| Term | Description |
Back-Painting | A method of creating a glass colored print that was popular in the 17th and early 18th centuries. It is done by placing a print over a piece of glass and then over-painting it from the rear to give the appearance of being painted directly onto the glass. Source: Ralph Mayer, "A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques". |
Background | The "part of the composition in the pictorial arts that appears to be farthest from the viewer." Source: Ralph Meyer, "A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques" |
Bacone College | A four-year liberal arts college founded in 1880 in Muskogee, Oklahoma by the American Baptist Church. In 2005, Bacone College was accredited as a four-year college. It has been a source of education, including art study, for many Native-American young people, especially of the Five Nations: Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek and Seminole. Included among those students are artists Woodrow "Woody Crumbo", Dick West, Fred Beaver, Brent Greenwood, Merlin Little Thunder, Alfred Momaday, Diane O'Leary, Virginia Stroud, Darwin Tsoodle and Chief Terry Saul. Sources: www.bacone.edu; AskART biographies; http://www.terrisaul.com/ChiefTerrySaul.html; http://www.newsok.com/xml/rss/1667362/ (LPD)
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Banderole | A ribbon or long scroll, which is carved or painted. Source: Ralph Mayer, "A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques" |
Barbizon School | A group of French naturalist painters whose approach to painting, beginning in the 1830s, opened the door to Plein-Air Painting, Impressionism and Social Realism. Barbizon School painters were based in the village of Barbizon, France on the outskirts of the Forest of Fontainebleau. Most were landscape painters who expressed fascination with changing seasons, changing times of day and the effects of light on the landscape. Barbizon artists had no agreed-upon style, but were revolutionary because of their commitment to portraying nature as a worthwhile subject in its own right rather than something that was so remote that it could only be expressed through romanticized and sublime images. In other words, nature was something that could be experienced personally and painted subjectively and not just romantically or philosophically. Barbizon School painters often included toiling peasants in their landscapes---persons who had little time or inclination towards 'contemplation' of nature. This approach was also revolutionary in prevailing approaches to fine art, which showed preferences for genteel subjects such as aristocrats basking in the beauty of their surroundings. Barbizon artists are considered the first "plein-air" painters, those who painted directly in the outdoors rather than completing their scenes in studios from sketches. Chief among the original French Barbizon painters were Camille Corot, Francois Millet, Theodore Rousseau, and Charles Daubigny. American painters much influenced by the Barbizon School were George Inness, Homer Martin, Alexander Wyant, William Morris Hunt aand Wyatt Eaton. Eaton and Hunt lived near Millet at Barbizon. Sources: "The Britannica Encyclopedia of American Art"; Kimberley Reynolds, "Illustrated Dictionary of Art Terms" (LPD) |
Baroque | A theatrical style of painting and sculpture characterization, "often florid, exuberant, and emotional" with heavy ornamentation that came to be considered grotesque. (Britannica, 634) The style, intended to evoke compelling effects of drama and grandeur, developed in Italy at the end of the 16th century and continued into the 17th Century. The subject was usually religious. The movement spread throughout Europe and employed strong sense of movement and contrast between light and dark. Caravaggio (1573-1610) is considered the first Baroque artist by many scholars because of his religious subject matter and dramatic use of light and dark (chiaroscuro). Other Baroque painters were Anthony Van Dyck (1599-1641) and Diego Velasquez (1599-1660). Sources: "The Britannica Encyclopedia of American Art"; Kimberley Reynolds, "Illustrated Dictionary of Art Terms"; Ralph Meyer, "A Dictionary of Art Terms". (LPD) |
Bas Relief | Sculpture in which figures project only slightly from a background, as on a coin. Also known as low relief sculpture. Among Bas Relief American Sculptors are Marguerite Blasingame, Janet Scudder,Rene Chambellan, William Couper, William Couper, James Earle Fraser, Achille Perelli and Robert Graham. Sources: Ralph Mayer, "A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques"; AskART database (LPD) |
Baseline | The imaginary line upon which all capital Letters and most lower-case letters rest. Source: Bob Bahr, "Drawing" magazine, Spring 2006, pp. 83 |
Batchelder School of Design | Opened in 1909 in Pasadena, California, it was a teaching and business venue for its founder, Ernest Batchelder, a New Hampshire native artist who also taught at the Throop Institute in Pasadena. The school facilities were adjacent to Batchelder's design shop and home. Of the location, it was written: "possibly no other art school in the country occupies a more picturesque site or artistic quarters than the new Batchelder Craft Shop and School of Design on Arroyo Drive overlooking the beauties of the Arroyo Seco." Instruction included painting, embroidery, metal design and copper work, the latter two subjects taught by Douglas Donaldson. Among students were Mary Cecilia Wheeler. The school closed during the 1930s Depression. Sources: www.zoominfo.com/people/Batchelder_E._151280527.aspx (quote); Edan Hughes, AskART bio. (LPD) |
Batik | A technique of producing designs on fabric through a series of wax treatments and dyes. The process originated thousands of years ago, likely in China. The Javanese of Indonesia advanced the skill and produced richly colored textiles. The batik process begins with a design sketched on fabric, usually silk. The artist has to visualize the finished piece from a negative image, because light and dark areas are reversed during the process. A wax resist is applied to the lighter areas, and then the fabric is immersed in dye with the wax areas repelling the dye. The process continues with colors dyed on top of each other, often seeping through cracked places in the wax. When the work is finished the artist removes the wax by ironing the fabric between absorbent layers of cloth. Usually the pieces are mounted on a backing and displayed under glass to protect the colors. American batik artists include Mary Tannahill, Grace Betts, Leo Twiggs, Tanasko Milovich, Sammy Lynn, Louise Wilson, Katalin Ehling and Linda Szabo. Sources: Kimberley Reynolds, Richard Seddon; "Illustrated Dictionary of Art Terms"; AskART Database; (LPD) |
Bauhaus | A design school founded by Walter Gropius in 1919 in Weimar, Germany. Bauhaus teachers promoted reconciliation between aesthetics and utilitarianism. Followers asserted that art should be an intrinsic part of society, rather than set aside in an isolated sphere, and that applied art should be upgraded in educational status. In other words, applied or technical artists/artisans should be regular members of society and combine creativity and practicality. The name "Bauhaus" in German means 'Building House' in English. Gropius, speaking in terms of a "new, coming faith", was determined to establish a working partnership as well as philosophical link between artists and "Bauhutten", the masonry or building guilds in Germany. All Bauhaus students took a six-month introductory course to become familiar with form, color and nature of materials. Enrolled artists in the early years included Paul Klee, Laszlo Maholy-Nagy and Lyonel Feininger. In 1933, Hitler closed the school, which he viewed as a threat to Nazism and which from 1926 had been located in Dessau. The separation of theoretical and practical curriculum was abandoned with that move. Dessau teachers such as Josef Albers combined the subjects. The focus was on a community of artists working together, sharing ideas, with de-emphasis on teacher superiority over students. In 1926, Gropius left as did several others including Moholy-Nagy. Architect Hannes Meyer then ran the school until 1930, when Mies van der Rohe took over. In 1932, the Institute moved to Berlin, and the next year the school closed. However, Bauhaus methods continued to have widespread influence and were taken to America by Moholy-Nagy and Josef Albers. In Chicago, Moholy-Nagy opened the New Bauhaus, later named the Institute of Design. In North Carolina, Josef Albers taught Bauhaus philosophy when he joined the staff of Black Mountain College. Sources: "Phaidon, Dictionary of Twentieth-Century Art" |
Bay Area Figurative | The application of Abstract Expressionist technique to realistic subject matter, it was a style of painting prevalent in the Bay Area of San Francisco, California from the 1940s to 1960s. Bay Area Figurative painting began with teachers at the California School of Fine Art. Leading artists were David Park, Richard Diebenkorn, Joan Brown, Manuel Neri, Nathan Oliviera, Paul Wonner and Elmer Bischoff. The movement was a reaction to the popular Abstract Expressionism in New York. In the Bay area style, images were still quite abstract and painted with much expressionist style, but there was a rejection of total abstraction. Elements of realism such as human figures could be seen. However, these figures seldom conveyed a sense of human vitality or realism and were more like elements in a still life. For many, the Bay Area Figurative movement marked the end of the dominance of Abstract Expressionism and the return of some realism to 20th century art. Elmer Bischoff told critic Thomas Albright that Abstract Expressionism was "playing itself dry. I can only compare it to the end of a love affair." Source: Robert Atkins, "ArtSpeak" |
Beardsley Limner | One of several but unidentified portrait painters active in New England and New York in the several decades following the American Revolution. The name derives from two of the earliest-known portraits whose subjects were Hezekiah and Elizabeth Davis Beardsley. Scholars have linked fifteen portraits under the name of Beardsley Limner, all completed from 1785 to the early 19th century. Subjects lived along the Boston Post Road in Massachusetts and Connecticut and appear to be prosperous but not upper-class aristocrats. Something of the life of this painter(s) can be found by tracing the history of the subjects. Source: Christine Skeeles Schloss, Essay in "American Folk Painters of Three Centuries" by Jean Lipman and Tom Armstrong. |
Beauty/Beautiful | Subjective words commonly used to describe pleasing visual responses and often used to express a positive reaction to natural phenomena or to a work of art. These words result from "the satisfaction the mind derives from contemplating any image that has been organized and ordered into a unified whole." Components of the 'whole' in either nature or art expression include shape, color, line, tone, proportion and atmospherics. Source: Kimberley Reynolds and Richard Seddon, "Illustrated Dictionary of Art Terms" |
Beaux-Arts | A French term for “high arts”, which were the curriculum basis for art students at the Ecole des Beaux Arts, the official state school founded in Paris in the late 19th century. Beaux Arts education was a combination of learning history of major art movements, and then painting and sculpting in studios based on work of leading artists of those movements. Emphasis was on Roman, Renaissance and Baroque styles and methods. Source: Donald Martin Reynolds, "Masters of American Sculpture"
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Beaver Hall Group/Hall Hill Group | The Beaver Hall Group was an association of Quebec artists, which officially began its existence in 1920. Under the leadership of A.Y. Jackson, the group attracted and fostered the work of artists interested in the newest European trends and unconcerned about the consequences of cold-shouldering traditional approaches to subject representation. Remarkably, unlike its Ontario counterpart, the Group of Seven, the Beaver Hall Group had a large contingent of female artists, and though the Group prided itself on its eschewal of any bias-related to class, gender, or artistic preference, it seems to have been especially hospitable to women and proved an excellent springboard for their careers. The first group only existed for two years (1920 - 1922). It consisted of artists, most of whom had studios at 305 Beaver Hall Hill, Montreal. After the group disbanded for financial reasons, some of the women artists still used the studios. They were joined by other women artists and this group of painters was later to become known as The Beaver Hall Hill Group. The members of the original (formal) group were James Crockart, Jeanne de Crèvecœur, Adrien Hébert, Henri Hébert, Randolph S. Hewton, Edwin Holgate, Alexander Y. Jackson, John Y. Johnstone, Mabel Lockerby, Henrietta Mabel May, Darrell Morrissey, Lilias Torrance Newton, Hal Ross Perrigard, Robert Wakeman Pilot, Sarah M. Robertson, Sybil Robertson, Anne Savage, Adam Sheriff Scott, Regina Seiden and William Thurstan Topham. The second group included Nora Collyer, Emily Coonan, Prudence Heward, Mabel Lockerby, Henrietta Mabel May, Kathleen Moir Morris, Lilias Torrance Newton, Sarah Robertson, Anne Savage and Ethel Seath. Sources: Jacques Des Rochers, Curator of Canadian Art, Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal; and the book "The Women of Beaver Hall: Canadian Modernist Painters" (2005) by Evelyn Walters. Source: Written and submitted by M.D. Silverbrooke, Art Historian and Collector, West Vancouver, British Columbia.
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Berkeley School | A name given to an informal core group of artists around Hans Hofmann, pioneering Abstract Expressionist, when he taught at the University of California at Berkeley during the summers of 1930 and 1931. Among Berkeley School artists were Erle Loran, John Haley, Worth Ryder, Margaret Peterson, Virginia McRae, Leah Rinne Hamilton, and Mine Okubo. Source: Patricia Trenton, "Independent Spirits", p. 32. |
Berlin/Berliner Secession | An association of artists founded in 1898 in Berlin by 65 young artists seeking an alternative to the conservative state-run Association of Berlin Artists. A factor in prompting the defection was the rejection of a painting by modernist Walter Leistikow. Max Liebermann was the first president of the Secession. The Cassirer Gallery in Berlin was a primary exhibition venue for the Berlin Secession painters that also included Lovis Corinth, Lyonel Feininger, Max Beckmann and Kathe Kollwitz. Source: Peter Paret: "The Berlin Secession: Modernism and Its Enemies in Imperial German", cited on Wikipedia. (LPD) |
Bibelot | A decorative or rare object of art, notably small. |
Biedermeier Movement | Arising in the early 19th century in the German states, Austrian empire and Denmark, it was a reaction of simplicity among fine artists and their collectors against the prevalent lavish expressions of Rococo and Neo-Classical styles. Representative artists included Europeans Eduard Gaertner and Jakob Alt. Source: Franz Schulze, 'Biedermeier Unbound', "Art in America", 12/2006 |
Binder | Substance mixed with pigment that holds raw pigment in such a way that it becomes workable in a painting medium. Its purpose is to weld the pigment granules into some sort of shape---liquid, semi-liquid or solid---where brush, knife or hands can carry the color to the canvas or paper. In oil paint, raw pigment is usually combined with a linseed oil binder to form a fluid paint. Watercolor's binder is gum Arabic, and pastel is bound with gum tragacanth. Joe Singer writes in his book, "How to Paint Portraits in Pastel" that 'it is often the binder and not the pigment that is the main cause for the deterioration of paintings, especially oil.' Source: Roger Dunbier, PhD, Unpublished essay on Mediums. |
Biomorphic Art | Abstract art whose shapes resemble living organisms and are rounded and graceful appearing and have the contours of plants and animals rather than hard-lined geometric forms. Surrealist Yves Tanguy often used Biomorphic shapes in his paintings. Other American artists whose styles are Biomorphic are Wiliiam Baziotes, Roland Flexner, Charles Howard, Frank Lobdell, Charles Shaw, Jim Waid and Richard Pousette-Dart. Sources: Kimberley Reynolds and Richard Seddon, "Illustrated Dictionary of Art Terms"; Ralph Mayer, "A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques"; AskART database (LPD) |
Bird's Eye View | Depiction of a scene as if observed from a point in space by a 'flying bird' directly over the subject. The view includes the entire spread of the subject with a high horizon line allowing most of the composition to lie below it. Some Bird's-Eye Views are panoramic, as wide as three feet, and drawn by hand with the purpose of giving highly, accurate details including placement of trees. Bird's Eye Views, popular in the 19th century, pre-dated the common use of photographs to convey information. Much of the knowledge today of this subject comes from the research of John W. Reps, professor emeritus of city and regional planning at Cornell University and scholar on the history of American urban planning. He is among the first scholars to recognize city views as highly valuable historical documents. His book, "Cities on Stone, focuses on the historical origins of the Bird's Eye View. Source: Dr. Ron Tyler, "Texas Bird's-Eye Views" |
Biscuit/Bisque | Ceramic ware that has been fired but not glazed. Source: Ralph Mayer, "A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques" |
Black Light Test | An ultraviolet light used to determine age for authentification of paintings and other collectibles including art glass and porcelain. Ultraviolet rays react differently to different materials and reveal characteristics that are not visible to the naked eye. With the Black Light, one can distinguish between old and new and determine whether or not a work has been touched up or created recently when offered as antique. Modern paint becomes flourescent under a black light, which, of course, can be the indicator that a work, described as much older, is in fact recently painted. Source: http://www.elac-llc.com/html/blacklighttesting.html |
Blaue Reiter (der) | See Blue Rider/Der Blaue Reiter |
Bleed | (1) To allow a wash of watercolor or other thin medium to run into and combine with another area of color. (2) To make artwork, that is to be reproduced by printing, larger than the final page size so that, when the page is trimmed, there is no margin. Source: Ralph Mayer, "A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques" |
Bleeding through | The gradual visibility of under layers of paint, caused when oil-based pigments of the upper layers become transparent with the passage of time. Source: Ralph Mayer, "A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques" |
Blisters | Raised marks that appear on oil painting when dampness attacks the back of the canvas or when the pigment adheres incompletely because of initial dampness, oiliness, or non-absorbency. Source: Ralph Mayer, "A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques" |
Blockprint/Blockprinting | Relief prints made from wood blocks and now a nearly forgotten art. Known also as a woodcut, blockprinting is the oldest of all the relief processes and was the universal means of illustrating books and magazines in the 19th century. "Harper's", "Scribner's", and "Century" were magazines especially noted for their skilled blockprinters. Photomechanical halftones replaced this process in the 1890s. Source: Peter Falk, "Who Was Who in American Art" |
Bloom | A film on the surface of an oil painting that has been improperly varnished or stored. This first appears as an opaque blue tinge, which turns white, yellow, and eventually black as the condition, sometimes known as a 'chill, advances. |
Bloomsbury Group | An informal association in London, 1906-1918, of artists, writers and critics that is credited with introducing modern art and literature to Britain. The name is from Bloomsbury, the northwest section of London where leaders Virginia Stephen Woolf and Vanessa Stephen Bell lived. The group began with male friendships of writer-students at Cambridge University and continued with intertwined friendships and romances. Critic and curator Roger Fry, who converted to modern art in 1906 when he was exposed to the work of Paul Cezanne, was the most prominent figure of the Bloomsbury Group. He organized a Post-Impressionist art exhibition at Grafton Galleries in London in 1912, and entered his own work plus that of Clive Bell, Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant. In their artwork, the focus was on vivid Fauve colors, simplified forms and fragmentation as influenced by Cubism. In 1913, the Bloomsbury Group applied their aesthetic to functional, handmade items such as rugs and tableware and, with the financial help of writer George Bernard Shaw, oversaw the making of those types of items through an entity they named Omega Workshops. Described as a "curious amalgam of the idealistic socialism of the Arts and Crafts Movement" and chic "Aestheticism, this arts and crafts endeavor flourished a few years but folded in 1919 with the pressures of World War I and the unwillingness of people to spend money on nonessentials. Source: Robert Atkins, "Artspoke", p. 72-73 |
Blown Glass | Glass that has been formed or shaped by blowing air through a tube into a semi-molten mass of glass. Dale Chihuly, born 1941, is credited with making blown glass of such unique design and quality that the medium has earned the description of fine art. In 1971, Chihuly, with financial support from Anne and John Hauberg, established Pilchuck Glass School in Stanwood, Washington. It has become the largest educational center in the world for glass artists. Among students have been Nicholas Africano, Toots Zynsky, Hank Adams and Mary Shaffer. Sources: www.encarta.msn.com; http://pilchuck.com/about/about_main.shtml; AskART database (LPD) |
Blue Rider/"Der Blaue Reiter"/ German Expressionsi | A term first used in 1903 by Russian artist Wassily Kandinsky for the title of one of his paintings. It was then applied to a group with Kandinsky active from 1911 to 1914 in Munich and also to the almanac they published. Their idea was to stimulate physical sensations in viewers of their artwork through abstract, expressionist styles. The first "Blaue Reiter" exhibition was held at the Galerie Thannhauser in Munich in December 1911, and included work by Russian Futurists, David and Vladimir Burliuk; French Orphists such as Robert Delaunay; and German Expressionists. World War I ended the association, especially with the deaths of leaders Franz Marc and Auguste Macke. Albert Bloch is the only American artists associated with the group. An offshoot of the Spiritualist part of "Der Blaue Reiter" surfaced at the Bauhaus School in the 1920s with the name "Die Blauen Vier" or Blue Four under the influence of Kandinsky, Paul Klee and Lyonel Feininger. Source: Robert Atkins, "ART SPOKE |
Blue Rose | Russian painters active just previous to the 1905 Revolution. They reacted to the current oppressions with work that spoke of "mysticism and detachment". Many of their paintings were shadow-ridden, mist filled impressionist landscapes with grotesque forms---suggesting that something 'not good' was happening. Source: Ralph Mayer, "A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques" |
Body Art | A movement related to Conceptual Art and a precursor to Performance Art in the United States, Europe and Australia in the late 1960s through the 1970s, and often expressive of sex and drug themes. Artists used their bodies as a medium; exhibited in public or private performances and through videos and photographs. "Frequently motivated by masochistic or spiritual intentions, body art varied enormously. Chris Burden had himself shot; Gina Pane cut herself in precise tatters with razor blades, . . .and Ann Mendieta created earthen silhouettes of herself in poses reminiscent of ancient goddess figures from the Near East." Other body artists were Linda Montano, Tom Marioni, Gilbert & George and Bruce Nauman (59) Source: Robert Atkins, "ARTSPEAK" |
Body colors | Pigments which possess "body," or opacity, in contrast to transparent pigments. |
Bohemian Club | Not to be confused with the Bohemian Sketch Club of New York, the Bohemian Club is a private men’s club in San Francisco, established in 1872. The club house is at 624 Taylor Street. Members are voted in for being outstanding in their professional fields and include architects, designers, journalists, artists, vintners, writers, actors, and businessmen. The club has gone on to claim a veritable ‘who’s who’ of American art. Some notable artist names on the roster are Thomas Hill, Jules Tavernier, William Keith, Jules Pages, Maurice Logan, John Gamble, Maynard Dixon, and Millard Sheets. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bohemian_Club; AskART database.
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Bohemianism | A way of life with roots from the Bohemian region of Czechoslovakia where it was thought that many gypsies lived. The term originated in France and was first used in the early 19th Century in referance to an alternative lifestyle of the avant-garde, characterized by anti-intellectual philosophies and anti-bourgeois lifestyle. Among 'bohemians' were artists, writers, actors and musicians who were often associated with "non-marital sexual relations, frugality, and/or voluntary poverty." Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bohemianism
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Book Art | Bound text of single or limited editions that were custom illustrated and/or decorated and generally produced before the 19th Century when mass printmaking methods were not available. The method in western civilization is linked to medieval manuscript illumination by Catholic Church monks, and then to books created with movable type invented by Johannes Gutenberg in the 15th Century. Book Art, often with Art Nouveau motifs, was promoted by members of the late 19th and early 20th Century Arts and Crafts Movement in England and America. Also, Bauhaus School curriculum, influenced by Russian Constructivism, promoted individualizing books with original designs, and among those artists were Laszlo Moholy-Nagy and Herbert Bayer. In 2005, an exhibition of Book Arts was held at the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington DC. Curated by Krystyna Wasserman, it featured works from the collection of the museum, which is the only one in America featuring contemporary Book Art. Book Artists Carol Barton and Molly Van Nice were represented. Sources: Robert Atkins, ART SPOKE; www.marylandprintmakers.org/newsletter (LPD) |
Boston School | A distinct local style in Boston in the late 19th and early 20th centuries linked to teachers and students of the Museum of Fine Arts School. Paintings of the Boston School are distinctive for their focus on beauty, excellent craftsmanship, and solid structure. Favored subjects were portraits, especially of elegant women, as well as tastefully presented interiors, sun-filled landscapes, and impeccably arranged still life. Narrative genre scenes and laboring people were avoided as subjects. Otto Grundmann (1844-1890), early teacher at the Museum School, is credited for giving the School "its most distinctive characteristic, the old Dutch tradition of observing and rendering the most subtle aspects of color" and "careful study of composition". (Falk) Among Grundmann's students were Edmund Tarbell and Frank Benson, and they, as subsequent teachers at the school, became the most prominent representatives of the Boston School of painting. The circle of painters had studios in the Fenway Studio Building on Ipswich Street or in their homes. Generally they were close personal friends who exhibited together and critiqued each other's works. Other Boston School painters were Frank Benson, Robert Gammell, Abbott Graves, Ellen Day Hale, Lillian Westcott Hale, Aldro Hubbard, Elizabeth Paxton, Lilla Perry and Charles Woodbury. Sources: "A Studio of Her Own" by Erica Hirshler; "Who Was Who in American Art" by Peter Falk (LPD)
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Bottega | Italian term meaning workshop or studio and referencing a place where an aspiring Italian artist learns from a master artist. The term also pertains to a workshop where assistants help a painter or sculptor execute a work that bears the signature of the supervising artist---the Master. During the Italian Renaissance, about 30 "botteghe" were in Florence, and one of the more famous was overseen by Leonardo Da Vinci. Source: Ralph Mayer, "A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques" |
Bought In | A term used by auction houses for works of art that do not sell, either because there were no bids or the bidding did not meet the reserve price, and therefore remains the property of the owner. Source: www.sothebys.com |
Brackenwood Art Colony | An early 20th-Century gathering place for artists at the home site of Margaret and Peter Camfferman at Whidbey Island in Washington state. The couple, who were abstract painters, built a home by hand on their property, near Langley, in 1915, and called their place Brackenwood. The site, now part of a street in Langley, included cabins for visiting artists, and was especially noted as a gathering place for artists interested in modernist styles. The Art Colony flourished from 1916 until Peter's death in 1957. Associated with the Camffermans were many members of the Women Painters of Washington; the Puget Sound Group, which was all male painters; and art faculty and students associated at the University of Washington. The Camffermans were some of the early modernist painters in the Northwest. Sources: David Martin, Martin-Zambito Fine Art, Seattle, WA: Peter Falk, "Who Was Who in American Art"; Robert Ladd, Washington state art collector (LPD) |
Brandywine School of Illustration Art | A collective name given to the students of illustrator Howard Pyle (1853-1911) because of their school's physical location in the Brandywine River Valley between Delaware and Pennsylvania, and because of their revolutionary approach to illustration art under his direction. The Brandywine School of illustration was a departure from seemingly frozen stage-set motifs of characters in stories to 'up close' and 'in-your-face' dramatic poses. In other words, the viewer is pulled in emotionally and denied the safe haven of objectivity. Prominent names of the Brandywine School are Maxfield Parrish, Violet Oakley, Jessie Willcox Smith, Harvey Dunn, Stanley Arthurs, Frank Schoonover and N.C. Wyeth. Sources: http://www.bpib.com/pyle.htm; Walt Reed, "The Illustrator in America, 1860-2000". (LPD)
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Brass | An alloy of copper and zinc, usually with two to one proportion and with yellow or golden coloration. Because of the addition of zinc and sometimes small amounts of other metals, brass is stronger and harder than copper, but it is also malleable. Inscribed brass plates with descriptive information have been used traditionally to label formal or academic religious, historical and portrait paintings. Source: Ralph Mayer, "A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques" |
Bread and Cheese Club | A literary salon organized in 1822 in New York City by novelist James Fenimore Cooper (1789-1851). The purpose was to reinforce mutual dedication to democratic principles and to celebrating the beauty of the landscape through writing, painting and promoting of patronage of authors and artists whose work was in accord with their goals. The Club remained active until Cooper left for Europe in 1826. Among members were William Cullen Bryant, a writer; Samuel F.B. Morse, an historical genre painter; and James Kent, a Federalist judge. Sources: Andrew Wilton and Tim Barringer, "American Sublime: Landscape Painting in the United States 1820-1880"; http://secure.britannica.com/eb/article-1525? (LPD) |
Breckenridge Summer School of Art | Founded by Hugh Breckenridge at Gloucester, Massachusetts in the mid-1920s, it had a curriculum leaning towards abstraction, which reflected the adopted style of its founder. Source: Mary Lublin/David Dearinger, 'Hugh Henry Beckenridge', "Paintings and Sculpture in the Collection of the National Academy of Design." |
Brindled | The effects of a darker color on a work, usually spotted or streaked. |
Bristol Board | A stiff cardboard that has smooth finish and is suitable for drawing and painting with water-based paint. It can be used on both sides and is popular for ink drawing and diagrams because of the sharpness of effect that can be achieved. The U.S. Patent Office specifies that Bristol Board must be used for trademark and patent drawings. Source: Ralph Mayer, "A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques" |
Britart | See Young British Artists |
Broadmoor Art Academy/Colorado Springs Fine Art Ce | Flourishing in Colorado Springs from 1919 to 1945 in a structure at the foot of Pikes Peak, the Broadmoor Academy with its traditional approaches to creating art, was an important cultural center in the Rocky Mountain West. Certain themes predominate in the work of the teachers and students: easel paintings of mountain landscapes and natural wonders, views of ghost mining towns and their cemeteries, and paintings of the western side of the Great Plains with its ranch scenes. It was written “that translating Colorado’s monumentality onto canvas and paper proved to be an all-consuming challenge which took precedence over stylistic experimentation.” (19 Pike’s Peak) In addition to art and music classes, theatre classes were also held at the Academy. Influences on the Academy were felt from the neighboring Taos and Santa Fe art centers as well as from eastern artists who came west to teach. At the time of the Academy’s funding, wealthy Colorado Springs residents Julie and Spencer Penrose, who founded the Broadmoor Hotel, donated their home at 30 West Dale Street to house the facility. This gift, combined with a commitment of one-thousand dollars a year for maintenance for the first five years, became a fulfillment of their dream to have an art school that emphasized easel painting but also was a center for the performing arts. John Fabian Carlson and Robert Reid were the first teachers, and Carlson was the Center's first director and also taught landscape painting. Other prominent artists associated with the early days of the Academy were Birger Sandzen, Randall Davey, Ernest Lawson, and Lloyd Moylan, and these teachers brought influences and prestige from regions far beyond Colorado. In 1926, the Academy became affiliated with Colorado College, and four years later Boardman Robinson was hired as instructor, later becoming Director. He brought continuity with his settling in as a year-round faculty member, whereas before teachers had taught intermittently during the summers. In 1934, the Penrose residence was torn down, and the Colorado Springs Fine Art Center was built and opened in 1935 as the successor institution at the same location. The opening was marked by the exhibition of modernists' work such as pieces by Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Vincent Van Gogh and Paul Cezanne---quite ahead of its time in a western town whose population was about 30,000. Paul Parker became the general director in 1940, serving under Robinson until 1947, and with the new facility, theater and exhibitions spaces were expanded as were the printmaking classrooms. That year, Robinson resigned due to ill health, and shortly after the school declined. Major factors were the removal of Robinson, who had been the primary guiding force, and the advent of abstraction with its disdain of realism, especially landscape painting. Source: John and Deborah Powers, "Texas Painters, Sculptors and Graphic Artists"; “Pike’s Peak Vision: The Broadmoor Art Academy”; http://www.csindy.com/csindy/2002-12-12/cover.html (LPD) |
Bronze | An alloy of copper and tin, sometimes containing small proportions of other elements such as zinc or phosphorus. It is stronger, harder, and more durable than brass, and has been used extensively since antiquity for cast sculpture. When used correctly, it will "replicate a three-dimensional model with such exactness that details as subtle as the artist's fingerprints can be reproduced." (Conner, 157) During the 19th century in Europe and America, bronze and marble were equally popular in sculpture, but bronze took precedence in the 20th century because it required less hard labor for the sculptor, did not require a huge staff of artisans, was more durable when finished, and could be reproduced without much additional attention from the sculptor. Bronze alloys vary in color from a silvery hue to a rich, coppery red. Today U.S. standard bronze is composed of 90% copper, 7% tin, and 3% zinc. From 1800 BC bronze has been one of the more useful materials to humanity. The Egyptians, Greeks and Persians used it extensively, and Florence, Italy under the rule of the Medici family, became a center for bronze casting. The name is likely derived from the Italian word "bruno" or brown. The earliest casting method for bronze was pouring the hot liquid into a design cut in stone. Sand molds were used for simple objects, and the Greeks pioneered methods of making large pieces repeatedly from an original model. In the 19th century, a method of bronze electrotyping was devised for making exact copies of antique and others sculptures. Bronze foundries were set up at Naples for making reproductions of statuary excavated at Pompeii, and the copies became popular items in Victorian-style homes in the late 19th century. In Paris, methods were developed for adding color to bronze, which unaltered had a golden-brown coloration that eventually became dark. Additional zinc added golden tones; lead added a blue-grey tint; tin and silver in high content imparted a black patina; and mercury was used for gilding, but that process proved poisonous. Unearthed bronzes vary in coloration depending upon the composition of the soil, and ones found underwater have an olive-green color and hard surface if they have been submerged for long periods. American sculptors known for work in bronze include Frederick Remington, Charles Russell, David Smith, William Zorach, Harriet Frishmuth, Glenna Goodacre, Augustus Saint-Gaudens, Paul Manship, James Earle Fraser and Daniel Chester French. Sources: Greta Elena Couper, "An American Sculptor on the Grand Tour"; Janis Conner and Thayer Tolles, 'Double Take', "The Magazine Antiques", November 2006. (LPD)
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Bronzing | Painting plaster casts so they appear to be made from bronze. A finish called Vert Antique is the substance commonly used to achieve the effect of a bronze with patina. Source: Ralph Mayer, "A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques" |
Brown | The combination of all three primary colors (red, blue, yellow) in unequal proportions, dominated by red. Brown paints readily available from the artists' color menu are: Brown Madder; Brown Ochre; Brown Pink; Burnt Sienna; Burnt Umber; Madder Brown; Mars Brown; Raw Sienna; Raw Umber; Rowney Transparent Brown; Sepia and Vandyke Brown. Source: Ralph Mayer, "Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques" |
Brushians (The Brushians) | An informal group of landscape painters from Portland, Maine. Their leader was George Morse who began the association in 1860. Many of the members are not well-known, but their work is historically significant because of the images they left of the Portland area including the coast. Other members included: C.F. Kimball, Harvard Armstrong, Henry Clark, Edward Griffin, John Calvin Stevens, John Weed, Frederick Thompson, Frederick Ilsley, G.C. McKim, Tom O'Neil, Walter Bailey, Millard Baldwin, Charles Fuller and Clifford Crocker. Source: Elaine Ward Casazza, "The Brushians" |
Brushwork | The characteristic way each artist brushes paint onto a support. |
Bucks County Artists | See "New Hope Impressionists" and "New Hope Modernists" |
Burnishing | The act of rubbing greenware (clay) with any smooth tool to polish it, and tighten the surface. |
Butter Sculpture | Sculpture carved from butter, a method first publicly introduced at the Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition of 1876 with a sculpture, exhibited in a tub of ice, named "Dreaming Iolanthe" by Carolyn Brooks. She became known as the 'Butter Woman', and subsequently patented the method because she felt that butter was a much more sensitive surface for making plaster molds than clay. From the time of its introduction at the Centennial Exhibition, Butter Sculpture became a regular feature at many state and regional fairs and continues into the 21st Century. However, some persons think it is a disservice to the credibility of women as sculptors. Of the 1876 exhibition, it was written that "the unfortunate 'Iolanthe' became the butt of many jokes and some bitterness; many more important exhibits and works of art were forgotten." (Weimann, 3) However, another critic wrote: “it was the best sculpture at the fair.” (Rubinstein, 93) Sources: Jeanne Madeline Weimann, "The Fair Women"; Pamela Simpson, "A Look at Women's History and Butter Sculpture as Art", http://www.su.edu/temp_news.cfm?urlnum=469; Charlotte Streifer Rubinstein, “American Women Sculptors”, p. 93 (LPD) |
Buttress | A projection, usually on the outside of a building and across from a major point of stress.
Source: Julia Ehresmann, "The Pocket Dictionary of Art Terms" (LPD) |
Buy-In | An auction entry that was not sold at an auction, usually because of not achieving the preset minimum price set by the auction house and/or the consignor. Source: www.sothebys.com |
Buyer's Premium | The amount above the hammer price that is taken by the auction house for the handling of the transaction. Source: www.sothebys.com |
Byrdcliffe Art Colony | Organized in 1902 in a beautiful rural setting on Mount Guardian near Woodstock, New York by Ralph Radcliffe-Whitehead, a wealthy Englishman. He was a student of fellow Englishman, John Ruskin, and committed to the Arts and Crafts Movement espoused by Ruskin and William Morris in England. Whitehead's goal was to create an arts and crafts environment in America that adhered to Ruskin's ideals that everyday objects should have aesthetic qualities. Whitehead purchased 1500 acres of land, seven farms, and oversaw the construction of 30 buildings that stood as "textbook example of a utopian Arts and Crafts community". The emphasis was on brotherhood and artistic collaboration, and one of the earliest committed American artists was Bolton Brown, who influenced Whitehead to settle at Woodstock. Ironically Whitehead and other supporters of the Colony used money from industrialist fortunes to finance their philosophical opposition. The name Byrdcliff combines part of the middle name of Whitehead with that of his Philadelphia-born wife, Jane Byrd McCall. Artists came from all over the United States and created pottery, textiles, metalwork, and furniture. Among these artists were Dawson Dawson Watson, Herman Dudley Murphy, Bruno Zimm, Zula Steele, John Fabian Carlson, Birge Harrison, Carl Eric Lindin, Leonard Ochtman, Gino Perera, William Schumacher; Miss Dewing Woodward, Jane Whitehead and, of course, Ralph Whitehead who became proficient at pottery. The Colony was never a financial success but continuing to function, is remembered as a key part of the Arts and Crafts Movement in America and is an ongoing center for creativity. Many objects in a variety of art forms have been produced including furniture, ceramics, and oil paintings. Sources: Treadway Toomey Galleries, Catalogue of 5/23/2004; http://www.woodstockguild.org/ (See Arts and Crafts Movement) (LPD) |
Byzantine Art/Byzantium | Distinct stylized, often iconic art from A.D. 330 until the mid-15th Century of Byzantium, which was ancient Constantinople when it was capital of the Greek Empire before the Turks invaded. Subjects were usually religious, and styles ranged from Oriental to Greek Classical Realism to French Gothic. European Catholic and Greek Orthodox Churches have had much Byzantine Art in frescoes, stained glass, mosaics, statuary and paintings. Sources: Ralph Mayer, "A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques"; Julia Ehresmann, "The Pocket Dictionary of Art Terms" (LPD) |
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