ABRADED
Having a worn or rubbed appearance as a result of mechanical or chemical action. An abrasion is a localized abraded area.
ABSORBENT GROUND
A chalk ground which absorbs oil and is used in oil painting to achieve a matt effect and to speed up drying.
ACCULTURATION
Borrowing between cultures, or the modifying of one person’s or group’s culture by contact with a different culture. Also, the process by which people acquire knowledge of the cultures in which they live.
ACHROMATIC
Black, white and greys. Artwork that is executed without colour.
ACID FREE
A paper product having a pH level of 7 or above.
ACIDIC
In paper, an unstable state whereby the molecular structure of the paper breaks down, causing discoloration and weakening of the sheet.
ACRYLIC
Refers to a class of synthetic polymeric resins used extensively in emulsion paints, varnishes and adhesive formulations. In sheet form the acrylic resins bear trade names such as Plexiglas, Lucite and Perspex.
ACTION PAINTING
Artists who paint with gestures that involves more than just fingers to paint and includes wrists, arms, shoulders, and even legs.
ADUMBRATION
A sketchy, imperfect or faint representation.
AESTHETIC
A particular taste or approach to the visual qualities of an object.
AGING
The continuous action of atmospheric components- oxygen, moisture, as well as light, temperature – on materials and structures, leading to deterioration. Natural aging deterioration may also be caused by incompatible components reacting slowly within the structure.
AIR-BRUSH (AEROGRAPH)
A small air-gun capable of spraying paint, ink, varnish or ground in a stream of fine droplets. It can be used in lithography and aquatint, for the application of a flat tint, and on drawings which are to be photographed in the half-tone technique.
ALKALINE BUFFER
An additive used in paper-making processes and conservation treatments that will raise the pH level.
ALLA PRIMA
The method of oil painting in which the desired effects of the final painting are achieved in the first application of paint as opposed to the technique of covering the canvas in layers with the final painting being achieved at the end.
ALLOVER PAINTING
A canvas covered in paint from edge-to-edge, corner-tocorner in which each part of the composition is given equal attention and significance.
ALUMINUM
This metal can be used in printmaking either as a plate, or as a support for an impression to be made upon. In the former case, it can be (a) engraved with the burin, (b) etched with mercuric bichloride, or (c) prepared lithographically. Impressions can be made directly onto the metal, in particular with the screenprinting technique.
ANALOGOUS COLOURS
Colours that are closely related, or near each other on the colour spectrum. Especially those in which we can see common hues.
ANHYDROUS
Free from water.
APPROPRIATION
In the visual arts appropriation is the intentional borrowing, copying and alteration of pre-existing images and objects.
AQUATINT
A process of intaglio engraving on metal. A printing technique capable of producing unlimited tonal gradations to re-create the broad flat tints of ink wash or watercolour drawings by etching microscopic cracks and pits into the image on a master plate, typically made of copper or zinc. Spanish artist Goya used this technique.
ARCHIVAL
An archival material should have a neutral or slightly alkaline pH; it should also have good aging properties.
ART INTERVENTION
Art designed specifically to interact with an existing structure or situation, be it another artwork, the audience, an institution or in the public domain.
BATIKA
Wax resistant dyeing technique that is often used to make highly coloured cloth.
BAUHAUS
A German school of art which aimed to re-establish the bond between artistic creativity and production which had been broken by the Industrial Revolution
BEADING
A greasy surface repels water and aqueous preparations by reducing them to droplets. This beading will occur if, for example, a copper plate which has not been cleaned properly is covered with Indian ink.
BED (OF PRESS)
Part of a press on which the plate or block rests during printing. In a lithographic press, the bed is a mobile element which transports stone to a position beneath the scraper or roller.
BELLE ÉPOQUE
French for “beautiful era,” describes the period in French history beginning in 1890 and ending at the start of World War I in1914. Characterised by optimism, peace across Europe, new discoveries in technology and science.
BEN-DAY DOTS
Coloured dots (generally: cyan, magenta, yellow, and black) used to create shading and secondary colours in the mechanical reproduction of images.
BEVELLING
The edges of intaglio plates are bevelled to ensure that they do not cut the paper in the press. A true bevel is only necessary if the plate is more than a millimeter thick, otherwise a light rounding off is sufficient.
BINDER
The ingredient (such as oil, acrylic, egg tempera or gum arabic) in paints that causes the particles of pigment to adhere to one another and to a support such as a canvas.
BIOMORPHIC
Derived from Greek, referring to abstract forms or images that evoke associations with living forms such as plants and the human body.
BISTRE
A brown, transparent pigment.
BITING
The process of (1) corroding a design on a metal plate in either intaglio (e.g. etching) or relief (e.g. line block); and (2) fixing the image on the stone or metal plate in lithography (see: reinforcing). It is done with a mordant: acid solution, salt (perchloride of iron), etc.
BLACK BOX
Relating to performance art, the black box is the name for a square room painted black in which artists performed experimental work.
BLANCHING
A pale discoloration on a surface as a result of superficial water or solvent penetration.
BLANKETS
Blankets may be used as the packing placed between the upper roller of the intaglio press and the paper when printing. These are used to even out the pressure being applied to a plate.
BRIGHT BRUSH
Brush characterized by flat short hairs.
CHIAROSCURO
The term chiaroscuro refers to the fine art painting modeling effect of using a strong contrast between light and dark to give the illusion of depth or three-dimensionality. This comes from the Italian words meaning light (chiaro) and dark (scuro), a technique which came into wide use in the Baroque Period. Sfumato is the opposite of chiaroscuro.
COCKLING
Wrinkling or puckering in paper supports, caused by applying washes onto a flimsy or improperly stretched surface.
COLLAGE
The technique and resulting work of art in which fragments of paper and other materials are arranged and glued to a supporting surface.
COLOUR FIELD PAINTINGS
Paintings of large areas of colour, typically with no strong contrasts of tone or obvious focus of attention.
COLOUR PERMANENCE
Refers to a pigment’s lasting power. Tubes and other containers of paint are sometimes labeled with a code indicating a colours degree of permanence:
Letter code – Degree of colour permanence
AA – Highest
A – Standard
C – Less than permanent, though fairly durable
CONTRAPPOSTO
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.
COPAL
A hard resin used in making varnishes and painting mediums.
DADA
An artistic movement that grew out of dissatisfaction with traditional social values and conventional artistic practices. Dada artists sought to expose accepted conventions by shocking people into self-awareness.
DECOLONISATION
In an art context, this term is often used to describe the process of reversing the dominance of western art and a move towards a truly global art world.
DER BLAUE REITER (THE BLUE RIDER)
Artist group active in Munich, Germany, (1911-1914) closely associated with the development of expressionism. The group’s aim was to express their own inner desires in a variety of forms rather than strive for unified style or theme.
DIPTYCH
A work of art made up of two parts, usually hinged together.
DISABILITY ARTS MOVEMENT
The Disability Arts Movement emerged in the mid 1970s following the groundswell of political activity amongst disabled people in the west during the previous decade.
DOMINANCE
The emphasis placed on a particular area or characteristic of a work.
DOUBLE LOADING
Refers to loading a brush with two colours side by side. This is a technique typical of tole and other kinds of decorative painting. Also known as “side loading”.
EARTH ART
Also known as land art and part of the wider conceptual art movement of the 1960s and 1970s, refers to art made directly in the landscape.
ELEVATION
A scale drawing of the side, front or back of a structure.
EXISTENTIALISM
A philosophical attitude emerging from the early 20th century, which expresses the free will of the individual in determining his or her relationship to the external world.
EXPRESSIONISM
An international artistic movement (1905-1920) favouring the expression of subjective emotions over depictions.
FACADE
Any public-facing side of a building, often featuring decorative finishes.
FIGURATIVE
Representing a form or figure in art that retains clear ties to the real world.
FLOAT MOUNTING
The process whereby artwork is framed with all four edges showing. The artwork is adhered to board with a reversecut bevel, which is in turn secured to an undermount, so it appears to ‘float’ above the undermount. Art on hand-made paper is often float-mounted.
FOCAL POINT
A specific area, element or principle that dominates a work of art; the area in a work which the eye is most compellingly drawn. The viewer’s eye is usually drawn there first.
FOUND OBJECTS
A manufactured or naturally occurring utilitarian object not originally designed for an artistic purpose but discovered and re-purposed in an artistic context.
FRESCO
The technique of blending wet plaster with water based paint. As the plaster dries it becomes a lasting surface base. The term applies to the technique as well as the painting itself.
FROTIAGE OR FROTTAGE
French term, meaning to rub a crayon or other tool onto paper or other material, which is placed onto a textured surface, in order to create the texture of that surface on the paper. The Surrealist artist Max Ernst used this technique in some of his collages.
FUGITIVE COLOURS
Short-lived pigments capable of fading or changing, especially with exposure to light, to atmospheric pollution, or when mixed with certain substances.
FUTURISM
An Italian art movement (1909) characterised by an aesthetic that glorified the dynamic world, war and speed.
GENRE
A category of artistic practice having a particular form, content or technique.
GESTURE/GESTURAL
Describes the action or essence of a figure or object.
GRATTAGE
Surrealist painting technique, involves laying a canvas prepared with a layer of oil paint over a textured object and then scraping the paint off to create an interesting and unexpected surface
GRISAILLE
Chiaroscuro painting in shades of grey imitating the effect of relief.
HALFTONE ART
Printed imagery in which shades of grey are represented by a minute pattern of dots of variable size.
HATCHING
A technique of modeling, indicating tone and suggesting light and shade in drawing or tempera painting, using closely set parallel lines.
HIGH ART
Fine art, also known as beaux-arts. Art that is of universal transcendence, having withstood the test of time and representing the epitome of artistic achievement, as opposed to low art, which is also known as mass culture.
HORIZON LINE
A line in works of art that usually shows where land or water converges with the sky.
HORS D’COMMERCE (BEFORE COMMERCE) PROOF
Print identical to the edition print intended to be used as samples to exhibit or show to dealers and galleries. Hors d’Commerce (abbreviated to H.C.) proofs may or may not be signed by the artist.
ICONOCENTRISM
The belief or attitude that images (or icons) are or should be the central element in the universe.
IMITATIONALISM
An aesthetic theory of art which places emphasis on the literal qualities. According to this theory, the most important thing about a work of art is the realistic representation of subject matter. A work is considered successful if it looks like and reminds the audience of what is seen in the real world
IMPASTO
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.
INTAGLIO
The process of incising a design beneath the surface of a metal or stone. Plates are inked only in the etched depressions on the plates and then the plate surface is wiped clean. The ink is then transferred onto the paper through an etching press. The reverse of this process is known as relief printing.
INTERACTIVE ART
Art that relies on the participation of a spectator.
INTERNET ART
Tate glossary definition for Internet art: Art that is made on and for the internet.
JUVENILIA
Works produced in an artist’s youth.
KNEADED ERASER
An eraser that can be manipulated into any shape in order to remove pencil and many other marks cleanly. Also called a putty rubber.
LIFE DRAWING
The act of drawing the human figure from a live model usually of nude figures so that the artist can understand how the muscles look and how light, tone and shadow reflect around the body.
LIMNERS
May refer to any painter, but more often to itinerant American painters of the 18th and early 19th centuries, who made literal and naïve portraits. May also refer to a painter of miniatures in medieval illuminated manuscripts.
LOCAL COLOUR
The true colour of an object or a surface as seen in typical daylight, rather than its colour as seen through atmosphere or interpreted by the taste or imagination of the artist.
LUMINISM
Roughly meaning, painting of light, applied specifically to the American landscape painters of the Hudson River School from about 1830–70.
MAHLSTICK
A long wooden stick used by painters as a tool to support and steady the hand that holds the brush.
MANDALA
A sacred Hindu and Buddhist art form, generally circular, that symbolises the universe.
MARBLING
The art or process of producing certain patterns of a veined or mottled appearance in imitation of marble by means of colours so prepared as to float on a mucilaginous liquid which possesses antagonistic properties to the colours prepared for the purpose.
MAROUFLAGE
A technique for attaching, with glue, mural size painting on paper or fabric to a wall.
MARS PIGMENTS
Artificial iron oxide pigments, yielding strong tints from yellow through brown to violet.
MEZZOTINT
A reverse engraving process used on a copper or steel plate to produce illustrations in relief with effects of light and shadow. The surface of a master plate is roughened with a tool called a rocker so that if inked, it will print solid black. The areas to be white or grey in the print are rubbed down so as not to take ink. It was widely used in the 18th and 19th centuries to reproduce portraits and other paintings, but became obsolete with the introduction of photo-engraving.
MINIMALISM
A movement and style of art from the 20th century which attempts to reduce art to the basic geometric shapes with the fewest colours, lines, and textures. Minimal art does not seek to be representational of any object. Also known as ABC art.
NABIS
An avant-garde group of French painters and poets, (1888) persuaded to reject naturalistic representation, and paint in flat areas of pure colour The Nabis felt that a painting should not imitate reality but parallel nature, creating a world unto itself.
NEGATIVE SPACE
Empty space in an artwork.
NEO-CLASSICISM
“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.
NEUE SACHLICHKEIT (NEW OBJECTIVITY)
Representative style of art in 1920s Germany. Artworks were satirical, sending a critical eye upon contemporary taste and the post-war society of Germany. In both content and style, artists of this movement directly challenged and broke away from the traditions of the art academies they had attended.
NON-OBJECTIVE
Visual art which is not based on existing, observable forms, but rather on abstract or idealized forms.
NUMBERED
A numbered print is designed to show the limit or size of a print edition. The number is generally placed over the size of the edition. For example 12/500 indicates that the print is number twelve out of an edition of 500.
OIL GILDING
Attaching gold leaf to a non-absorbent surface, which has been coated with an adhesive.
OILING OUT
The application of an oil medium to a painting that has sunk (become dull) or lost its oil to the layer underneath. Artist’s painting medium should be rubbed sparingly into any sunken areas with a clean cloth, wiping off any residue, allowing to dry for a few days and repeating as necessary until an even sheen is obtained throughout.
OP ART
A major development of painting in the 1960s that used geometric forms to create optical effects.
OPACITY
The degree of transparency of an item.
OPEN EDITION
A print for which the print run has no limit, also referred to as ‘Signed Only’. Though the prints may be signed by the Artist, they are not usually numbered. As with Limited Edition Prints, the Artist may himself make, supervise or commission the prints from a Publisher.
OUTSIDER ART
Term used to describe art that has a naïve quality, often produced by people who have not trained as artists or worked within the conventional structures of art production.
PADDLE
A flat piece of wood used to beat damp clay, to remove air pockets and consolidate the mass.
PARANOIAC CRITICAL METHOD
Emerging from psychological methods, a creative process, developed by Surrealist artist Salvador Dalí in the 1930s, for the exploration of the creative potential of dream imagery and subconscious thoughts.
PARGET
Ornamental work in plaster.
PENTIMENTO
A condition of old paintings where lead-containing pigments have become more transparent over time, revealing earlier layers.
PHTHALOCYANINE
A common component on the artist’s palette, phthalo blue is a cool blue with a bias towards green. It has intense tinting strength and easily overpowers the mix when combined with other colours. It is a transparent staining colour and can be applied using glazing techniques.
PLEIN AIR
French for “open air”, referring to landscapes painted out of doors with the intention of catching the impression of the open air.
POCHOIR
A stencil and stencil-brush process for making muticoloured prints, for tinting black-and-white prints, and for colouring reproductions and book illustrations, especially fine and limited editions. Pochoir, which is the French word for stencil, is sometimes called hand-colouring or hand-illustration. Pochoir, as distinguished from ordinary stencil work, is a highly refined technique, skillfully executed in a specialized workshop.
POINTILLISM
A painting technique in which pure dots of colour are dabbed onto the canvas surface. The viewer’s eye, when at a distance, is then expected to see these dots merge as cohesive areas of different colours and colour ranges.
PORTRAIT
A representation of a particular individual. Also used to refer to dimensions of composition, i.e. portrait or landscape.
PRE DELLA
A decorative frieze or border element running along the front of an altarpiece at the foot usually consisting of several pictures.
PROVENANCE
Record of ownership for a work of art, ideally from the time it left the artist’s studio to it’s present location, thus creating an unbroken ownership history.
QUATTROCENTRO
Italian Renaissance art & literature in the 15th century.
QUEER AESTHETICS
Evolved out of the gender and identity politics of the 1980s, art that is based around the issues of homosexual or lesbian imagery.
REALGAR
A particular red pigment.
REALIA
Material culture, or objects from real life, in contrast to those objects typically included in a collection.
REALISM
A style of painting which depicts subject matter (form, colour, space) as it appears in actuality or ordinary visual experience without distortion or stylization.
REMARQUE
Small original sketch in the margin of an art print or additional enhancements by the artist on some or all of the final prints within an edition. It may be in pencil, watercolour or pen and ink. A remarqued print is more desirable to many serious art collectors as it adds value to a print in that it then becomes one of a kind with the addition of the original artwork by the artist.
REPOUSSOIRE
From the French verb meaning to push back. A means of achieving perspective or spatial contrasts by the use of illusionistic devices such as the placement of a large figure or object in the immediate foreground of a painting to increase the illusion of depth in the rest of the picture.
SANGUINE
A red chalk drawing medium.
SAPONIFICATION
The process in which a paint binder, under moist and alkaline conditions, becomes transparent or discoloured.
SFUMATO
From the Italian word 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. The technique of blurring or softening sharp outlines by subtle and gradual blending (feathering) of one tone into another.
SILVERPOINT
A drawing method using a piece of metal, usually silver wire, drawn on a ground prepared with Chinese white, sometimes with pigment added.
SIMULTANEOUS CONTRAST
The tendency of complementary colours to seem brighter and more intense when placed side by side.
SUPREMATISM
Coined by Russian artist Kazimir Malevich in 1915 to describe a style of painting that conforms to his assertion that art expressed in the simplest geometric forms and dynamic compositions reigned supreme over earlier forms of representational art.
TANAGRA
In ancient Greek art, a figurine of fired clay.
TEMPERA
Medium, typically egg yolk which was used in the Renaissance prior to the advent of oil and has benefited from a recent revival. New Zealand artist, Graham Sydney uses this technique.
TERRIBILITA
A term applied typically to the art of Michelangelo describing the heroic and awe-inspiring power and grandeur of his work.
THIXOTROPIC
Referring to materials that are thick and viscous while at rest but will flow if brushed, stirred, or shaken. Resumes its viscous state when the agitation stops.
TONALITY
The overall colour effect in terms of hue and value. Often one dominating hue is employed in various shades and values.
TRIPTYCH
A painting or carving consisting of three panels.
TROMPE L’OEIL (TO FOOL THE EYE)
A style of painting in which architectural details are rendered in extremely fine detail in order to create the illusion of dimensional reality.
UADRO RIPORTATO
The simulation of a wall painting for a ceiling design in which a painted scene is produced in a panel resembling a composition on the surface of a shallow, curved vault.
UGLY REALISM
A style of painting developed in the 1970s that combined fine draughtsmanship with images that were considered ugly.
UKI-E
In Japanese art, a perspective picture.
UNDERGROUND ART
Used in relation to the cultural phenomenon of the 1960s and early 1970s where groups of creatives were regarded as existing outside or on the fringes of popular culture.
VANISHING POINT
In linear perspective, the place on the horizon where parallel lines seem to meet.
VIRIDIAN
A blue-green pigment composed more of green than blue. Viridian takes its name from the Latin viridis meaning “green”.
WATER GILDING
The application of gold leaf to a surface of gesso (or whiting) which may have been coated with bole, and then covered with water and glue.
ZERO
Group of artists who practised a form of kinetic art using light and motion.
ZINNOBER GREEN
Another name for chrome green.