Art Glossary

Definitions of Art Forms, Mediums, and Movements

Art Movement, Country, Art Form
Image View
Naive art

Naïve art describes a style of artwork that is simple and unsophisticated, often created by artists without formal training in an academy or art school. The style is characterized by a lack of (...) read more

Artwork by David Shrigley
Neo-Dada

Neo-Dada is a minor visual and audio art movement with intents similar to those of Dada artwork. While it revives some of Dada's objectives, Neo-Dada emphasizes the importance of the produced artwork (...) read more

Artwork by Jim Dine
Neo-Geo

Known as Neo-Geo for short, this movement uses geometric objects and shapes to create abstract artwork as a metaphor for society. Inspired by various 20th-century art styles, including minimalism and (...) read more

Artwork by Peter Halley
Net Art

Net Art is art created on the internet, specifically for the internet. Artists who create it use computers to generate imagery, exhibit art online, or build programs that produce unique artworks. (...) read more

© Composition.gallery
Netherlands

The contemporary art scene in the Netherlands is renowned for its innovative spirit and diverse creative expressions. Key institutions like the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam and Museum Boijmans Van (...) read more

Artwork Copyright © Karel Appel
Neue Wilden

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

Artwork by Georg Baselitz
New British Sculpture

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

Image © Lance Anderson / Unsplash
New Figuration

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

Artwork by Roger Raveel
New Generation Sculpture

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

Artwork by Anthony Caro
New Leipzig School

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

Artwork by Neo Rauch
New Media Art

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

Artwork by Eduardo Kac
New Topographics

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

Artwork by Bernd & Hilla Becher
Nouveau Realism

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

Artwork by Daniel Spoerri
Op Art

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

Artwork by Victor Vasarely
Orphism

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

Artwork by Sonia Delaunay
Painting

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

Image © Yannis Papanastasopoulos / Unsplash
Performance art

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

Artwork by Robert Longo
Peru

Bridging ancient traditions with contemporary insights, Peru's art scene is a thriving dialogue of epochs. Artists such as Fernando de Szyszlo and Ana Teresa Barboza continue to shape this landscape (...) read more

Artwork Copyright © Sandra Gamarra
Photography

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

Image © Pixel-Shot/Shutterstock
Photorealism

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

Artwork by Robert Longo
Pixel art

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

Artwork by Chuck Close
Political pop

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

Artwork by Wang Guangyi
Pop art

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

Artwork by Andy Warhol
Portugal

Portugal's contemporary art scene is a dynamic blend of history and innovation. Prestigious museums such as the Serralves Museum in Porto and the Museu Coleção Berardo in Lisbon serve as platforms (...) read more

Artwork Copyright © Joana Vasconcelos

Est. 2005 — twenty years of collecting, online.