Visual Arts Vocabulary

Visual Arts Glossary

My name is Perla, and I am a Visual Arts student in CEGEP. CEGEP is a publicly funded pre‑university and technical college in the province of Quebec's education system where we get to work after the diploma or go to university depending on the program.

portfolio

noun

A large, thin, flat case for loose sheets of paper such as drawings or maps.

Example: Under his arm he carried a large portfolio of drawings.

fr: portfolio

art period

noun

Longer block of time encompassing many different artists and their works of visual art, music, theater, and literature.

Example: Renaissance is one of the most famous art period

fr: courant artistique

artistic movement

noun

An art movement is a tendency or a style of art with a particularly specified objective and philosophy that is adopted and followed by a group of artists during a specific period that may span from a few months to years or maybe even decades.

Example: Abstract art is a known artistic movement.

fr: mouvement artistique

sculpture in the round

noun

A piece of art that you can see from all sides, and you can walk all the way around it (3D).

Example: David by Michel-Ange is a sculpture in the round.

fr: ronde-bosse

experssionism

noun

a style of painting, music, or drama in which the artist or writer seeks to express emotional experience rather than impressions of the external world.

Example: The famous painting ''The Scream'' by Munch shows emotions more than beauty.

fr: expressionisme

The rule of thirds

noun

The rule of thirds is a composition guideline that places your subject in the left or right third of an image, leaving the other two thirds more open.

Example: The Japanese artist Hokusai used the rule of third in his painting ''Great Wave of Kanagawa''

fr: la règle des tiers

clear-obscure or chiaroscuro

noun

An Italian term which literally means 'light-dark'. In paintings the description refers to clear tonal contrasts which are often used to suggest the volume and modelling of the subjects depicted.

Example: Leonardo Da Vinci used clear-obscure in his painting ''Virgin of the Rocks''.

fr: clair-obscure

ready-made

noun

A work of art made from found objects.

Example: Duchamp's urinal was the first ready-made art work in art history.

fr: ready-made

high relief

noun

Relief in which forms and figures stand out from the background to half or more than half of their natural depth.

Example: Arc of Constantine in Roma has high relief parts.

fr: haut-relief

low relief

noun

A method of molding, carving, or stamping in which the design stands out from the surface to a lesser extent than in high relief.

Example: A coin is a perfect example of low relief.

fr: bas-relief

abstract art

noun

Art that does not attempt to represent an accurate depiction of a visual reality but instead use shapes, colours, forms and gestural marks.

Example: Wassily Kandinsky's painting ''Black Grid'' is one of the most famous paintings of abstract art.

fr: art abstrait

dripping

noun

A form of abstract art in which paint is dripped or poured on to the canvas.

Example: Jackson Polloc was the first artist to begin with dripping art.

fr: dripping

cloisonnism

noun

Cloisonnism is a style of post-Impressionist painting with bold and flat forms separated by dark contours.

Example: Vincent Van Gogh is famous for cloisonnism in his paintings.

fr: cloisonnisme

brush stroke

noun

A mark made on a surface by a pen, pencil, or paintbrush.

Example: She applied the paint in careful strokes.

fr: la touche

composition

noun

The arrangement of visual elements as distinct from the subject in a piece of art. It means ‘putting together’ and can be used in visual arts as well as music, writing and photography.

Example: Mona Lisa by Lionardo Da Vinci has a triangular composition.

fr: composition

illusion

noun

When a piece of art tricks the eye into perceiving a particular effect.

Example: Trompe l'oeil paintings are known for their illusion.

fr: illusion

diptych

noun

A piece of art, usually a painting, made on two panels that are traditionally attached by a hinge.

Example: Hans Melming painted the diptych of Munich.

fr: dyptique

hard-edge

noun

A painting technique where the transitions between colours are abrupt. The opposite of blending.

Example: Hard-edge is an abstract painting movement.

fr: hard-edge

soft-edge

noun

When the boundaries of a subject in a painting appear to fade into the background. The opposite of a hard edge.

Example: Watercolors are the easiest type of paint to make soft-edge paintings.

fr: soft-edge

sfumato

noun

From the Italian for ‘smoke’. A painting technique that softens the transition between two colours and tones in such a way that they appear to melt into one another.

Example: The Mona Lisa by Leonardo Da Vinci is a great sfumato painting.

fr: sfumato

This glossary was made with the Virtual Writing Tutor glossary maker and grammar checker.