Presented by

Lesson Plans—Glossary

Arabesque

A complex design of intertwined lines, flowers, leaves or geometric shapes characteristically found in Middle Eastern decoration.

 

Assemblage

Three-dimensional art constructed from combined materials.

 

Avant-Garde

Artists, writers, and musicians who develop new techniques and styles that are often controversial.

 

Cast

A sculpture created from pouring liquid metal into a mold.

 

Collage

Artistic composition made by applying a variety of papers or materials to a base surface.

 

Complementary Colors

Two colors found opposite each other on the color wheel. A primary color and the secondary color created from mixing the two other primary colors, for example red (primary) and green (secondary from blue and yellow).

 

Composition

Structure or organization of a work.

 

Crosshatching

A pattern of lines that cross one another at an angle.

 

Cubism

A style of art developed in the early 20th century by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque. Cubism uses geometric shapes to fragment and compose forms and to show objects from more than one view.

 

En plein air

French term for painting in nature, rather than in the studio.

 

Fauvism

An early-20th-century artistic movement led by Henri Matisse, from the French word fauve, or “wild beast.” Characteristic elements include the use of vivid colors and distorted shapes to achieve extremes of emotionalism.

 

Form

Shape or structure of an object or figure.

 

Impressionism

Art movement of the late 19th century characterized by the use of broken brushstrokes, unmixed color and the elimination of detail. Impressionist art captures scenes of everyday life and fleeting moments in nature.

 

Motif

A recurring thematic element in a work of art or literature.

 

Odalisque

A female house servant in the Middle East depicted by several 19th- and early-20th-century painters as exotic figures at leisure.

 

Palette

The range of colors used by a particular artist.

 

Perspective

The accurate representation of distance or depth as viewed by the human eye.

 

Pointillism

Postimpressionist style of painting based on theoretical principles of human vision. Uses small dots of pure color to form a composition in an attempt to allow the eye to blend colors.

 

Portrait

An image of a particular person.

 

Realism

The representation of life as found in nature or society without idealization or abstraction.

 

Salon

An annual juried Parisian exhibition sponsored by the government. Academic standards dictated appropriate subject matters and styles in the selection of art.

 

Self-portrait

A portrait of oneself.

 

Silhouette

An outline of an object or person against a contrasting background.

 

Style

A distinct visual or theoretical method in art characteristic of an artist or a group of artists.

 

Symbolist movement

A group of writers, artists and musicians in the late 19th century that bypassed conventional manners of expression in favor of symbols and metaphors to express feelings and states of mind beyond everyday awareness

 

Volume

A visual representation of the three-dimensional space taken up by an object.