Art dictionary

Here you can find useful information about the language of art. We have included a link to a well known site providing a dictionary of art for everyone interested in art production, collection or history. Please click on the Artlex link below.
We have also included a short explanation of the most relevant art terms on this page.

EXPLANATION OF ART TERMS:

Artists proof (A.P.) (Also E.A.)
A print outside the numbered series, usually 1/10 of the edition.

AQUATINT
An intaglio method in which areas of colour are made by dusting powdered resin on a metal plate and then letting acid eat the plate surface away from around it.

Bon-á-tire (Fr. "Good to pull", pron. bone-ah-ti-RAY)
The first impression of a print run acceptable to the artist and used as the standards with which each subsecuent impression is compared.

Dry Point
An intaglio technique like engraving in which the image is drawn on a metal plate with a needle, raising a ridge which prints a soft line.

Edition
The authorized number of impressions made from a single image, including all numbered prints and proofs. A limited edition has a specified number noted on the impression.

Embossed print
Uninked relief print in which dampened paper is pressed into recessed areas of a plate to produce a three-dimensional impression.

Engraving
An intaglio process in which lines are cut into a metal plate and then filled with ink to transfer the image onto a paper.

Etching
An intaglio process in which an image is scratched through an acid-resistant coating on a metal plate. The plate is then dipped into acid which eats into the exposed surface.

Graphic
Any work printed directly on paper from plate or block.

Horse de commerce (H.C.) (Fr. "Outside of sale"; pron. OR de com-AIRCE)
A designation for prints not in the numbered series pulled for the use of the publisher, normally limited to five or six.

Intaglio (Ital. "Incision"; pron. in-TAHL-yo)
Any technique in which an image is incised below the surface of the plate, including dry point, etching, aquatint, engraving, and mezzotint.

Linocut
A process in which an image is cut in relief on a linoleum block.

Lithograph
A planographic process in which images are drawn with crayon or a greasy ink on stone or metal and then transferred to paper.

Mezzotint
An intaglio process in which the plate surface is roughened and then an image is created by smoothing the areas to be printed.

Monotype
A unique print made from an inked, painted lass or metal plate.

Planography
Any process of printing from surface level with the plate, as lithography.

Relief
A Technique in which the portions of a plate intended to print are raised above the surface, as woodcut, linocut, etc.

Roman numbered edition
A smaller edition numbered with Roman numerals, usually a deluxe edition on higher quality paper.

Serigraphy (screenprinting, silkscreen)
A stencil method in which the image is transferred to paper by forcing ink through a fine mesh in which the background has been blocked.

Signed and numbered
Authenticated with the artist's signature, the total number of impressions in the edition, and the order in which the impression is signed; "5/20" indicates that the print is the fifth signed of an edition of 20 impressions.

State (1st, 2nd, etc.)
Version of a print which has been altered in color or image as the edition is printed.

Woodcut
A process in which an image is cut in relief on a wood block.

ARTMOVEMENTS

Abstract expressionism
Abstract style originating in the U.S. in the 1940s emphasizing spontanity and energy.

Art deco
Style in decoration and architecture originating in the 1920s characterized by streamlined, rhythmic patterns.

Cubism
Style inaugurated by Picasso and Braque in the early 20th century featuring fragmentation and rearrangement of natural forms.

Dadaism
Movement originating during and after World War I emphasizing the incongruous and accidental and mocking established traditions in art.

Expressionism
Style developed in Germany in the 1920s stressing the artist's emotional response to the subject, frequently using strong colors and distorted form.

Fauvinism (Fr. Fauve = "Wild beast"; pron. FOHV-ism)
An early 20th century French style employing thick outlines and bold, often clashing, colors unrelated to the colors of its subject in nature.

Impressionism
Loose spontaneous style developed in the late 19th century in France, in which artists tried to capture their impressions of light and shade.

Minimalism
Style emerging in the mid-20th century in which the elements are the simplest possible forms.

Op art
Name coined in 1947 for a style popular in the 1970s employing optical illusions by juxtapointing color and line in geometric patterns that seem to vibrate.

Pointillism
Late 19-century French style using small dots of pure color to compose images.

Pop art
American style of the 1960s employing imagery from popular and commercial culture to satirize or give emblematic value to familiar objects.

Surrealism
Style using imaginery from deams and the subconcious, often distorting forms of ordinary objects or placing them in new contexts.

Trompe l'oeil (Fr. "Fool the eye"; pron. tromLOY)
Style in painting so naturalistic that the eye is deceived into seeing flat surface as three-dimensional.

With compliments

BestNetArt Artgallery

Telephone: +358 46 850 4045
Netart@Bestnetart.com