voc-a-bu-lary  

TERMINOLOGY:

INDEX:                                           

ARTIST     Title        Date        Medium        Size    Location    

MEDIUMS  

PAINTING  fresco     tempera/oil    encaustic    watercolor     acrylic

ARCHITECTURE   post-lintel    arch        vault          steel frame

SCULPTURE           subtractive        additive

GRAPHIC ARTS      woodcut    engraving    etching        lithography

TEXTILES        weaving    tapestry    felting    embroidery    appliqué

PHOTOGRAPHY        camera    daguerreotype     negative print   calotype    wet-plate

FORM AND STYLE      COLOR    MASS, VOLUME, SPACE    LINE     SCALE

CONTEXT            ARTISTS        PATRONS    VIEWERS

ARTIST: The artist name describes the creator of the work of art. When the name of individual art work is not known, it may be referred to as "school of" or " attributed to"  given some information may exist about the authorship of the work. If art historian judge that a student of a famous artist has executed the work then the expression "school"  replaces an individual name.  "Circle of" indicates an unnamed artist associated with  a particular artist, perhaps a collaborator or another artists inspired by his work 

TITLE: This normally refers to the name given the work, given by the artist, or a descriptive one, that the artist did not give the work but that others have come to use for convenience. A title given to the work by the artist may well be a key element in its interpretation. Common usage titles can also be significant in the interpretation of works of art, because they may reveal how an art work has been perceived over time/ 

           "Untitled" often refers to a work which the artists has elected not to give a specific title for a host of reason"

DATE: The date us critically important because it enable us to interpret  works in relations to their historical context, and in relation to other works made by the same artist. Sometimes the date will be specific, if the artist dated the work or there is supporting documentation . In other instances the date may be only an approximation . Several abbreviations appear with dates BC ( Before Christ) , AD ( anno domini,Latin for "the year if our Lord") C., which stands for 'circa" ( Latin for 'around') , typically appears with dates that are not precise.  Sometimes a date takes the form of a  century:" nineteenth century" to indicates the year 1800-1899.

MEDIUM: Describes the materials used to make the work of art. Again, this information very important, for both understanding work, and its care. The use of costly immaterial  may be significant to the importance of a work of art. Materials may be selected for a host of reasons , include importance, durability, ductility, pliability, availability.

SIZE: When viewing a reproduction of a work, it is important to make not of its "real " size which in perspective,. Size of work are is usually presented, height  before width.  A recent notation of "dimensions variable", often refers to work whose size may vary past on host of conditions, including the site in which is placed, the specific materials means, and often in installation conditions in the work which may cause the size to change.

LOCATION: Often works may be referred to based on where they are permanently situated or by the present owner: private collection, gallery, museum, etc.  The location of a work, essentially the artwork's current location in a particular city or building may vary, especially in a case of murals, stain glass and sculptures., from and its original site or place of origin from other cathedrals, buildings, monuments, architectural and industrial sites.

MEDIUMS: The medium is he material  from which an art work is made. It is critically important in understanding the work, because each medium has particular possibilities and limitations that determine the effects an artists can  achieve.

Painting In painting , pigments ( colored materials grounded to powder) , traditionally derived from minerals or plants , are mixed with some sort of liquid so that they can be applied to a two-dimensional prepared surface, such as a wall or canvas , or to sculpture, architecture, textiles or ceramics. Many painting media have been  used across different time periods and cultures and each has special characteristics:

• fresco: Pigments are mixed with water and applied to wet plaster on walls or ceilings. Fresco is very durable and can be used to cover large surfaces, but it doe snot allow for the blending of different colors in ways that oil paint does.

• tempera/oil: In tempera, pigments are applied to wood panels, In oil paining, as the name suggests, the pigments are mixed with oil ( linseed or other vegetable oil) and then applied to a wood or canvas surface. Both media enable the artist to achieve rich, luminous surfaces.

• encaustic: Pigments  mixed with hot wax in a rich, semi durable color. Ancient artists used this medium to decorate sculpture and architecture.

• watercolor: Pigments are mixed with water and usually applied to paper. Light transparent washes of color are typical.

• acrylic: Bright , synthetic paints thinned with water and usually applied to canvas. Developed in the 20th Century , acrylic is particularly easy and quick to use.

SCULPTURE: Many different materials may used to create three-dimensional works  or sculptures. The processes used to make  sculpture fall into two basic categories:

• subtractive: In subtractive, processes , such as carving marble or wood, a block of material cut or abraded to create the final form.

• additive: In additive processes , such as working with clay, the artist builds up the forms by adding more material as he or she works.  A durable version of an additive sculpture may be made by casting it in bronze or other metal.  Many cultures have used the lost wax method of casting ( the French term cire perdue is often used), in which a mold is made by covering  the original with wax, which  is then encased in more clay. The wax is melted out through small openings and molten bronze poured into the resulting space.  When the metal has cooled, the outer casing is broken away and the sculpture polished. 

ARCHITECTURE: The term architecture encompasses the entire" built" environment. from a simple structure built of wood, to a vast building made of brick and concrete. or an entire city. Many different building systems can be used to construct walls and enclose space.

• post-lintel: A basic building style, with two vertical pillars supporting horizontal cross-piece, or lintel. A vertical pillar which has a circular cross-section is called a column.

• arch and corbelled arch: In arched systems of construction, space is spanned by a curved structural element rather then a flat lintel.  In corbelled arch construction , each course, or layer, of stone projects inward slightly over the course below, until the space between the posts is closed.  In a true arch, the space is spanned by series of wedge-shaped stone blocks( voussoirs) set in a curve and held in place by a keystone at the center. The curve transfers the weight of the wall above into  the posts, so that the arch does not collapse.

• vault: An arched masonry roof structure that spans an entire interior space. Vaults take many different shapes; for example, a barrel vault is semicircular space. , a groin  vault is crated by the intersection of two barrel-vaults at right angles.

• steel frame: A steel frame, or skeleton bears the weight of the building rather than the walls, which can then incorporate larger expanses of window. Skyscrapers often use this system of construction.

These basic systems of construction may be ornamented in any number of ways. Architectural ornaments are particularly expressive of different periods and cultures, i.e. the Greek and Romans elaborated basic post-and -lintel architecture into a number of different architectural orders with distinctive proportions and ways of decorating the column, the capital( the sculptured stone that forms the top of the column) and the lintel , or entablature. In the Middle Ages, Gothic architect elongated the arch into a pointed shape and decorated the ribs of their vaulted interior spaces, while Islamic architects frequently used ogival and horseshoe arches.

GRAPHIC ARTS: The graphic art of printmaking, unlike many other media ,allows for the multiple reproduction of an image. Artists have long used printmaking to create illustrated books and popular artworks meant to reach a wide audience-printing with moveable type developed in China in the eleventh century and in Europe in the  fifteenth century. There are many different printmaking techniques, each producing distinctive visual effects.

• woodcut: The design is carved into a wood block. The cut-away areas and lines appear white on the print. Extremely fine lines are difficult to achieve, because the wood will split if cut too finely.

• engraving: The engraver cut lines into a metal plate using a special tool called a burin. The lines are sharp and clear , and often finer than those achieved with woodcut.

• etching: The etcher covers a metal plate with a wax ground and then draws in it with a blunt needle. The plate is dipped in an acid bath, which eats away the exposed areas of the metal. These lines then hold the ink for printing. Etched lines are typically looser and freer than engraved lines.

• lithography: The lithographer draws a picture on a flat polished stone using a special kind of crayon. The ink clings to the crayon to form the print. Developed in 1798, this medium allows the printmaker to work freely, and the resulting print has many qualities of a drawing.

TEXTILES:   Many cultures have considered textiles to be a major art form, much as Westerners regard painting or sculpture. Textiles can be richly meaningful and celebrated works of art. Textiles  are created when animals or vegetal fibers- including wool, silk, cotton and linen- are interconnected  by techniques like weaving and felting.

• weaving: A method of making cloth in which warp threads are fixed on a loom, while the horizontal weft threads ( usually of a finer material) are passed over and  under them. The interlocking threads create a strong , durable textile.

• tapestry: A form of weaving in which the weft threads wrap around the warps so that  the warps do not show. This method allows for the creation of intricate, non-repetitive , even figurative, patterns. The word tapestry also often indicates a large , decorative wall- hanging.

• felting: A method of making strong cloth in which fibers such as wool or bark are beaten so that they become tangled and matted together.

• embroidery: A decorative technique in which threads are sewn on to a piece of finished cloth to make a design.

• appliqué: A decorative technique in which pieces of cloth are sewn on to finished cloth to make design.

PHOTOGRAPHY:   The art of  photography developed in the nineteenth century, and many different techniques have been employed to create photographs images. Some of the commonest technical terms  are:

camera: A device with lens for exposing a light-sensitive surface to an image to create a negative. 

daguerreotype: The first photographic medium, named after the French photographic pioneer Louis Daguerre. A metal plate is exposed to an image, is lens, and then fixed ( the light-sensitivity is ended by the application of additional chemicals), producing a unique object.

negative print: A negative starts with a flat material, typically glass or plastic film , coated with light sensitive material. Once exposed to the image , via a lens, the negative is developed chemically so that a positive image appears and can be repeatedly printed.

calotype: The first type of negative print. The negative is made from paper, and final print often to some extent reproduces the texture fo the paper.

wet-plate: Glass negatives are exposed, developed and fixed while wet and are typically printed on albumen paper. These images are more detailed and record a wider range of light and shadow than calotypes.

FORM AND STYLE: Artistic style is a complex issue. Throughout the centuries art historians and critics have define artistic styles  and worked to explain how and why styles can over  time and vary between individuals and groups.  Artistic style has been defined as the constant elements, qualities and expressions in the art of an individual or a group. Style can be defined in terms of period or culture( i.e.. Italian Renaissance) a group of art ( Impressionists), an individual artists, or certain characteristics ( Neoclassical).

In order to consider artistic style, art historians must be able to describe the formal element of an artwork with precision. There are certain basic characteristics, such as color, space, mass, volume, line, and scale, which art historians address in any formal analysis of what  the artist may be trying to convey through visual means. Often these visual qualities are most effectively discussed in terms of opposites, such as flatness vs. three-dimensionality, or dark vs. light. The term composition is used to describe how an artist put together the visual elements

color: There are several issues to consider in relation to color, which include identifying the different hues ( red, blue, green, etc.) that an artist uses, and determining whether a particular range of colors ( e.g. primary or secondary colors) is emphasized.

mass, volume, space: These are the actual, physical characteristics of sculpture and architecture .In two-dimensional media such as painting, drawing and photography, they are projected or illusory characteristics.  Mass and volume are terms that indicate whether an artwork conveys a sense of substantial form, as if it had weight  and took up space. The term space indicates whether an image conveys a sense of three dimensional space or form. In painting, for example, the use of linear or atmospheric perspective establishes a sense of space and the illusion that what are actually two-dimensional forms on a flat surface exist as three-dimensional forms in space. 

line: Although the concept of line may seem to belong most obviously to painting and graphic arts, it is also a useful term when considering three-dimensional media such as sculpture and architecture . Linear works are those whose emphasis is on line, silhouette and linear contours, in contrast to those that emphasize light and shadow, and whose forms have indistinct edges. In sculpture and architecture, the term linear describes an object that emphasizes the outline, or exterior contours, of form.

scale: As part of a formal analysis , art historians consider scale, or relative size, both within the work itself and in relation to the viewer. It may be significant to determine whether there is a  consistent sale used within the work, or whether different scales are used to emphasize certain elements in the image. Gods, for example , sometimes appear larger than other figures to indicate their divinity. Art historians also consider whether the image is monumental and overwhelming in relation the viewer, or miniature and precious.

CONTEXT: To analyze art "in context" means to consider artworks with reference to major ideas and events in religion, politics, and society. Art not only reflects the world around it but also actively engages with it as artists, patrons, and viewers try to shape ideas and events through the visual arts. Sometimes it harder to understand art without knowledge of the period and culture in which the artwork was made.

            The first step towards understanding context is often to explore the roles played by the various individuals and groups involved in the creation, use and experience of a work of art. 

            Any one fo these individuals or groups may be motivated  by concerns that are variously aesthetic, political, religious or cultural: a patron  may be  inspired to commission a work of art for personal reasons, to make a political statement about power , etc. An artist may equally be motivated by host of reasons, religious, desire for wealth, or artistic ambition.

ARTISTS: The term artist has come into use relatively recently , and in many other time periods and cultures there is no equivalent for it. The creator pf an artwork may not be one person but a group, perhaps a master artist working with several assistants, or team of specialists each  responsible for different aspects of the work. 

PATRONS: This is a person or institution that sponsors the creation of a work of art, giving the artist a fee, and perhaps supplying or paying the cost of materials. Patrons sometimes have a great deal to say about the work of art they are commissioning: they may specify the subject-matter or materials. Art historians distinguish between private patrons( individuals who commission works for themselves) and institutional patrons, such as churches or governments, who usually commission works for public display. Sometimes there is no patron for a work of art, especially   in context of modern and contemporary art, an artist may create works for  the open market, or, of course artwork may not be made for sale or for the consumption of others at all.

VIEWERS: In art history we often talk about the "the viewer" and the response of that viewer to the work. Art historians may frame their observations in terms of the experience of a non-specific, hypothetical observer, or they may specify an age, gender, sexual orientation , class, occupation , race, or ethnicity for the hypothetical viewer to see how such characteristics affect the experience of art.

Bibliography

 Honour, Hugh & Fleming, John, The Visual Arts : A History Volume1 Seventh Edition, New Jersey, Prentice Hall, 2006

ON LINE ART DICTIONARY

http://www.artlex.com/

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