- Industry: Art history
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The terms classic or classical came into use in the seventeenth century to describe the arts and culture of the ancient civilisations of Greece and Rome. Classicism in art is to make reference in later work to the ancient classic styles. For example the classicism of Reynolds. Classical mythology consists of the various myths and legends of the ancient Greek and Roman gods and heroes. From the Renaissance on this became a major source of subject matter for History painting. Also from Renaissance, classicism was all-pervasive in Western art and went through myriad transformations.
Industry:Art history
One of the most basic drawing materials, known since antiquity. It is usually made of thin peeled willow twigs which are heated without the presence of oxygen. This produces black crumbly sticks, which leave microscopic sharp-edged particles in the paper or textile fibres, producing a line denser at the pressure point, but more diffuse at the edges. The overall result is less precise than hard graphite pencils, suited to freer studies. Charcoal smudges easily and is often protected with a sprayed fixative. It is used to make both sketches and finished works, and as under-drawing for paintings. In the twentieth century a processed version was developed, called compressed charcoal.
Industry:Art history
White or off-white inorganic material composed of calcium carbonate. Naturally occurring, although also produced industrially throughout the twentieth century.
Industry:Art history
A form created by pouring liquid material, such as plaster or molten metal, into a mould.
Industry:Art history
A caricature is a painting, or more usually drawing, of a person or thing in which the features and form have been distorted and exaggerated in order to mock or satirise the subject. The term is originally Italian, caricatura, and caricature appeared in Italian art about 1600 in the work of Annibale Carracci. The word caricature is first recorded in English in 1748, the year, as it happens, that William Hogarth painted his great anti-French satire O the Roast Beef of Old England which includes caricatures of a French monk and French soldiers. Hogarth made extensive use of caricature and it became widespread in Britain thereafter. A practitioner of genius in the later eighteenth century and early nineteenth century was James Gillray, who used it for political cartooning, a form of caricature which continues to appear every day in our newspapers. Equally gifted was his contemporary Thomas Rowlandson who produced brilliant caricatures of the manners and morals of the time. Max Beerbohm was an outstanding caricaturist in the nineteenth century, and Gerald Scarfe is one of the most powerful working today.
Industry:Art history
Strong, woven cloth traditionally used for artists' supports. Commonly made of either linen or cotton thread, but also manufactured from man-made materials such as polyester.
Industry:Art history
Modernist ideas associated with what was to become known as French Impressionism were introduced to Britain by Whistler from 1863 when he settled in London. Forms of Impressionism were then developed by his pupils Sickert and Steer and promoted by the New English Art Club founded in 1886. In 1889 Sickert and Steer organised the exhibition London Impressionists with the more advanced members of NEAC. Meanwhile in 1885 Sargent arrived from France, where he knew the great French Impressionist, Monet, and settled in London. In the next few years he made a major contribution to Impressionism in Britain with paintings such as Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose which was painted entirely out of doors.
Industry:Art history
A naturally-occurring, non-drying, tarry substance used in paint mixtures, especially to enrich the appearance of dark tones. Bitumen became very popular as a paint additive in the late eighteenth century and early nineteenth. However, because it does not dry it eventually causes often severe darkening and cracking of the paint. This can be seen in the work of Sir Joshua Reynolds, Henry Fuseli, and Sir Thomas Lawrence for example.
Industry:Art history
Bio art uses biotechnology as its medium. The creations of Bio art become part of evolution and, provided they are capable of reproduction, can last as long as life exists on earth. They raise questions about the future of life, evolution, society and art. Currently the dominant aspect of Bio art is Genetic art, as represented by the Brazilian-born artist Eduardo Kac, who genetically engineered a green fluorescent rabbit in 2000. As scientists continue their pioneering work into biotechnology, artists are also experimenting with cell and tissue cultures and neurophysiology. An example of this is the Australian-based duo Oron Catts and Ionat Zurr who have attempted to grow a quarter scale replica of an artist's ear.
Industry:Art history
Originally a French term, meaning in English, vanguard or advance guard (the part of an army that goes forward ahead of the rest). Applied to art, means that which is in the forefront, is innovatory, which introduces and explores new forms and in some cases new subject matter. In this sense the term first appeared in France in the first half of the nineteenth century and is usually credited to the influential thinker Henri de Saint-Simon, one of the forerunners of socialism. He believed in the social power of the arts and saw artists, alongside scientists and industrialists, as the leaders of a new society. In 1825 he wrote: 'We artists will serve you as an avant-garde' the power of the arts is most immediate: when we want to spread new ideas we inscribe them on marble or canvas' What a magnificent destiny for the arts is that of exercising a positive power over society, a true priestly function and of marching in the van (i. E. Vanguard) of all the intellectual faculties!' Avant-garde art can be said to begin in the 1850s with the Realism of Gustave Courbet, who was strongly influenced by early socialist ideas. This was followed by the successive movements of modern art, and the term avant-garde is more or less synonymous with modern. Some avant-grade movements such as Cubism for example have focused mainly on innovations of form, others such as Futurism, De Stijl or Surrealism have had strong social programmes. The notion of the avant-garde enshrines the idea that art should be judged primarily on the quality and originality of the artists vision and ideas.
Industry:Art history
