Arts Appreciation Reviewer

A collection of vocabulary flashcards covering art history movements, key artists, and stylistic characteristics from Prehistoric to Conceptual Art.

Paleolithic Era

Derived from the Greek words palaios ("old") and lithos ("stone"), it is also known as the Old Stone Age and is characterized by survival, storytelling, magic, and the use of crude chipped stone tools.

Gothic Gargoyles

Figures carved on the exteriors of Gothic cathedrals that served as water spouts and spiritually represented the chaos and evil of the outside world, contrasting with the salvation inside the sanctuary.

Chiaroscuro

A characteristic of Baroque art featuring a strong contrast between light ("Chiaro") and dark ("Scuro"), driven by the Catholic Church's Counter Reformation.

Realism

An art movement from $1848 - 1900$ that portrays everyday life and ordinary people as they truly are, without idealizing, exaggerating, or romanticizing them.

Gustave Courbet

The artist who coined the term Realism and is known as the Father of Realism.

Impressionism

A movement from the $1860\text{s} - 1890\text{s}$ that catches a fleeting moment or events that happen in a second of time, often capturing the look of morning light.

Claude Monet

The Father and founder of the Impressionism movement.

Post-Impressionism

An era in the Late $1880\text{s}$ that built on Impressionism by using more expressive, heavy brushstrokes and symbolic colors.

Pointillism

A technique introduced by Georges Seurat where tiny dots of pure color are placed close together, allowing the viewer's eye to blend them.

Divisionism

The practice of separating pure colors instead of mixing them on the palette so the viewer's eye blends them through optical mixing.

Georges Seurat

The founder of the Neo-Impressionism movement who introduced Pointillism.

Cubism

An early $1990\text{s}$ movement pioneered by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque where objects are broken down into geometric shapes and multiple angles are shown simultaneously.

Analytical Cubism

An early, scientific phase of Cubism where objects are shattered into pieces using a monochrome palette of grays, browns, and blacks.

Synthetic Cubism

A later phase of Cubism where images are constructed from different parts using collage materials like newspapers, cloth, or wallpaper.

Fauvism

A $1905$ movement led by Henri Matisse that uses violent, super-bright, unnatural primary colors to express emotions.

Expressionism

A $1905$ movement using distorted shapes and jarring colors to evoke raw internal emotions like anxiety or angst, such as in Edvard Munch’s The Scream.

Vincent Van Gogh

The most important and well-known figure in art history, known for his thick paint strokes in pieces like The Starry Night.

Surrealism

A $1920\text{s}$ movement characterized by dream-like, impossible, and illogical scenarios, featuring artists like Salvador Dali.

Op Art

Short for Optical Art ($1950 - 1960$), it utilizes strict geometric patterns to create $2\text{D}$ images that trick the eye into thinking they are moving or warping.

Bridget Riley

One of the most prominent practitioners of Op Art.

Kinetic Art

A $3\text{D}$ art form that uses physical movement, distinguishing it from the $2\text{D}$ optical illusions of Op Art.

Pop Art

A movement from $1950 - 1960$ celebrating mass culture, advertising, and consumer items, led by Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein.

Conceptual Art

A movement from $1960 - 1970$ where the core philosophy or idea behind the piece matters more than the physical object itself.

Prehistoric Art

Art dating from $40,000 - 4,000\text{ B.C.}$ involving cave handprints or tiny statues used as ancient prayers for a good hunt.

Medieval Art

Art from the Middle Ages ($500 - 1400$), also called the "Dark Ages," which was centered around the Church.

Baroque

A movement from $1600$ named after "Barocco" (imperfect pearl), characterized by dramatic scenes and the use of light and dark.

Ewa Partum

An artist associated with Conceptual Art and the work Active Poetry.