| Term | Description |
Waichulis Studio | An atelier in Mocanaqua, Pennsylvania founded in 1997 by Anthony Waichulis, trompe l'oeil painter, to offer traditional instruction in painting and drafting. For most students, completion of the program is three years, and instruction is offered in Still Life, Trompe L'oeil, Landscape, Portrait and Figure painting. Joshua Suda is an assistant at the Studio. Source: http://www.thewaichulisstudio.net |
Walter Gutman Foundation Grant | Established by Walter Gutman (1903-1986), New York stockbroker and newsletter writer. His special interest was film making.
Source: "The New York Times" obituary, 04/30/2009 |
Wanderers (The Wanderers) | 19th Century itinerant Russian Painters who formed touring shows to take their work to the people. In 1870 in St. Petersburg, they formed a cooperative of realist artists to protest the tight reign of the St. Petersburg Academy on their art. This organization evolved into the Society for Traveling Art Exhibitions. Themes were about social mores and the beauty of common people. Participants included Ilya Pepin, V.M Vasnetsov, Ivan Kramskoi, Nikolai Ge and Vasily Petrov. By the 1890s, the Academy of Art was including this type of work in their exhibitions. Source: http://www.museum-online.ru/en/Epoch/Peredvizhniki (LPD) |
Warm Colors | Those which suggest a sense of warmth, i.e., red, yellow, and orange and including brownish grays. All Warm Colors "lie in the red-yellow half of the Color Circle. Source: Ralph Mayer, "A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques" |
Wash | Used in watercolor painting, brush drawing, and occasionally in oil painting and sculpture, to describe a broad thin layer of diluted pigment, ink, glaze, or patina. Also refers to a drawing made in the technique. Source: Artlex.com, courtesy of Michael Delahunt |
Washington Color Painters/Washington Color School | Although having much variety of style and theme, it was a group of artists in the 1960s whose commonalities were residence in Washington DC, working together at the Washington Workshop, and exploring de-personalized optical color pattern effects through acrylics that could be applied directly to un-sized, unprimed canvas. WCP painters were Morris Louis, Kenneth Noland, Paul Reed, Thomas Downing and Howard Mehring, and they were first identified as a group in their single exhibition together, which was at the Washington DC Gallery of Modern Art in 1965. Louis and Noland were the first ones to experiment with acrylics, having seen acrylic paintings by Helen Frankenthaler in 1952 where she had poured paint onto canvas. Morris Louis thinned acrylics and played with the effects of pouring it onto canvas and then tilting the canvas to let the paint flow in a variety of directions and create overlapping areas and contrasting bare spots. Kenneth Noland did hard-edged, repetitive patterns such as chevrons, and Gene Davis did thin vertical stripes. In 2007, "Color School Remix" exhibitions were held in several museums in DC to re-visit the paintings of Washington Color Painters. Sources: "Phaidon Dictionary of Twentieth Century Art"; J.W. Mahoney, 'To a Different Drum', "Art in America", May 2008, p. 95 (LPD) |
Washington Landscape Club/Society of Landscape Pai | Beginning in 1914 as an informal group of artists called "The Ramblers" in Washington DC, the Washington Landscape Club evolved from this group, which originally included Benson Bond Moore, Charles Seaton, Winfield Clime and Edwin Cassedy. The numbers expanded with many "Sunday painters," and together they roamed the surrounding countryside, painting and then critiquing each other's work. In 1920, the group officially became the respected Washington Landscape Club that, by then, included and exhibited many big-name art figures.
Activities were curtailed during World War II, but exhibitions continued on a slightly reduced schedule. During the 1950s, the Landscape Club was known for its opposition to modern art. Membership and local press coverage of their exhibitions declined during the 1960s and 1970s, although the group remained active during this period. In the mid 1980s Washington Landscape Club activities increased. There were more painting excursions; the exhibition schedule expanded; and a number of memorial prizes were established. The organization formally changed its name to the Washington Society of Landscape Painters in 1986. The group commemorated its 80th anniversary in 1993, at which time its constitution was amended, opening membership to women. Sources: Stephanie Strass, Researcher of the Neville-Strass Collection; http://www.wslp.org/history.htm (LPD)
|
Washington Society of Landscape Painters | See Washington Landscape Club |
Water Street Atelier | School founded by Jacob Collins to teach Classical Realism. It's successor, established by Collins in the fall of 2006, is the Grand Central Academy of Art. Source: http://www.jacobcollinspaintings.com/teaching.html |
Watercolor | A painting medium in which the binder is gum Arabic. Water is used for thinning, lightening, or mixing. Until the early part of the 20th century, watercolor had been regarded as an inferior medium, suitable primarily for making sketches for future oil paintings. On the East Coast leading proponents of watercolor as a "stand alone" medium included Charles Burchfield, Edward Hopper, Winslow Homer, John Marin and Andrew Wyeth. Burchfield ultimately worked exclusively in watercolor, asserting it was more pliable and quick. A huge boost was given to watercolor as prestigious with the popularity of The California Style, which was a modernist watercolor painting approach that flourished from the mid 1920s to the mid 1950s (See California Style). Sources: "Watercolor" magazine, October 2006; Gordon T. McClelland and Jay T. Last, "The California Style". (LPD) |
Waterscape | A painting that includes a body of water; specifically to include a riverscape or marinescape or oceanscape. |
Wax | In its pure form, a plastic-like animal substance secreted by bees. However, the meaning is expanded to include materials that resemble beeswax and may be vegetable in origin such as Paraffin, Carnauba and Candelilla. Unless specified in artist's materials, wax refers to white bleached beeswax. Although wax is related to oil, it is not fluid at normal temperature, which makes it useful as protective covering. However, all waxes, although varying in melting points, are not very durable because they melt at less than 100 degrees Centigrade or 212 degrees Fahrenheit. Among American artists known for using wax are sculptors Daniel Bowen, Johann Rauschner, Giuseppe Valaperta, Theodore Garlick, Reuben Moulthrop, Johann Rauschner and Patience Lovell Wright. Lucy Rosado of New Orleans came from a family of waxworkers who went back several generations. Ethel Mundy revived the art of wax portraiture in 20th-century American sculpture. She worked with a chemist to create methods of preservation and color-fading prevention. Petah Coyne, a contemporary sculptor, incorporates wax into her modernist installations. Sources: Ralph Mayer, "A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques"; Peter Falk, "Who Was Who in American Art"; AskART database (LPD) |
West-American West | A term referencing a blend of history and geography and whose definition has changed many times depending upon settlement boundaries. Historically, to the first settlers, the West was land that was unsettled frontier or inhabited by American Indians. After Daniel Boone opened the Appalachian Pass to white settlers, the West was frontier land beyond there. When white settlers began crossing the Mississippi River onto the plains and prairies, it was said they were settling the West. This expansion was followed by westward travel across the Rocky Mountains to the ultimate West, which was California. Today the term is a description of "non-urban land west of the Mississippi." Geographically it encompasses plains, forests and mountains and is a place with abundant wildlife. "The geographical West is the present-day land of the hunter, the cowboy, and the Indian."
Source: Patricia Broder, "Bronzes of the American West". |
Western Academy of Art | Founded in St. Louis, Missouri in 1858, and inaugurated in 1860 by the Prince of Wales, its members had the stated purpose "to form a collection of art, to establish an art school, and to provide gallery space in which artists could regularly display their work. Artists who had already found St. Louis to be a rich and rewarding environment in which to work and were established there by the time of Meeker's arrival included Carl Wimar, Ferdinand Boyle, Manuel de Franca and Alban Jasper Conant." Source: Quote from AskART Joseph Meeker biography by Cynthia Seibels. Internet, "The New York Times", September 29, 1960. (LPD) |
Westminster School of Art, London | A leading art school in late 19th century London under the directorship of Frederick Brown and located at 18 Tufton Street in Westminster where it was part of the old Architectural Museum. The curriculum was devoted to drawing and painting from life with classes segregated by sexes for nude models. It also provided copying from Roman and Greek statuary. However, in 1893, with the departure of Brown to the Slade School of Art, the school declined. Among its students were Duncan Grant, Aubrey Beardsley, Diane Ethel Walker, and Emily Carr of Canada. Sources: Maria Tippett, "Emily Carr: A Biography" |
White Cube Gallery | Opening in May 1993 in Duke Street at 25 Mason's Yard St. James in the West End of London by art dealer, Jay Jopling, it is noted for being the first exhibition venue of the avant-garde Young British Artists (YBA's). In its first location the gallery rule was that an artist could only be exhibited once, but in 2000 the rule was relaxed because of the larger space gained in a move to 48 Hoxton Square in the Hoxton/Shoreditch area of London. A second site opened in 2006 at the original site in St. James. The galleries remain venues for leading edge conceptual artists such as Anselm Kiefer, Lucian Freud, Sam Taylor-Wood and Damien Hurst. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Cube (LPD) |
White Mountain Artists | During the 19th century, the White Mountains of New Hampshire attracted countless artists. The areas around Conway Valley and Mount Washington were especially popular. Artists from all over the Northeast visited and painted the region’s scenery. Luxurious hotels were developed for visitors, and artists often became associated with them, offering souvenir artwork to tourists. In turn, hotels providing studio space and customers. Benjamin Champney is considered by many to be the founder of the White Mountain School. Among the numerous noted artists who were part of the 'school' were Edward Hill, Thomas Doughty, Alvan Fisher, John Frederick Kensett, Frank H. Shapleigh, and Winslow Homer. Source: http://whitemountainart.com/; AskART database. (LPD) |
White Rabbits | Nickname given to six female sculpture assistants to Lorado Taft, who oversaw the construction of many of the largest sculptures at the 1893 Chicago Exposition. Most of these women had been students of Taft's at the Art Institute of Chicago. Their tasks included assisting Taft in the scaling up of wax mold sculptures by other artists. When Taft, sensing the need for assistance, told the Exposition's chief architect, Daniel Burnham, that he wanted to employ female assistants, Burnham reportedly said: "That was all right . . . to employ any one who could do the work . . . white rabbits if they will help out." (95) The 'white rabbits' were Janet Scudder, Bessie Potter Vonnoh, Enid Yandell, Julia Bracken, Caroline Brooks and Zulime Taft, Lorado's sister. Source: Charlotte Rubinstein, "American Women Artists", p. 94-95; Julie Aronson, "Bessie Potter Vonnoh, p. 20 (LPD) |
Whitney Studio/Whitney Studio Club | A New York City gathering place in a three-story building at 8 West 8th Street of 'progressive art-minded' persons. The Whitney Studio was funded by Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney with exhibitions under the name of Whitney Studio beginning 1914. The goal was to help artists gain exposure and gallery representation. Among exhibiting artists were William Zorach, John Sloan and George Luks. In 1918 at the same location, Whitney and Juliana Force founded the Whitney Studio Club, which not only sponsored exhibitions but created a place for artists to socialize with billiards and a squash court, to read in the library, hold meetings and attend classes with live models at 20 cents per session. The Club, which was the precursor of the Whitney Museum, was not a venue for sales. Source: Lindsay Pollock, "The Girl with the Gallery-Edith Halpert". (LPD) |
Wilkes Expedition | Officially titled the "Wilkes United States Exploring Expedition", the Expedition began in 1838 and was recorded by its official artist, Joseph Drayton of Philadelphia. The assignment led him to be one of the most widely-traveled artists of that era, going from the farthest points South and North on the globe. Commissioned by the United States Senate, the exploration was stimulated by the theories of an eccentric named John Symmes who claimed that the Earth was hollow and that entrances at each pole led to the interior of the earth. Symmes pressured the Senate to fund the search for those portals, which they called Symmes Hole. However, his promoter, Ohio journalist Jeremiah Reynolds, spotting a potentially fruitless search, lobbied instead for a major American Naval operation. With three ships and supply vessels, and a commander, Charles Wilkes, described as a "vain and fractious New York aristocrat" (http://www.uh.edu/engines/epi1904.htm), they set sail southward in 1838. The purpose was to explore the Atlantic Ocean, pass through Cape Horn and along the coast of South America, Antarctica, the Sandwich Islands, the American Northwest, the Pacific and Indian Oceans, around the Cape of Good Hope and return to New York. In contrast to the Lewis and Clark Expedition, the earlier major predecessor to this exploration, the Wilkes Expedition was highly controversial and stimulated much ill will because of the demoralizing leadership of Wilkes. He flogged his men, mutiny nearly occurred, and when Fiji Islanders killed two of his men, he razed villages and killed eighty-seven people. One of the engravings of Joseph Drayton is titled "Fiji Drummer" and is in the Alfred Agate Collection.
In 1842 upon the conclusion of the expedition, Drayton may have gone to Washington to work on the illustrations for the Wilkes reports. He had contributed to a wealth of materials that have brought credit to the Wilkes Expedition as a major source of visual knowledge about the geological, botanical, zoological and anthropological aspects of the lands they had visited. Sources: Groce & Wallace, "The New York Historical Society's Dictionary of Artists in America"; http://www.uh.edu/engines/epi1904.htm; http://www.washingtonhistory.org/wshs/columbia/articles/ 0187-a1.htm (LPD)
|
Willingdon Prize | Governor General and Lady Willingdon of Ontario instituted the Willingdon Arts Competition in music, literature, painting and sculpture. The National Gallery of Canada conferred
the visual arts awards from 1929 until 1931, when the Willingdons left Canada. First recipient was Prudence Heward, for painting. Other winners include George Pepper and Frederick Varley splitting the painting award in 1930, Pegi Nicol Macleod in 1931 and Emanuel Hahn for sculpture in 1930. Source:"The Group of Seven - Art for a Nation" (1995), by Charles C. Hill Submitted by M.D. Silverbrooke, art historian and collector, West Vancouver, British Columbia. |
Winsor & Newton | English watercolors developed for artists, they originated with a company founded in London in 1832 by a chemist, William Winsor. The building for production was in Wealdstone, near Harrow. Winsor & Newton was the "first business of its type to fuse art with science" and became "the world's largest supplier of artist-grade watercolors". An innovation of the Company was the use of glycerin, which retained moisture. They also made the first watercolor palette, which replaced the previous method of rubbing dry cakes to produce color. James Turner and John Constable were some of the early artists to make big use of Winsor & Newton watercolors. Today, many of the Company's watercolors are enhanced with results of modern technology from the automotive and plastics industry. Source: Editor, 'Winsor & Newton English Watercolours', "Watercolor" magazine, Spring 2006. (LPD) |
Women Artists of the West | Established in 1971 by a small group of women artists, the goal of the organization is to support and promote women artists. Initially the focus was on painters of western themes, but WAOW has grown to include women artists throughout the world, and embraces many different styles and diverse subject matter. WAOW provides a network of exhibitions, cooperative advertising, and promotion for its members. The first president was Gloria Bilotta, one of the twelve founders. In 1988, the group decided to expand their western genre focus to include florals, European and American landscapes, equine subjects and wildlife. Source: www.waow.org
|
Women Painters of Washington | An association of professional women throughout the state of Washington. Founding members organized in October 1930 to "overcome limitations they faced as women artists and to realize their artistic potential through fellowship." Founders were Elizabeth Warhanik, Dorothy Dolph Jensen, Lily Norling Hardwick, Myral Albert Wiggins, Anna B. Stone and Helen Bebb. The group met the first Thursday of every month at the Seattle Art Museum. It continues into the 21st century and meets monthly at the Seattle Art Museum. In the summer of 2005, an exhibition of work by WPW was featured at the Whatcom Museum. Sources: http://www.womenpainters.com/ABOUT/About.htm; Membership acceptance letter of Helen Ladd, courtesy of her son, Robert Ladd. (LPD) |
Woodblock/Woodcut | Relief print methods using inked blocks of wood with a design incised with a graver, tint tool or scorpor. Woodblock and woodcut printing were the earliest methods used for making relief prints and were first used to produce illustrated books in China in 7th Century A.D. They differ from each other in that a woodblock has a transverse cut or end grain of the hardest part of the block. A woodcut is a cut longitudinally and has parallel grain. Woodblock and woodcut engraving differ from other print methods in that the design is from the positive space and not the negative. The earliest woodblock prints appeared in Europe in the 15th century. Americans began to use this art form in the last quarter of the 19th century as a result of the influence of Japanese prints. Arthur Dow was the most famous American artist to promote this method. Sources: Peter Falk, "Who Was Who in American Art"
"Joel Oppenheimer" 35th Anniversary Catalogue, 2004, of the Natural Art Gallery; Anne Gilbert, "American Illustrator Art". (LPD) |
Woodland Art | Identified by black outlined figures, x-ray perspectives, vivid colors that are compartmentalized similar to stained glass, and usually a solid color (e.g. white) background. Norval Morrisseau (see AskART) is considered the innovator of the style, known as Woodland school or Legend or Medicine painting. He based his work on traditional Ojibwa visual imagery taken from petroglyphs, pictographs and sacred Midewiwin (religion) birch bark scrolls, as well as from the myths and legends of his people. It is predominantly practiced by members of the First Nations (Indians) of Canada and the U.S.A. who live in the region around the Great Lakes. The first exhibition of Woodland Art was at the Pollock Gallery, Toronto in 1962. Source: Michael David Silverbrooke, Collector and Art Historian, British Columbia, Canada. |
Woodstock Art Colony | Located in the Catskill Mountains of New York state, the Woodstock Art Colony is one of the oldest and best-known artist colonies in the United States. Less than three hours drive by car from Manhattan, it was described by an early chronicler as a 'refuge and a center for the race of dreamers.' (Wagner 29) It was composed of artists, writers, and others seeking a contemplative, creative environment, and members, beginning with the colony's founding in 1902, relished the splendid isolation of the area. Founders made the first effort to establish an organized arts and crafts community. Bolton Brown, printmaker and teacher, assisted the wealthy Ralph Whitehead with finding a suitable location, which came to be known as Byrdcliffe. That colony soon "burst out of Byrdcliffe and spilled over much of Woodstock, losing its original social objective and taking on a lustier, sometimes even rowdy, character as it spread." (Smith, 18) Subsequently art schools were founded including the summer school of the Art Students League. The Colony became so popular that it rivaled artist colonies in Gloucester, Massachusetts; New Hope, Pennsylvania; and Shinnecock, Long Island. Artist and writer Anita Smith became a leading figure in Woodstock and wrote a respected history: "Woodstock History and Hearsay". Sources: "American Art Review", April 2003, pp. 96-98; David Wagner, "Pike's Peak Vision: Broadmoor Art Academy"; Anita M. Smith, "Woodstock History and Hearsay" (LPD) |
Work Print | From the camera original, the work print has been made to allow the editor to cut the film, handle it, and run it through various machines, which could otherwise damaged the original. The work print includes the edge numbers, which would eventually be confirmed to the camera original. Source: Internet, Karl Spreitz Film Collection, Maltwood Museum |
Works on Paper | A very broad term that embraces Old Master drawings to silkscreen prints by Andy Warhol to bits of decorated paper by children. The common denominator is paper. Criteria for inclusion are vague but include prints, watercolors, collages, drawings with pencil, charcoal and chalk, and pastel paintings. Professionals dealing with the preservation of Works on Paper have an understanding of the methods by which the paper was made, its expected lifespan, and processes that can be followed to extend that lifespan. Problems often result from overexposure to light and acidity from pollution and improper framing. Source: Arthur W. Schultz, General Editor, “Caring For Your Collections”, Harry N. Abrams Publishers, p. 41-42 (LPD) |
World Federation of Miniaturists | The World Federation of Miniaturists (WFM) was established in 1995 to encourage communication between miniature art societies of the world, and to introduce this art form to the public. Aims include: 1) Sharing knowledge and techniques among members 2) Promoting the fine art of miniature painting and sculpture 3) Exchanging information between members on all aspects of the promotion, creation, exhibition, and sale of contemporary miniature art 4) Assisting in and encouraging the setting up of new miniature art societies 5) Publishing information on all aspects of miniature art 6) Holding a World Exhibition of miniature painting every four or five years, 7) Developing a repository of information about miniature art, including exhibitions, workshops, galleries and educational material. Source http://www.worldfm.org/wfmaims.htm |
WPA/Federal Arts Project | An acronym for Works Progress Administration, WPA was a federal program established with a budget of thirty-five million dollars by the U.S. government in August 1935 during the Depression. The program, which lasted until April 1943, provided employment for millions of people including artists under its division called Federal Arts Project. The WPA was an idea of artist George Biddle, who proposed it to his friend and schoolmate, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, then President of the United States. FAP artists, about 2500 and many whom had no other source of income, were assigned the goal of decorating public buildings with themes related to American life. They produced over 15,000 works of art including oil paintings, murals, sculptures, watercolors, etchings and drawings. Nearly every known artist of the period, except those who had regular teaching jobs, became involved, and well-respected artists headed divisions reflecting their special skills: Burgoyne Diller for Murals, Girolamo Piccoli for Sculpture, Ernest Limbach and Gustave Von Groschwitz for Graphics, and Alexander Stavenitz for Teaching. Using resumes and data showing financial need, these section heads determined artists’ eligibility. Once accepted, artists were allowed to transfer among various divisions, and the most popular areas were easel painting, teaching, murals and printmaking. Numerous prints of the two-dimensional works remain in circulation, and many are highly collectible as are works with initials "WPA" after the artist’s signature. The most popular division was the Easel Section. Artist participants worked from their own studios and turned in their artwork on a weekly basis, which qualified them to make between $25.00 and $35.00 a week. Waiting in line for their paychecks gave many of them a chance to socialize and exchange ideas with each other. The majority of the paintings were oil on canvas or board, and only a few worked with water-based paints. Participants were given complete freedom of expression and styles ranged from social realism to surrealism to total abstraction. However, the works tended to be rather conservative because selection was by competition. When the Federal Arts Project terminated in April 1943, reportedly artists were not alerted until they showed up for their weekly checks. Unprepared financially, many of them desperately scrambled to find work. Also much of the artwork they had produced was thrown away or “purchased in bulk by junk dealers”. (Hendler) The reason for termination of the Federal Arts Projects was that many government officials feared that participants would organize labor unions or work for communists, producing propaganda. However, the overall result of the FPA was positive in that many murals remain in public buildings, especially post offices; artists were generally able to subsist during the Depression; the program was a valuable learning experience for the participants; and it aroused a much greater public interest and appreciation in American art, which led to the establishment of the National Endowment for the Arts twenty-five years after the WPA ended. After World War II, some of the participating artists, realizing the need for general education, started their own art schools. According to New York scholar and art-writer Jeanette Hendler, “A lot is learned about the 1930s and 1940s when we study the art produced at the time of the WPA. We learn from and see where all of the future art movements such as Abstract Expressionism, Pop Art, Minimalism and Graffiti Art emerged.” The Smithsonian Archives of American Art has a comprehensive but incomplete inventory of WPA artists. Among other American artists working for the FAP are Grant Wood, Guy Pene du Bois, William Zorach, Aaron Berkman, Norman Barr, John Sloan, John Marin, Marsden Hartley, Stuart Davis, Jackson Pollock, Albert Pels, Jules Halfant, Willem de Kooning, Max Cohn, Charles Sheeler, Thomas Hart Benton, George Biddle, Ben Shahn and Reginald Marsh. Sources: Jeanette Hendler, “WPA/NYC Artists”, Essay for AskART, 2004; Roberta Maneker, 'Sleeping Giants', "Art & Antiques", June 2005; “Phaidon Dictionary of Twentieth Century Art”; Source: Robert Atkins, "ART SPOKE"; AskART database. (LPD) |
|