ART HISTORY TERMS

Survey of Art History I

Dimension • Two-dimensional: picture surface that

can be also covered with lines, shapes, textures and other aspects of visual form.

• Two-dimensional art consists of paintings, drawings, prints, and photographs, which differ from each other primarily in the technique of their execution.

• Three-dimensional: Three-dimensional media occupies space defined through the dimensions of height, width and depth.

• It includes sculpture, installation and performance art, decorative art, and product design

Composition

• Background- the action (figures, buildings, elements) in a painting which are furthest from the viewer or spectator.

• Foreground- the action (figures, buildings, elements) in a painting which are closest to the viewer or spectator.

Foreshortening•to draw or paint the figure in its proper perspective so that the elements closer to the viewer appear larger to the figures in the background, in correct proportion with the same elements of the composition.

Low Relief/ Bas Relief• the features of the sculpture

project slightly

• Low relief means they barely stand out from the background, almost like it's carved just around the edges.

• A Persian relief (mezzo-rilievo) from the Qajar era, at Tangeh Savashi in Iran

High Relief• the features of the sculpture

project highly or greatly from the black or slab

Perspective- a system for representing three-dimensional space on a flat surface (i.e. the manner in which a person or object is located in space). In painting, it is mainly used to create the illusion of depth and space on a two-dimensional surface.

Linear Perspective

A system for representing three-dimensional space on a flat surface Developed during the Italian Renaissance.

Note* objects appear smaller when seen at a distance than when viewed close up.

Vanishing Point: The place where parallel lines meet up at in space.

Horizon: the place where land and sky appear to meet.

One-point perspective: all the major receding “lines” of the subject are actually parallel and meet at one vanishing point.

Raphael. The School of Athens. 1508. Fresco

Abstract Art• In art, abstract art may refer to

either two thing:

• 1. works of art that have no reference at all to natural objects

• 2. works that depict natural objects in simplified, distorted or exaggerated ways.

• In abstract art the artist changes the object’s natural appearance in order to emphasize or reveal certain qualities.

Theo van Doesburg. Abstraction of a Cow series. 1917. Pencil on Paper.

Iconography • in the visual arts, the study of the

subject matter of a representation and its meaning.

• In traditional Christian iconography, saints are often depicted with halos, a symbol of holiness

• Note how Judas Iscariot at the forefront is the only apostle without a halo.

Realism• a work of art that depicts or

represents some fact of life, such as death, old age, youth, happiness etc.

FRONT: Image BACK:Artist: Frida KahloName: Las dos FridasYear/Time Period: 1939Art Style: Surrealism Location: Mexico City

Any information about the painting and artist.

FUNCTION & PURPOSE OF ART

Art for Delight• We need delight, enjoyment,

pleasure, decoration, amusement and embellishment in our lives to “lift us above the stream of life”

• Aesthetics: refers to an awareness of beauty or that quality in a work of art or other manmade or natural form which evokes a sense of elevated awareness in the viewer.

• Monochromatic: based mostly on one color

James Abbott McNeil Whistler.Nocturne: Blue and Gold- Old Battersea Bridge.

182-1875

Uysal Mehmet Ali. Pinching Earth. Belgium. 2013.

Miriam Sweeney. Subversion. 2017

Geronimo Balloons

Chris LaBrooyby. Auto Aerobics

2013

Art as Commentary• Artists who view art’s primary

goal as communication between the artist and the viewer by the means of subject matter.

• Examples most often include: political statements, social commentaries, etc.

• Prints: works that exist in multiple copies

Francisco Goya. I saw This (The Disasters of War), 1810. Etching, drypoint and burin.

Shepard Fairey. Greater Than Fear.

2017

Patrick Martinez. equality,, 2016

Patrick Martinez. free 99 (hold ya head), 2016

Rora Blue.Handle With Care Series.2016-2017

Testifies clearly to what the artist experienced and takes us to a

specific place and time. Painterly: loose or spontaneous

brushworks

Berthe Morisot. In a Villa at the Seaside, 1874. Oil on Canvas.

Art as Commentary

• Another function of art has been to enhance religious contemplation

• most of the world’s religions have found ways to incorporate artists’ creativity into their sacred rituals, places, and ceremonies.

• Sainte-Chapelle. Paris, France.

Art in Worship and Ritual

Buddha Shakyamuni or Akshobhya

13th centuryNepal, 1200–1299

Coatilcue. Aztec. Late-Post Classic. (900-1521)

Mexico.

• Commemoration is something done as an aid to memory

• More often a public act, perhaps celebrating a significant person or event, or honoring patriotic actions.

• Commemoration of any kind connects us with the chain of humanity that stretches back for millennia, making human life seem more significant and valuable.

• “Crown of the Palace” was a tomb for the Mughal ruler Shah Jahan’s favorite wife, who died in childbirth.

• It sits at one end of a four-part paradise garden that recalls the description of Paradise in the Qur’an.

• Taj Mahal. Agra, India. 1632-1648

Art for Commemoration

Great Pyramids of Giza.Giza, Egypt.

4th century -2325 B.C.

Martin Luther King MemorialLei Yixin

Washington, D.C.2011

Daniel Chester French. Lincoln Memorial. 1920

• Government buildings, public monuments, television commercials, and music videos all harness the power of art to influence action and opinion.

• They invite and urge us to do or think things that we may not have otherwise thought of.

• idealism: the representation of subjects in an ideal or perfect state or form.

Augustus of Prima Porta. Early 1st Century AD. Rome.

Art for Persuasion

Barack Obama “Hope”Shepard Fairey2008

• Art fulfills an expressive function when an artists conveys information about his or her personality or feelings or worldview, aside from a social cause, market demand, commissioning ruler, or aesthetic urge.

• Art becomes a meeting site between artist and viewer, the viewer feeling empathy and gaining an understanding of the creator’s personality.

• Self-portraiture has traditionally been an important vehicle by which artists reach out to us.

Felix Nussbaum. Self-Portrait with Jewish Identity Card. 1943 Oil on Canvas.

Art for Self-Expression

Frida Kahlo. Self Portrait on the Border between Mexico and the United States of America (1932)

Vincent van Gogh, Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear. 1889

Robert Rauschenberg, Booster, from the series Booster and Seven Studies (edition 38 or 38), 1967