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Art Historical Terms
Form, Composition, Etc...
9
Art History
Undergraduate 1
09/03/2008

Additional Art History Flashcards

 


 

Cards

Term
Form and Composition 8
Definition

Form refers to an object's shape and structure, either in two dimensions or in three dimensions.

 

Composition refers to how an artist organizes forms in an artwork either by placing shapes on a flat surface or by arranging forms in space.

Term

material and technique 8

Definition

Examples of materials are pifment, clay, marble, gold, and many more. Tools are pens, brushes, chisels, and so forth.

 

Technique is the processes artists employ, such as applying paint to canvas with a brush, and the distinctive personal ways they handle materials.

Term
Line 8
Definition

The path of a point moving in space, an invisible line of sight.

 

contour line- when a continuous line defines an object's outer shape.

Term
Color 8
Definition

Natural light is called additive light.

 

The light in art, the light reflected from pigments and objects, is subtractive light.

 

Red, yellow and blue  are primary colors. All other colors result from mixing primary colors.

Term
Texture 9
Definition

The quality of a serface, such as rough or shiny, that light reveals.

 

True texture is the physical quality of the surface.

Represented texture is the texture the painter has depicted an object as having.

Term
space 9
Definition

The bounded or boundless container of objects.

The literal three dimensional space occupied by a statue for example.

 

It can also be illusionistic, like a three dimensional drawing on paper.

Term
Perspective 9
Definition
Used to create illusions of depth on two dimensional planes like a canvas.
Term
Scale (Look 30)
Definition
Scale is the relative size. Can be used to emphasize or deemphasize certain objects in an image.
Term
Contextual Analysis
Definition
 

Contextual Analysis

Who were the patron, artist, viewers?

What sorts of records did the artist leave about the creation of this work?

What were the patrons motives in sponsoring this work?

Who was able to see the work and under what circumstances?

What was the response of contemporary viewers to this work?

 

When was it made?

Where was it located?

In what rituals was this work used or seen?

Does this work make use of rare of costly materials?

Does it include materials that have ritual or symbolic value?

 

What was the political, religious, or social context in which this work was crated?

What is the subject?

Why would the artist, patron, or viewer be interested in a depiction of this subject?

What political, religious, and or social messages are being conveyed through the subject matter or artistic style of this work?

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