressionists were
influenced by 19th century researches into the physics of color by Chevreul (a
scientist) and others, which showed that an object casts a shadow which
contains its complementary color (see complementary color). This theory
eventually hardened into Neo-Impressionism, where Seurat and others sought
the maximum optical truth about nature and the ideal composition and color
relationships. This line of inquiry also led eventually to Post-Impressionism,
where Gauguin and Van Gogh, among others, used color in a purely artistic and
anti-naturalistic manner, which was non-intellectual. (Color used by Gauguin and
Van Gogh is often deliberately independent of the local or light-influenced color of
objects; and beyond that in the early 20th century, the Fauve painters used bright
color and forms even more distant from their perceptual origins.)
negative space - In a painting or sculpture, the areas where there are no forms
(the "empty" areas). In a painting, this means the areas which have no forms orobjects (sometimes also called the 'background' ). In sculpture, this means the
"holes" between forms or within a form (e.g., Henry Moore sculptures). Negative
space is the other side of the coin of positive space, which is space actually
occupied by forms in a painting or sculpture (the figure in a portrait). The notions
of positive and negative space were advanced during the late 19th and early 20th
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centuries, replacing the more traditional notion of a 'background' which was
subordinate to and separate from the subject image - portrait, still life, etc. Since
about 1950, the notions of positive and negative space have also been replaced
by much contemporary art, which sees the picture surface not as positive and
negative areas, but rather one continuous surface where every area is equallyimportant, and at the same spatial depth. (See also positive space.)
neutral color - A color which in color theory is neither warm nor cool. Neutral
colors are said to result from the combination of two complementary colors (e.g.,
red and green, blue and orange, and yellow and purple). Neutral colors can also
be mixed by other means. (See also complementary colors, and warm and cool
colors.)
non-objective - A term used to describe visual art which is not based on
existing, observable forms, but rather on abstract or idealized forms, such as
geometric, mathematical, imaginary, etc. Non-objective art came into existence in
the early 20th century, often with much theoretical accompaniment. Mondrian is
an example of an artist whose work is non-objective. (See also abstract.)
non-representational - Non-representational art is art which is not based on
external appearances; this covers several types of art - abstract, non-objective,
and decorative; as contrasted with representational art, which is art based on
"real" imagery, whether actually existant or existant only in the artist's
imagination.
one-point linear perspective - 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.)
organic - A description of images which are partly or wholly derived from natural
forms, such as curvilinear, irregular, indicative of growth, biologically-based, etc.
painterly - 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 painterly approaches; Botticelli's work is not
painterly, but more linear/drawing oriented.
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palette - 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.
pastel - A drawing stick made of pigments ground with chalk and mixed with gumwater; also, a drawing executed with these pastel sticks; also, a soft, subdued tint
(light shade) of a color.
pentimenti - 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 pentimenti
contribute in an expressive sense. In drawings and paintings since, some artists
have taken advantage of this expressive function of pentimenti, particularly in
painting, and have left the marks/lines deliberately, or even created them on
purpose. They can add richness to a work.
photomontage - (pronounced photo-montaj) - 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).
pictorial/picture surface - The flat plane of the canvas or other support, which is
the two-dimensional arena of the image.
picture plane - The flat surface on which an image is painted, and that part of
the image which is closest to the viewer. (In modern and contemporary art, the
picture plane is synonymous with pictorial surface, meaning that the entire image
is located on the picture plane, as contrasted with art from the Renaissance until
the mid-19th century, where the picture surface was considered as a window into
which the viewer looked into the illusion of distance.)
positive space - 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. For example, in a portrait, the figure would
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be the positive space, the "background" would be the negative space. In painting
since around 1950, the differentiation between positive and negative space has
given way to a sense of a continuous surface/space/plane, where all the forms
are located on the picture surface, rather than on different planes in space. (See
also negative space.)
postmodern - 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.
printmaking - 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.
proportion - 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 also refers to the relative sizes
of the visual elements in a composition, and their optimum relationships for good
design.
realism - Representational painting which, unlike ideal art, desires to depict
forms and images as they really are, without idealizing them. Courbet was one of
the first realists, in opposition to the previous reigning Neoclassical art in France;
19th century realist artists wanted to depict life "as it is," warts and all.
representational art - Art which is based on images which can be found in the
objective world, or at least in the artist's imagination; i.e., images which can
perhaps be named or recognized. For instance, an objectively faithful depiction of
a person is representational art; also, a depiction of an alien from outer space
can also be considered a representational image. (See also non-representational.)
rubbing - A product of rubbing a crayon or other tool onto paper or other material
over a textured surface, in order to reproduce that texture into a two-dimensional
image. For example, a rubbing of a gravestone, a penny, etc. (See also frottage.)
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scumbling - A painting technique (the opposite of glazing), consisting of putting
a layer of opaque oil paint over another layer of a different color or tone, so that
the lower layer is not completely obliterated, giving an uneven, broken effect.
shade - A dark value of a color, i.e., a dark blue; as opposed to a tint, which is alighter shade of a color, i.e., light blue. Also, to shade a drawing means to add the
lights and darks, usually to add a three-dimensional effect.
sfumato - (pronounced sfu-ma-to) - Italian term meaning smoke, describing a
very delicate gradation of light and shade in the modeling of figures; often
ascribed to da Vinci's work (also called blending). Da Vinci wrote that 'light and
shade should blend without lines or borders, in the manner of smoke', in his
Notes on Painting.
sgraffito - (pronounced sgraf-ee-to) - Italian term meaning scratched; in painting,one color is laid over another, and scratched in (with the other end of the brush,
for example) so that the color underneath shows through.
shaped canvas - A type of painting/stretched canvas first begun in the 1960's,
where the canvas takes other forms than the traditional rectangle. Canvas is
stretched over multiple three-dimensional shapes, which are combined to form a
three-dimensional, irregularly shaped canvas on which to paint (often abstract or
non-objective) images.
spatial cues - Methods of indicating three-dimensional space in two-dimensional
images. Examples are: the modeling of forms with light and shade to indicate
volume; overlapping of forms to indicate relative spatial position; decrease in the
size of images as they recede in space; vertical position in the image (the further
away an object is, the higher it is normally located in the image); the use of
increased contrast of light and dark (value) in the foreground; the decreasing
intensity of colors as they recede in space; the use of a perspective system, of
lines converging toward the horizon line. Spatial cues are used also in abstract or
non-objective art to indicate relative position in relation to the picture plane, bymeans of overlapping forms, color and size relationships, and other spatial cues,
but generally without perspective and other indications of Renaissance (illusional)
space.
stabile - (pronounced stah-beel) - A type of 20th century sculpture which
consists of a stationary object, usually on a base of some kind. Described in
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contrast to a mobile, the free-hanging sculptural invention of sculptor Alexander
Calder, stabiles were also created by Calder.
stained canvas - A method of painting first begun in the 1960's, consisting of the
application of (liquid) paint directly to canvas by pouring or rolling, rather than
with the traditional brush, and without the prerequisite layer of priming normallydone to stretched canvas. Helen Frankenthaler is one example of an artist who
worked with stained canvas. This way of applying paint gives a totally different
image than one brushed on - obviously a more fluid image, with translucent fields
of color - perhaps like the aurora borealis - an effect impossible with traditional
brushes.
stippling - A drawing technique consisting of many small dots or flecks to
construct the image; obviously, this technique can be very laborious, so generally
small images are stippled. The spacing and darkness of the dots are varied, to
indicate three dimensions of an object, and light and shadow; can be a very
effective and interesting technique, which can also be used in painting.
study - A preliminary drawing for a painting; also, a work done just to "study"
nature in general.
subject matter - As opposed to content, the subject matter is the subject of the
artwork, e.g., still life. The theme of Vanitas (popular a few centuries ago) of
vanity, death, universal fate, etc., used in the still life, can be considered the
content. The still life objects used in the image are the subject matter. (See also
content.)
tint - A light value of a color, i.e., a light red; as opposed to a shade, which is a
dark value, i.e., dark red.
tone - The lightness or darkness of an area in terms of black to white; also called
value, i.e., a light or dark red, or light or dark gray.
two-point linear perspective - A more recent version of perspective than one-
point perspective; using two (or more) points instead of one on the horizon line
gave artists a more naturalistic representation of space in two-dimensional
images.
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triptych - A painting which consists of one center panel, with two paintings
attached on either side by means of hinges or other means, as "wings."
underpainting - A layer of color or tone applied to the painting surface before the
painting itself is begun, to establish the general compositional masses, the lights
and darks (values) in the composition, or as a color to affect/mix with subsequentlayers of color. Underpainting is generally a thin, semi-opaque layer of paint.
value - The lightness or darkness of a line, shape or area in terms of black to
white; also called tone; e.g., a light red will have a light value; a dark red will have
a dark value.
volumetric - A quality of two-dimensional images characterized by a sense of
three dimensions, solidity, volume, as contrasted with atmospheric, which is
characterized more by a sense of space, or airiness, than with volume.Volumetric is generally more characteristic of representational or traditional art,
than with modern or contemporary art, which is generally less concerned with the
depiction of three dimensions in objects and space.
warm colors - In color theory, colors which contain a large amount of yellow, as
opposed to cool colors, which contain more blue. For example, a yellow-orange
color would be warm; a greenish-blue would be cool. Warm colors are thought to
appear to be closer to the viewer, while cool colors are thought to recede into the
distance. (See also cool colors.)
wash - A thin layer of translucent (or transparent) paint or ink, particularly in
watercolor; also used occasionally in oil painting.
Nancy Doyle
performance art - 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.
Performance art can sometimes be taken to extremes, as when, in the 1990's, an
artist shot himself as part of his performance piece.
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perspective - A semi-mathematical technique for representing spatial
relationships and three-dimensional objects on a flat surface. (See also
atmospheric perspective, one-point linear perspective, and two-point linear
perspective.)
Art Appreciation
I read once that artists live in a different reality than what we normally call the 'real' world. To artists, the
world of images or forms, or ideas and feelings, is more "real" than the nuts and bolts world. I would agree,
from my own experience. I think that serious artists live with a "cosmic" sense - that is, consciously or not,
they are aware that galaxies and universes, both in macrocosm and microcosm, are spinning and travelingin space, while we humans go about our daily business. This gives artists the necessary perspective of the
dreamer, to take the 'long' view of reality.
It was previously thought that humans painted as long ago as 50,000 years, as there are caves in France and
Spain with drawings of animals and hand prints almost that old. Recently, however, the evidence of
pigment-making tools has been found in Zambia, Africa which puts the beginnings of art much further into
history - as much as 350,000-400,000 years. (At this point in prehistory, homo sapiens had not even arrived
- this means that a close relative to us, our precursors, may have been the ones who first painted images.)
No one is sure why the cave images were painted, incised, and sometimes formed from pigment blown
through a hollow bone (a primitive airbrush), but speculate that they were for spiritual and/or huntingpurposes. Over the millennia, the place of art in cultures has changed many times; but I think that a spiritual
connection with art remains for many of us, artists feeling it especially. Nature doesn't allow much
superfluous behavior - the fact that many artists are still born among us testifies to me that it is a
fundamental and preliterate human activity, that we need to express our humanity, our being alive, that it isjust as important as food. It is food for the soul.
It is easier to see this in music, which is so accessible to all of us, and so important to us. We may not all be
conversant with, say, classical or world music; but we all grew up with, for example, rock music. We have a
collective understanding and knowledge of its evolution, and as a result, we often judge as a group whethera particular song or artist is "good." My favorite example of this is at a concert, when one musician will do
a solo during a performance, and if it is inspired and skillful, we all know it, and applaud spontaneously
together. Because of its power to move us and express our deepest selves, it is very important to us, and
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because of its ubiquity, we are all familiar with it, and we are knowledgeable about it, confident of our
judgment.
To me, art has the same power, but because it doesn't have the same accessibility as music, many people are
unaware of this. And because of the inaccessibility, people are not knowledgeable about its history, nor
confident of their judgment of its quality. To me, this is a terrible tragedy. I think many people areintimidated by art for this reason; and also skeptical, even suspicious, at times, thinking it might be a scam.
Modern and contemporary art particularly call forth this response, which is sad, because there are manyartists of the 20th and 21st centuries who have eloquent and insightful, and stirring and moving visions to
share with us. I plan to share some of those artists with you.
To continue the analogy with music, we are often not shocked or offended by the contemporary sounds
rock music has given us, though it can be argued pretty persuasively that much of it is not what could be
considered 'good' music in a music academy. Singers don't sing in classically trained voices; instruments
play sounds that don't resemble anything in a classical orchestra; songwriters don't compose like Beethovenor Mozart. And often, rock musicians seem to be deliberately trying to be as outrageous as possible - and
usually, we love it! And we love the music! It often defines our lives, whether 40's swing, 50's rock'n'roll,
60's expressiveness, or 90's rap.
We love the music because it expresses US. It is us - and even though we know that it is not "good" - we
also know that it is GREAT. The fact that Bob Dylan "can't sing" is really irrelevant. As he said himself, he
is not a musician - he is an artist. We don't want to hear Beethoven as much as we want to hear Ricky
Martin, or the Stones, or Bob Marley, because Beethoven, though great, is not of OUR TIME. It is not now
- in America, in the 21st century - it is not US. And different aesthetic criteria apply now. We know JimiHendrix was a great, serious musician and artist; we judge him by our knowledge of the history of rock
music, and its roots in blues music. Because we know our rock history and all his precursors, his musicdoes not sound off the wall to us; he came from a long line of musical continuity and influences.
A similar situation exists with visual art, although I should point out that serious art, like serious music, is
often expressed on a more profound level than that of much "pop" culture. Artists have a history of
movements and influences, since the beginning of time. We can no longer paint like Rembrandt, because
we are not of his time, though we may love his work. Artists develop new aesthetic criteria also, to meet the
needs of their time. They may not 'draw correctly.' The work may not be 'beautiful' in the old-fashioned
sense. Their work may not look like anything seen before; it may be an 'earthwork' - or art that is made
totally of natural elements. But its value lies in what it expresses to us. The 'outrageousness' of modern orcontemporary art exists only out of the context of art history. Perhaps ironically, since the early 20th
century, modern art has been much influenced by ancient, or 'primitive' art, as has some music. Are we
seeking those selves of long ago, from the concrete enclaves of now? Unfortunately, since art is not on thetelevision very often, or even taught in schools as much, people have to go out of their way to learn about
art history, and even then, where do they start? And how many have the time?
I hope to light a candle in the proverbial darkness on this page. Art has progressed to the point of
conceptualism and beyond, where the work of art is not visual, or even tangible, but an idea. This notion is
not really new - Plato also wrote that the idea of a thing is more "real" than the thing itself. But all seriousart movements and ideas have a rationale, and a validity, in art history; and the strongest ones have the
power to move and enrich us. In 20th century art, there are also, as in music, movements and individual
artists who seemed to be deliberately outrageous, like Marcel Duchamp, and the Dadaists. And in the
1950's in America, the Pop artists reflected what they were seeing around them, the new consumer culture,
some with tongue firmly in cheek. It is perhaps the same outrageousness in contemporary art that exists in
music - the why of this is not easy to answer. Perhaps it lies in the unprecedented megadangers of our time
- nuclear weapons, holocausts, environmental forecasts of doom. Or maybe it is the unbridled exuberance
of being alive NOW!Many of the more recent conceptual and installation artists develop their work in a brand new way, where
the idea behind the intangible work is often a poetic and striking one, that causes the viewer to rethink theirassumptions, or express a cry for the environment, the human spirit, or man's inhumanity. Christian
Boltanski comes to mind. It is said that film is the major art form in the 20th century - has the biggest
impact in people's lives. Just think about the powerful effect Schindler's Listhas had on the world - a pure
work of art that was created out of pure love and expression, not out of box office expectations.
This new art is very seldom seen on TV, or even in the written media. But it is an interesting, vital saga, and
I can't wait to start sharing it! Stay tuned!
DESCRIPTIONS OF MAJOR MODERN ART MOVEMENTS: (See also Glossary of Art Terms)
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(Note: Some art movements were formed by artists organized to promote their shared beliefs;often these movements, like Futurism in the early 20th century, would write a manifestoexpressing their credo, and profess a collective aesthetic philosophy and style. Although theSurrealists also wrote a manifesto, the styles of individual artists associated with Surrealismvaried widely. Other movements, like Impressionism in 19th century France, were a somewhat
looser confederation of artists who came together because of certain common aestheticprinciples, and the opportunity to exhibit their work collectively. Again, the style of individual artistsvaried, from Degas to Monet. Still other movements were not really movements at all, not beingorganized officially, but were instead either loosely associated artists, or even artists who camefrom different times and places, who happened to share a similarity of style or way of thinking.Examples of these movements would be expressionism and post-impressionism.We live in a world of sometimes brutal speed and pressure. Without the humanizing influence of art, people
become more desensitized and alienated. What is difficult for an adult to deal with becomes impossible for
a child. I'm thinking of the series of school shootings, for example. Art has the same effect on humans as
nature - one gets an appreciation of the beauty, fragility and preciousness of all creation, including
ourselves. And of the interconnectedness of all life. Without this spirit, corporations can deceive consumersabout the hazards of their products; create defective cars and other products that take human lives; leave
toxic waste near schools and neighborhoods, and not seem to have any sense of accountability or human
feeling. Art is a creative, not destructive, activity, and soothes the savage beast with its only aim to enrich,
extoll, cry out, or joyfully be alive. Its side effects are gentleness, generosity of spirit, appreciation of other
cultures, innocence, bliss, sensitivity, industriousness, earnestness, goodwill and understanding, for artists
and viewers.
It is estimated that 1% of artists are able to make a living from their work. Most are not making money -
they're doing it because their genetic makeup precludes not doing it - they have a vision to express, and will
sacrifice everything to express it. Many have full-time jobs, and paint/sculpt/write/compose nights and
weekends, or even driving down the highway, and also work on their career activities - exhibitions, bookpublishers, galleries, etc. This is a 7-day-a-week proposition, often with no material gain. There were many
years when I was happy to break even in my expenses for materials, frames, etc. So, the idea of a scam is
ludicrous.
Another misconception about art is that it exists mostly for those with the economic means to buy it. Quite
simply, art is for everyone - not an elite. To be an artist only takes sensitivity, maybe some training, and a
vision. Most are not born with this vision - it develops gradually with working. And it is a being rather than
a doing - I find that I am looking at the world as one gigantic painting - everything is colors and shapes -not labeled objects with objectively defined names and characteristics. I get impulses to create from in mycar, at the supermarket, at the dentist's office. It is an ever-present consciousness. Which explains the
spaced-out personalities of many artists.
Impressionism: A painting movement of sometimes varying styles which began in mid-19thcentury France, including such artists as Monet, Renoir, Pissarro, Degas, Morisot, Cezanne (inhis early years), and the American painter, Mary Cassatt. The group practiced plein air painting(working from life mostly out-of-doors), wanting to capture modern life in a spontaneous, directmanner. Impressionism also at times included breaking up the picture surface into small dabs ofbroken color, rather than blended, smooth surfaces, which the viewer would merge together whenlooking at the painting.Post-Impressionism: Not really a movement in the usual sense, but a description of paintingwhich followed Impressionism in France, and was influenced by it, but evolved beyond it. Post-
Impressionism generally existed in the 1880's, and included artists such as Cezanne, Gauguin,Seurat, and Van Gogh, and tended to be less naturalistic than Impressionism, seeing the picturesurface more as a flat plane than an illusion of depth. This thinking led toward the 20th centurynotion of painting as essentially colors and forms on a flat surface, rather than the imitation ofobjective reality. Seurat and others began the Pointillist movement, which carried the color andoptical ideas of the Impressionists to an almost scientific extreme, consisting of tiny dots of color.Symbolism: A literary as well as a visual art movement, in the 1890's in Europe, particularlyFrance, which included the painter Odilon Redon. A group of painters was influenced bySymbolist ideas, and also carried further the ideas of the Post-Impressionists, such as Gauguin.Painters influenced by Symbolist ideas, calling themselves the Nabis (French for 'prophets'),
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included Pierre Bonnard and Vuillard. The Symbolists were also influenced by Art Nouveau (withits curvilinear quality), and carried forward the notion of painting being colors and shapes on a flatsurface, rather than "objective" reality. There was also a tendency toward dreamlike imagery,such as Gauguin's and Redon's.Fauvism: Also a movement of loosely connected French painters, of the first years of the 20thcentury, which included Matisse and Derain. The main emphasis in Fauvism was on color - bright,free use of arbitrary (independent of objective reality) color (les fauves meant 'wild beasts,' a termcoined by those critical of the paintings). The shapes were also not confined to objective reality,and showed strong exuberance of spirit.Cubism: A new structural and spatial organization in painting (and sculpture), begun in Francefollowing Fauvism, in the first years of the 20th century, by Picasso and Braque, which wasinspired by African sculpture and Cezanne's paintings, among other influences. Cubism dealtmainly with space - the disintegration of traditional illusionistic space in art, and the beginning ofpictorial space, which again was based on the notion that a painting is not an illusion of threedimensions, but has its own two-dimensional reality which overrides the depiction of depth. Therewas also a tendency toward flattening images as geometrical shapes, and the notion of multipleperspectives, as opposed to the previous one vantage point of Renaissance space. Other artists,such as Gris and Feininger, followed Picasso and Braque, and spelled out their cubist theories inwriting.Abstraction: Abstraction (in painting and sculpture) was not really a movement per se, but an
idea which took root in the 1890's in Europe, came to fruition around 1910, and continues to be aviable tradition today. Some of the first abstractionists included Kandinsky and Mondrian. Theybelieved that art does not exist to depict external reality, anymore than music exists to imitate thesounds of nature. Abstract art modifies or distorts objective reality (nature), as opposed to "non-objective" art, which refers to art which exists independently of, and is not based on, externalreality. Kandinsky's essay, Concerning the Spiritual in Art, recounts his passage from moreconventional painting to his ideas on the higher ideals of abstract art.Dada: Dada was a European precursor to Surrealism, and included artist Marcel Duchamp. Thedadaist movement extended to both visual art and literature. It was an anti-movement born in thesecond decade of the 20th century, and affected by the disillusionment after World War I.Dadaism was out to shock, to shake up conventions, to be anti-art, to question the verydefinitions of art. The most famous example of dada is Duchamp's entry into the 1917 Society ofIndependent Artists exhibition in New York - a 'found' urinal displayed with his pseudonym of "R
Mutt." (Duchamp was way ahead of his time, and is considered the first exponent of conceptualart, a movement of the late 20th century.) Dada expressed itself in the forms of collage andsculpture, among others.Surrealism: Some of the members of Dada went on to create the Surrealistic movement of the1920's, which was also a literary movement, in Europe. Surrealistic painters had wildly divergentstyles, but some of the elements they had in common were: the effect of the subconscious anddreams in art; the importance of the element of chance in art; the idea of an absolute, or 'super-reality' in art. The most famous exponent of Surrealism was Salvador Dali; other Surrealists wereJoan Miro, Max Ernst, and Rene Magritte.Abstract Expressionism: A mainly American movement of artists who came together informally,Abstract Expressionism began in the 1940's, influenced by European abstraction and Surrealism.Many emigre artists from World War II Europe and before came to America and became majorinfluences on artists here before, during and after World War II, including Max Ernst, Mondrian,
Arshile Gorky, Leger and Hans Hoffman. Major figures of Abstract Expressionism were Willem deKooning (who came from Holland in the 1920's), Jackson Pollock, Barnett Newman, and MarkRothko. Stylistically, there was a wide range, from the large drip paintings of Pollock to thegeometric abstraction of Newman, and the soft color field paintings of Rothko, and the painterlywork of de Kooning. Common elements included a certain spiritual nature of the work, theelements of chance and the unconscious, and the absence or distortion of objective reality. Themovement was at its height during the early 1950's; several sculptors can also be consideredabstract expressionist, such as Reuben Nakian.Expressionism: Mainly centered in early 20th century Germany, with loosely connected painters,Expressionism was also found in other places and even other times (James Ensor, Edvard
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Munch, and Van Gogh are considered to be three precursors of Expressionism). It can beconsidered to be the German version of Fauvism. As well as being a movement, expressionism isalso a characteristic applied to any art which holds as its primary focus the expression of emotion,as opposed to a description of external reality. Stylistic tendencies include bright or even garishcolor, sharply linear, or dark and brooding quality, black and white woodcuts. Kirchner and EmilNolde can be characterized as Expressionists.Pop Art: Also an American (and non-organized) movement, Pop is well-known as a late 1950's,early 1960's art movement. A reaction to Abstract Expressionism and the new consumer culture inthe United States, Pop's early figures were Robert Rauschenberg, Jasper Johns and AndyWarhol; Claes Oldenburg is a Pop sculptor. Pop artists generally wanted to make art that was'cool' as opposed to the strong emotion of Abstract Expressionism; that avoided AbstractExpressionism's tendency to serious artistic individualism to instead divorce the artist'spersonality from the work. Everyone is familiar with Warhol's Soup Cans, and other images takenfrom advertising and the contemporary world. Styles of Pop ranged from painterly to hard-edge,but generally had a certain 'deadpan' attitude.Op Art: Generally a minor (and not organized) movement of painters, Op art came to prominencefollowing Pop art in 1960's America, although artists had been creating works using optical effectssince the 1930's. It focused on a strictly visual exploration of the inter-relatedness of colors andother optical effects in painting, often resulting in striking and dramatic effects that also wereillusionary in terms of depth (optical illusion). The best known of the Op artists was Victor
Vasarely; Josef Albers is sometimes considered to be an Op artist, but I feel his work, thoughdealing with the interaction of colors, was more of an intense lifetime study of color, rather than asuperficial interest in optical effects.Earth, or Environmental Art: This international movement began in the 1970's, and used thenatural world as its material and content, generally making large 'earthworks'. Environmentalartists work as individuals, rather than as part of an organized art movement. Coming fromEurope to America, Christo and Jeanne-Claude are the best known environmental artists (theywork as partners). They create temporary works that are a combination of natural and manmade,often involving large numbers of workers to construct their projects. Examples of their work: InJapan and California, a series of large umbrellas in the landscape; a miles-long and tall runningfence in California; a "wrapped" building in an urban setting, such as their covering of theReichstag in Germany. There is a conceptual, or idea, sense to their work, and generally a poeticand art-for-all quality. Other earthworks consist of natural materials, such as large rocks, arranged
in patterns over a large and perhaps isolated area, such as Spiral Jettyby Robert Smithson.Conceptual Art: Not an organized movement, Conceptual art can be thought to have begun inthe early 20th century with Marcel Duchamp of the European dada movement (see above), but itsofficial genesis was the 1960's. Basically, conceptual art places its emphasis on the idea of thework of art as its primary identity, rather than the object itself. This idea is as old as Plato,meaning that the idea of an object is more real than the actual object (the chair can be destroyed,but the idea of the chair is eternal and immutable). There is perhaps a contemporary addition ofthe notion that art is not a commodity, as so much else in our society is, but rather a non-saleableidea. Conceptual art, as is much art in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, is an internationalmovement, and comes in many forms and mediums, sometimes being an act or acts done by anartist, that may or may not result in a physical object. Conceptual art can sometimes be verycerebral in nature. Good examples of conceptual artists are Ann Hamilton and ChristianBoltanski, whose work contains poetic and powerful ideas on the nature of reality.
Installation Art: Not a movement per se, installation art consists of very large, mainly three-dimensional, collections of objects and forms, often filling a large gallery or museum space. Entireenvironments can be created (or re-created), often evocatively. One of the first installation artistswas Kienholz, an American artist first known in the 1960's, and loosely connected with the Popartists. He created large three-dimensional groupings of objects, such as smashed-up cars, etc.,with an air of violence, or perhaps death, but also an element of tongue-in-cheek. Some of hislater work contained elements from such institutions as prisons or state mental hospitals, perhapswith social comment in mind. Another installation artist beginning in the 1960's was GeorgeSegal, who made white plaster casts from real people, and placed them in contemporarymundane settings, such as a man putting letters on a movie marquee, reflecting the poetry of the
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mundane. Artists since have created many site-specific installations, meaning that the work wasconceived to fit physically and aesthetically in a given area. One contemporary sculptor andinstallation artist is Judy Pfaff.Minimalism: Not an organized movement, minimalism began in the 1960's, predominantly in theUnited States. Its main thesis is "less is more," perhaps a reaction against the highly emotionalnature of Abstract Expressionism. Large sculptures and paintings consist of bare geometric forms- squares, cubes, sometimes in more complex arrangements, and often limited in color. DonaldJudd's minimalist sculpture consists of large, heavy cube forms. Although it can be a sterile formof expression in the hands of an artist of limited depth, Judd's cubes express a forceful finalityand strength, and are an expression of our times in terms of the lessening influence of the naturalworld, and more influence from our industrial, geometric environment; and within this asceticparameter, minute variations in treatment, composition, and color can become much moreapparent and meaningful. The painter Agnes Martin works in an austere geometric abstraction,which is also luminous in muted color and expression.
Materials Needed:
Note: Art materials can be bought online, at www.utrechtart.comand
www.dickblick.com.
Sketch pad - You can start small, if you wish, at around 5 or 6 inches by 8 or 9
inches. These are good for carrying around with you, in case of a drawing
emergency. If you feel comfortable with a larger size, go for it. At this point, you
don't need a high grade of paper. The idea is to do lots and lots of sketches, and
for this newsprint pads or a sketch pad are cheap and work fine. If money is not
an issue, a heavier weight drawing paper, like Strathmore, or even a hardbound
drawing book is great. An art supply or office supply store will have these
materials.
Drawing tool - A soft pencil is good, preferably a 2B or 3B drawing pencil. You
can also try a felt tip pen or even a ballpoint pen, just to get a different feel.
These can all be found at an art supply store, some office supply stores.
Kneaded eraser - These are sold in art supply stores, or some office supply
stores. A small to medium size is good, unless you are working on large paper.
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These can be kneaded after use, to get a cleaner surface to erase with. These
only erase pencil marks, not felt tip or ballpoint. There are erasers made for these
pens - look in an art or office supply store.
Exercise 1 - Contour Drawing
(I recommend that you first readArt Instruction, to get the most benefitfrom this exercise.)
Exercise:
Contour drawing is a good beginning exercise, in the way that practicing scales is
good for learning the piano. It uses the element of line to create a three-
dimensional outline of objects. Natural objects are especially suitable, like plants,
flowers, hands, and the human figure, but it is also good to try drawing non-
natural objects, like containers with interesting shapes, or old shoes, which can
have a lot of character.
Contour drawing should be done very, very slowly. Place your chosen object in
front of you, where you get a good view of it. You will be starting to draw
anywhere on the object's edge - but you will be aware of how the object doesn't
end at that edge, but continues behind it, usually as a rounded contour, unless
the object is geometric, for instance, a cube. (An outline of the object would be
two-dimensional, or flat; a contour is three-dimensional.) Keep your eyes on the
object as much as possible (try not to look at your paper), and concentrate on
what the contour does, every single little curve or meander. Don't worry at thistime about getting an exact likeness or correct proportions. If your edge goes into
the form, follow it until it ends, and then pick up the contour where you left off.
Try to feel the line, its jaggedness or smoothness, its curve, its delicacy, or
sharpness. If you feel the form going away from you, press down on your pencil.
Your progress should be so slow as to be painstaking - don't draw the line until
you feel sure of what it does next. It is like climbing the mountain, as opposed to
flying over it. And don't think about what the form is, like elbow or leaf - just draw
the line/contour and what it does. When you finish the outer contours, you can
draw the inside contours, for example, the features on the face, or lines on a leaf.
Don't erase for this exercise! You are not making a drawing - you are involved in a
process of learning.
When you are finished, don't be dismayed if it doesn't look like a "real" drawing. If
you do the exercise correctly, and many, many times, you'll see progress as you
look back on last month's drawings. Carry your sketchbook with you as much as
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possible, for when you are in life's waiting rooms. The best time to draw, when
you feel confident enough to tackle a figure, is with your family or friends. People
are relaxed, in comfortable positions, and unself-conscious - and they make great
models. Drawing yourself is good, too - your hands and feet in different positions.
Making it fun for yourself is good, too. Draw things that really interest you, andthat you love. Play your favorite music, and wear your most comfortable clothes.
Save your drawings - you will see progress, I promise! You are learning to SEE.
And the more you learn to see, the more you will see, and that knowledge will in
turn improve your drawing.
Recommended Drawing Books:
The Natural Way to Draw, by Kimon Nicolaides, Houghton Mifflin Company,
Boston, 1941.
Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, by Betty Edwards, J.P. Tarcher, Inc., Los
Angeles, Distributed by Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, 1979.
Once you have done many contour drawings, and are feeling adventurous, try:
Blind contour: Try doing the entire drawing without looking at your paper.
Other hand contour: Try drawing with your non-drawing hand. This will really get
you to slow down!Suggested Art/Artists for Examples of Line Drawings/Etchings:
Line has been used in many ways throughout art history; not only with contour
drawing, but with variations of the contour. The following are just some examples
of the use of line in art: Picasso line drawings (especially portraits) - I was
unsuccessful in locating examples of these on the Web; Holbein the Younger
(click on the Scholarportrait thumbnail); Leonardo da Vinci;Ingres; Durer
(scroll down to see the engravings); Chinese ink drawings(click on the images
to enlarge); the sculptor Rodin'sdrawings; Mary Cassatt etchings(influenced
by Japanese prints coming into Europe in the mid-19th century).
Van Gogh also did many ink drawingsusing line; rather than limiting his use of
line to contours, he used it in the form of variously shaped marks, which serve to
create a textural effect, as well as to help delineate spatial depth. A good
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http://www.getty.edu/art/collections/bio/a703-1.htmlhttp://www.visi.com/~reuteler/leonardo.htmlhttp://www.metmuseum.org/collections/co_rec_acq/co_rec_eur_1998_21.htmhttp://www.ku.edu/~sma/durer/durer.htmhttp://www.ishibi.pref.ishikawa.jp/english/collections/kaiga/kaiga_5.htmlhttp://newimageart.com.au/Artists/viewartwork@name=MA037.htmlhttp://www.ku.edu/~sma/cassatt/cassmap.htmhttp://www.sjcsf.edu/instruction/art/popups/vangogh25.htmlhttp://www.sjcsf.edu/instruction/art/popups/vangogh27.htmlhttp://www.getty.edu/art/collections/bio/a703-1.htmlhttp://www.visi.com/~reuteler/leonardo.htmlhttp://www.metmuseum.org/collections/co_rec_acq/co_rec_eur_1998_21.htmhttp://www.ku.edu/~sma/durer/durer.htmhttp://www.ishibi.pref.ishikawa.jp/english/collections/kaiga/kaiga_5.htmlhttp://newimageart.com.au/Artists/viewartwork@name=MA037.htmlhttp://www.ku.edu/~sma/cassatt/cassmap.htmhttp://www.sjcsf.edu/instruction/art/popups/vangogh25.htmlhttp://www.sjcsf.edu/instruction/art/popups/vangogh27.html -
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example of the lattershows how "empty" space (the white of the paper) can
indicate a sense of spatial depth as much as the actual lines and marks do so.
Exercise 2 - Mass Drawing
(I recommend that you first read Art Instructionto get the most benefit from this
exercise.)
Materials Needed:
Drawing paper, such as a newsprint pad or sketchbook, any size up to 18" x 24".
You can also try pastel or charcoal paper, for a nice texture.
Conte crayons or compressed charcoal sticks: Conte crayons are about 3"
long and block shaped, and hard. They come in black, gray, brown and red
ochre. Compressed charcoal is usually 2" or 3" long, rounded, and hard, and
usually black. Utrecht and Pearl online have what they call "Charkole," which
looks like it might serve the same purpose.
These materials can be found at an art supply store, a general department or
office supply store with an art department, or can be ordered online at
www.utrechtart.com, www.pearlpaint.com, orwww.dickblick.com. At the
websites, look in the menu under Drawing supplies, or Charcoal.
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Sometimes, what we know differs from what we see. When drawing or painting,
we sometimes need to choose between what we know and what we see. For
example, though we can see a person or object only from one vantage point, we
know that the person or object is rounded, and continues beyond the "edges" that
we can see. Though we can draw figures or objects with a line on a flat surface totry to depict reality, we also need to have a real sense of the actual 3-dimensional
form.
Exercise:
The first exercise, Contour Drawing, dealt with the element of line. This exercise,
Mass Drawing, deals more with the 3-dimensional reality of figures or objects,
that is, their form, or mass, using tonal values of light and dark.
This experience of the 3-dimensional form gives our work not only physical depth,
but depth of content as well. Even if we choose to make art without the illusion of
three dimensions, our understanding of these dimensions will add substance to
our work. For example, the painter Paul Cezanne had a strong sense of the flat
surface as the reality of painting, but his understanding of the third dimension
gives his work a solidity that not many artists have achieved, and creates a
tension between the 2-dimensional and the 3-dimensional realities. This is one
reason why his work is so powerful.
First, choose an object or figure to draw. Figures work very well for this exercise,
including yourself in front of a full-length mirror, in a non-symmetrical pose toavoid monotony. Don't be intimidated by the figure - just look at it like you would
at any other form - just draw what the forms do. But if you find the figure too
daunting, find a solid, large form, like an animal; or a large sculpture or still life
object. In one of the examples shown here, I used a conch shell, which is small,
but has a definite form. Try to work from life, rather than photographs, for this
exercise.
Always start a drawing by sitting quietly and studying your object, waiting to draw
until you are relaxed and prepared. Allow your eyes to receive the information,
rather than pursue it. You are trying to feel the solidity and volume of the form.Start in the "center" of the form by pressing the crayon slowly and lightly in a
relaxed, circular motion, as though you were building the object with clay.
Continue to "build" the form in outward circles, gradually reaching the outer
edges of the form. Work on the whole figure first, before you go back to refine
your drawing. Do not worry about proportions or edges - you are only thinking of
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the mass of the form. When you have the whole form roughed in, go back over it,
slowly increasing the pressure of the crayon in the bulkier areas of the form,
where the weight is.
These mass drawings do not need to be large. Work in whatever size you're
comfortable with. Break off a small piece of conte crayon or charcoal; you will beworking with the side of the crayon, not the point, for this exercise.
This darkening of certain areas will help define the form of the object or figure.
You don't want details or individual hands, feet, etc. here - only the sense of form.
Again, this is an exercise to increase your understanding of forms. You're not
making a product - you're practicing. In art, it isn't enough for the intellect to
understand a concept - the whole art-making apparatus must be brought along -
the eyes, mind, heart, soul and hands. The only way to do this is to draw with
these ideas in mind, and the more drawings you do, the more understanding and
strength you will have in your work.
Examples of Mass Drawing:
A really good example of this concept are the drawings of the 19th century
French pointillist painter, Georges Seurat. They are deceptively simple drawings
of figures, probably studies for his paintings. Looking at these drawings, you can
see what can be done with such simple means, in the hands of a good artist.
Click hereto see an example online; also, you can find examples of Seurat's
drawings in the following book:
The Natural Way to Draw, by Kimon Nicolaides, Houghton Mifflin Company,
Boston, 1941
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Exercise 3 - Gesture Drawing
(I recommend that you first read Art Instructionto get the full benefit of this
exercise.)
Gesture drawing can exist on two levels - action drawing, and gesture drawing.
Both involve the principle of movement. However, action drawing deals withphysical movement; and gesture drawing involves not only physical movement,
but a deeper concept of essential identity, as well. Kimon Nicolaides, in his book
The Natural Way to Draw, explains this concept of gesture exceptionally well. I
will try to explain it here.
First, action drawing: This exercise works best with figures or animals. You are
essentially trying to capture the action the figure is performing. Once again, a
likeness or correct proportions are not important in this exercise, nor is the
exercise meant to result in a finished drawing. This is an exercise to get you to
learn to identify the action the figure is doing, with his/her body. Individual body
parts are not important here - only the curve or direction of the main bodily
movement. You are not capturing what the figure or object looks like, but
what it is doing. In fact, you are looking at the figure as a form in space, not as a
person or animal. You are seeking what the form itself is doing. Try to FEEL the
line of movement, the fullness of the curves.
When the person takes the pose (action pose - as though suspended in the midst
of a strong movement, like a basketball player reaching for the basket, for
instance), imagine a central wire, or axis, which goes inside the figure from the
tips of the fingers in the air to the bottom of the ankle. This is the action line you
are seeking - and you want to do this quickly, in a matter of seconds. The model
should change poses approximately every 10-60 seconds, and