AH 111B Sec03 Final Exam - Modernism Terms Study Guide (12/15/25)

Impressionism

A 19th-century art movement that focused on capturing fleeting moments, light, and atmosphere using loose brushwork and bright, unmixed colors.

Readymade

Ordinary manufactured object(s) selected and modified by the artist.

Modernism/Modern Art

Arose in response to a variety of changes related to the industrial revolution; break or rejection of tradition in favor of following more up to date or current style; In art, the continual cycle of breaking from the precedents of the recent artistic practice.

Surrealism

An early 20th-century movement that used dream imagery, the unconscious mind, and unexpected juxtapositions to challenge rationality.

Japonisme

French term from late 19th century which refers to the interest in Japanese art and design in West.

Sigmund Freud

A neurologist whose theories of the unconscious mind, dreams, and psychology deeply influenced Surrealist artists.

En Plein Air

A French term meaning 'in the open air'; painting outdoors to capture natural light and atmosphere directly.

Automatism

A technique of creating art without conscious control, allowing the unconscious mind to guide the hand.

Post-Impressionism

A movement reacting against Impressionism by emphasizing structure, symbolic meaning, personal expression, and experimental form.

Grattage

A Surrealist technique in which paint is scraped off the canvas to reveal textures beneath.

Impasto

A painting technique of applying thick layers of undiluted paint to the canvas, so that is raised from the surface.

Harlem Renaissance

A cultural movement in 1920s-30s Harlem celebrating Black art, literature, music, and identity.

Pointillism

The application of purely colored dots on the canvas to create forms.

Abstract Expressionism: Action Painting

A style of painting where the paint is spontaneously flung, splattered, or smeared onto the canvas instead of being carefully applied to the surface.

Fauvism

Wild beasts of color; a style characterized by a vivid, expressionistic, and non-naturalistic use of color.

Abstract Expressionism: Color-Field

Type of American abstract painting that features large 'fields' of color.

Analytic Cubism

The breaking down or reduction of form and space resulting in a fragmentary image with multiple viewpoints.

Painting

The application of pigment to a surface—such as canvas, wood, or paper—to create an image, expression, or visual composition.

Synthetic Cubism

A later phase of Cubism which combined the abstracted form of analytic Cubism with brighter colors and collage elements to create a unique whole.

Pop Art

A 1950s-60s movement that used imagery from mass media, advertising, and consumer culture to blur boundaries between high and low art.

Dada

An anti-art movement rejecting logic, tradition, and societal norms through absurdity, chance, and radical experimentation.

Serial Artwork

Art that is conceived in a series or as part of a larger group.