art terms

sublime

a quality of greatness, vastness, or overwhelming power that inspires a mix of awe, wonder, and terror (edmund burke)

describes friedrich’s paintings

picturesque

pleasant (edmund buke)

alla prima

going directly to canvas, no underdrawing or sketch, start with paint immediately

colore

associated with venice, translates to color, color is the basis of all paintings

disegno

associated with florence, both the act of drawing, drawing itself, and composition

art restitution

returning art back to its original owners

provenance

history of ownership of an object

atmospheric perspective

an art technique used to create the illusion of depth and distance in a landscape by mimicking how air scatters light

artifice

the skilled construction of an illusion—using technique, calculation, and forethought to simulate reality, express a profound truth, or impose order on human experience

naked

vulnerability; shameful

nude

glorification of the human form; subject is unaware of the viewers

mundane

of the earth; earth-like colors

die brucke

translates to the bridge; bridging the past to the new

triptych

a work of art or literature divided into three distinct, related sections or panels

de stijl

dutch; the style; movement post ww1; challenges the traditions of the royal academies

tympanum

half circular space

repousse

hammering of metal

genre

scenes of everyday life

inverted perspective

orthogonal lines

muse

associated with creative and inspiration; divine wisdom

fin-de-siecle

end of the century