The definition of art is the product of imagination and creativity, particularly in a physical form.
(noun)A painting, theatrical performance and a sculpture are each an example of art.
See art in Webster's New World College Dictionary
noun
Origin: ME < OFr arte < L ars (gen. artis), art < IE base *ar-, to join, fit together > arm, arm, articulate, ratio, L artus, joint
adjective
intransitive verb
See art in American Heritage Dictionary 4
noun
Origin:
Origin: Middle English
Origin: , from Old French
Origin: , from Latin ars, art-; see ar- in Indo-European roots
.verb
Origin:
Origin: Middle English
Origin: , from Old English eart; see er-1 in Indo-European roots
.See art in Ologies
Art
See also architecture; drawing; engraving; images; ornamentation; skill and craft.
a spontaneous, intuitive painting technique producing nonformal work characterized by sinuous lines. Also called Action Painting.
the creation of abstract art. —abstractionist, n., adj.
Abstractism
a nonrepresentational style in painting or sculpture.
acrography
etching in relief; the opposite of engraving.
Abstract Expressionism.
1. the doctrine that aesthetic standards are autonomous and not subject to political, moral, or religious criteria.
2. used pejoratively to describe those who believe only in “art for art’s sake,” to the exclusion of all other human activities.
an art form, as a story, painting, or sculpture, in which the components have a symbolic, figurative meaning. —allegorist, allegorizer, n. —allegorical, adj.
anaglyphy
1. the art of carving works in low relief.
2. a low-relief sculpture. Also spelled anaglyph. —anaglyphic, anaglyptic, adj.
anaglyptography
the technique of making drawings and etchings that appear to be carved in low relief. —anaglyptographic, adj.
a distorted image of an object, as in anamorphic art. Also spelled anamorphosis, anamorphosy. —anamorphic, adj.
a cylindrical mirror for correcting the distorted image created by anamorphism.
anamorphism.
anamorphosy
Obsolete, anamorphism.
an artist who paints in water colors. Also called water-colorist.
a taste for and imitation of earlier styles, a recurrent phenomenon since ancient times based on the premise that earlier works were somehow purer and simpler. Cf. primitivism.
structural design, especially of a work of art, as a painting or piece of music. See also philosophy.
artistic achievement, quality, or workmanship.
a nonutilitarian theory of art holding that a work of art is an end in itself. —autotelic, adj.
a highly decorated form of art or ornamentation. —baroque, adj.
charcoalist
an artist who specializes in charcoal drawings or sketches.
anything typically Chinese or made in a Chinese manner.
cinquecentism
the revival in arts and letters in the sixteenth century in Italy. —cinquecentist, n., adj.
1. formerly, an imitation of Greek and Roman art.
2. currently, a dedication to the principles of that art: clarity of execution, balance, adherence to recognized standards of form, and conscious craftsmanship. —classicist, n. —classicistic, adj.
an artist who uses color or who is distinguished by the way in which he uses color.
a movement in 20th-century painting in which several planes of an object in the form of cubes or other solids are presented in an arbitrary arrangement using a narrow range of colors or monochrome. —Cubist, n. —Cubistic, adj.
a person who is well acquainted with culture, as literature, the arts, etc., and who advocates their worth to society.
a revolt by certain 20th-century painters and writers in France, Germany, and Switzerland against smugness in traditional art and Western society; their works, illustrating absurdity through paintings of purposeless machines and collages of discarded materials, expressed their cynicism about conventional ideas of form and their rejection of traditional concepts of beauty. —Dadaist, n.
daubery, daubry
a painting or other work executed in a messy or unskilled way. —dauber, daubster, n.
a work of art composed of two attached panels.
the use of small juxtaposed dots of color on a canvas. Cf. Pointillism. —divisionist, n., adj.
duecentism
the art and literature of thirteenth-century Italy. —duecentist, n., adj.
a style that intermixes features borrowed from other artists or differing schools; applied especially when the result is unsuccessful. —eclecticist, n.
esthetology
the study of the origin, development, and nature of the fine arts.
the condition of being foreign, striking, or unusual in color and design. —exoticist, n. —exotic, exotical, adj.
a movement in the 20th century that attempted to express feeling and emotion directly by distorting forms, choosing violent subject matter and harsh colors, and keeping the overall design out of balance. —Expressionist, n. —Expressionistic, adj.
fantasticism
the literary or artistic use of fantasy. —fantastic, adj. —fantasticality, fantasticalness, n.
an early movement in 20th-century painting characterized by an emphasis on the use of unmixed bright colors for emotional and decorative effect. —Fauvist, n. —Fauve, n., adj.
a movement of the 20th century attempting to capture in painting the movement, force, and speed of modern industrial life by the simultaneous representation of successive aspects of forms in motion. —Futurist, n. —Futuristic, adj.
glyptotheca
a room, building, or other place specifically used for the preservation of works of sculpture.
the principles of the paintings, sculptures, stained glass, mosaics, and book illustrations of the period 1200-1450, embracing several disparate styles and emphases. —Gothicist, n.
the forms and ideals of ancient Greek art. See also antiquity.
the description, history, and analysis of symbolic art or artistic symbolism, especially that of the late medieval and Renaissance periods. Also called iconography. —iconologist, n. —iconological, adj.
a movement in the late 19th century in French painting, characterized by the goal of reproducing an impression of a subject by use of reflected light and color and the blurring of outlines. —Impressionist, n., adj. —Impressionistic, adj.
a style of art, idiom, custom, mannerism, etc., typical of the Japanese.
a painter of landscapes.
luminarism
a movement in painting concerned with precision in representing light and shade. —luminarist, n.
1. a movement in painting concerned with effects of light, especially the use of broken color in its full intensity with a minimum of shadow effects, applied especially to many Impressionist and Pointillist artists.
2. a technique of painting employing minute modulations of tone, developed in America (1825-65) by John Singer Sargent, Mary Cassatt, William Merritt Chase, and others. —luminist, n.
1. an overemphasis on any distinctive technique of expression, occurring when the manner of expression obscures the feeling or idea expressed in the work of art; considered by many art critics to be a sign of decadence. —mannerist, n. —manneristic, adj.
2. (usu. cap.) a style, developed between c.1530 and c.1590, marked by deliberate violations of earlier standards of painting in depicting the artist’s idea rather than nature by means of asymmetrical and crowded compositions, elongated and twisted figures, and emphasis upon devices like foreshortening. The style also afïected both architecture and sculpture. —Mannerist, n.
1. Obsolete, an artist whose task it was to draw in red certain words or letters in manuscripts.
2. a painter of miniature pictures or portraits, as on china or ivory, characterized by fineness of detail.
a mode of expression or practice characteristic of modern times. —modernist, n. —modernistic, adj.
one who paints or draws in shades or tints of a single color.
a sculpture or monument made from a single large block of stone, as an Egyptian obelisk. —monolithic, adj.
decoration or ornamentation in the Moorish style, distinguished by intricate tracery and bright colors. —Moresque, adj.
the goal of artists who attempt to represent a subject without stylization or interpretation, and to create a mirror for natural beauty. Cf. Verism. Also called Realism. —Naturalist, n. —Naturalistic, adj.
Neo-Classicism
a European movement of the late 18th century differing from earlier classical revivals in that it deliberately and consciously imitated antique models such as those found between 1738-56 in Herculaneum, Paestum, and Pompeii. —Neo-Classicist, n. —Neo-Classic, Neo-Classical, adj.
Neo-Hellenism
the practice of reviving Hellenism in modern art or life. —Neo-Hellenist, n. —Neo-Hellenistic, adj.
Neo-Impressionism
Pointillism.
Neo-Plasticism
the art principle of de Still which represented form as horizontal and vertical lines and which excluded all colors except the primaries, black, and white.
New Realism
a term used to describe a trend away from abstract expressionism toward a subjective expressionism focusing on true-to-life forms, the factual, and easily evident forms.
a painting of a night scene, a genre particularly favored by Whistler. See also music.
nuditarian
a person who advocates the study of the nude body or figure.
the Japanese art of paper folding. —origamist, n.
ornamentalism
1. a use of ornament for decorative purposes, especially its overuse.
2. the employment of several traditional architectural and decorative features into the design of interiors, buildings, furniture, etc., influenced by Art Deco and Art Nouveau.
ornamentist, ornamentalist
1. an artist who specializes in ornamentation.
2. a person whose work is considered to be ornament rather than art.
a short-lived development of Cubism c.1912 that attempted to enliven the original approach by subordinating the geometrical forms and using unmixed bright colors. — Orphist, n.
an artist who specializes in the use of pastels.
paysagist
a painter of landscapes.
phelloplastics
the art of carving or sculpting in cork.
pinacotheca
a picture gallery or place where paintings are kept.
plasticism
the theory or creation of plastic art.
the practice of painting in the open air to obtain effects of light and atmosphere not possible in a studio, —plein-air, adj.
a style of the late 19th century based upon some Impressionist techniques and the application of scientific theories of the process of vision; begun by Seurat, who gave it the name Divisionism, it consists of using dots of unmixed color side by side so that the viewer’s eye may mix them into the appropriate intermediate color. Also called Neo-Impressionism. —Pointillist, n. —Pointillistic, adj.
the art of using many or various colors in painting, architecture, etc. —polychromie, polychromatic, adj. —polychromatist, n.
a work of art, as a painting, composed of several panels.
British and American art movement of the 1960s which explored antitraditional and often antiesthetic means to present everyday objects and events.
an artist who paints portraits.
1. the process or art of painting portraits.
2. the portrait itself.
3. portraits collectively.
Post-Impressionism
a late 19th-century reaction to Impressionism, emphasizing on one hand the emotional aspect of painting and on the other a return to formal structure; the first led to Expressionism; the second, to Cubism. —Post-Impressionist, n.
Pre-Raphaelitism
the principles of the 19th-century artists and writers who sought to restore the principles and practices thought to be characteristic of Italian art before Raphael. —Pre-Raphaelite, n., adj.
prettyism
a deliberate affection or triviality of expression in art or literature.
1. the self-conscious return, for inspiration, to the archaic forms produced by non-Western cultures.
2. the practice of painting in a way alien to academic or traditional techniques, often displaying a highly individual naiveté in interpretation and treatment of subjects. Cf. archaism. —primitivist, n. —primitivistic, adj.
pseudo-classicism
the imitative use of classicism in art and literature, especially shown during the 18th century. —pseudo-classic, adj. —pseudo-classical, adj.
strict adherence to particular concepts, rules, or ideals of form, style, etc., either as formulated by the artist or as dictated by a school with which the artist is allied. See also criticism; language. —purist, n., adj.
the art or process of burning designs on wood or leather, using heated tools. Also called pyrogravure. —pyrographer, n. —pyrographic, adj.
quattrocentism
the art of fifteenth-century Italy. —quattrocentist, n., adj.
1. Naturalism.
2. a movement in the late 19th century stressing common rather than individual characteristics as the basis of reality. Cf. Verism. —Realist, n.
the practice of creating recognizable figures, objects, and natural forms in art. Cf. Abstractism.
rhypography, rhyparography
still-life or genre painting, especially of trivial or sordid and unsuitable subjects.
Often Derogatory. an artistic and literary style, developed from the baroque, characterized by complex and elaborate ornamentation. —rococo, adj.
the reflection, in art, of a late 18th-century literary and philosophical movement in reaction against the intellectuality and rationality of Neo-Classicism. It produced no single artistic style or characteristic but strongly influenced the ideals of imagination, emotion, and the freedom of expression in other media. —Romanticist, n.
Russianism
something characteristic of or influenced by Russia, its people, customs, language, etc.
the act of shocking or intent to shock, especially through the media; the practice of using startling but superficial effects, in art, literature, etc., to gain attention. See also literature; media. —sensationalist, n.
the procedure of making prints through the silk-screen process. —serigrapher, n.
a Marxist-inspired artistic and literary theory or doctrine that calls on art and literature to promote the socialist cause and sees the artist, writer, etc. as a servant of the state or, in the words of Stalin, “the engineer of human souls.”
1. statues collectively or a group of statues.
2. the art of making statues. —statuary, adj.
the process of making stereochromes, pictures produced with water glass as a vehicle or preservative coating. Also called waterglass painting. —stereochromic, stereochromatic adj.
the study of particular styles, as in art, literature, etc.
a controversial movement in art and literature between the two World Wars in which the artist attempted to portray, express, or interpret the workings of the subconscious mind; in painting it found expression in two techniques, the naturalistic (Dali) and the abstract (Miró). —Surrealist, n. —Surrealistic, adj.
an American movement, founded in 1913, based upon Abstractism in unmixed color, usually involving disklike forms. —synchronist, n. —synchronistic, adj.
a movement of the early 1950s which claimed to be in revolt against both Abstractism and naturalism, taking its name from patches of color (Fr. taches) placed on canvas spontaneously and by chance, the result being considered an emotional projection rather than an expression or a symbol. Cf. Abstract Expressionism. —Tachist, Tachiste, n.
tonalist
a painter who pays special attention to qualities of tone or tint in his work. See also music.
toreumatology
Rare. the study of the art of toreutics.
the art of ivory- and metalworking, especially relief work, embossing, and chasing. —toreutic, adj.
the condition of being beyond the norm of modern. —ultra-modernist, n. —ultramodernistic, adj.
a naturalistic approach, especially in portraiture, in which every wrinkle and flaw of the subject is faithfully reproduced; extreme realism. Cf. Naturalism, Realism. —Verist, n. —Veristic, adj.
an art movement in England in 1914-15 stimulated by Futurism and by the idea that all artistic creation must begin in a state of strong emotion; its products, intended to establish a form characteristic of the industrial age, tend to use angular, machinelike shapes. —Vorticist, n.
water-colorist
aquarellist.
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