Final Postwar-Art terms

Painting

a visual artwork using pigment on a surface to create an image or express emotion.

Sculpture

3D art made from shaping materials like clay, stone, and metal

Content

The subject matter, message, or meaning conveyed in an artwork, encompassing its emotional, intellectual, and narrative aspects.

Form

The physical characteristics of an artwork, including its composition, structure, texture, and materials.

Abstraction

Artistic style that distorts, simplifies, or eliminates natural forms to emphasize color, line, and shape, often focusing on the essence of objects rather than their literal representation.

Figuration

Art that represents recognizable subjects, such as people, animals, or objects, often in a realistic or semi-realistic manner.

Portraiture

genre of art that focuses on capturing individuals or groups, highlighting their personality

Composition

The arrangement of elements (like color, form, line, and texture) within an artwork, determining how the piece is structured and how the viewer’s eye is guided.

Modernism

A broad cultural movement from the late 19th century to the mid-20th century that emphasized innovation, abstraction, and a break from traditional artistic forms, techniques, and subjects.

Formalism

A critical approach to art that focuses on the formal elements of a work (like composition and color) rather than its subject matter or emotional content.

Clement Greenberg

A prominent art critic associated with Formalism, especially in the context of Abstract Expressionism. Greenberg championed the idea that the primary purpose of painting was to emphasize its own flatness and two-dimensionality.

Avant-garde

art that pushed the traditional norms in the art world. Associated with experimental art, pushing the boundaries of creativity, and exploring new techniques.

Kitsch

Clement Greenberg called this type of art mass-produced and tacky. This type of art was considered to have bad taste.

Cubism

movement pioneered by Braque that took objects and put them into abstract geometrical shapes, providing multiple viewpoints.

MoMA, NY

NYC museum is the most influential institution for modern and contemporary art—artists such as Picasso, Warhol, and Van Gogh.

Abstract Expressionism

A post-WWII American art movement characterized by spontaneous, gestural brushwork, and an emphasis on abstract forms. Prominent artists include Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning.

Action Painting

A subgenre of Abstract Expressionism that emphasizes spontaneity and physical engagement with the medium, where the act of painting itself is an integral part of the work (e.g., Jackson Pollock).

Gestural Painting

A form of Action Painting in which the artist’s brushstrokes or marks directly express energy, emotion, or movement, often associated with Pollock and de Kooning.

Color-Field Painting

A style of Abstract Expressionism focused on large fields of color to evoke an emotional response, with key figures including Mark Rothko and Barnett Newman.

Allover Composition

A technique used in Abstract Expressionism, where the composition covers the entire canvas, creating no clear focal point, often associated with Jackson Pollock.

Cold War

A geopolitical conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union (1947-1991) that influenced artistic and cultural production, with tensions reflected in political art and conceptual art movements.

Cannibalism

exploration of violence, dehumanization, and survival, often used to critique the destructive aftermath of World War II and the rise of consumerism. It symbolized both literal and metaphorical consumption

Neo-Concretism

A Brazilian avant-garde movement that emerged in the 1950s, responding to Concrete Art, emphasizing emotional expression and organic shapes in contrast to rigid abstraction.

Gutai

A Japanese avant-garde group (1950s-1970s) that explored materiality and performance, breaking boundaries between art and life through experimental work.

Leo Steinberg

An influential art critic who redefined the understanding of modern art, focusing on the spatiality of the canvas and the relationship between art and audience.

Happening

A performance-based art form popular in the 1950s-1960s, emphasizing spontaneity, audience interaction, and ephemeral nature, with artists like Allan Kaprow.

Performance Art

An artistic medium that incorporates live action, often blurring the boundaries between theatre, visual art, and dance.

John Cage

An avant-garde composer and artist known for using silence in music and performance to challenge traditional ideas of sound and art.

Independent Group

A group of British artists and critics in the 1950s that introduced elements of popular culture, especially advertising, to fine art and are often associated with the early development of Pop Art.

Nude

A traditional subject in art, often referring to the unclothed human figure, explored through painting, sculpture, and photography. It has evolved from idealized forms to more naturalistic or abstract representations.

Consumerism

The social and economic ideology that encourages the acquisition of goods and services in ever-increasing amounts. It is a critical theme in Pop Art, capitalist realism, and neo-conceptual art.

Collector

An individual or institution that acquires works of art, often acting as a mediator in the art market by influencing the values of artworks.

Pop Art

A movement that emerged in the 1950s-60s, using popular culture, advertising, and mass media as sources of imagery. Major artists include Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein.

Collage

An art technique that involves assembling different materials (such as photographs, newspapers, and fabric) into a composition. It was popularized by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque.

Silkscreen

a technique used by Andy Warhol to create replicas of an image using screen stencil and ink.

Flatness

The two-dimensionality of the painting surface, which is emphasized in Modernist art, especially by Clement Greenberg, to underscore the medium's inherent properties.

Hard-Edge Abstraction

An abstract art style characterized by sharp lines and clear-edged forms, often associated with artists like Ellsworth Kelly and Frank Stella.

Capitalist Realism

An art movement in Germany in the 1960s that paralleled Pop Art, using imagery from advertising and consumerism to comment on capitalist society.

Ferus Gallery

An influential art gallery in Los Angeles that was instrumental in introducing Pop Art and Abstract Expressionism to the West Coast.

Wallace Berman

An American artist associated with the Beat Generation, known for his collage work and involvement with the Semina series.

Assemblage

A form of sculpture created by combining various found objects or materials into a unified whole.

“Specific Objects” (Essay)

An influential essay by Donald Judd that argued that art should focus on objecthood, emphasizing the physicality and materiality of art rather than representation.