Caravaggism

A term describing the style and technique of the Italian artist MICHELANGELO da CARAVAGGIO (1573-1610), adopted by artists both in Italy (such as B MANFREDI, ORAZIO GENTILESCHI (1563-1647) and G B CARACCIOLO) and abroad (for instance, JUSEPE de RIBERA (1588-1656), GERARD van HONTHORST (1590-1656) and the ‘Northern Caraviggisti’). These artists were influenced by Caravaggio’s

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Chiaroscuro

Meaning ‘bright/ dark’, this term was first used by the Italian art historian FILIPPO BALDINUCCI (c. 1624-1696) to describe paintings which rely on the dramatic effects of contrasting light and shadow in their composition. The foremost exponents of this style were MICHEL ANGELO MERISI CARAVAGGIO (1569-1609) and REMBRANDT (1606-1669). Chiaroscuro (English: /kiˌɑːrəˈsk(j)ʊəroʊ/ kee-AR-ə-SKOOR-oh, -⁠SKEWR-, Italian: [ˌkjaroˈskuːro]; Italian for ‘light-dark’) is one

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Classicism

A term describing adherence to classical ideals of beauty, proportion and symmetry as exemplified in Ancient Greek and Roman architecture and sculpture, most notable during the Renaissance and neoclassical period. The term also refers to any other period or work of art where artist(s) display a preference for order and objectivity over formlessness and

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COBRA

An artistic movement formed out of the Danish Spiralen group (Copenhagen), the Belgian Bureau Internationale de Surrealisme Révolutionnaire (Brussels), and the Dutch Experimental Group (Amsterdam). Its adherents had affinities with American action painting in their emphasis of the unconscious and spontaneous. Their works are distinctive for their abstracted compositions, violent brushwork and saturated color. Biology All

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Cold art

From the German Kalte Kunst, this is the name given to a branch of contstructivism based on mathematical principles and formulae. It is related to concrete art. Cold art’s leading practitioner, the Swiss artist MAX BILL (1908- ), saw rationality as the most essential form of thinking and aimed at producing works which were as self-contained and

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Color field painting

A style which developed in the USA, rejecting the gestural and tactile qualities of abstract expressionism. American painters such as ELLSWORTH KELLY (1923- ) and BARNETT NEWMAN (1905-1970) produced large-scale monochromatic canvases whose saturation of color does not suggest form or representation, and which tend to overwhelm the spectator. Color field painting is a style of

Conceptual art

A cerebral approach to art first championed in 1967 by the American sculptor SOL LEWITT (1928- ) in the magazine Art Forum as a reaction against the formalism of post-war art. The idea or concept is the most important aspect in the artistic process. The planning and concept are decided beforehand, but the end result is

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Concrete art

Dutch artist THEO van DOESBURG (1883-1931) coined this name in his manifesto (also signed by CARLSUND, HELION, TUTUNDJIAN and WANTZ) for a distillation of Constructivist ideas aiming to create self-sufficient art, using planes and colors, with no other significance than itself and using controlled and precise techniques. In 1936 the Swiss artist MAX BILL

Constructivism

Russian avant-garde movement pioneered in c.1914 by the artist Vladimir Tatlin (1885-1953) and current until c.1921. Following the examples of collage in cubism and futurism, Tatlin proposed a ‘culture of materials’ in which illusionism and simulated effects in art were eschewed in favor of an art based on the construction of real materials. After 1917, artistic links with industry were emphasized

Costruzione leggitima

An Italian term meaning ‘legitimate construction’, this refers to a scientific perspective developed by the Italian architect FILIPPO BRUNELLESCHI (1377-1446) in order to depict space. It is also described in the treatise DELIA PITTURA (1432) by Italian architect and theorist LEON BATTISTA ALBERTI (1404-1472). The area of the composition is divided into equal zones

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Cubism

This term was first coined by the French critic LOUIS VAUXCELLES in his 1908 review of an exhibition of paintings by Georges Braque (1882-1963). Les Demoiselles d’Avignon (1906-1907) by Spanish artist Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) and Braque’s Nude (1907-1908) are now considered to represent the first paintings of Analytical Cubism (c. 1906-1909). Continuing the experiments of French artist Paul Cezanne (1839-1906)

Dada

With its name chosen at random (being the French word for ‘hobby horse’), this movement first manifested itself in Zurich (c. 1915-1916) with the establishment of the Cabaret Voltaire by German poet and musician HUGO BALL (1886-1927). The movement, which soon spread to other international centres, was a reaction to the horror of war,

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Decorum

An aesthetic concept first developed in Antiquity and elaborated into a formal code during the Renaissance and Baroque periods. The constituent parts of a work of art should be mutually congruent and the style and execution appropriate to the subject. Breaches of such rules constituted social neglect. The works of Italian artist RAPHAEL (1483-1520)

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De stijl

Name of a movement and periodical founded by Dutch artist THEO van DOESBURG (1883-1931) in Holland; its other leading protagonist was fellow Dutch artist Piet Mondrian (1872-1944). In the first edition, van Doesburg outlined the new aesthetic, or ‘neo-Plasticism’, as a rejection of expression and individuality in order to create work which is universal, abstract and

Die brucke

A name (German for ‘the Bridge’) adopted by a group of artists in Dresden with links to the Munich group blaue reiter. Members included ERNST LUDWIG KIRCHNER (1880-1938), ERICH HECKEL (1883-1970), KARL SCHMIDT-ROTTLUFF (1884-1976) and F BLEYL, joined in 1906 by MAX PECHSTEIN (1881-1951) and EMIL NOLDE (1867-1956). Their art was analagous to that of

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Divisionism

A name first used by French artist PAUL SIGNAC (1863-1935) for a method of painting with pure color which later developed into scientific pointillism. Signac proposed that to achieve the brightest and purest color, all those of the spectrum should be used, applied in small daubs or dots of unmixed pigment which vary according to

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Earth works

Related to environment art and land art, this concept was conceived in the exhibition ‘Earth Art’ at Cornell University (1968). Rejecting the over-sophistication of minimalism, as well as technological culture, art is created using the land as the environment and conveyed to the gallery/museum space through photographic documentation. Construction Earthworks (archaeology), human-made constructions that modify the land contour

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Ecological art

The critic Herb Aach was probably the first to use this term in 1968. Its origins lying in the work of French artists MARCEL DUCHAMP (1887-1968) and YVES KLEIN (1928-1962), ecological art aims to harness the forces of nature (its physical, biological and chemical processes) with the intention of revealing these by the construction

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Electronic art

Related to kinetic art, this is a technique whereby the artist develops abstract patterns on screens using cathode rays or oscilloscopes. The American artist BEN F LAPOSKY has worked in this area since the 1950s, and the method has also been exploited by the Korean artist NAM JUNE PAIK in his use of several television

Environment art

The origins of this movement are attributed to American artist ALLAN KAPROW (1927- ) who also championed the happening. Its roots lie in the Merzbau (1925), assemblages and kinetic lightshows of German poet and painter KURT SCHWITTERS (1887-1948). The environment is the three-dimensional context in which content, sensory sensations, kinetic stimuli and imagination are synthesized

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