Art History Final

Academy/Academicism

Art governed by official academic standards; emphasizes traditional techniques, idealized forms, and hierarchy of genres.

Aesthetic movement

Late 19th-century movement prioritizing beauty and visual pleasure over moral or narrative content.

Analytic Cubism

Early Cubist style by Picasso and Braque that breaks forms into geometric planes and multiple viewpoints.

A l’Antique

“In the antique style”; inspired by classical Greek and Roman art.

Ancien Régime

Pre-Revolutionary social and political order in France.

Art Nouveau

Decorative style with flowing lines, organic forms, and floral motifs (1880s–1910).

Barbizon School

French realist painters working outdoors, focusing on rural life and natural landscapes (1840s–50s).

Black paintings

Goya’s late, dark, haunting murals filled with psychological intensity.

Blasted tree

Romantic motif of a broken, wind-torn tree symbolizing nature’s power or emotional turmoil.

Blue Period

Picasso’s early phase (1901–04) of monochromatic blue paintings expressing melancholy and poverty.

Chinoiserie

European decorative arts imitating imagined Chinese styles.

Conversation piece

Informal group portrait showing sitters engaged in social interaction.

Dada

Anti-art movement rejecting logic and tradition after WWI; embraced absurdity and chance.

Daguerreotype

Early photographic process using a silvered plate to create a sharp, single image.

Demimonde

Social outsiders, especially women linked to nightlife, sex work, or performance culture.

Dynamism

Futurist concept of capturing movement, energy, and speed.

En Plein Air

Painting outdoors to capture natural light directly.

Enlightenment

18th-century intellectual movement focused on reason, science, and progress.

Expressionism

Art that distorts form and color to convey emotional or psychological intensity.

Fauvism

Early 20th-century movement using bold, unnatural colors and simplified forms.

Fête Galante

Rococo genre of aristocrats in elegant outdoor leisure scenes.

First, Second, Third Estates

Pre-Revolutionary French social classes: clergy, nobility, commoners.

Futurism

Italian movement glorifying speed, modernity, violence, and the machine age.

Grand Manner

Elevated style of portraiture inspired by classical art; dignified poses and idealization.

Grand Tour

Traditional European travel by elite young men for cultural education.

Hudson River School

American landscape painters emphasizing wilderness, nationalism, and sublime nature.

Impressionism

19th-century movement capturing fleeting effects of light and atmosphere with loose brushwork.

Industrial Revolution

Rapid technological and social changes beginning in late 18th century.

Japonisme

European fascination with Japanese art, especially prints; influenced composition and color.

Kabuki

Japanese theater known for stylized movement, costume, and makeup.

Lithograph

Printmaking technique using a flat stone and grease-based drawing.

Maghreb

Region of North Africa including Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia.

Manifest Destiny

19th-century U.S. belief in territorial expansion across the continent.

Manumission

The act of freeing enslaved people.

Metropole

The imperial “center” that governs colonies.

Nabis

Symbolist-influenced group emphasizing flat color and decorative pattern.

Neoclassicism

Revival of classical ideals, clarity, and moral seriousness in late 18th century.

Noble savage

Romantic myth idealizing non-Western people as pure and uncorrupted.

Odalisque

Female figure in a harem setting, common in Orientalist art.

Optism

Early motion-study or animation-related technique (course-specific term).

Orientalism

Western portrayal of the Middle East and North Africa as exotic, sensual, or backward.

Palette knife

Tool used to apply paint thickly with textured strokes.

Panorama

360-degree immersive painted scene.

Photomontage

Artwork made by cutting and assembling photographs.

Picturesque

Aesthetic ideal combining the beautiful and the sublime; charming irregularity.

Pointillism

Painting technique using tiny dots of color that blend optically.

Positivism/Empiricism

Philosophy emphasizing knowledge gained through observation and science.

Post-Impressionism

Successor to Impressionism; explores structure, symbolism, emotional expression.

Poussiniste

Painters valuing line and form over color (after Poussin).

Pre-Raphaelite

Mid-19th-century English movement rejecting academic formulas in favor of intense detail and symbolism.

Primitivism

Western artists appropriating non-Western forms for “authenticity” or simplicity.

Readymade

Ordinary object designated as art by an artist (Duchamp).

Realism

Art depicting everyday life without idealization.

Republican motherhood

Post-Revolutionary American ideal linking women to moral education of citizens.

Rococo

Ornate, playful, decorative style with light colors and curving forms (18th c.).

Romanticism

Movement emphasizing emotion, imagination, nature, and the sublime.

Rubeniste

Painters valuing color over line (after Rubens).

Salon

Official French art exhibition; central to academic training and careers.

Sentimentality

Emotional appeal emphasizing tenderness or moral feeling.

Sensibilité

18th-century concept of emotional sensitivity and refined feeling.

Social type

Recognizable figure representing a social class or role.

Sublime

Awe-inspiring, overwhelming, or terrifying natural or emotional experience.

Surrealism

Movement exploring dreams, the unconscious, and irrational juxtapositions.

Symbolism

Late 19th-century art using metaphor, mood, and mystical themes.

Synthetic Cubism

Later Cubism using collage, simplified shapes, and brighter colors.

Transcendental

Spiritual or philosophical ideas that go beyond the physical world.

Vienna Secession

Austrian avant-garde movement rejecting academic traditions.