A 20th century style of Art in which nonrepresentational lines, colours, shapes, and forms replace accurate visual depiction of objects, landscape, and figures. The subjects often stylized, blurred, repeated or broken down into basic forms so that it becomes unrecognizable and does not represent reality as seen by the human eye. Intangible subjects such as thoughts, emotions, and time are often expressed in abstract art form. Abstract art attempts to express reality without depicting it.

Perhaps America’s greatest contribution to the history of modern art is Abstract Expressionism, which dominated the New York scene for a decade and a half subsequent to World War II. Though less cohesive as an art movement, its common thread centred around an opposition to the strict formalism characteristic of much of abstract art at the time. The movement, which owed its existence to a new evaluation of the individual, spread quickly following the defeat of totalitarianism in the Second World War. The founders of Abstract Expressionism include Arshile Gorky, Hans Hofmann, Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, Franz Kline, and Mark Rothko.

A painting, printmaking, decorative design, and architectural style developed in England in the 1880s. Art Nouveau, primarily an ornamental style, was not only a protest against the sterile Realism, but against the whole drift toward industrialization and mechanization and the unnatural artefacts they produced. The style is characterized by the usage of sinuous, graceful, cursive lines, interlaced patterns, flowers, plants, insects and other motifs inspired by nature.

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.

An elaborate theatrical style gaudily ornate ornamentation in decorative art & architecture that flourished in Europe in the 16th to 18th century characterized by curved rather than straight lines.

In Greek art, the style of the 5th century B.C. Loosely, the term “classical” is often applied to all the art of ancient Greece and Rome, as well as to any art based on logical, rational principles and deliberate composition with an emphasis on proportion and harmony.

A style of painting prominent from the 1950’s through the 1970’s, featuring large “fields” or areas of colour, meant to evoke an aesthetic or emotional response through the colour alone.

An art form in which the underlying idea or concept and the process by which it is achieved are more important than any tangible product.

Generally used to describe art that has been created since the second half of the 20th century.

Literally, “counterpoise.” A method of portraying the human figure, especially in sculpture, often achieved by placing the weight on one foot and turning the shoulder so the figure appears relaxed and mobile. The result is often a graceful S-curve.

An art style developed in 1908 by Picasso and Braque whereby the artist breaks down the natural forms of the subjects into geometric shapes and creates a new kind of pictorial space. In contrast to traditional painting styles where the perspective of subjects is fixed and complete, cubist work can portray the subject from multiple perspectives.

A movement that emerged during World War I in Europe that purported to be anti-everything, even anti-art. Dada poked fun at all the established traditions and tastes in art with works that were deliberately shocking, vulgar, and nonsensical.

An art movement of the early 20th century in which traditional adherence to realism and proportion was replaced by the artist’s emotional connection to the subject. These paintings are often abstract, the subject matter distorted in colour and form to emphasize and express the intense emotion of the artist.

An art movement launched in 1905 with work characteristic of bright, non-natural colours and simple forms. This influenced Impressionists.

Often used to describe works of art that depict nature in some way, as distinct from abstracting from it. In its most limited (and useful) sense, used to describe art works based on the human figure or animals.

Primitive art, by an untrained artist who paints in the common tradition of his community and reflects the life style of the people. Also called ‘Outsider art’ & ‘Art brut’.

Art movement founded in Italy in 1909 and lasting only a few years. Futurism concentrated on the dynamic quality of modern technological life, emphasizing speed and movement.

Art that depicts the casual moments of everyday life and its surroundings or a class of art having a characteristic form or technique.

A style of architecture and art dominant in Europe from the 12th to the 15th century. Gothic architecture features pointed arches, ribbed vaults, and often large areas of stained glass.

A recent innovation that originated in New York and was adopted by certain contemporary painters. Forms are depicted with precise, geometric lines and edges.

The artist style of early 16th century painting in Florence and Rome; characterized by technical mastery, heroic composition and humanistic content.

An artistic technique most commonly used in oil painting. Paint is applied onto the canvas very thickly, often in layers, usually so that the brush or painting-knife strokes are visible. Paint is also sometimes mixed directly on the canvas. Impasto cannot easily be used in watercolour works due to the thin quality of the paint.

An art movement founded in France in the last thirty years of the 19th century. Impressionist artists sought to break up light into its component colours and capture the sense of its play on various objects. The artist’s vision was intensely centred on light and the ways it transforms the visible world. This style of painting is characterized by short brush strokes of bright colours used to recreate visual impressions of the subject and to capture the light, climate and atmosphere of the subject at a specific moment in time. The chosen colours represent light which is broken down into its spectrum components and recombined by the eyes into another colour when viewed at a distance.

A generalization for any artists depiction of natural scenery, sea, sky or vegetation as its primary subject matter. Any figurative elements are of secondary importance or incidental to the artwork. Originally emerged from Holland and France in the 17th century.

An art movement of the 20th century ( 1940’s – 1950’s ) characterized by depictions of everyday reality, but with the element of fantasy or wonder greatly accentuated ( in use of color, clarity of perspective or in treatment of the subject ). In painting, this movement combines fantastic or dreamlike elements with realism. A few artists known for this style are Paul Cadmus, Andrew Wyeth and Emile Deschler.

A term sometimes applied to art of late 16th early 17th century Europe, characterized by a dramatic use of space and light and a tendency toward elongated figures.

The art of the Middle Ages ca. 500 A.D. through the 14th century. The art produced immediately prior to the Renaissance.

A style of painting and sculpture in the mid 20th century in which the art elements are rendered with a minimum of lines, shapes, and sometimes colour. The works may look and feel sparse, spare, restricted or empty.

Genre of art and literature that makes a self-conscious break with previous genres.

Descriptive of an artwork that closely resembles forms in the natural world. Synonymous with representational.

“New” classicism – a style in 19th century Western art that referred back to the classical styles of Greece and Rome. Neoclassical paintings have sharp outlines, reserved emotions, deliberate (often mathematical) composition, and cool colours.

“New” expressionism – a term originally applied to works done primarily by German and Italian, who came to maturity in the post-WWII era; and later expanded (in the 1980’s) to include certain American artists. Neo- Expressionist works depict intense emotions and symbolism, sometimes using unconventional media and intense colours with turbulent compositions and subject matter.

Completely non-representational; pure design; fully abstract.

An unclothed live model, or a work of art representing a person without clothing. The nude is classic, timeless, elemental, primal, and universal. Because we are all creatures of our own nakedness, it is the subject of ultimate empathy. And yet in the hands of an artist, that fleeting, imperfect, and fragile package that carries all of our souls gains a noble immortality and perfection that transcends its mere physicality.

Short for Optical Art, a style popular in the 1960s that was based on optical principles and optical illusion. Op Art deals in complex colour interactions, to the point where colours and lines seem to vibrate before the eyes.

Descriptive of paintings in which forms are defined principally by colour areas, not by lines or edges. Where the artist’s brushstrokes are noticeable. Any image that looks as though it may have been created with the style or techniques used by a painter.

A painting and drawing style of the mid 20th century in which people, objects, and scenes are depicted with such naturalism that the paintings resemble photographs – an almost exact visual duplication of the subject.

A genre of unskilled, extortionately expensive artwork, highly favoured by auction houses who are expert in chandelier bidding, city galleries who’s managers quaff Dom Perignon by the bucket, agents having several lavish apartments and unwitting collectors in receipt of large bonus’s. Created using a palette of colourful paint resembling a fresh ‘pizza’, applied violently to the canvas or wall in a 1/4 rotation whilst blowing a loud raspberry and raising one leg. Lauded for the ability to rotate the final creation until the artist and collector achieves satisfaction and can relate it with conviction to his / her inner emotions and troubled upbringing, often whilst high on something mind altering. The creation has the benefit that it’s initially edible and tastes yummy the morning after if refrigerated. Viewed with much amusement by my partner and I during exhibitions. AKA ‘Bish-Bash-Bosh’ by those on the inside. Art? – Fine! You decide, but invest with caution… 🙂

A painting done outside rather than in a studio. The term comes from the French en plein air, meaning ‘in the open air’.

A branch of French Impressionism in which the principle of optical mixture or broken colour was carried to the extreme of applying colour in tiny dots or small, isolated strokes. Forms are visible in a pointillist painting only from a distance, when the viewer’s eye blends the colours to create visual masses and outlines. The inventor and chief exponent of pointillism was George Seurat (1859-1891); the other leading figure was Paul Signac (1863-1935).

An American style of art which seeks its inspiration from commercial art and items of mass culture (such as comic strips, popular foods and brand name packaging). This style evolved in the late 1950s and was characterized in the 1960s by such artists as Jasper Johns, Andy Warhol, Claus Oldenberg, Roy Lichtenstein, Larry Rivers, Robert Rauschenberg, George Segal, and Robert Indiana.

Any likeness of a person; a painting of a person’s face and sometimes their body.

Genre of art, literature and architecture in reaction against principles and practices of established modernism. A term applied to the work of several artists – French or living in France – from about 1885 to 1900. Although they all painted in highly personal styles, the Post-Impressionists were united in rejecting the relative absence of form characteristic of Impressionism and stressed more formal qualities and the significance of subject matter.

Art forms predating recorded history, such as Old, Middle, and New Stone Ages.

The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood was created in 1848 by seven artists: Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Michael Rossetti, William Holman Hunt, James Collinson, John Everett Millais, Frederic George Stephens, and Thomas Woolner. Their goal was to develop a naturalistic style of art, throwing away the rules and conventions drilled into students’ heads at the Academies. Raphael was the artist considered to have attained the highest degree of perfection, so much so that students were encouraged to draw from his examples rather than from nature itself; thus they became the “Pre-Raphaelites”. The group popularized a theatrically romantic style, marked by great beauty, an intricate realism, and a fondness for Greek and Arthurian legend. The movement itself did not last past the 1850’s but the style remained popular for decades, and influenced the Arts and Crafts Movement, the Symbolists, and even the Classicists.

Italian Renaissance art & literature in the 15th century.

A style of painting which depicts subject matter (form, color, space) as it appears in actuality or ordinary visual experience without distortion or stylization.

The period of European history at the close of the Middle Ages and the rise of the modern world; a cultural rebirth from the 14th century through the 17th century. In art, it is most closely associated with Leonardo Da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Raphael.

A fanciful asymmetric ornamentation in art and architecture that originated in France in the 18th century.

An art style developed in the late 18th to the mid 19th centuries which was a reaction against Classicism, to celebrate nature rather than civilization. Emphasizing the personal, emotional and dramatic through the use of exotic, literary or historical subject matter. A dominant European style for many years, and was the pre-cursor to the Pre-Raphaelite movement.

A painting technique where a thin or broken layer of colour is brushed over another so that patches of the color beneath show through. It can be done with a dry brush, or by removing bits of paint with a cloth.

From the Italian work for “smoke,” a technique of painting in thin glazes to achieve a hazy, cloudy atmosphere, often to represent objects or landscape meant to be perceived as distant from the picture plane.

A painting or other two-dimensional work of art in which the subject matter is an arrangement of tangible objects (such as fruit, flowers, vases, etc.) brought together for their complementary contrasts of shape, colour or texture. A flower arrangement of cut stems by a Avas Flowers type service or a bowl of fruit is usually the most common still life that artists will experiment with when they first start working with the art form.

A pattern of closely spaced dots or small marks used to create a sense of three-dimensionally on a flat surface, especially in drawing and printmaking. See also hatching, cross-hatching.

An art style developed in Europe in the 1920’s, characterized by the use of the subconscious as a source of creativity to liberate pictorial subjects and ideas. Surrealist paintings often depict unexpected or irrational objects in an atmosphere of fantasy, creating the sense of being in a dream.

An art style developed in the late 19th century characterized by the inclusion of symbols and ideas, usually spiritual or mystical in nature, which can represent the inner beliefs and traditions of people.

A genre of French painting characterized by bright flat shapes and symbolic treatments of abstract ideas.

An art style handed down from generation to generation.

A style of painting in which architectural details are rendered in extremely fine detail in order to create the illusion of dimensional reality. This form of painting was first used by the Romans thousands of years ago in frescoes and murals and was extremely popular during the Renaissance and continues today.

Term used by my children when they were younger to describe the graphics on their PlayStation and occasionally my artwork.