Art Glossary

Neue Wilden is the term German artists used for Neo-Expressionism. In the 1970s and 80s, expressive painting re-emerged in Germany, with artists embracing intense colors and broad brushstrokes. The (...) read more

New British Sculpture is the name referring to the work produced by a group of sculptors, installation artists, and other creators who exhibited together in London during the 1980s. This group (...) read more

Neo-Figurative Art is a collective term that refers to the revival of figurative art in America and Europe during the 1960s, following a period dominated by abstraction. Michel Ragon, a French art (...) read more

New Generation Sculpture was a movement started in the 1960s by a group of British artists. They experimented with unconventional forms, materials, and colors, creating sculptures that did not rely (...) read more

The New Leipzig School is a movement in modern German painting that represents the third generation of artists associated with the Hochschule für Grafik und Buchkunst Leipzig. This movement reflects (...) read more

New Media Art is a genre that includes all artworks created using new technologies, such as computer graphics, digital art, virtual art, internet art, computer animation, video games, 3D printing, (...) read more

New Topographics is a term coined in 1975 by curator William Jenkins to describe a group of photographers whose work focused on formal black-and-white images of urban and industrial landscapes. (...) read more

Nouveau Réalisme is an artistic movement founded in 1960 by art critic Pierre Restany and painter Yves Klein during a collective exhibition at a gallery in Milan. Restany wrote the original manifesto (...) read more

Op Art is a visual art style that uses optical illusions to create the impression of movement, vibrating patterns, flashing, or hidden images. The works are typically abstract, with many well-known (...) read more

Orphism is an abstract style of painting influenced by Cubism, developed by Sonia and Robert Delaunay. The term was coined around 1912 by French poet Guillaume Apollinaire to differentiate the (...) read more

Painting is the process of applying media to a surface, using a tool such as a brush. The term refers to both the action and the resulting object. Artists use many tools to paint, such as brushes, (...) read more

Performance Art is a genre of fine art that is traditionally interdisciplinary, involving various art forms. It can be scripted or unscripted, random or carefully orchestrated, spontaneous, or (...) read more

Photography is the process of creating an image on light sensitive materials. The image is produced by using a camera, which has a lens that focuses on light either reflected or emitted from an (...) read more

Photorealism is a genre of art or artistic movement that involves drawing, painting, and other graphic media in which the artist carefully studies a photograph and attempts to reproduce it as (...) read more

Pixel Art is a form of digital art created by placing individual pixels, similar to assembling a mosaic where each small piece contributes to a larger image. The style is often associated with (...) read more

Political Pop was an art movement that emerged in China during the 1980s, blending the Pop Art style of Western countries with the socialist realism of China. This movement arose during a time of (...) read more

Pop Art is an art movement that began in Britain in 1955 and in the late 1950s in the U.S. It challenged traditional fine arts by incorporating imagery from popular culture, such as news, (...) read more

Postminimalism refers to a range of art styles that emerged in the 1960s, following the Minimalism movement. While Minimalism focused on simplicity and impersonality, Postminimalist artists retained (...) read more

Postmodernism is an art movement that emerged as a reaction against authority and traditional boundaries, seeking to blur the lines between art and everyday life. It aimed to bridge the gap between (...) read more

Process Art is an artistic movement and creative approach where the focus is on the act of creation rather than the final product. The term process in this context refers to the various stages of (...) read more

Queer Aesthetics refers to an art movement that emerged in the 1980s, focusing on themes of homosexuality, lesbianism, and broader issues of identity and gender. This movement gained momentum in the (...) read more

Readymade is the term coined by French artist Marcel Duchamp to describe artworks created from manufactured objects. Duchamp selected ordinary, functional items that he felt had visual indifference, (...) read more

Réalités Nouvelles means new realities and refers to an exhibiting society founded in 1939 in Paris by Sonia Delaunay. The Salon des Réalités Nouvelles was dedicated to promoting abstract art, which (...) read more

A sculpture is a three-dimension object made using any one of the basic sculpting processes. These include carving, casting, constructing or modeling. Carving materials may be bone, ivory, stone or (...) read more