LibGuides: Art & Art History: Art Overview & Terminology

General Terms

Architecture: Topic Page
Art of designing structures. The term covers the design of the visual appearance of structures; their internal arrangements of space; selection of external and internal building materials; design or selection of natural and artificial lighting systems.
Art: Topic Page
In the broadest sense, all the processes and products of human skill, imagination, and invention. In contemporary usage, definitions of art usually reflect art theory, and the term may encompass literature, music, drama, painting, and sculpture.
Bronze age: Topic Page
Stage of prehistory and early history when copper and bronze (an alloy of tin and copper) became the first metals worked extensively and used for tools and weapons.
Classicism: Topic Page
A term that, when applied generally, means clearness, elegance, symmetry, and repose produced by attention to traditional forms.
Composition: Topic Page
In art, the arrangement of elements within an artwork to give a desired effect, often described as pleasing (unified and appealing to the eye) or expressive (intended to evoke a particular mood, feeling, or idea).
Iconoclasm: Topic Page
Opposition to the religious use of images. Veneration of pictures and statues symbolizing sacred figures, Christian doctrine.
Perspective: Topic Page
Realistic representation of a three-dimensional object in two dimensions.
Proportion: Topic Page
Relation of a part to the whole (usually expressed as a fraction or percentage).
Realism in art: Topic Page
In the arts and literature generally, a ‘true-to-life’ approach to subject matter; also described as naturalism. Taken to its extreme, trompe l'oeil paintings trick the eye into believing objects are real
Reformation: Topic Page
Religious and political movement in 16th-century Europe to reform the Roman Catholic Church, which led to the establishment of the Protestant churches.
Spectrum: Topic Page
Arrangement or display of light or other form of radiation separated according to wavelength, frequency, energy, or some other property.
Still life: Topic Page
A pictorial representation of inanimate objects. The term derives from the 17th-century Dutch still-leven, meaning a motionless natural object or objects.
Symmetry: Topic Page
Generally speaking, a balance or correspondence between various parts of an object; the term symmetry is used both in the arts and in the sciences.

Tools and Media

Camera: Topic Page
Lightproof box or container, usually fitted with a lens, which gathers incoming light and concentrates it so that it can be directed toward the film (in an optical camera) or the imaging device (in a digital camera) contained within.
Glass: Topic Page
Hard substance, usually brittle and transparent, composed chiefly of silicates and an alkali fused at high temperature.
Ink
From The Columbia Encyclopedia
Pigmented fluid used for writing and drawing, or a viscous compound used for printing, both of various colors but most frequently black.
Ivory: Topic Page
Type of dentin present only in the tusks of the elephant.
Marble: Topic Page
Metamorphic rock composed wholly or in large part of calcite or dolomite crystals, the crystalline texture being the result of metamorphism of limestone by heat and pressure.
Oil paint: Topic Page
Painting medium in which ground pigment (colour) is bound with oil, usually linseed. It has the advantage of being slow to dry and therefore reworkable.
Paint: Topic Page
Any of various materials used to give a protective and decorative finish to surfaces or for making pictures.
Paper
From The Macmillan Encyclopedia
A substance in sheet form made from the pulped cellulose fibres of wood, grass, cotton, etc., and used for writing and printing on, wrapping, cleaning, etc.
Pigment: Topic Page
In paint, the pigment is a powdered substance which, when mixed in the liquid vehicle, imparts color to a painted surface.
Stoneware: Topic Page
Hard pottery made from siliceous paste, fired at high temperature to vitrify (make glassy) the body.
Tempera: Topic Page
Painting medium in which powdered pigments are mixed with a water-soluble binding agent such as egg yolk removed from its sac.
Watercolor: Topic Page
Refers to all pigments mixed with water rather than with oil and also to the paintings produced by this process; it includes fresco and tempera as well as aquarelle.
Wood carving: Topic Page
Includes any kind of sculpture in wood, from the decorative bas-relief on small objects to life-size figures in the round, furniture, and architectural decorations.

Fine Arts

Drawing: Topic Page
The art of representation by use of lines or other marks. Traditional drawing media includes pencil, charcoal, pen and ink, chalk, and pastels, while more modern materials include coloured pencils, Conté crayons, wax crayons, and felt-tip pens, or markers.
Etching: Topic Page
The art of engraving with acid on metal; also the print taken from the metal plate so engraved.
Fresco: Topic Page
Mural painting technique using water-based paint on wet plaster that has been freshly applied to the wall.
Landscape painting: Topic Page
Representation of inland scenery, such as a countryside view or city skyline; also a format of painting that is wider than its height.
Marine painting: Topic Page
Paintings of the sea, coastline, or ships. Depictions of the sea go back at least as far as the ancient Greeks, who had close commercial and mythological links with the sea.
Panorama: Topic Page
A long painting stretched round the inside walls of circular buildings, intended to create the illusion of real scenery seen from a central vantage point (sometimes called a cyclorama).
Photography: Topic Page
Process for reproducing permanent images on light-sensitive materials by various forms of radiant energy, including visible light, ultraviolet, infrared, X-rays, atomic radiations, and electron beams.
Portraiture: Topic Page
The art of representing the physical or psychological likeness of a real or imaginary individual.
Sculpture: Topic Page
Art of producing in three dimensions representations of natural or imagined forms.
Still life: Topic Page
A pictorial representation of inanimate objects. The term derives from the 17th-century Dutch still-leven, meaning a motionless natural object or objects.

Graphic Arts and Design

Calligraphy: Topic Page
Skilled penmanship practiced as a fine art. In Europe two sorts of handwriting came into being very early. Cursive script was used for letters and records, while far more polished writing styles, called uncials, were used for literary works.
Caricature
From The Columbia Encyclopedia
A satirical drawing, plastic representation, or description which, through exaggeration of natural features, makes its subject appear ridiculous.
Cartoon: Topic Page
Either of two types of drawings: in the fine arts, a preliminary sketch for a more complete work; in journalism, a humorous or satirical drawing.
Illustration: Topic Page
Any type of picture or decoration used in conjunction with a text to embellish its appearance or to clarify its meaning.
Lithography: Topic Page
Type of planographic or surface printing. It is distinguished from letterpress (relief) printing and from intaglio printing.
Manuscript: Topic Page
A handwritten work as distinguished from printing. The oldest manuscripts, those found in Egyptian tombs, were written on papyrus; the earliest dates from c.3500 B.C.
Mezzotint: Topic Page
Print produced by a method of etching in density of tone rather than line, popular in the 18th and 19th centuries when it was largely used for the reproduction of paintings, especially portraits.
Typography: Topic Page
The design of letterforms for use as typefaces, and the selection of typefaces for typeset documents.

Fiber Arts

Bleaching
From The Columbia Encyclopedia
Process of whitening by chemicals or by exposure to sun and air, commonly applied to textiles.
Cotton: Topic Page
Most important of the vegetable fibers, and the plant from which the fiber is harvested.
Dye
From The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia
Any substance, natural or synthetic, used to color various materials, especially textiles, leather, and food.
Embroidery: Topic Page
Ornamental needlework applied to all varieties of fabrics and worked with many sorts of thread—linen, cotton, wool, silk, gold, and even hair.
Fashion: Topic Page
Modes of behaviour or dress in which the key feature is rapid and continual changing of styles.
Knitting: Topic Page
Construction of a fabric made of interlocking loops of yarn by means of needles.
Lace: Topic Page
Patterned openwork fabric made by plaiting, knotting, looping, or twisting. The finest lace is made from linen thread. Handmade laces include needlepoint and bobbin lace, tatting, crochet work, and some fabrics made by netting and darning.
Loom: Topic Page
Frame or machine used for weaving; there is evidence that the loom has been in use since 4400 B.C. Modern looms are of two types, those with a shuttle (the part that carries the weft through the shed) and those without; the latter draw the weft from a stationary supply.
Quilting: Topic Page
Form of needlework, almost always created by women, most of them anonymous, in which two layers of fabric on either side of an interlining (batting) are sewn together.
Sewing machine: Topic Page
Device that stitches cloth and other materials. An attempt at mechanical sewing was made in England (1790) with a machine having a forked, automatic needle that made a single-thread chain.
Silk: Topic Page
Fine, horny, translucent, yellowish fiber produced by the silkworm in making its cocoon and covered with sericin, a protein.
Spinning: Topic Page
The drawing out, twisting, and winding of fibers into a continuous thread or yarn. From antiquity until the Industrial Revolution, spinning was a household industry.
Tapestry: Topic Page
Hand-woven fabric of plain weave made without shuttle or drawboy, the design of weft threads being threaded into the warp with fingers or a bobbin.
Textile: Topic Page
These are made from natural fibres and include cotton, linen, silk, and wool (including angora, llama, and many others).
Velvet: Topic Page
Fabric having a soft, thick, short pile, usually of silk, and a plain twill or satin weave ground.
Weaving: Topic Page
The art of forming a fabric by interlacing at right angles two or more sets of yarn or other material.
Wool: Topic Page
Fiber made from the fleece of the domestic sheep. Wool consists of the cortex, overlapping scales (sharper and more protruding than those of hair) that may expand at their free edges causing fibers to intermesh; elasticum, the inner layer; and a core.

Decorative Arts

Arts and crafts: Topic Page
Term for that general field of applied design in which hand fabrication is dominant. The term was coined in England in the late 19th cent.
Casting: Topic Page
Process of producing solid objects by pouring molten material into a shaped mould and allowing it to cool.
Ceramic: Topic Page
Object made from clay, hardened into a permanent form by baking (firing) at very high temperatures in a kiln.
Craft: Topic Page
The creation or decoration of handmade artifacts with a practical purpose, using technical skill and manual dexterity.
Enamel: Topic Page
Vitrified (glasslike) coating of various colours used for decorative purposes on a metallic or porcelain surface.
Firing: Topic Page
In ceramics, the process that ‘bakes’ the pottery clay hard, and fixes colours and glazes to pottery surfaces.
Gilding: Topic Page
Application of gilt (gold or a substance that looks like it) to a surface. From the 19th century, gilt was often applied to ceramics and to the relief surfaces of woodwork or plasterwork to highlight a design.
Graffito: Topic Page
Method of ornamenting architectural plaster surfaces. The designs are produced by scratching a topcoat of plaster to reveal an undercoat of contrasting and deeper color.
Interior decoration: Topic Page
Adornment of the interior of a building, public or domestic, comprising interior architecture, finishing, and furnishings.
Jewellery: Topic Page
Objects worn for ornament, such as rings, brooches, necklaces, pendants, earrings, and bracelets.
Mosaic: Topic Page
Art of arranging colored pieces of marble, glass, tile, wood, or other material to produce a surface ornament.
Porcelain: Topic Page
White, hard, permanent, nonporous pottery having translucence which is resonant when struck.
Pottery: Topic Page
It usually falls into three main classes—porous-bodied pottery, stoneware, and porcelain. Raw clay is transformed into a porous pottery when it is heated.
Stained glass: Topic Page
In general, windows made of colored glass. To a large extent, the name is a misnomer, for staining is only one of the methods of coloring employed, and the best medieval glass made little use of it.
Stencil: Topic Page
Cutout device of oiled or shellacked tough and resistant paper, thin metal, or other material used in applying paint, dye, or ink to reproduce its design or lettering upon a surface.
Wallpaper: Topic Page
Was used in Europe in the 16th and 17th cent. as an inexpensive substitute for costly hangings.

Articles

Articles (Databases A-Z)
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Art Magazines (Online on Flipster)

Visit the CSI Library homepage and click on Flipster to visit our online magazine collection.

Aperture
ARTnews
Creative Artist
Digital Photo
Shutterbug

Magazines in the Library

American Art Review
American Artist
Aperture
Art in America
Artforum
ArtNews
Arts Magazine
Ceramics Monthly
Contact Sheet
Film Comment
Graphic Design Review (CSI)
Sculpture Review

Open Access Ejournals from DOAJ

JAR: Journal for Artistic Research The Journal for Artistic Research (JAR) is an international, online, Open Access and peer-reviewed journal that disseminates artistic research from all disciplines. JAR’s website consists of the Journal and its Network.
Journal of Art Historiography
PsyArt

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Art & Art History: Art Overview & Terminology

Art

General Terms

Tools and Media

Fine Arts

Graphic Arts and Design

Fiber Arts

Decorative Arts

Articles

Art Magazines (Online on Flipster)

Magazines in the Library

Open Access Ejournals from DOAJ

Related LibGuides

Ask Here

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