Terms List for APAH

A collection of vocabulary flashcards for AP Art History, covering essential art terms and concepts.

A House is a Machine for Living In

Phrase by Le Corbusier describing modern architecture emphasizing technological and efficient design.

Abbey

Buildings occupied by monks or nuns.

Abstraction

Artworks reduced to basic forms, often with little pictorial representation.

Acropolis

Greek term for 'high city'; site of significant temples in ancient Greece.

Action painting

A technique where artists splatter or drip paint, involving their bodies in the process.

Adobe

Building material made of clay and straw, typically sun-baked.

Agora

Public open square used for meetings or business in ancient Greece.

Allegory

A work of art that possesses a symbolic meaning in addition to a literal interpretation.

Ambulatory

A passageway around the apse or altar of a church.

Aniconic

Decoration that avoids the use of human figures or animals.

Animism

Belief that spirits or gods are present in nature and control the natural world.

Apotropaic

An object believed to ward off danger or evil.

Apse

The semicircular end of a basilica or church, typically where the altar is located.

Aquatint

An etching technique that produces a watercolor-like effect through acid exposure.

Art Nouveau

An art style from 1890 to 1910 that emphasizes decorative and organic forms.

Ashlar masonry

Carefully cut stones that fit precisely together without mortar.

Atmospheric perspective

Technique to create depth by mimicking the effects of the atmosphere on objects.

Basilica

An axially planned building with a long nave and side aisles, significant in Christian architecture.

Baroque classicism

A style within the Baroque period that recalls art from ancient Greece and Rome.

Biombo

A folding screen commonly used in Latin American colonial homes.

Canon of proportion

A system of measurement for the sizes and proportions of art figures.

Chiaroscuro

The use of strong contrasts between light and dark in art to develop a three-dimensional effect.

Cloister

A covered walkway surrounding a monastery courtyard.

Coffered ceiling

A ceiling with sunken panels to reduce weight.

Continuous Narrative

An artwork that depicts multiple scenes of a narrative within a single frame.

Cubism

An art movement that abandoned naturalistic representations in favor of abstracted compositions.

Dada

An art movement that rejected established conventions, emerging from the chaos of World War I.

Documentation photography

Photography that chronicles significant historical events or everyday life.

Drypoint

An engraving process where lines are scratched directly into a plate for printmaking.

Fauvism

An early 20th-century art movement emphasizing bold, vivid colors.

Form follows function

Coined by Louis Sullivan, suggesting that a building's shape should relate to its intended use.

Frieze

A broad horizontal band of decoration or sculpture on architecture.

Gothic

An architectural style from the 13th and 14th centuries characterized by pointed arches and rib vaults.

Hybrid

An artwork combining two or more different styles or forms.

Iconography

The study and interpretation of symbols or objects within an image.

Installation

An artwork that creates an immersive environment within an art space.

Memento mori

Artistic reminders of mortality.

Minimalism

An art trend focusing on simplicity through a reduction of forms.

Modular

Composed of smaller, standardized units repeating without alteration.

Naturalism

The portrayal of objects as they exist in real life.

Neoclassicism

A revival of classical forms and themes in art and architecture during the late 18th century.

Perspective

A technique for representing three-dimensional space on a flat surface.

Relief sculpture

Sculpture that projects from a flat background, can be high, low, or sunken in relief.

Rococo

18th-century artistic style that focuses on decoration and elaborate detail.

Tenebrism

A painting technique that uses dramatic contrasts of light and dark.

Ziggurat

A pyramid-like structure that served as a temple in ancient Mesopotamia.