| Term | Description |
Dabber | A roll of inked material used to apply ink to a block or plate for graphic reproductions and for blending oil colors. Dabbers were prevalent in the 19th Century for printmaking but were replaced except for engraving by Breyers or rollers. In engraving, the Dabber is still used to force ink into etched or incised lines. For oil painting, Dabbers can create smooth fields of colors and glazes. Sources: Ralph Mayer, "A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques"; Kimberley Reynolds and Richard Seddon, "Illustrated Dictionary of Art Terms" (LPD) |
Dada | A word meaning "hobby horse" in French, and "yes, yes" in Slavic. One story credits the name as deriving from the poet, Tristan Tzara, who reportedly stabbed a penknife in a dictionary in a random place, and it landed on the nonsense word "Dada". The term was applied to an international movement among intellectuals in the fine arts, drama, and literature and grew from a gathering in Zurich, Switzerland in 1916 at a club called Cabaret Voltaire. The movement traveled to other major centers including New York City, Berlin, Cologne, Hanover and Paris. Viewed historically, Dada was short lived, and by 1924, was essentially over, but it remains an effective reminder of revolt against World War I and the resulting expressions of cynicism. The loss of more than ten-million persons in that war and the fact that modern technology could cause such havoc led to the bitterness reflected by the Dada artists. Dadaists used improvised, sarcastic expressions of intuition and irrationality to send the message that only that which was absurd could have meaning in a world supposedly rational and yet was so destructive. Among Dada artists were Marcel Duchamp, Jean Arp, Francis Picabia, and Max Ernst. Some of them appropriated ready-made, traditionally unacceptable items for art work such as found objects. Duchamp, expressing Dadaism, did a painting of Mona Lisa with a mustache. Dada was a forerunner of Surrealism, Collage, Performance Art and Found Art. Sources: Ralph Mayer, "A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques"; Kimberley Reynolds and Richard Seddon, "Illustrated Dictionary of Art Terms" Julia M Ehresmann, "The Pocket Dictionary of Art Terms"; Robert Atkins, "Artspeak"; Alan Riding, "The New York Times", October 12, 2005. (LPD) |
Daguerreotype | An obsolete method of photography, now considered the first practical photographic process, it was invented in 1839 by Louis Jacques Daguerre, a French landscape painter and illusionist stage-set creator, who also invented the Diorama. In the invention of the Daguerreotype process, he worked with J. Nicephore Niepce. The resulting picture, called the Daguerreotype, is one-of-a-kind and made on a silver-coated copper surface sensitized by iodine and exposed to mercury vapor. A key factor in the success of Daguerre was the promotion of his invention by the French government, as Englishman William Henry Fox Talbot had also invented a similar process. The process proved valuable in explorations of the American West because, first used by expedition leader John C. Fremont in 1842, it was a valuable documentation of land, which in turn, stirred financial support for more expeditions. By the 1850s, millions of portrait Daguerreotypes had been made around the world. However, the process had drawbacks in that it was expensive the plates were fragile and difficult to copy and required lengthy time for exposure and bright light for the recording onto the plate. By 1860, the Calotype had replaced the Daguerreotype. American photographers who did Daguerreotypes include William Hazen Kimball, Noah North, Samuel Bemis, Solomon Nunes Carvalho and James Wallace Black. Sources: "The Concise Columbia Encyclopedia"; "The Random House Dictionary of the English Language"; Robert Atkins, "Art Spoke"; "Salt Lake City Tribune", 12/10/1995; AskART database. (LPD |
Dallas Nine | A group of painters, print makers, and sculptors active in Dallas, Texas in the 1930s and early 1940s. Jerry Bywaters was their leading spokesperson. In subject matter, they dedicated themselves to regionalist depictions of the Southwest, especially Texas. In numbers they were greater than nine because the group expanded and contracted during its existence. Names most closely associated with the movement were ones who unsuccessfully lobbied the Texas Centennial Commission to decorate in 1936 the walls of the Hall of State, which was the main building of the Centennial Exposition in Dallas. Dallas Nine members were Jerry Bywaters, Thomas M. Stell, Jr., Harry P. Carnohan, Otis M. Dozier, Alexandre Hogue, William Lester, Everett Spruce, John Douglass, and Perry Nichols. Other artists closely associated with the group were Charles T. Bowling, James Buchanan Winn, Russell Vernon Hunter, Merritt T. Mauzey, Florence McClung, Don Brown, and Lloyd Goff. The sculptors Dorothy Austin, Michael G. Owen, Allie Victoria Tennant and Octavio Medellin also participated in the Dallas Nine. Source:
http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/print/DD/kjd1.html |
Dango Sculpture | The name given by Nebraskan Jun Kaneko to his Zen-like ceramic sculptures whose shapes are tall and oval, sometimes as big as seven feet in height. Source: Patrick Sheehan,'ArtTalk', ARTnews, March 2006, p. 37 |
Danube School | Sixteenth-century landscape painters working in the Danube Valley in Europe. The movement was especially significant because of the introduction of figures as integral parts of the landscape. Albrecht Altdorfer, Lucas Cranach and Wolf Huber are names associated with the Danube School. Sources: Ralph Mayer, "A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques"; Kimberley Reynolds and Richard Seddon, "Illustrated Dictionary of Art Terms" (LPD) |
Darby School of Painting | Founded as a summer art school in Darby, Pennsylvania in 1898 by painters Hugh Breckenridge and Thomas Anshutz, professors at the Pennsylvania Academy, it had an emphasis on plein-air landscape painting and individuality of expression and self reliance. In 1900, the school was moved to Fort Washington, Pennsylvania. The school's founding was at the height of "America's enthusiasm for summer art schools situated within idyllic settings". Source: Traditional Fine Arts Online, http://www.tfaoi.com/aa/5aa/5aa363.htm |
David C Driskell Prize | Established in 2005, at the High Museum in Atlanta, Georgia, the Prize is "the first national award to honor and celebrate contributions to the field of African-American art and art history. The award of $25,000.00 is intended for an individual in the beginning or middle of their career whose work is considered an important contribution to African-American art or history." Source: Lyndsey Walker, 'Black Art is Alive and Well', "Art Business News", 2/2005, p. 16.
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De Stijl/Neo Plasticism | Descriptive of a group of Dutch painters, architects, sculptors and writers under the leadership of Theo van Doesburg, the term De Stijl is Dutch for Style. The group, founded in 1917, was totally committed to abstraction. Members asserted they could achieve a pure, universal art by using only primary colors, and black and white, and rectangular lines. Between 1917 and 1928, they published a journal, "De Stijl", whose purpose was to make 'modern man receptive to what is new in the visual arts'. Founding members of De Stijl included painters Piet Mondrian, Bart van der Leck and Wilmos Huszar and sculptor Georges Vantongerloo. De Stijl has become synonymous with the Neo-Plasticism, the name of their Manifesto published in 1920 and the descriptive term preferred by Mondrian. The influence of the group in promoting minimal elements was long lasting on architecture, commercial and industrial designs, graphics and painting. De Stijl was promoted by the Bauhaus School of Design. Sources: Ralph Mayer, "A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques"; Kimberley Reynolds and Richard Seddon, "Illustrated Dictionary of Art Terms"; Julia M Ehresmann, "The Pocket Dictionary of Art Terms". (LPD) |
Deaccession | A term often related to private and public art collections that refers to removal of artwork either via an exchange or sale. Museum Directors often use de-accession as a method of maintaining the focus of the museum collection and/or raising money to preserve and add to the collection. Source: (LPD-Lonnie Dunbier) |
Dead Color | Any color used to underpaint an oil painting on canvas. The color is usually a dull brown, gray or green. Source: Kimberley Reynolds and Richard Seddon, "Illustrated Dictionary of Art Terms" |
Death Mask | A cast made from the face of a deceased person. To achieve this, the person making the death mask oiled the skin, applied plaster, and then removed the plaster when it was hardened. Ancient Egyptians made masks of thin plates of gold. Before photography, the method was used as a way to record the likeness of a person, and sometimes sculptors used Death Masks to create a posthumous portrait of the person, especially ones well known. Among painters and sculptors who created likenesses from death masks are Raphael Beck, Karl Gerhardt, John Browere and Nellie Verne Walker. Sources: Ralph Mayer, "A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques; AskART database (LPD) |
Decadent Art | A derogatory term for expressions of artists and writers of the Aesthetic Movement in England in the last two decades of the 19th Century. Persons accused of being 'decadent' were more concerned about form and beauty than subject and moral uplift. Aubrey Beardsley and his drawings, associated with Art Nouveau, were often criticized for his Decadent Art. Source: Ralph Mayer, "A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques" |
Deckle Edge | The ragged edge of hand-made paper. Sometimes it is simulated on machine made paper. Sources: Kimberley Reynolds and Richard Seddon, "Illustrated Dictionary of Art Terms" |
Decollage | From the French word decoller, which means unstick. The opposite of collage, which is building up of layers, decollage is the tearing away of layers of paper or other fine art materials to expose under layers to create an effect. It is associated with New Realism, especially Poster Art based on the temporary and the principal of intentional and spontaneous destruction. Poster artist Wolf Vostell edited a magazine he named "Decollage". Source: "Phaidon Dictionary of Twentieth Century Art"; Julia M Ehresmann, "The Pocket Dictionary of Art Terms" (LPD) |
Decorative Art | A term for applied art, meaning it is created with the purpose of embellishing a useful object such as a vase or architectural column. Decorative Art can also exist by itself as pure ornamentation. Decorative artists include ceramist R. Guy Cowan; architectural decorator Rene Paul Chambellan, and ornamental painter John Ritto Penniman. Sources: Ralph Mayer, "A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques"; Kimberley Reynolds and Richard Seddon, "Illustrated Dictionary of Art Terms"; AskART database |
Decorator | One who applies his or her craftsmanship to adorning an art object and often is not the person who did the design. |
Decoupage | A French word meaning to decorate a surface by covering it completely with cut-out paper designs. The finished object is also called a Decoupage. Source: Ralph Mayer, "A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques" |
Degenerate Art | A term applied to artwork in Germany during the Hitler era that was considered a threat to the Nazis in that it was counter to their political message. Many artists, later well known, fell under that label including some after their death such as Paul Gaughin, and Vincent Van Gogh. Other artists whose work was regarded as Degenerate and were publicly threatened and labeled are Marc Chagall and Wassily Kandinsky, Max Beckmann, George Grosz and Theodore Fried. Beginning 1937, Hitler and other members of the Third Reich put together a list of what they classified as "degenerate" art, and toured Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Austria, etc. parading the art and names of the artists they considered anathema to their principles. The living artists, many of whom were scattered throughout Europe, lived in danger of their lives, and many of the collectors of their art throughout Europe, hid or destroyed the art for fear of reprisals. The artists had no control over who was chosen or for what reason. Conversely, Hitler put forward what he considered art reflective of the superhuman race dealing with "modernism" and fair skinned blonds indicative of the "purity" of race. After the war, the artists whose art was chosen for these exhibits were considered celebrities. However, much of their artwork had been damaged or completely destroyed in temporary storage areas such as caves, chimneys, etc. Sources: Milton J. Ellenbogen, Trustee of the Theodore Fried Estate; AskART Biographies (LPD)
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Del Monte Art Gallery | Exhibition space at the Del Monte Hotel, famous as a resort in Monterey, California, and built by the Southern Pacific Railroad. There Tonalist and Impressionist artists exhibited their work beginning 1907 when the Gallery opened in the hotel. The venue was established by artists who had fled the fire and earthquake of San Francisco, and it became the first exhibition venue in America to exhibit works exclusively by California-based artists. With 40 artists exhibiting annually, it was a key factor in establishing the area of Monterey and Carmel as an art center. Prominent among exhibiting artists at Del Monte Art Gallery were Armin Hansen, Euphemia Fortune, William Keith, and Gottardo Piazzoni. Source: William Gerdts, 'American Tonalism, Essay in "Poetic Vision: American Tonalism", Spanierman Galleries, LLC exhibition catalogue, 2005; AskART database; (LPD)
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Del., Delin | Latin derivative from "delineavit", translated in English to "he drew it". Used in printmaking, it is a term following the name of an artist signifying that the artist was responsible for the original design, as distinct from being simply the engraver. "Inc" and "Sculp" refer to the person who engraved the plate, often different from the artist who did the original design. Source: Ralph Mayer, "A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques" |
Delacluse | See Academie Delacluse |
Delft/Delftware | Earthenware named for its place of origin in the Netherlands in the 17th Century. It is covered with opaque enamel and decorated with cobalt blue.
Source: Ralph Mayer, "A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques |
Denver Art Club | Formed in 1893 in Denver, Colorado by local artists to provide a venue for their work, it became the forerunner of the Denver Art Museum. At the time of its origin, the DAC was supported by the family of artist and founding member Anne Evans (1871-1941), who lived in a home where meetings were held that is now the Byers-Evans House Museum. Among early artist members were Charles Partridge Adams, Frank Sauerwein, Richard Tallant and George Platt. Source: Traditional Fine Arts Online, http://www.tfaoi.com/newsm1/n1m270.htm; AskART database (LPD) |
Denver Artists Guild/Colorado Artists Guild | In 1928-9 a group of Colorado artists banded together to form the Denver Artists Guild. Their goals were “to encourage the practice and appreciation of the fine arts and to promote the highest professional standards in original art.” They believed deeply in the redemptive powers of art, and in the joy of the creative process. The fifty-two founders were a diverse group. More than half had been trained in Europe and as many in New York. Six were born abroad while sixteen were native Coloradoans. They were well traveled and in touch with the contemporary art movements in Paris, New York and New Mexico. Their own work would show the influences of Impressionism, Cubism, Expressionism and later Abstraction. In contrast to the cut-throat competition of many art associations, the founders encouraged, taught and even hired each other. They were intimately involved in the range of the Colorado arts community. They decorated for architects and the WPA, were founders and trustees of the Denver Art Museum, published their own arts magazine, and taught in local schools and universities. Some of the founders became and remain well-known. Others, pressured into other fields by the forces of the Depression, disappeared from the art profession. Some of the better known founders include Vance Kirkland, Arnold Ronnebeck, Gladys Caldwell Fisher and John Edward Thompson. Submitted by Deborah Wadsworth, curator of “Denver Artists Guild Founders – Fifty-Two Originals” show at Denver Public Library, 2009 |
Deseret Academy of Fine Arts | Founded in Salt Lake City in 1863 by John Tullidge, George Ottinger, and Dan Weggeland, it was a short-lived school for teaching art. Source: Anthony Fine Art, Salt Lake City; J. Willard Marriott Library, U. of Utah. (LPD) |
Desert Art Center | The oldest and largest non-profit art association in Cochella Valley, California, it was founded in 1950 on Highway 111 in Cathedral City by artists and friends of the arts. Three years later, the DAC was moved to 444 South Indian Avenue in Palm Springs, and the organization continues into the 21st Century. It is a place for exhibitions and artist demonstrations and also an "Art Mart" for artwork sales on weekends. Active artist members have been Jimmy Swinnerton, William Darling, Agnes Pelton and Carl Bray. Source: "Treasury of Living Art", DAC publication, 1970. |
Design | The plan of elements of a composition as pre-planned by architects, painters and sculptors. Involved are line, shapes, symmetry, spatial relationships and rhythm. Color and texture and emotional expression are not a part of Design. Source: Ralph Mayer, "A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques" |
Design-As-Art-Movement | The mixing of postwar and contemporary art with design objects, which blurs the lines between the traditional definitions of fine art and design. The Movement is dated from the mid-1990s when Christie's London began design sales and to a spring 2000 sale at Christie's New York when Philippe Segálot, worldwide head of contemporary art, interspersed design objects by Marc Newson and Shiro Kuramata with paintings and sculpture by Damien Hirst and Jeff Koons. The buying response was very moderate, but since then the combinations have caught on and seems a pairing "well suited to the newest wave of collectors and their eclectic decorating style." (126) A major player in promoting Design-As-Art is Chicagoan Richard Wright and his Wright auctions, begun in 2000 shortly after the Christie's sale. He offered design objects in eye-catching catalogues. About the same time, Phillips, de Pury & Company, began 20-21st Century Design Art sales. In 2003, Sotheby's changed the name of the 20th-Century Decorative Arts to 20th Century Design. Source: Jeannie Rosenfeld, ‘Turning the Tables’, “ARTnews”, March 2006, p. 126-127 (LPD)
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Designer | One who creates the plan to produce an object and usually implies that the person was not the executor of the work. |
Dessus de Porte | Popular in the 18th Century, the term describes a horizontal painting created to be hung over a doorway. Source: Ralph Mayer, "A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques" |
Die Brucke (The Bridge) | A German Expressionist movement organized in Dresden in 1905 by architecture students, who were also painters. Their intent was to create a style to "bridge" the prevalent Romantic painting with the encroaching modernist Expressionism. The four original members were Fritz Bleyl (1880-1966); Erich Heckel (1883-1970); Ernst Kirchner (1880-1938); and Karl Schmidt-Rottluff (1884-1976). "Die Brucke", along with "Der Blaue Reiter" group (The Blue Rider) were the two groups fundamental to the success of the Expressionist movement. Source: Wikipedia referencing of Peter Selz, "German Expressionist Painting", p. 78 (LPD) |
Digital Art | See Computer Art |
Diorama | A term originally applied to three-dimensional appearing scenes, often with a painted background, and lit and viewed through a peephole, which gives the three-dimensional effect. The term, Diorama, also refers to the viewing light box, which was invented in 1822 by L.J.M. Daguerre. In the 20 and 21st centuries, dioramas refer to three-dimensional backgrounds for exhibitions such as for realistic wildlife exhibits in natural history museums. Often the lighting is adjusted to create atmospheric effects. Unlike expansive, eye-catching dioramas of the 19th Century such as those by Albert Bierstadt and Frederic Church, modern dioramas usually function as backdrops to exhibits such as stuffed mammals and birds or commercial business exhibits. These later American dioramists include Joseph Cerveau, J. Perry Wilson, Frank MacKenzie, William Leigh, Francis Lee Jacques, Clarence Rosenkrantz, Hobart Nichols, Peter George, Earle Heika, Joe Halko, Dudley Blakely and D. Alanson Spencer. Sources: Kimberley Reynolds and Richard Seddon, "Illustrated Dictionary of Art Terms"; http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/dioramas/artists/painters.php; AskART database (LPD) |
Dipper | A British term for a container for oils and mediums, which clips to the side of the palette. Source: Kimberley Reynolds, Richard Seddon, "Illustrated Dictionary of Art Terms" |
Diptych | A painting or relief carving on two hinged panels so it can be opened and closed like a book. It is usually an altarpiece. Source: Ralph Mayer, "A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques" |
Direct Carving (See Carver/Carving) | Beginning in France in the 1890s with sculptor Joseph Bernard, direct carving was a departure from traditional processes of bronze sculpture that involved many studio assistants. Direct carving involves only the carver, his/her tools, and the medium, which traditionally is stone, marble, or wood. A shared commitment of direct carvers is remaining true to the inherent properties of the medium, meaning to respect the integrity of the lines and texture and to let those entities guide the creative hand. Direct Carving received international attention when work by sculptors such as Constantin Brancusi and Ossip Zadkine used that method in their entries that appeared at the 1913 New York Armory Show. In America, Chaim Gross, Jose de Creeft, and Seymour Lipton were pioneers of the method in the early 20th century, and direct carving has continued among succeeding generations including Elfirede Abbe in the 1960s. Sources: Donald Martin Reynolds, "Masters of American Sculpture"; AskART Database (LPD) |
Direct Painting | See Alla Prima |
Disegno | An Italian word meaning 'design' or 'drawing', and in Italian art has been applied "to all the visual arts as well as to the specific elements that the word denotes." The assertion of the superiority of "disegno" over color has led to conflicts among academic artists. Source: Ralph Mayer, A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques" |
Distemper | A term for bulk or wall paints and not to be confused with fresco. Distemper is prepared from water, powder colors, and simple glue or casein binders and is often used for stage scenery or decoration when permanence is not important. The term is not used in the United States where equivalents are Calcimine and Scenic colours. Sources: Kimberley Reynolds and Richard Seddon, "Illustrated Dictionary of Art Terms"; Ralph Mayer, "A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques" (LPD) |
Distortion | Any change made by an artist in which the conveyed visual perception of an object differs from what is normally regarded as realistic. Often affected are size, position, or general character. Distortion is a term also used for any degree of personal or subjective interpretation of natural forms. Artists throughout history have consciously used Distorian including Gothic sculptors and painters; Mannerists such as El Grego; and Cubists, Surrealists and Expressionists including Pablo Picasso, Max Ernst and Vincent Van Gogh. Source: Ralph Mayer, "A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques" |
Dixie Art Colony/Alabama Gulf Coast Colony | First located in Mobile County, Alabama from the early 1930s to the late 1940s and then in the fishing villages of Bayou La Batre and Coden on Alabama's western Gulf Coast between 1946 and 1953, the Dixie Art Colony evolved into the Alabama Gulf Coast Colony. Artists gathered at the latter colony from spring to fall and lived communally and painted the local scenery "en plein aire". The Dixie Art Colony was part of a more widespread post-United States Civil-War movement that continued into the 20th century. It was composed of a group of women artists working together to promote their art and that of women generally in Alabama during the first half of the 20th century. Kelly Fitzpatrick, a popular male artist, was the key leader and taught at the Colony school at Deatsville, Alabama. Women artists included Doris Thompson, Arrie Plummer, Anne Goldthwaite and Sallie Carmichael. In those days in the South, women artists were not taken seriously, and art was something condoned from them as long as they did not try to elevate their art to a professional level. As part of their activities, they organized painting excursions to the Gulf Coast, and in May 1946, a second colony formed as a result of these excursions and the effort of Genevieve Southerland. Called the Alabama Gulf Coast Colony, added members included Frances Elizabeth Harris, William Bush, George Bryant and Carlos Alpha "Shiney" Moon. Southerland served as Director, and Fitzpatrick and Moon were art instructors. The Colony dissolved in 1953 with the death of three key members (Fitzpatrick, Southerland and Moon) within a hundred days of each other. Sources: Lynn Barstis Williams, 'South Alabama's Art Colony 1946-1953, "American Art Review", February 2006, pp. 158-165; James R. Nelson, "Birmingham News", 10/31/2004. (LPD) |
Docent | From the French word "docere", meaning to guide, the word docent means guide and refers to a museum volunteer who has been trained to give educational tours. |
Documentation/Documentary Art | In fine art, a word with two meanings. Traditionally it has referred to mediums that record events or people such as photographs, videos or written materials. However, with the advent of Conceptual Art, especially Earth Art and Performance Art, Documentation references the recording of quickly passing moments: "The Gates" of Jean-Claude Christo and Javacheff Christo in Central Park in New York City in 2005, or out-of-the way earthworks such as those by Michael Heiser in Nevada.
Source: Robert Atkins, "Art Speak" |
Dominance | The principle of visual organization that suggests that certain elements should assume more importance than others in the same composition. It contributes to the organic unity by emphasizing the fact that there is one main feature and that other elements are subordinate to it. |
Don Pittman Wildlife Art Prize | A cash award of $3,000 for Exceptional Artistic Merit for a Wildlife Painting or Sculpture exhibited at the annual Prix de West show at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City. It is sponsored by Major General and Mrs. Don D. Pittman and carries a cash award of three-thousand dollars. Recipients include Greg Beecham, Dave Wade, Bob Kuhn and Ken Carlson. Sources: National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum; AskART database (LPD) |
Double Image | In painting and drawing, a figure or object that appears in more than one place such as a human figure that also appears as part of the geography such as in a hillside. Pavel Tchelitchew, 1898-1957, was particularly noted for his double images. Source: Ralph Mayer, "A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques" |
Doughboys | A sculpture term referring to the depiction of a lone figure on a battlefield or one charging with a bayonet to represent the bravery of many soldiers. These sculpted figures originated with the Civil War, and the name came from the British, who said that the gold-colored buttons on American uniforms looked like dumplings or doughboys. Many small communities had doughboy monuments, but three nationally known sculptors made the genre a fine art: Martin Milmore, John Quincy Adams Ward, and Randolph Rogers. Also creating doughboys were Avard Fairbanks, Ernest Viquesney, Joseph Mora and Humberto Pedretti. Sources: Donald Martin Reynolds, "Masters of American Sculpture"; AskART database (LPD) |
Downtown Gallery/Edith Halpert | Founded in Greenwich Village, New York City at 113 West 13th Street in 1926 by Edith Gregor Halpert, who stayed in the gallery business for forty-four years. It was unique because it was one of the earliest galleries devoted to American art, the earliest to sell and promote modern art, the first in America to be operated by a woman, and the first gallery to promote folk art and work by black artists such as Jacob Lawrence. Halpert was also the first American dealer "to print on every sales receipt that the copyright was held by the artist and gallery---not the purchaser. Abby Rockefeller and Stanley Marcus were some of her biggest clients, and other collectors were Eleanor Roosevelt, Paul Mellon and Marshall Field III. Among her artists were Stuart Davis, Georgia O'Keeffe, and Charles Sheeler. In 1940, Halpert moved her gallery out of Greenwich Village to a six-story mansion at 43 East 51st Street. Source: Lindsay Pollock, "The Girl with the Gallery", 2006. |
Draftsman/Draughtsman | A person who specializes in drawing, which traditionally has been one of the basics of art education. For architecture and mechanical drawing, a draftsman is a person who converts concepts into drawings that meet professional standards. Source: Ralph Mayer, "A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques" |
Dragging/Scruffing | The technique of applying paint over a a rough surface so that the appearance is uneven and the depressions untouched. The effect is a broken area of color with irregularities so that under color shows through. In the Intaglio printmaking process, dragging or scruffing is leaving a film of ink on the surface of the plate, resulting in a less stark contrast between the printed lines and the background. Source: Ralph Mayer, "A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques" |
Drawing | Lines on a surface, usually paper, of shapes and forms with the distinguishing factor being emphasis on linearity. Drawing techniques vary widely with sharp delineation achieved with pencil and or pen/ink. Watercolor generally gives a more delicate effect, and more painterly effects can be created with wax crayon, chalk, pastel, and charcoal. Some drawings are the finished product, and others are sketches for a grander piece of work. One of the foundations of every civilization is drawing. In our modern world, “every building, every car, every cardboard coffee cup was likely first drawing on a piece of paper as a set of lines that would eventually form the architecture of our lives.” (Maynard) On the seal of the Art Students League in Manhattan is the Latin motto "Nulla Dies Sine Linea", meaning "No Day Without a Line." (Rubenstein) American artists known for drawing include Chuck Close, Alexander Calder, Robert Cottingham, and Cy Twombly. Sources: Ralph Mayer, "A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques"; Edith Zimmerman, ‘Sketchbook’, “Drawing” magazine, Spring 2006, p. 8; Ephraim Rubenstein, “Drawing” magazine, Spring 2006, p. 61; AskART database. (LPD) |
Drawing Board | Also known as Illustration Board, it is tradionally a squared and smoothed wood panel that an artist can use for attaching drawing paper. Source: Ralph Mayer, "A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques" |
Drawing from Nature | Sketching outdoors and then finishing in the studio. Drawing from Nature has tradionally been part of the academic training of artists. Source: Ralph Mayer, "A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques" |
Drawing from the Antique | Making a copy with charcoal, chalk or pen and ink of classical sculpture precisely and accurately from either the original or a white plaster copy. Making skillful, exact copies has tradionally been required for entry into life-drawing classes, especially in the traditional art classrooms in America in the late 18th and 19th-century. In the 1870s, Cecilia Beaux, then a teen-age art student, was required to "draw from the antique", something she found tedious and boring but eventually credited as critical to her professional development. She wrote: "I had been taught by this exercise, if I chose to apply it, every rule of linear and aerial perspective." (Carter 37). Sources: Ralph Mayer, "A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques"; Alice Carter, "Cecilia Beaux". (LPD) |
Drawing Paper | A smooth, hard-surfaced paper with dull finish and water resistance used by artists for sketching or finished drawings. Source: Ralph Mayer, "A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques" |
Drawing Society of Canada | Devoted to artists who specialize in pen and pencil work, this Drawing Society places more emphasis on advocacy of those mediums than activities. Its mission is to educate the public about drawing, to collect Canadian drawings, and to encourage artists to draw, especially the figure. The Society was established in 1998 by Peter Leclerc and Gerrit Verstraete. Source: www.drawingsociety.com |
Drawing Table | A table with adjustable top that allows slanting at various angles and often adjustable in height. Many Drawing Tables have built-in measuring tools, grids and special lighting. Usually the tables are lightweight and sometimes can be folded up for storage and portablility. Sources: Kimberley Reynolds and Richard Seddon, "Illustrated Dictionary of Art Terms"; Ralph Mayer, "A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques" (LPD)
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Dream Catchers Artists Guild | Founded in 1983 in Aberdeen, South Dakota by Sioux Indian artists whose goal was setting of standards, establishing of markets and educating of artists and the general public about Indian art related to the Lakota culture. Among original organizers were Richard Red Owl, Don Ruleaux and Vic Runnels. Source: Patrick D. Lester, "The Biographical Directory of Native American Painters" |
Drier/Siccative | A compound obtained from several metals including lead, iron, mangonese and cobalt that, when added to oil paint, accelerates the drying process. However, pigments affect the drying process so some colors with driers added respond more quickly than others. Cobalt drier is regarded as the most effective. Siccative is another word for Drier, and Retardent is the opposite of Drier. Source: Ralph Mayer, "A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques" |
Drip Painting | Applying paint to a ground such as canvas by dripping or pouring the paint. The method was used early in the 20th Century by experimental artists including Max Ernst, but it came to international attention beginning the 1940s with the Action Painters in New York City, especially Jackson Pollock. He began Drip Painting in 1947. His method was to lay the canvas on the floor, and then drip the paint with energetic arm-swinging motions. The goal was to explore and enjoy the process of applying paint. Source: "Phaidon Dictionary of Twentieth-Century Art" |
Droleries | French for humorous and often fantastic pen drawings, often showing animals behaving as humans. Droleries are found in the margins of Medieval manuscripts. Source: Julia M Ehresmann, "The Pocket Dictionary of Art Terms" |
Drollery | A humorous picture, especially one that has animals dressed as human beings or engaged in human activites. Source: Ralph Mayer, "A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques" |
Drummond Light | "A dissolving lantern that enabled the operator to blend one picture into the next without interruption." Sometimes the effects could be quite disconcerting. Of a Drummond Light show arranged in 1851 in New Bedford, Massachusetts by Albert Bierstadt, a newspaper reporter wrote: "The dissolving of one picture into another sometimes develops the most grotesque conjunction of objects. A lady daintily tripping over dry ground is suddenly plunged to the ankles in a brawling stream; or a man sitting securely upon a prostrate log is transferred to the back of an ox." (17) Source:Gordon Henricks, "Albert Bierstadt" (LPD) |
Dry Mount | A two-dimensional work such as a photograph or print attached to cardboard backing with a thin sheet of tissue placed between the paper and the mount. The Dry Mount is secured by being touched quickly with an electronically heated Tacking Iron. Then it is thoroughly bound with the application of heat and pressure in a Dry Mount Press. Dry Mounting is used more for commercial purposes than fine art. Source: Ralph Mayer, "A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques" |
Drybrush | A technique used with watercolors, acrylics and inks whereby the brush is held almost flat against the paper to achieve a broken or mottled effect. The brush is only slightly moist with water. In oil painting, the equivalent process is called Dragging. Drybrush artists include John Marin, Andrew Wyeth, Charles McIlhenney, and Doug Higgins. Sources: Ralph Mayer, "A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques"; Kimberley Reynolds and Richard Seddon, "Illustrated Dictionary of Art Terms. (LPD) |
Drypoint | An intaglio printmaking technique, similar to engraving, but the result is lines with slightly ragged edges because the burr or raised area created with the incising is left rather than polished away. The first proofs that are pulled are of the best quality and most collectible because the burr wears away in the printing process. American artists noted for drypoint include James Smillie, Chauncey Ryder, and Gertrude Albright. Source: Ralph Mayer, "A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques" |
Duck | A type of textile used for canvas. Source: Kimberley Reynolds and Richard Seddon, "Illustrated Dictionary of Art Terms" |
Duck Stamps and Prints | Limited-edition wildlife works available in federal and state issues. For many collectors, the federal duck-stamp print is the most collectible wildlife art in the United States. The duck stamp itself is a hunting license stamp dating from 1934 and issued by the federal government. From that time, the series has been uninterrupted and each stamp is accompanied by a limited edition print series. After three years, all remaining stamps and prints are destroyed, which controls the numbers for collectors. Serious collectors try to get a complete set of both the stamps and prints, which has become quite a project considering that there is the federal collection and then the series from individual states. Jay Norwood Darling, a cartoonist and conservationalist, created the first federal duck stamp design in 1934 when the U.S. Congress enacted the Migratory Bird Hunting Stamp Act. From that time, possession of that stamp was a requirement for holding a hunting license, and revenues were directed towards wildlife conservation. Darling's first stamp design earned $635,000.00 with each one sold for one dollar. In 1937, the first print was made to accompany the stamp design of Joseph Knap. He did an etching for the print, as did the previous stamp designers, meaning there is a print for each stamp. Stamp designs are reviewed by the U.S. Postal Service, and if approved, are then submitted for review by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Other Duck Stamp designers are Frank Benson, Robert Bateman, Guy Coheleach, Lynn Bogue Hunt, Aiden Ripley and David Maass. Source:Joe McCaddin, "Duck Stamps and Prints"; AskART database; (LPD) |
Ducks Unlimited Artist | An artist who creates art images in realist style for the organization Ducks Unlimited, dedicated to conserving, restoring, and managing wetlands for North American waterfowl. Many of these artists have been recognized because of their creation of an official Ducks Unlimited Stamp. American artists who have been commissioned by Ducks Unlimited include Robert K. Abbett, Henry Curieux Adamson, Lee Cable, Ken Carlson, Guy Coheleach, Robert Deurloo, Lynn Bogue Hunt, Carl Knuth, David Maass, Dan Ostermiller, Terry Redlin, John Seerye-Lester, and Paco Young. Sources: website of Ducks Unlimited; AskART biographies. (LPD) |
Ductile | Having a pliant or flexible quality. In fine art, the word is often used to desribe metal that is easily shaped and capable of being thinned into wire.
Source: Ralph Mayer, "A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques" |
Duecento | An Italian word for the Thirteenth Century, especially for Italian art of that period. Source: Ralph Mayer, "A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques" |
Dusseldorf Academy/School | An art academy founded in Dusseldorf, Germany in 1767. It is best known for the emotion infused genre landscape style of painting taught there in the 1830s and 1840s. Many American artists studied in Dusseldorf including Albert Bierstadt who was much influenced by the Romanticism of the genre landscapes, a style known as the Dusseldorf School. Other noted American artists at the Dusseldorf School were Emanuel Leutze, Edward Beyer, Worthington Whittredge and William Morris Hunt. Source: Ralph Mayer, "A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques"; AskART database (LPD) |
Duveneck's Boys | Students of Frank Duveneck, who studied with him in the late 19th century, both in Munich at the Munich Academy and then in Florence, Italy. Among the "boys" were William Merritt Chase and John Henry Twachtman. Source: Traditional Fine Arts Online, www.tfaoi.com/newsm1/n1m235.htm |
Dynamic | Giving an effect of movement, vitality, or energy. The term is often used in art criticism to describe a work of art that conveys excitement or power. See Dynamic Symmetry. Source: Kimberley Reynolds and Richard Seddon, "Illustrated Dictionary of Art Terms" |
Dynamic Symmetry | A theory linked to ancient Egyptian and Greek art in the 5th Century BC by Jay Hambidge, 1867-1924, who introduced the existence of such a theory in his 1917 treatise, "Dynamic Symmetry". Subsequently he did much more writing and promotion of the subject, which held that works of art could be considered symmetrical if they held to the kinetic symmetry or balanced lines of nature such as that found in pine cones and sunflowers. This theory did not apply to the static geometric symmetry of inanimate forms. In other words, a composition could be symmetrical if there is a sense of symmetry between various areas around the object regardless of the correspondences of the length of the lines. Artists associated with Dynamic Symmetry in addition to Jay Hambidge are Ralph Johonnot, Irving Manoir, Julian Bowes, David Carter, Elanor Colburn, Emil Bisttram and Howard Giles. Source: Ralph Mayer, "A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques"; Peter Hastings Falk, "Who Was Who in American Art" (LPD) |
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