Art Glossary

Lyrical abstraction is a descriptive term characterizing a type of abstract painting closely related to Abstract Expressionism, in use from the 1940s to the present. The term can also describe two (...) read more

Magnum Photos is a photographic cooperative founded in 1947 by four photographers: Robert Capa, Henri Cartier-Bresson, George Rodger, and David Chim Seymour. Based in New York, the organization was (...) read more

Mail Art is a populist art movement centered on the creation and exchange of small-scale artworks through the postal service. It developed out of the Fluxus movement in the 1950s and 1960s and has (...) read more

The Manifesto Invencionista was published in 1946, marking the beginning of the concrete art movement in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Written by artist Tomás Maldonado and published by the Asociación (...) read more

Marouflage on canvas is a technique where a paper artwork is affixed to a canvas using a transparent adhesive. This method is often used to avoid the need for framing behind glass and is usually (...) read more

Massurrealism is a portmanteau word coined by American artist James Seehafer in 1992. He observed a trend among postmodern artists who blended themes and aesthetic styles with mass media, including (...) read more

Matter painting is a technique that involves blending thick impasto paints with materials like cement, mud, sand, or shells. The term first emerged in the 1950s to describe the works of Belgian and (...) read more

The term medium in art refers both to the type of art being created and the materials used to make the artwork. For example, painting, printmaking, and sculpture are types of art that are referred to (...) read more

Minimalism is a style in music and visual arts characterized by pared-down designs and simplicity. It began in Western art after World War II, gaining prominence particularly in American visual arts. (...) read more

Modern Realism is an art style that depicts subjects as they exist in reality. Emerging after the development of abstract art, Modern Realism combines traditional realistic representation with modern (...) read more

Meaning School of Things, Mono-ha originated in Tokyo in the mid-1960s. Instead of creating traditional artwork, the artists of Mono-ha used different materials and their natural properties to (...) read more

Multiples refer to a series of identical art objects produced in limited editions according to the artist's concept. These works are specifically created for sale and are often considered the most (...) read more

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

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

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

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

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