Art History 2050

Mark Rothko MAGENTA, BLACK, GREEN ON ORANGE (NO. 3/NO. 13)

1949. Oil on canvas, 7'1⅜" x 5'5" (2.165 x 1.648 m). Museum of Modern Art, New York.

appropiation

The practice of some Postmodern artists of adopting images in their entirety from other works of art or from visual culture for use in their own art. The act of recontextualizing the image allows the artist to critique both it and the time and place in which it was created.

panel painting

Any painting executed on a wood support, usually planed to provide a smooth surface. The support can consist of several boards joined together.

axis

In pictures, an implied line around which elements are composed or arranged. In buildings, a dominant line around which parts of the structure are organized and along which human movement or attention is concentrated.

diptych

Two panels of equal size (usually decorated with paintings or reliefs) hinged together.

vanitas

An image, especially popular in Europe during the seventeenth century, in which all the objects symbolize the transience of life. These images are usually of still lifes or genre subjects.

modeling

In painting, the process of creating the illusion of three-dimensionality on a two-dimensional surface by use of light and shade. In sculpture, the process of molding a three-dimensional form out of a malleable substance.

altarpiece

A painted or carved panel or ensemble of panels placed at the back of or behind and above an altar. Contains religious imagery (often specific to the place of worship for which it was made) that viewers can look at during liturgical ceremonies (especially the Eucharist) or personal devotions.

perspective

A system for representing three-dimensional space on a two-dimensional surface.

style

A particular manner, form, or character of representation, construction, or expression that is typical of an individual artist or of a certain place or period.

composition

The overall arrangement, organizing design, or structure of a work of art.

dendrochronology

The dating of wood based on the patterns of the tree’s growth rings.

iconography

Identifying and studying the subject matter and conventional symbols in works of art.

formal analysis

An exploration of the visual character that artists bring to their works through the expressive use of elements such as line, form, color, and light, and through its overall structure or composition.

iconology

Interpreting works of art as embodiments of cultural situation by placing them within broad social, political, religious, and intellectual contexts.

foreshortening

The illusion created on a flat surface by which figures and objects appear to recede or project sharply into space. Accomplished according to the rules of perspective.

still life

A type of painting that has as its subject inanimate objects (such as food and dishes) or fruit and flowers taken out of their natural contexts.

polyptych

An altarpiece constructed from multiple panels, sometimes with hinges to allow for movable wings.

medium

The material from which a work of art is made.