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ABSTRACT – Not realistic, though the intention is often based on an actual subject, place, or feeling. Pure abstraction can be interpreted as any art in which the depiction of real objects has been entirely discarded and whose aesthetic content is expressed in a formal pattern or structure of shapes, lines and colors. When the representation of real objects is completely absent, such art may be called non-objective.
ABSTRACT EXPRESSIONISM -1940’s New York painting movement based on Abstract Art. This type of painting is often referred to as action painting.
ACCENT- Emphasis given to certain elements in a painting which makes them attract more attention. Details that define an object or piece of art.
ACRYLIC A rapid drying paint which is easy to remove with mineral spirits; a plastic substance commonly used as a binder for paints.
ACTION PAINTING Any painting style calling for vigorous physical activity; specifically, Abstract Expressionism. Examples include the New York School art movement and the work of Jackson Pollock.
AERIAL PERSPECTIVE Capturing the earth’s atmosphere by using painting techniques that make distant objects appear to have less color, texture, and distinction.
AESTHETIC Pertaining to the beautiful, as opposed to the useful, scientific, or emotional. An aesthetic response is an appreciation of such beauty. ALKYD Synthetic resin used in paints and mediums. As a medium works as a binder that encapsulates the pigment and speeds the drying time.
ALLA PRIMA Technique in which the final surface of a painting is completed in one sitting, without under painting. Italian for “at the first”.
ANALOGOUS COLORS Colors that are closely related, or near each other on the color spectrum. Especially those in which we can see common hues.
AQUATINT A print produced by the same technique as an etching, except that the areas between the etched lines are covered with a powdered resin that protects the surface from the biting process of the acid bath. The granular appearance that results in the print aims at approximating the effects and gray tonalities of a watercolor drawing.
ARCHIVAL Refers to materials that meet certain criteria for permanence such as lignin-free, pH neutral, alkaline-buffered, stable in light, etc.
ARMATURE A rigid framework, often wood or steel, used to support a sculpture or other large work while it is being made.
ART DECO An art style of the 1920s and 1930s based on modern materials (steel, chrome, glass). A style characterized by repetitive, geometric patterns of curves and lines.
ART NOUVEAU An art style of the late 1800’s featuring curving, often swirling shapes based on organic forms.
ARTIST’S PROOF An Artist’s Proof is one outside the regular edition. By custom, the artist retains the A/Ps for his personal use or sale.
ASSEMBLAGE The technique of creating a sculpture by joining together individual pieces or segments, sometimes “found” objects that originally served another purpose.
ATELIER French term for “artist’s workshop.”
ATMOSPHERIC PERSPECTIVE A device for suggesting three – dimensional depth on a two-dimensional surface. Forms meant to be perceived as distant from the viewer are blurred, indistinct, misty and often bluer.
AVANT-GARDE A group active in the invention and application of new ideas and techniques in an original or experimental way. A group of practitioners and/or advocates of a new art form may also be called avant-garde. Some avant-garde works are intended to shock those who are accustomed to traditional, established styles.