ULTIMATE FLASHCARDS

Potlatch

A gift giving ceremony practiced by Indigenous peoples of the Northwest Coast of Canada and the United States.

Mosque

An Islamic place of worship and a center for education and information.

Mihrab

A niche in the wall of a mosque that indicates the direction of Mecca.

Mosaic

The technique of making pictures or patterns from small pieces of colored stone or glass set into cement.

Tesserae

The small cubes of marble, pottery, brick, glass, tile, and stone used to create a mosaic.

Kiln

An oven used to bake or fire ceramics.

Calligraphy

The art of beautiful handwriting, significant in East Asia and the Islamic world.

Arabesque

An ornamental design consisting of intertwined flowing lines.

Stupa

A dome-shaped Buddhist shrine.

Torana

A gateway near a stupa with two upright posts and three horizontal lintels, often elaborately carved.

Circumambulation

The act of walking around a sacred object.

Mudra

A symbolic hand gesture in Buddhist and Hindu art.

Darshan

In Hinduism, the ability of a worshipper to see a deity.

Puja

A Hindu devotional ritual.

Neoclassicism

A classicizing style in European art of the late 18th and early 19th centuries that reacted against Rococo.

Enlightenment

A European intellectual movement of the late 17th and 18th centuries emphasizing reason and individualism.

History painting

A genre of painting that is taken from classical, mythological, or biblical history.

French Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture

The premier art institution in Paris during the 18th century.

The Salon

Semiannual competitive exhibitions in Paris started in 1667.

Hierarchy of Genres

The ranking of painting genres according to their prestige, with history painting at the top.

Planarity

Lying in one plane; flat or level.

Frieze-like Composition

A composition where all figures are arranged along one plane parallel to the canvas.

Contour lines

Lines that form the outline of an object.

Disegno vs Colore

A debate focused on the rivalry between drawing and color in Italian painting.

Romanticism

A reaction against the reason of the Enlightenment emphasizing emotional self-expression.

Impressionism

A late 19th-century movement in French painting characterized by a bright palette and emphasis on modern life.

en plein air

The act of painting landscapes completely outdoors.

avant-garde

Art that is at the forefront of artistic development.

Post-Impressionism

Developments after Impressionism, often referring to specific artists like Cezanne, Gauguin, Seurat, and Van Gogh.

Japonisme

The fascination with Japanese art and aesthetics by 19th-century European artists.

Woodblock Prints

A printing technique used widely throughout East Asia for centuries.

Ukiyo-e

Japanese for 'pictures of the floating world,' referring to transient everyday life.

Reliquary

A receptacle that holds the relics of a saint or ancestor.

Masquerade

Performances involving individuals wearing masks.

Primitivism

A tendency in early 20th-century Western art celebrating so-called 'primitive art' of Africa and the Pacific Islands.

Abstract art

Art that is non-representational.

Cubism

A significant movement in 20th-century art created by Braque and Picasso, exploring multiple viewpoints.

Surrealism

A 20th-century art movement influenced by Freudian psychoanalysis, harnessing dreams and the subconscious.