History of Cont Art Vocab

Automatism

Subconscious creation in art without self-editing; important in surrealism and abstract expressionism.

Works Progress Administration (WPA)

A New Deal program that employed artists to create artworks, murals, and design programs in national parks.

Cold War

Conflict between the US and Soviet Union primarily concerning nuclear weapons and espionage, with minimal direct warfare.

Carl Jung

Psychologist who opposed Freud's ideas, influenced Pollock, studied dreams, and supported automatism.

Black Mountain College

A college in North Carolina where abstract expressionists studied and students could choose their own programs.

Action Painting

Art style exemplified by Pollock and de Kooning, characterized by physically expressive brushwork.

Color Field Painting

Art featuring large areas of color on the canvas.

Clement Greenberg

An art critic known for his strong support of abstract expressionism and harsh criticism.

Peggy Guggenheim

Art collector who supported abstract expressionism and bought one painting a day while in Paris.

Leo Castelli

Owner of the Castelli Gallery, influential in the art world.

New York School

The first purely American art movement emerging in the 1940s and 1950s.

Art Students League

An institution that provides teaching and studio spaces, supporting artists in New York City.

Combine (Rauschenberg)

An artwork style that combines different artistic styles into one piece.

Encaustic

Art technique involving the mixing of pigment with wax.

Screen printing / Serigraph

A printing process using a stencil to create images.

Beat Generation

A group of young writers and poets in the US associated with abstract expressionism.

John Cage

Composer known for his experimental music.

The Factory

Andy Warhol's studio and social gathering place for artists.

Ben-Day dots

Small dots used to create shading and contour in comic art.

Consumerism

An economic belief that encourages excessive purchasing beyond survival needs.

Formalism

A focus on how art medium is used within the canvas.

Dada

An art movement rejecting logic in favor of irrationality and intuition, critiquing nationalism.

Appropriation

The act of taking existing works and using them in new artistic contexts.

Readymade work

Art created from existing objects with minimal alteration, asserting the artist's role in defining art.

Sublime

An overwhelming feeling of awe, often derived from nature.

Collage and Photomontage

Collage involves sticking various materials, while photomontage combines photos from different sources.

Assemblage

A gathering or collection of items or people, often used in art.

Holocaust

The genocide of Jews during World War II, resulting in mass destruction and slaughter.

World War II

A global conflict that has lasting effects on art and culture, including issues of missing art.

Performance art

Art where visual elements are combined with live performance.

Marshall Plan

A US initiative to aid the recovery of European economies post-WWII.

Propaganda

Techniques used to manipulate public opinion and beliefs.

Kitsch

Art that is considered low-brow, mass-produced and lacking in aesthetic value.

Diptych

An artwork consisting of two panels.

Triptych

An artwork with three panels.

Polyptych

An artwork made up of four or more panels.

Soak Stain Painting

A technique where paint seeps into the canvas, creating a stained effect.

Existentialism

A philosophical perspective focused on the nature of existence and individual significance.

Jean Paul Sartre

A post-war philosopher known for his existentialist writings.

Surrealism

An artistic movement emphasizing dreams and the bizarre between the two world wars.

Art Brut

Raw art, often created by outsiders and those with mental illness.

The Gaze

Refers to the viewer's perspective when looking at art.

Arte Povera

An art movement focused on the use of everyday materials.

Spatialismo

Art movement emphasizing space in its expression.

Icon

A religious image or symbol with significant meaning.

Abstract Expressionism

An art movement that incorporates action painting and color psychology.

Post war European art

dark and pessimistic, dealing with the aftermath of the war and the holocaust. art styles created in Europe

Nouveau Realism

An art movement critiquing the perception of reality in the age of mass media.

Fluxus

A group of 1960s performance artists focused on social goals over aesthetic values. Purging the world of dead abstract art and replacing it with “Concrete Art”.

Brit Pop and Proto Pop

The first representation of pop, Mass media, and consumer culture. AMERICAN MADE. still has the hand of the artist unlike pop which is completely appropriated

Happenings

An art event where viewer participation is required. Could be held anywhere. Brought people objects and events in juxtaposition.

Pop art

Art movement responding and rejecting abstract expressionism, emphasizing consumer culture. Direct relation to consumer and celebrity culture (mass media) Opposite of abstract expressionism.

Post Painterly Abstraction

Bridging abstract expressionism to minimalism. Not focused on gesture as much. Application is different, letting the paint do what it wants to do and taking the hand out of the work