late nineteenth century art definitions

aquatint

a kind of paint that achieves a watercolor by using acids that dissolve onto a copper plate

avant-garde

an innovative group of artists who generally reject traditional approaches in favor of more experimental technique

caricature

a drawing that uses distortion or exaggeration of someone’s physical features for apparel in order to make that person look foolish

Dry point

an engraving technique in which a steel needle is used to incise lines in a metal plate. The rough burr at the sides of the incised lines yields a velvety black tone in the print

japonisme

an attraction for Japanese art and artifacts that were imported into Europe in the late nineteenth century

lithography

a printmaking technique that uses a flat surface as a base. the artist draws an image with a special crayon that attracts ink. paper, which absorbs ink , is applied to the surface and a print emerges

modernism

a movement begun in the late nineteenth century in which artists embraced the current at the expense of the traditional in both subject matter and in media. Modernist artists often seek to question the very nature of art itself.

Plein-air

painting in the outdoors to directly capture the effects of light and atmosphere on a given object

positivism

a theory that expresses that all knowledge must come from proven ideas based on science or scientific theory; a philosophy promoted by french philosopher auguste comte

skeleton

the supporting interior framework of a building

zoopraxiscope

a device that projects sequences of photographs to give the illusion of movement