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Term Definition
Back-Painting A method of creating a glass colored print that was popular in the 17th and early 18th centuries. It is done by placing a print over a piece of glass and then over-painting it from the rear to give the appearance of being painted directly onto the glass. Source: Ralph Mayer, "A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques".
Background The "part of the composition in the pictorial arts that appears to be farthest from the viewer." Source: Ralph Meyer, "A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques"
Bacone College A four-year liberal arts college, it was founded in 1880 in Muskogee, Oklahoma by the American Baptist Church. In 2005, Bacone College was accredited as a four-year college. It has been a source of education, including art study, for many Native-American young people, especially of the Five Nations: Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek and Seminole. Included among those students are artists Woodrow "Woody Crumbo", Dick West, Fred Beaver, Brent Greenwood, Merlin Little Thunder, Alfred Momaday, Diane O'Leary, Virginia Stroud, Darwin Tsoodle and Chief Terry Saul. Sources: www.bacone.edu; AskART biographies; http://www.terrisaul.com/ChiefTerrySaul.html; http://www.newsok.com/xml/rss/1667362/
Baffle Painting World War I term for camouflage, it was the "application of conspicuous, abstract geometric shapes on a ship's surface as a deterrent against German submarine attacks." Source: Roy R. Behrens, "Camoupedia"
Baghdad Modern Art Group A post World War II art movement in the Middle East, the aim was to promote artwork that combined modernist and traditional creativity. The point of departure was "seeking inspiration from tradition through modern styles and cultural vision." Source: 'Shakir Hassan Al Said', "Wikipedia", http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shakir_Hassan_Al_Said (Accessed 6/3/2013)
Bamboccianti Dutch artists working in Rome in the mid-17th century, they were followers of Pieter van Laer (1592-1642) and depicted anecdotal and low-life genre scenes of contemporary Italian life. Van Laer is credited as originator of the name 'Bamboccianti'. He had a deformed body, which earned him the nickname of il Bamboccio (large baby) and his followers were 'little babies' or Bamboccianti. Source: http://www.students.sbc.edu/matyseksnyder04/bamboccianti.htm
Banderole A ribbon or long scroll, which is carved or painted. Source: Ralph Mayer, "A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques"
Banff Centre See Banff School of Fine Arts
Banff School of Fine Arts Founded in 1933 in Banff, Alberta by the University of Alberta as an experimental theatre school, it took the name of Banff School of Fine Arts in 1935, and today is known as Banff Centre. A non-degree granting institution located at Tunnel Mountain in Banff National Park, it is an arts educational institution as well as conference complex. Among art students have been Tib Beament, Dorothy Knowles and Joseph Plaskett, and teachers have included William Ewen, Takao Tanabe, and Anne Savage. Sources: Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banff_Centre; AskART biographies
Barbizon School A group of French naturalist painters, their approach to painting, beginning in the 1830s, opened the door to Plein-Air Painting, Impressionism, and Social Realism. Barbizon School painters were based in the village of Barbizon, France on the outskirts of the Forest of Fontainebleau. Most were landscape painters who expressed fascination with changing seasons, changing times of day and the effects of light on the landscape. Barbizon artists had no agreed-upon style, but were revolutionary because of their commitment to portraying nature as a worthwhile subject in its own right rather than something that was so remote that it could only be expressed through romanticized and sublime images. In other words, nature was something that could be experienced personally and painted subjectively and not just romantically or philosophically. Barbizon School painters often included toiling peasants in their landscapes---persons who had little time or inclination towards 'contemplation' of nature. This approach was also revolutionary in prevailing approaches to fine art, which showed preferences for genteel subjects such as aristocrats basking in the beauty of their surroundings. Barbizon artists are considered the first "plein-air" painters, those who painted directly in the outdoors rather than completing their scenes in studios from sketches. Chief among the original French Barbizon painters were Camille Corot, Francois Millet, Theodore Rousseau, and Charles Daubigny. American painters much influenced by the Barbizon School were George Inness, Homer Martin, Alexander Wyant, William Morris Hunt aand Wyatt Eaton. Eaton and Hunt lived near Millet at Barbizon. Sources: "The Britannica Encyclopedia of American Art"; Kimberley Reynolds, "Illustrated Dictionary of Art Terms"
Barnes School of Art Founded by Wilfred Molson Barnes in Montreal in 1905, the school had students taught by Barnes including Freda Pemberton-Smith, Gerard Perrault, Lorne Holland Bouchard and Albert Sexton. The exact length of time the school operated could not be determined, but according to Gerard Perrault’s biography he attended it from 1922 to 1927 indicating it was still open in the late 1920s. Source: "A Dictionary of Canadian Artists" (1974), by Colin S. MacDonald (see AskART book references). Submitted to askART by M.D. Silverbrooke
Barnes School, Williams Family of Painters Referencing the Williams family of English Victorian landscape painters, the group is composed of Edward Williams (1781-1855), his six sons and several grandchildren. The name derived from the Barnes area of London, south of the Thames, where the Williams family artists had their studios. Here they lived and worked together with their father, Edward, in a communal artist setting in a large house with a studio that they shared at 32 Castelnau Villas. Barnes today is part of the urban sprawl of London, but much of it was rural countryside in Victorian times. Situated close to the Thames River, there were quiet marshes beneath windmills, farms where horses pulled plows, and wheel-rutted dirt roads running past country inns or through shaded glens. These were the scenes that the Williams brothers captured on canvas during their early years as painters. It is thought that the name was first used in "Athenaeum" magazine, July 15, 1855, in the obituary of the father, Edward Williams. Source: "Williams family of painters", Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barnes_School_%28painters%29 (Accessed 5/10/2013)
Baroque A theatrical style of painting and sculpture characterization, "often florid, exuberant, and emotional" with heavy ornamentation that came to be considered grotesque. (Britannica, 634) The style, intended to evoke compelling effects of drama and grandeur, developed in Italy at the end of the 16th century and continued into the 17th Century. The subject was usually religious. The movement spread throughout Europe and employed strong sense of movement and contrast between light and dark. Caravaggio (1573-1610) is considered the first Baroque artist by many scholars because of his religious subject matter and dramatic use of light and dark (chiaroscuro). Other Baroque painters were Anthony Van Dyck (1599-1641) and Diego Velasquez (1599-1660). Sources: "The Britannica Encyclopedia of American Art"; Kimberley Reynolds, "Illustrated Dictionary of Art Terms"; Ralph Meyer, "A Dictionary of Art Terms".
Bas Relief Sculpture in which figures project only slightly from a background, as on a coin, it is also known as low relief sculpture. Among Bas Relief American Sculptors are Marguerite Blasingame, Janet Scudder,Rene Chambellan, William Couper, William Couper, James Earle Fraser, Achille Perelli and Robert Graham. Sources: Ralph Mayer, "A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques"; AskART database
Baseline The imaginary line upon which all capital Letters and most lower-case letters rest. Source: Bob Bahr, "Drawing" magazine, Spring 2006, pp. 83
Batchelder School of Design Opened in 1909 in Pasadena, California, it was a teaching and business venue for its founder, Ernest Batchelder, a New Hampshire native artist who also taught at the Throop Institute in Pasadena. The Batchelder School facilities were adjacent to Batchelder's design shop and home. Of the location, it was written: "possibly no other art school in the country occupies a more picturesque site or artistic quarters than the new Batchelder Craft Shop and School of Design on Arroyo Drive overlooking the beauties of the Arroyo Seco." Instruction included painting, embroidery, metal design and copper work, the latter two subjects taught by Douglas Donaldson. Among students were Mary Cecilia Wheeler. The school closed during the 1930s Depression. Sources: www.zoominfo.com/people/Batchelder_E._151280527.aspx (quote); Edan Hughes, AskART biography.
Batik A technique of producing designs on fabric through a series of wax treatments and dyes, the process originated thousands of years ago, likely in China. The Javanese of Indonesia advanced the skill and produced richly colored textiles. The batik process begins with a design sketched on fabric, usually silk. The artist has to visualize the finished piece from a negative image, because light and dark areas are reversed during the process. A wax resist is applied to the lighter areas, and then the fabric is immersed in dye with the wax areas repelling the dye. The process continues with colors dyed on top of each other, often seeping through cracked places in the wax. When the work is finished the artist removes the wax by ironing the fabric between absorbent layers of cloth. Usually the pieces are mounted on a backing and displayed under glass to protect the colors. American batik artists include Mary Tannahill, Grace Betts, Leo Twiggs, Tanasko Milovich, Sammy Lynn, Louise Wilson, Katalin Ehling and Linda Szabo. Sources: Kimberley Reynolds, Richard Seddon; "Illustrated Dictionary of Art Terms"; AskART Database
Bauhaus A design school founded in 1919 in Weimar, Germany by Walter Gropius who said of the program: "The Bauhaus strives to combine all the arts---sculpture, painting, applied art and visual art---as the inseparable components of a new architecture." The curriculum promoted reconciliation between aesthetics and utilitarianism. Followers asserted that art should be an intrinsic part of society, rather than set aside in an isolated sphere, and that applied art should be upgraded in educational status. The name "Bauhaus" in German means 'Building House' in English. With his school, Gropius was determined to establish a working partnership as well as philosophical link between artists and "Bauhutten", the masonry or building guilds in Germany. Enrolled artists in the early years included Paul Klee, Laszlo Maholy-Nagy and Lyonel Feininger. In 1933, Hitler closed the school, which he viewed as a threat to Nazism and which, from 1926 had been re-located to Dessau. The separation of theoretical and practical curriculum was abandoned with that move. Dessau teachers such as Josef Albers combined the subjects. The focus was on a community of artists working together, sharing ideas, with de-emphasis on teacher superiority over students. In 1926, Gropius left as did several others including Moholy-Nagy. Architect Hannes Meyer then ran the school until 1930, when Mies van der Rohe took over. In 1932, the Institute moved to Berlin, and the next year the school closed. However, Bauhaus methods continued to have widespread influence and were taken to America by Moholy-Nagy and Josef Albers. In Chicago, Moholy-Nagy opened the New Bauhaus, later named the Institute of Design. In North Carolina, Josef Albers taught Bauhaus philosophy when he joined the staff of Black Mountain College. Sources: "Phaidon, Dictionary of Twentieth-Century Art"; http://bauhaus-online.de/en/atlas/personen/gerhard-marcks
Bay Area Figurative The application of Abstract Expressionist technique to realistic subject matter, it was a style of painting prevalent in the Bay Area of San Francisco, California from the 1940s to 1960s. Bay Area Figurative painting began with teachers at the California School of Fine Art. Leading artists were David Park, Richard Diebenkorn, Joan Brown, Manuel Neri, Nathan Oliviera, Paul Wonner and Elmer Bischoff. The movement was a reaction to the popular Abstract Expressionism in New York. In the Bay area style, images were still quite abstract and painted with much expressionist style, but there was a rejection of total abstraction. Elements of realism such as human figures could be seen. However, these figures seldom conveyed a sense of human vitality or realism and were more like elements in a still life. For many, the Bay Area Figurative movement marked the end of the dominance of Abstract Expressionism and the return of some realism to 20th century art. Elmer Bischoff told critic Thomas Albright that Abstract Expressionism was "playing itself dry. I can only compare it to the end of a love affair." Source: Robert Atkins, "ArtSpeak"
Bayeux Tapestry An embroidered cloth on linen and not an actual tapestry, it is about 230 feet long and with fifty scenes depicts events leading up to the Norman conquest of England. It is thought that Bishop Odo, half brother of William, commissioned the work in the 1070s. It was rediscovered in 1729 in the Bayeux Cathedral and is now exhibited at the Musee de la Tapisserie de Bayeux in Bayeux, Normandy, France. Source: "Wikipedia", en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayeux_Tapestry
Beardsley Limner One of several but unidentified portrait painters active in New England and New York in the several decades following the American Revolution, the name derives from two of the earliest-known portraits whose subjects were Hezekiah and Elizabeth Davis Beardsley. Scholars have linked fifteen portraits under the name of Beardsley Limner, all completed from 1785 to the early 19th century. Subjects lived along the Boston Post Road in Massachusetts and Connecticut and appear to be prosperous but not upper-class aristocrats. Something of the life of this painter(s) can be found by tracing the history of the subjects. Source: Christine Skeeles Schloss, Essay in "American Folk Painters of Three Centuries" by Jean Lipman and Tom Armstrong.
Beauty / Beautiful Subjective words, these are commonly used to describe pleasing visual responses and often used to express a positive reaction to natural phenomena or to a work of art. These words result from "the satisfaction the mind derives from contemplating any image that has been organized and ordered into a unified whole." Components of the 'whole' in either nature or art expression include shape, color, line, tone, proportion and atmospherics. Source: Kimberley Reynolds and Richard Seddon, "Illustrated Dictionary of Art Terms"
Beaux-Arts A French term for “high arts”, it refers to the curriculum basis for art students at the Ecole des Beaux Arts, the official state school founded in Paris in the late 19th century. Beaux Arts education was a combination of learning history of major art movements, and then painting and sculpting in studios based on work of leading artists of those movements. Emphasis was on Roman, Renaissance and Baroque styles and methods. Source: Donald Martin Reynolds, "Masters of American Sculpture"
Beaver Hall Group / Hall Hill Group The Beaver Hall Group was an association of Quebec artists, which officially began its existence in 1920. Under the leadership of A.Y. Jackson, the group attracted and fostered the work of artists interested in the newest European trends and unconcerned about the consequences of cold-shouldering traditional approaches to subject representation. Remarkably, unlike its Ontario counterpart, the Group of Seven, the Beaver Hall Group had a large contingent of female artists, and though the Group prided itself on its eschewal of any bias-related to class, gender, or artistic preference, it seems to have been especially hospitable to women and proved an excellent springboard for their careers. The first group only existed for two years (1920 - 1922). It consisted of artists, most of whom had studios at 305 Beaver Hall Hill, Montreal. After the group disbanded for financial reasons, some of the women artists still used the studios. They were joined by other women artists and this group of painters was later to become known as The Beaver Hall Hill Group. The members of the original (formal) group were James Crockart, Jeanne de Crèvecœur, Adrien Hébert, Henri Hébert, Randolph S. Hewton, Edwin Holgate, Alexander Y. Jackson, John Y. Johnstone, Mabel Lockerby, Henrietta Mabel May, Darrell Morrissey, Lilias Torrance Newton, Hal Ross Perrigard, Robert Wakeman Pilot, Sarah M. Robertson, Sybil Robertson, Anne Savage, Adam Sheriff Scott, Regina Seiden and William Thurstan Topham. The second group included Nora Collyer, Emily Coonan, Prudence Heward, Mabel Lockerby, Henrietta Mabel May, Kathleen Moir Morris, Lilias Torrance Newton, Sarah Robertson, Anne Savage and Ethel Seath. Sources: Jacques Des Rochers, Curator of Canadian Art, Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal; and the book "The Women of Beaver Hall: Canadian Modernist Painters" (2005) by Evelyn Walters. Source: Written and Submitted to askART by M.D. Silverbrooke, Art Historian and Collector, West Vancouver, British Columbia.
Beck Gold Medal The now defunct Carol H. Beck Gold Medal was awarded for the best painting by an American artist exhibited at annual exhibitions of The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. Founded in 1908 by James M. Beck, in memory of his sister, it was first awarded in 1909. Criteria were that the portrait had to have been painted within the prior three years, and an artist could be awarded the medal only once. Recipients included John Singer Sargent, Robert Henri, George Bellows, John Sloan and Thomas Hart Benton. Source: 'Carol H. Beck,' "Wikipedia"
Belfast Rambler's Sketching Club See Royal Ulster Academy
Belle Epoque A French term meaning "beautiful era", it refers to a 'beautiful' time in that country's history from late 19th century to the beginning of World War I. France and its neighbors seemed to be on peaceful terms, and because of innovations and a general sense of contentment, life seemed to be easy and happy. Art Nouveau and Impressionism developed during this period as did the cabaret, cinema, and cancan dance. The spirit of "La Belle Epoque" spread to other countries as well. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belle_Époque
Ben-Day Dot Refers to a method of painting, it was made famous by Roy Lichtenstein (see AskART) in his Pop Art enlarged cartoon strip images. The style mimics a printing process invented by and named after Benjamin Day (see AskART) in 1879. It inexpensively printed comic strips using a system in which dots in a limited range of colors – black, red, yellow, blue – are overlaid or placed side by side to produce different tones. Source: “Techniques of the Great Masters of Art” (1985), by David A. Anfam, et al; New Burlington Books, London, England (559 pgs., color). Submitted to askART by M.D. Silverbrooke.
Bengal School of Art, Bengal School Originating in Bengal, India in the early 20th century, its subjects were nationalism and style was modernist. It was led by Abanindranath Tagore (1871-1951). Source: 'Bengal School of Art', "Wikipedia"
Benjamin West Clinedinst Memorial Award Established in 1947 to commemorate the distinctive art career of Benjamin West Clinedinst, it is given in New York City by Artists' Fellowship, Inc. Among the award winners are Georg Lober, Daniel Greene and Chen Chi. Source: Artists' Fellowship, Inc., http://www.artistsfellowship.org/event.html
Bentvueghels Mostly Dutch and Flemish painters, etchers, sculptors and poets, it was active as an exclusive social and intellectual Society in Rome from about 1620 to 1720. Members were known for Bacchic or drunken initiations, which often lasted 24 hours or more and ending with a march to the Temple of Bacchus. In addition to shared rowdiness, the Society was renowned for its high level of intellectual discussions. Members included Peter van Leiden, Cornelis Poelenburgh van Utrecht, and Wouter Crabeth van der Gou as well as other members of the Golden Age of Dutch Painting. Source: Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bentvueghels
Berkeley School It was a name given to an informal core group of artists around Hans Hofmann, pioneering Abstract Expressionist, when he taught at the University of California at Berkeley during the summers of 1930 and 1931. Among Berkeley School artists were Erle Loran, John Haley, Worth Ryder, Margaret Peterson, Virginia McRae, Leah Rinne Hamilton, and Mine Okubo. Source: Patricia Trenton, "Independent Spirits", p. 32.
Berlin Academy of Fine Arts Founded in 1696 by Frederick III of Brandenburg with the intention of having a place for discussion and sharing of ideas, the original name was Prussian Academy of Arts. Today the Berlin Academy is the arts council of the government. Membership is by election of the general assembly and is limited to 500 persons. Source: Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akademie_der_K%C3%BCnste
Berlin Women Artists Association Founded in 1867 with Auguste von Muhler as President, it was the first professional German organization for women artists and women patrons. Over the years about 1200 women artists have been members as have over 700 women patrons. Much of its collection was destroyed during World War, II but remaining materials are archived at the Akademie der Kunste. An exhibition of some of these materials was held in 2016 and 2017, and traced the history of the Association through 25 chair persons. Source: Akademie Der Kunste
Berlin / Berliner Secession An association of artists founded in 1898 in Berlin, it was initiated by 65 young artists seeking an alternative to the conservative state-run Association of Berlin Artists. A factor in prompting the defection was the rejection of a painting by modernist Walter Leistikow. Max Liebermann was the first president of the Secession. The Cassirer Gallery in Berlin was a primary exhibition venue for the painters and sculptors Renee Sintenis, Lovis Corinth, Lyonel Feininger, Max Beckmann and Kathe Kollwitz. Source: Peter Paret: "The Berlin Secession: Modernism and Its Enemies in Imperial German", cited on Wikipedia; AskART biographies
Bibelot A decorative or rare object of art, notably small.
Biedermeier Movement Arising in the early 19th century in the German states, Austrian empire and Denmark, it was a reaction of simplicity among fine artists and their collectors against the prevalent lavish expressions of Rococo and Neo-Classical styles. Representative artists included Europeans Eduard Gaertner and Jakob Alt. Source: Franz Schulze, 'Biedermeier Unbound', "Art in America", 12/2006
Billy De Beck Memorial Award See Reuben Award
Binder A substance mixed with pigment, it holds raw pigment in such a way that it becomes workable in a painting medium. Its purpose is to weld the pigment granules into some sort of shape---liquid, semi-liquid or solid---where brush, knife or hands can carry the color to the canvas or paper. In oil paint, raw pigment is usually combined with a linseed oil binder to form a fluid paint. Watercolor's binder is gum Arabic, and pastel is bound with gum tragacanth. Joe Singer writes in his book, "How to Paint Portraits in Pastel" that 'it is often the binder and not the pigment that is the main cause for the deterioration of paintings, especially oil.' Source: Roger Dunbier, PhD, Unpublished essay on Mediums.
Biomorphic Art Abstract art, it has shapes that resemble living organisms, are rounded and graceful appearing, and have the contours of plants and animals rather than hard-lined geometric forms. Surrealist painter Yves Tanguy often used Biomorphic shapes in his paintings as did Wiliiam Baziotes, Roland Flexner, Charles Howard, Frank Lobdell, Charles Shaw, Jim Waid and Richard Pousette-Dart. Sources: Kimberley Reynolds and Richard Seddon, "Illustrated Dictionary of Art Terms"; Ralph Mayer, "A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques"; AskART database
Biomorphism A 20th century art movement linked to Art Nouveau and Surrealism, it references abstract images suggestive of organic shapes found in nature. The term originated in 1935 with British writer, Geoffrey Grigson, and was used by Alfred Barr in a 1936 exhibition of Cubism and Abstraction. Artists whose work is biomorphic include sculptors Henry Moore, Isamu Noguchi and Barbara Hepworth; and painters Yves Tanguy, Desmond Morris and Robert Matta. Source: Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biomorphism
Bird's Eye View Depiction of a scene as if observed from a point in space by a 'flying bird' directly over the subject, the view includes the entire spread of the subject with a high horizon line allowing most of the composition to lie below it. Some Bird's-Eye Views are panoramic, as wide as three feet, and drawn by hand with the purpose of giving highly, accurate details including placement of trees. Bird's Eye Views, popular in the 19th century, pre-dated the common use of photographs to convey information. Much of the knowledge today of this subject comes from the research of John W. Reps, professor emeritus of city and regional planning at Cornell University and scholar on the history of American urban planning. He is among the first scholars to recognize city views as highly valuable historical documents. His book, "Cities on Stone, focuses on the historical origins of the Bird's Eye View. Source: Dr. Ron Tyler, "Texas Bird's-Eye Views"
Birla Academy of Art and Culture In South Calcutta, India, it was established in 1966 by foremost Indian industrialists, Sri & Smt B.K. Birla, with the purpose of fostering culture in India with emphasis on making visual and performing arts available widely to the public. Its eleven-story building was completed in 1965, and with educational and exhibition facilities, is regarded as one of the foremost art galleries in India. (Also, See AIFACS entry in AskART Glossary) http://www.birlaart.com/index.php
Biscuit / Bisque Ceramic ware that has been fired but not glazed. Source: Ralph Mayer, "A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques"
Black Age of Comics A movement launched in 1993 in Chicago by Turtel Onli to focus through comic books and other literature on creativity, culture and commerce among Blacks. In his comic books, Onli created super-powered black characters who, with great exaggeration, defend the weak and carry out other positive actions that require great moral and physical strength. Yearly conventions are held. It is part of the Black Arts Movement, which inspired black people to establish their own publishing houses, magazines, journal and art institutions. Sources: Wikipedia, askART biography of Turtel Onli by Tyler Fine Art.
Black Arts Movement An expression of discontent and aspirations of Black America during the turbulent sixties and seventies, it followed the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Many African Americans became more convinced that the strategies of the Civil Rights Movement were not enough to meet their needs nor deal with the increased hostility of white America. Thus, Black America shifted its interest from the Civil Rights movement with its emphasis on integration and equality to Black Liberation with its emphasis on nationalism, self-determination and separation, socially and culturally. As sensitive members of the black community, some black artists decided to join the struggle, in what came to known as the Black Arts Movement. Larry Neal defined the Black Arts Movement as being radically opposed to any concept of the artist that alienates him from his community. Black Arts is the aesthetic and spiritual sister of the Black Power concept. As such, it envisions an art that speaks directly to the needs and aspirations of Black America. It proposes a separate symbolism, mythology, critique and iconology. The distinctive visions that unite the art of Mari Evans and Nelson Stevens exemplify the spirit of the movement. Source: Editorial Review, "Resistance, Insurgence and Identity" by Robert L. Douglas, Amazon.com
Black Light Test An ultraviolet light, it is used to authenticate paintings and other collectibles including art glass and porcelain. Ultraviolet rays react differently to various materials and reveal characteristics that are not visible to the naked eye. With the Black Light, one can distinguish between old and new and determine whether or not a work has been touched up or created recently when offered as antique. Modern paint becomes fluorescent under a black light, which, of course, can be the indicator that a work, described as much older, is in fact recently painted. Source: http://www.elac-llc.com/html/blacklighttesting.html
Black Mountain College Active from 1933 to 1957 in the mountains of North Carolina near Asheville, the school was a totally unique American college because of the commitment to art study and practice as the underpinning of liberal arts education, and also to democratic, communal living. Intermixed, faculty and students shared in the practical daily life activities of growing food, cooking, cleaning, building construction, etc. A founding leader was John Rice, a scholar and rebel from Rollins College, who was dedicated to John Dewey's principles of progressive education. Its founding date coincided with the defection of many German intellectuals from the Hitler regime, and of the closing of the Bauhaus (see Glossary listing) because of Nazi persecution. Many of these defectors including Josef Albers and his wife Annie Albers became Black Mountain teachers as did Jose De Creeft, Willem de Kooning, Jack Tworkov and Peter Voulkos. Among student enrollees were John Angus Chamberlain, Cy Twombly, Ruth Asawa, and Robert Rauschenberg. Many associated with the school were mavericks such as the previously listed as well as John Cage, Jacob Lawrence, Elaine de Kooning, Dorothea Rockburne and Ben Shahn. Source: “Black Mountain College: An Introduction”, http://blackmountaincollege.org/content/view/12/52/; AskART database
Blanche E. Colman Award Awarded every year since 1959, it was established under the will of Blanche E. Colman, an art instructor at Boston University. The grants, administered from the office of her foundation in Boston, are made each year to New England artists "who have completed their formal education, have exhibited considerable talent in the area of painting, sculpture, drawing, printmaking, mixed media and photography and exhibit financial need." Recipients include Sally Curcio, Claire Beckett, and Julie Graham. Sources:http://clairebeckett.wordpress.com/2009/07/06/blanche-e-colman-award/AskART biographies
Blaue Reiter (der) See Blue Rider/Der Blaue Reiter
Bleed (1) To allow a wash of watercolor or other thin medium to run into and combine with another area of color. (2) To make artwork, that is to be reproduced by printing, larger than the final page size so that, when the page is trimmed, there is no margin. Source: Ralph Mayer, "A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques"
Bleeding through The gradual visibility of under layers of paint, caused when oil-based pigments of the upper layers become transparent with the passage of time. Source: Ralph Mayer, "A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques"
Blisters Raised marks that appear on oil painting when dampness attacks the back of the canvas or when the pigment adheres incompletely because of initial dampness, oiliness, or non-absorbency. Source: Ralph Mayer, "A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques"
Block Print / Block Printing A relief prints made from wood blocks and now a nearly forgotten art, it is also known as a woodcut. Block Printing, the universal means of illustrating books and magazines in the 19th century, is the oldest of all the relief processes. "Harper's", "Scribner's", and "Century" were magazines especially noted for their skilled block printers. Photo mechanical halftones replaced this process in the 1890s. Source: Peter Falk, "Who Was Who in American Art"
Blockchain Technology Blockchain technology enables the creation of a decentralized digital ledger or an ongoing record of transactions that became popular in the digital currency space, notably with the Bitcoin network. Within a blockchain, consensus can be reached without involving a central authority, the data is not stored centrally, and no transaction can ever be erased. This can be applied, for example, to the creation of purely digital smart contracts that don’t require a central arbiter, as seen in the Ethereum network. Why It Matters: Blockchain technology has been proven to be a perfect fit for enabling the creation and distribution of unique digital artworks and collectibles. Additionally, artists (e.g., Kevin Abosch) have even embraced the blockchain as a medium. Many problems in the art world, such as authenticity, traceability, or transacting across borders can be seen as consensus problems and can potentially be solved with the help of this technology. As Bitcoin and therefore blockchain grew in popularity, many organizations within the art world, ranging from collectors to galleries to online art platforms to auction houses, began thinking about ways to integrate it into the process of buying and selling art. Source: '12 Online Art Terms to Know in 2018', Website of "Artsy", July 31, 2018
Bloom A film on the surface of an oil painting that has been improperly varnished or stored, it first appears as an opaque blue tinge, which turns white, yellow, and eventually black as the condition, sometimes known as a 'chill, advances. Source: Kimberley Reynolds and Richard Seddon, "Illustrated Dictionary of Art Terms"
Bloomsbury Group An informal association in London, 1906-1918, of artists, writers and critics, it is credited with introducing modern art and literature to Britain. The name is from Bloomsbury, the northwest section of London where leaders Virginia Stephen Woolf and Vanessa Stephen Bell lived. The group began with male friendships of writer-students at Cambridge University and continued with intertwined friendships and romances. Critic and curator Roger Fry, who converted to modern art in 1906 when he was exposed to the work of Paul Cezanne, was the most prominent figure of the Bloomsbury Group. He organized a Post-Impressionist art exhibition at Grafton Galleries in London in 1912, and entered his own work plus that of Clive Bell, Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant. In their artwork, the focus was on vivid Fauve colors, simplified forms and fragmentation as influenced by Cubism. In 1913, the Bloomsbury Group applied their aesthetic to functional, handmade items such as rugs and tableware and, with the financial help of writer George Bernard Shaw, oversaw the making of those types of items through an entity they named Omega Workshops. Described as a "curious amalgam of the idealistic socialism of the Arts and Crafts Movement" and chic "Aestheticism, this arts and crafts endeavor flourished for a few years but folded in 1919 with the pressures of World War I and the unwillingness of people to spend money on non-essentials. Source: Robert Atkins, "Artspoke"
Blown Glass Glass that has been formed or shaped by blowing air through a tube into a semi-molten mass of glass, it was pioneered as studio art in the United States by Englishman, John Burton. Dale Chihuly, born 1941, is credited with making blown glass of such unique design and quality that the medium has earned the description of fine art. In 1971, Chihuly, with financial support from Anne and John Hauberg, established Pilchuck Glass School in Stanwood, Washington. It has become the largest educational center in the world for glass artists. Among students have been Nicholas Africano, Toots Zynsky, Hank Adams and Mary Shaffer. Sources: www.encarta.msn.com; http://pilchuck.com/about/about_main.shtml; AskART biographies
Blue Rider / "Der Blaue Reiter" / German Expressionsi A term first used in 1903 by Russian artist Wassily Kandinsky for the title of one of his paintings, it was then applied to a group with Kandinsky active from 1911 to 1914 in Munich and also to the almanac they published. Their idea was to stimulate physical sensations in viewers of their artwork through abstract, expressionist styles. The first "Blaue Reiter" exhibition was held at the Galerie Thannhauser in Munich in December 1911, and included work by Russian Futurists, David and Vladimir Burliuk; French Orphists such as Robert Delaunay; and German Expressionists. World War I ended the association, especially with the deaths of leaders Franz Marc and Auguste Macke. Albert Bloch is the only American artist associated with the group. \An offshoot of the Spiritualist part of "Der Blaue Reiter" surfaced at the Bauhaus School in the 1920s with the name "Die Blauen Vier" or Blue Four under the influence of Kandinsky, Paul Klee and Lyonel Feininger. Source: Robert Atkins, "ART SPOKE
Blue Rose Russian painters active from 1906 to 1908, they emphasized color as a tonal medium, eliminated shape and contour, and strove for a sense of rhythm. They reacted to government oppression with work that spoke of "mysticism and detachment."Many of their paintings were shadow-ridden, mist filled impressionist landscapes with grotesque forms---suggesting that something 'not good' was happening. The style was inspired by Impressionism and the name was derived from the poem Blue Flower by the poet Novalis. Among Blue Rose painters were Pavel Kuznetsov, Anatolli Arapov, Petr Bromirsky, Martiros Saryan, Serge Sudeikin and Ivan Knabe. Source: Wikipedia and askART biographies
Body Art A movement related to Conceptual Art, it is a precursor to Performance Art in the United States, Europe and Australia in the late 1960s through the 1970s, and often expressive of sex and drug themes. Artists used their bodies as a medium; exhibited in public or private performances and through videos and photographs. "Frequently motivated by masochistic or spiritual intentions, body art varied enormously. Chris Burden had himself shot; Gina Pane cut herself in precise tatters with razor blades, . . .and Ann Mendieta created earthen silhouettes of herself in poses reminiscent of ancient goddess figures from the Near East." Other body artists were Linda Montano, Tom Marioni, Gilbert & George and Bruce Nauman. Source: Robert Atkins, "ARTSPEAK"
Body colors Pigments which possess "body," or opacity, in contrast to transparent pigments.
Bohemian Club Not to be confused with the Bohemian Sketch Club of New York City or of Buffalo, New York, the Bohemian Club is a private men’s club in San Francisco, established in 1872. The club house is at 624 Taylor Street. Members are voted in for being outstanding in their professional fields and include architects, designers, journalists, artists, vintners, writers, actors, and businessmen. The club has gone on to claim a veritable ‘who’s who’ of American art. Some notable artist names on the roster are Thomas Hill, Jules Tavernier, William Keith, Jules Pages, Maurice Logan, John Gamble, Maynard Dixon, and Millard Sheets. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bohemian_Club; AskART database.
Bohemianism, Bohemians A way of life with roots from the Bohemian region of Czechoslovakia where it was thought that many gypsies lived. The term originated in France, and was first used in the early 19th Century in reference to an alternative lifestyle of the "avant-garde", characterized by anti-intellectual philosophies and anti-bourgeois lifestyle. Among 'bohemians' were artists, writers, actors and musicians who were often associated with "non-marital sexual relations, frugality, and/or voluntary poverty." Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bohemianism
Book Art Bound text of single or limited editions that were custom illustrated and/or decorated and generally produced before the 19th Century when mass printmaking methods were not available. The method in western civilization is linked to medieval manuscript illumination by Catholic Church monks, and then to books created with movable type invented by Johannes Gutenberg in the 15th Century. Book Art, often with Art Nouveau motifs, was promoted by members of the late 19th and early 20th Century Arts and Crafts Movement in England and America. Also, Bauhaus School curriculum, influenced by Russian Constructivism, promoted individualizing books with original designs, and among those artists were Laszlo Moholy-Nagy and Herbert Bayer. In 2005, an exhibition of Book Arts was held at the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington DC. Curated by Krystyna Wasserman, it featured works from the collection of the museum, which is the only one in America featuring contemporary Book Art. Book Artists Carol Barton and Molly Van Nice were represented. Sources: Robert Atkins, ART SPOKE; www.marylandprintmakers.org/newsletter
Book Excavation A sculptural work of art made by transforming various types of old books using precise cuts with a scalpel or knife, carving pages one by one until an astonishing new composition reveals itself. This almost surgical focus of dissecting books results in a wholly new object infused with a graphical history that evolves as the artist exposes each layer of the book while cutting around interesting images or text. For most artists working in this remarkable medium, the process is performed without pre-planning or mapping out the contents before cutting into the books pages and/or covers. Finished book excavations often appear as cross sections of the book, carved to create an alternate universe previously hidden between the covers. Source: Website of James Allen, Oregon artist
Bornholm School of Painters Early 20th century, the Bornhold School of Painters was an art movement whose participants were painters working together on the Danish island of Bornholm. Their style was a distinctive classic modernism inspired by the island's unique landscape and light and resulting in experiments with modernism: color, abstraction and cubism. Bornholm artists included Otto Haslund, Karl Isakson, Edvard Weie, Oluf Host, Olaf Rude, Kraesten Iversen and Niels Lergaard. Many of their works can be seen in the Bornholm Art Museum. Source: Wikipedia.
Boston Art Academy Founded in 1853 by William Henry Titcombe, it was located at 460 Washington Street in the Liberty Tree building in Boston. It was the city's first art school and lasted more than twenty-five years. Source: Doug Nelson, Art Historian, Portsmouth, New Hampshire
Boston Art Club Founded in 1854 in Boston, Massachusetts, its purpose was exhibition and promotion of local artists, especially French paintings by the increasingly popular Barbizon School. Underlying this focus was the desire to form a democratic organization whose members cooperated in sales promotion of both well known and lesser-known artists, and worked for art education for themselves as well as the general public. Early founding members included Joseph Alexander Ames, Benjamin Champney and Samuel Lancaster Gerry. By the 1870s, the Club, with regular exhibitions of works hung 'salon' style, was an active influence in the community. In 1882, a permanent clubhouse was built on Newbury Street in Boston's 'Back Bay area. The Club, with 250 members, both artists and art collectors, continues to be active into 21st Century. However, the wars and economic depression of the early 20th Century caused the closure of the Club House, but members remain connected through the Internet. A major focus is working with art museums to place paintings in circulating exhibitions. Sources: Dane G. Hansen Museum, Logan, KS, http://www.tfaoi.com/newsmu/nmus49d.htm; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Art_Club
Boston Athenaeum Founded in 1807 as a library and museum "similar to that of the Athenaeum and Lyceum of Liverpool in Great Britain", it has, from that time, played a major role in the cultural life of Boston. The B.A. grew from the Anthology Society, formed in 1805 by Bostonians to publish a magazine, "The Monthly Anthology and Boston Review". The institution had rapid growth, acquiring books, art and artifacts and adding an art gallery for exhibitions of American and European art. By 1851, it had one of the largest libraries in the US, and today has over half a million volumes with emphasis on New England subjects. The B.A. has been housed in a series of buildings, and since 1849, has been in a building on Beacon Street. It has five floors of galleries, and extensive collections of maps, rare books, paintings, sculpture, manuscripts, prints and photographs. Since 1966 it has been a National Historic Landmark. Source: http://www.bostonathenaeum.org/node/38
Boston Five A group of modernist painters active in Boston, they created expressive landscapes with an emphasis on a fauvist palette. Members of this group were: Harley Perkins, Charles Sidney Hopkinson, Charles Hovey Pepper, Marion Monks Chase and Carl Gordon Cutler. Beginning in 1920 and over the next 25 years, the group exhibited their works together at the Boston Art Club, Vose Galleries and the Fogg Art Museum at Harvard. Source: AskART biography of Harley Perkins.
Boston Normal Art School A school with cramped quarters, which many of the major Boston artists had attended when they were young, it is little known today. But at one time it was among the most important and influential art schools in America. Inspired by European models, Massachusetts had opened a series of “Normal Schools,” which were specifically dedicated to the training of teachers. These gradually evolved into teacher’s colleges. The Normal Art School was opened in 1873, and given the mission of training art teachers. This meant not simply the training of fine artists and commercial illustrators who could turn to teaching, but the Normal Art School placed an emphasis on developing a curriculum that enabled its students to teach art to children. Joseph de Camp was Newcombe’s teacher and mentor at the Normal Art School. Like all of the portrait painters from the “Boston School,” Joseph de Camp was a brilliant draftsman. When he took over the portrait program at the Normal Art School in 1903, the school had begun to shift its emphasis, and an increasing number of students were enrolling with the intention of becoming fine artists rather than teachers. Written by Jeffrey Morseburg, Art Scholar and Appraiser
Boston School A distinct local style in Boston in the late 19th and early 20th centuries linked to teachers and students of the Museum of Fine Arts School. Paintings of the Boston School are distinctive for their focus on beauty, excellent craftsmanship, and solid structure. Favored subjects were portraits, especially of elegant women, as well as tastefully presented interiors, sun-filled landscapes, and impeccably arranged still life. Narrative genre scenes and laboring people were avoided as subjects. Otto Grundmann (1844-1890), early teacher at the Museum School, is credited for giving the School "its most distinctive characteristic, the old Dutch tradition of observing and rendering the most subtle aspects of color" and "careful study of composition". (Falk) Among Grundmann's students were Edmund Tarbell and Frank Benson, and they, as subsequent teachers at the school, became the most prominent representatives of the Boston School of painting. The circle of painters had studios in the Fenway Studio Building on Ipswich Street or in their homes. Generally they were close personal friends who exhibited together and critiqued each other's works. Other Boston School painters were Frank Benson, Robert Gammell, Abbott Graves, Ellen Day Hale, Lillian Westcott Hale, Aldro Hubbard, Elizabeth Paxton, Lilla Perry and Charles Woodbury. Sources: "A Studio of Her Own" by Erica Hirshler; "Who Was Who in American Art" by Peter Falk
Boston Society of Watercolor Painters See New England Watercolor Society
Boston Watercolor Society See New England Watercolor Society
Bottega An Italian term meaning workshop or studio, it refers to a place where an aspiring Italian artist learns from a master artist. The term also pertains to a workshop where assistants help a painter or sculptor execute a work that bears the signature of the supervising artist---the Master. During the Italian Renaissance, about 30 "botteghe" were in Florence, and one of the more famous was overseen by Leonardo Da Vinci. Source: Ralph Mayer, "A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques"
Bought In A term used by auction houses for works of art that do not sell, either because there were no bids or the bidding did not meet the reserve price, and therefore remains the property of the owner. Source: www.sothebys.com
Box Art Art using the box format, Box Art is a genre inspired by the box form, an element in our daily lives, familiar as containers, as a three-dimensional form with or without the possibility to open. The box becomes a vehicle of expression, which can both contain and expand the artist's world. The surface can also become the important thing. Box Art combines many methods: sculpture, painting, printmaking, assemblage, collage, video, audio etc. Box Art artists include Marcel Duchamp, Man Ray, Kurt Schwitters and Louise Nevelson. A small group of artists headed by Joseph Cornell, the preeminent box artist, have made the box the main vehicle of their artistic production. Written and submitted by Jerry Williams, Box Artist
Brackenwood Art Colony An early 20th-Century gathering place for artists at the home site of Margaret and Peter Camfferman at Whidbey Island in Washington state. The couple, who were abstract painters, built a home by hand on their property, near Langley, in 1915, and called their place Brackenwood. The site, now part of a street in Langley, included cabins for visiting artists, and was especially noted as a gathering place for artists interested in modernist styles. The Art Colony flourished from 1916 until Peter's death in 1957. Associated with the Camffermans were many members of the Women Painters of Washington; the Puget Sound Group, which was all male painters; and art faculty and students associated at the University of Washington. The Camffermans were some of the early modernist painters in the Northwest. Sources: David Martin, Martin-Zambito Fine Art, Seattle, WA: Peter Falk, "Who Was Who in American Art"; Robert Ladd, Washington state art collector
Brandywine School of Illustration Art A collective name given to the students of illustrator Howard Pyle (1853-1911) because of their school's physical location in the Brandywine River Valley between Delaware and Pennsylvania, and because of their revolutionary approach to illustration art under his direction. The Brandywine School of illustration was a departure from seemingly frozen stage-set motifs of characters in stories to 'up close' and 'in-your-face' dramatic poses. In other words, the viewer is pulled in emotionally and denied the safe haven of objectivity. Prominent names of the Brandywine School are Maxfield Parrish, Violet Oakley, Jessie Willcox Smith, Harvey Dunn, Stanley Arthurs, Frank Schoonover and N.C. Wyeth. Sources: http://www.bpib.com/pyle.htm; Walt Reed, "The Illustrator in America, 1860-2000".
Brass An alloy of copper and zinc, usually with two to one proportion and with yellow or golden coloration. Because of the addition of zinc and sometimes small amounts of other metals, brass is stronger and harder than copper, but it is also malleable. Inscribed brass plates with descriptive information have been used traditionally to label formal or academic religious, historical and portrait paintings. Source: Ralph Mayer, "A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques"
Bread and Cheese Club A literary salon organized in 1822 in New York City by novelist James Fenimore Cooper (1789-1851). The purpose was to reinforce mutual dedication to democratic principles and to celebrating the beauty of the landscape through writing, painting and promoting of patronage of authors and artists whose work was in accord with their goals. The Club remained active until Cooper left for Europe in 1826. Among members were William Cullen Bryant, a writer; Samuel F.B. Morse, an historical genre painter; and James Kent, a Federalist judge. Sources: Andrew Wilton and Tim Barringer, "American Sublime: Landscape Painting in the United States 1820-1880"; http://secure.britannica.com/eb/article-1525?
Breakfast Piece A type of still life painting of rich colors and precisely depicted dining table foods such as fruit, bread, cheese and wine. Artists from the Netherlands, especially Haarlem, originated the style in the early 1600s. Osias Beert (c. 1580-1624) and Willem Claesz Heda (1594-1680) were well known for 'breakfast piece' paintings. Source: www.humanitesweb.org; Wikipedia
Breckenridge Summer School of Art Founded by Hugh Breckenridge at Gloucester, Massachusetts in the mid-1920s, it had a curriculum leaning towards abstraction, which reflected the adopted style of its founder. Source: Mary Lublin/David Dearinger, 'Hugh Henry Beckenridge', "Paintings and Sculpture in the Collection of the National Academy of Design."
Brick-and-Click A gallery with both a physical location and an online presence. Why It Matters: Per the 2018 Hiscox Online Art Trade Report, “almost three-quarters (74%) of online art buyers bought more than one art object online in the last 12 months.” Additionally, online buyers are growing more comfortable buying online, purchasing works at an average price point of over $5,000, an increase in average pricepoint from 2017. As more collectors come online, brick-and-click galleries are positioned to take advantage of the opportunity to form new relationships that have the potential to convert to sales. Physical and digital storefronts complement each other, and having both allows collectors to discover works online and then, if they wish to view them in person, travel to the gallery before finalizing a purchase. Source: '12 Online Art Terms to Know in 2018', Website of "Artsy", July 31, 2018
Brighton School of Art Part of the University of Brighton, England, it was founded in 1859. Over the years, its name changed but in 2017, the name Brighton School of Art was reinstated. Curriculum subjects have been art education, design, photography, performance and fine art painting. Many Turner Prize winners have been students of the School including Keith Tyson and Rachel Whiteread. Other artists attending include Alison Lapper and Sylvia Sleigh. Source: Wikipedia 2022
Brindled The effects of a darker color on a work, usually spotted or streaked.
Bristol Board A stiff cardboard that has smooth finish and is suitable for drawing and painting with water-based paint. It can be used on both sides and is popular for ink drawing and diagrams because of the sharpness of effect that can be achieved. The U.S. Patent Office specifies that Bristol Board must be used for trademark and patent drawings. Source: Ralph Mayer, "A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques"
Bristol Savages Artists' Society, England Called together in Bristol, England in 1894 by a group organized by artist Ernest Ehlers, the goal was to fill a need for friendship among like-talented men. The formal organization occurred in 1904, and they have had weekly meetings between October and May, most of them at the Royal Hotel on College Green in Bristol. Exhibitions, the results of many member sketching trips together, have been ongoing with the 101st occurring in 2011. Source: Bristol Savages, http://www.bristol-savages.org/savages-history.html
Britart See Young British Artists
British Black Art Movement A radical political art movement founded in 1982, it was inspired by anti-racism and feminism and highlighted issues of race, gender, political representation. A key moment in the movement was the exhibition, "The Other Story," staged at the Hayward Gallery in 1989 and curated by Rasheed Araeen. The show addressed issues of marginalization. Members of the Black Art Movement included Rasheed Areen, David Bailey, Sonia Boyce, Keith Piper, Marlene Smith and Donald Rodney. Source: TATE modern Art Terms, online
British Columbia Society of Artists / Fine Arts One of the first chartered art associations in western Canada and the first in the province of B.C., the British Columbia Society of Fine Arts was incorporated in 1909 and folded in 1967. Its primary activity was holding annual exhibitions and traveling exhibitions. Emily Carr and Thomas Fripp were among the society’s 20 founding members; Fripp its first President. Through the years the membership of the British Columbia Society of Artists, as it became known in 1949, included many of the province’s greatest artists including Alistair Bell, Bertram Binning, Molly Bobak, John Koerner, J.W.G. MacDonald, Toni Onley, Charles H. Scott, Herbert Siebner, Jack Shadbolt, Gordon A. Smith, and William Weston. Sources: Archives Canada; Vancouver Art Gallery; “Art and Architecture in Canada” (1991), by Loren R. Lerner and Mary F. Williamson; and "The Collector's Dictionary of Canadian Artists at Auction" (2001), by Anthony R. Westbridge and Diana L. Bodnar. Prepared and contributed to askART by M.D. Silverbrooke.
British Empire Exhibition Opened beginning on St. George's Day, April 23, 1924 by King Edward V and Queen Mary, it extended into 1925. Location was the Empire Stadium in Wembley Park, London. Funding was fifty percent by the government and the remainder by outside sources. The goal was to bring attention to citizens of the Empire of new sources of trade and the importance of fostering cultural and economic interaction between the varying Dominions and colonies. Exhibitions included products and arts and crafts from these places as well as education programs and conferences. The Palace of Arts, which was fire-proofed, contained historical room sets, as well as painting and sculpture since the eighteenth century. It also displayed the Queen's Dolls House, now at Windsor Castle, which even contained miniature bottles of Bass beer. Although the overall Exhibition was a success in reaching many citizens of the Empire, it was a financial loss of one point five million pounds. Source: Website of Making Britain; Wikipedia, 2021
British Institution The British Institution was founded in 1805 and lasted through 1867...it was an aristocratic private club by invitation only that promoted the work of living and dead British artists in a number of elegant and well-appointed galleries located in their headquarters in the Pall Mall, London, where they operated a Picture Gallery...very conservative and private! Also known as The British Institution for the Promotion of Fine Arts in the United Kingdom. Source: Gary Libby, Art Historian and Curator of Art.
British Institution for Promotion of Fine Arts, Un See British Institution
British School at Rome Established in 1901, near the Borghese Gardens, it was granted a United Kingdom Royal Charter in 1912, and is administered by the British Academy. The mission is "to promote knowledge of and deep engagement with all aspects of the arts, history and culture of Italy by scholars and fine artists from Britain and the Commonwealth, and to foster international and interdisciplinary exchange. There is a Faculty of Arts for Architecture, Sculpture and Painting. Painters are recipients of Abbey Scholarships and Abbey Fellowships, and are housed in "superbly modern studios." That school is named for Edwin Austin Abbey, an American who spent much of his career in England and Italy, and was active in founding the school. Upon his death in 1911, his widow provided memorial funds to build seven-studio apartments, which are used for recipients of the Abbey Awards. Sources: Wikipedia and website of www.abbey.ork/uk
British Surrealist Group Involved in the organization of the International Surrealist Exhibition in London in 1936, members included Eileen Agar, Humphrey Jennings, Simon Watson, Reuben Mednikoff and Grace Pailthorpe
Broadmoor Art Academy / Colorado Springs Fine Art Ce Flourishing in Colorado Springs from 1919 to 1935 in a structure at the foot of Pikes Peak, the Broadmoor Academy with its traditional approaches to creating art, was an important cultural center in the Rocky Mountain West. Its successor from 1935 to 1945 was the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center. At the time of the Broadmoor Academy’s beginning, wealthy Colorado Springs residents Julie and Spencer Penrose, who founded the Broadmoor Hotel, donated their home at 30 West Dale Street to fulfill their dream to have an art school that emphasized realism and easel painting and also serve as a center for the performing arts. John Fabian Carlson and Robert Reid were the first teachers. Other prominent teachers were Birger Sandzen, Randall Davey, Ernest Lawson, and Lloyd Moylan. In 1926, the Academy became affiliated with Colorado College, and four years later Boardman Robinson was hired as instructor, later becoming Director. In 1934, the Penrose residence was torn down, and replaced by the Colorado Springs Fine Art Center, which opened in 1935 as the successor institution to the Broadmoor Academy. That year, Robinson resigned due to ill health, and shortly after the school declined. Major factors were the removal of Robinson, who had been the primary guiding force, and the advent of abstraction with its disdain of realism, especially landscape painting. Sources: John and Deborah Powers, "Texas Painters, Sculptors and Graphic Artists"; “Pike’s Peak Vision: The Broadmoor Art Academy”; http://www.csindy.com/csindy/2002-12-12/cover.html
Bronze An alloy of copper and tin, sometimes containing small proportions of other elements such as zinc or phosphorus. It is stronger, harder, and more durable than brass, and has been used extensively since antiquity for cast sculpture. When used correctly, it will "replicate a three-dimensional model with such exactness that details as subtle as the artist's fingerprints can be reproduced." (Conner, 157) During the 19th century in Europe and America, bronze and marble were equally popular in sculpture, but bronze took precedence in the 20th century because it required less hard labor for the sculptor, did not require a huge staff of artisans, was more durable when finished, and could be reproduced without much additional attention from the sculptor. Bronze alloys vary in color from a silvery hue to a rich, coppery red. Today U.S. standard bronze is composed of 90% copper, 7% tin, and 3% zinc. From 1800 BC bronze has been one of the more useful materials to humanity. The Egyptians, Greeks and Persians used it extensively, and Florence, Italy under the rule of the Medici family, became a center for bronze casting. The name is likely derived from the Italian word "bruno" or brown. The earliest casting method for bronze was pouring the hot liquid into a design cut in stone. Sand molds were used for simple objects, and the Greeks pioneered methods of making large pieces repeatedly from an original model. In the 19th century, a method of bronze electrotyping was devised for making exact copies of antique and others sculptures. Bronze foundries were set up at Naples for making reproductions of statuary excavated at Pompeii, and the copies became popular items in Victorian-style homes in the late 19th century. In Paris, methods were developed for adding color to bronze, which unaltered had a golden-brown coloration that eventually became dark. Additional zinc added golden tones; lead added a blue-grey tint; tin and silver in high content imparted a black patina; and mercury was used for gilding, but that process proved poisonous. Unearthed bronzes vary in coloration depending upon the composition of the soil, and ones found underwater have an olive-green color and hard surface if they have been submerged for long periods. American sculptors known for work in bronze include Frederick Remington, Charles Russell, David Smith, William Zorach, Harriet Frishmuth, Glenna Goodacre, Augustus Saint-Gaudens, Paul Manship, James Earle Fraser and Daniel Chester French. Sources: Greta Elena Couper, "An American Sculptor on the Grand Tour"; Janis Conner and Thayer Tolles, 'Double Take', "The Magazine Antiques", November 2006.
Bronzing Painting plaster casts so they appear to be made from bronze. A finish called Vert Antique is the substance commonly used to achieve the effect of a bronze with patina. Source: Ralph Mayer, "A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques"
Brooklyn Society of Artists Forerunner of the American Society of Contemporary Artists, the BSA was founded in 1917 by 44 male and female artists, who sought more artistic freedom at a time when many "modernist" influences were changing the direction of American art. The goal of BSA members was to expand their exhibition opportunities, and throughout its history, the Brooklyn Museum was a frequent venue for those exhibitions. Until 1919, membership was limited to artists living or working in Brooklyn, but then was amended to artists outside of Brooklyn. By the 1960s, the Society had over 60 patron members. In 1963, the BSA voted to change its name to the American Society of Contemporary Artists. BSA artist members included Jacob Lawrence, Chaim Gross, Adolph Gottlieb, and Minna Citron. Source: "The History of American Society of Contemporary Artists" by Frank Mann and Charles Keller, http://ascartists.org/history.htm
Brooklyn Society of Etchers See American Society of Etchers
Brooklyn Society of Miniature Painters (Brooklyn, Founded by Nicholas [AKA: Nicolas] S. Macsoud in 1915; he served frequently as President from its founding until 1927. Charlotte E. Field also served as President for several years during the 1915 to 1927 period; afterwards, Edith Sawyer and Alexandrina R. Harris served as Presidents successively. The Inaugural Exhibition was at the Brooklyn Museum of Arts and Sciences in 1915. Subsequent exhibitions took place at the Hotel Bossart, Brooklyn and, most frequently, at the Brooklyn Museum. The last exhibition was at the National Arts Club, New York City in 1938. The society appears to have folded in 1939. Source: Wes & Rachelle Siegrist Art of Wildlife (website). Submitted to askART by M.D. Silverbrooke.
Brown The combination of all three primary colors (red, blue, yellow) in unequal proportions, dominated by red. Brown paints readily available from the artists' color menu are: Brown Madder; Brown Ochre; Brown Pink; Burnt Sienna; Burnt Umber; Madder Brown; Mars Brown; Raw Sienna; Raw Umber; Rowney Transparent Brown; Sepia and Vandyke Brown. Source: Ralph Mayer, "Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques"
Brown and Bigelow A publishing company based in Saint Paul, Minnesota, its specialty is advertising of products and calendars. It was founded in 1896 by Herbert Huse Bigelow and Hirm Brown. From 1925, a tradition began of publishing the Boy Scouts of America calendars, many illustrated by Norman Rockwell. Other illustrators for the company were Maxfield Parrish, Clair Fry, Cassius Coolidge and Rolf Armstrong. The company also was noted for hiring hundreds of ex-convicts. In the late 1940s, it was one of the biggest calendar printing companies in the world. Source: Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_%26_Bigelow
Brown County Indiana / Hoosier Group A large Indiana state part, it is about 60 miles south of Indianapolis and close to the campus of Indiana University in Bloomington. Nashville is the primary town of the park. The area with picturesque, lush scenery has been a mecca for artists, beginning with the Brown County impressionist painters of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Many of them became known as the Hoosier Group because of their regional ties. Leaders were Theodore Steele, J. Ottis Adams, Louis Griffith, and William Forsyth. Source: Askart.com biographies; www.browncountystatepark.com/indiana/
Brushians (The Brushians) An informal group of landscape painters from Portland, Maine. Their leader was George Frederick Morse who began the association in 1860. Many of the members are not well-known, but their work is historically significant because of the images they left of the Portland area including the coast. Other members included: C.F. Kimball, Harvard Armstrong, Henry Clark, Edward Griffin, John Calvin Stevens, John Weed, Frederick Thompson, Frank Bowie, John T. Wood, John Calvin Stevens, Frederick Ilsley, G.C. McKim, Tom O'Neil, Walter Bailey, Millard Baldwin, Charles Fuller and Clifford Crocker. Source: Elaine Ward Casazza, "The Brushians"; Maine Memory Network, http://www.mainememory.net/artifact/15684/
Brushwork The characteristic way each artist brushes paint onto a support.
Brutalism An art and design style that emerged in the 1950s, it grew out of the early 20th century modernist movement. It is linked to architecture characterized by massive, monolithic, blocky rigid, large scale and geometric. Source: Wikipedia
Bucks County Artists See "New Hope Impressionists" and "New Hope Modernists"
Buffalo Art Institute See Art Institute of Buffalo
Buffalo Fine Arts Academy See Albright Art School
Buffalo Print Club Formed in 1931 in Buffalo, New York, the Club began under the leadership of Kevin B. O'Callahan, who served as President from 1931 to 1952. It brought together many of Buffalo's finest print makers to share equipment, ideas and expertise. They set up presses and work tables in the basement of the Albright Art Gallery and met evenings twice a week. Although the Club is largely forgotten today, having begun to dwindle in membership in the late 1940s, "its advocacy of printmaking stimulated national recognition through exhibitions and the placement of prints in public and private collections" including prestigious additions to the Library of Congress. Artist members included Niels Yde Andersen, Ruth Percival and John Stewart. Later print collectors became a part of the membership. Source: Meibohm Fine Arts, http://www.meibohmfinearts.com/artists.aspx?ID=34
Buffalo Society of Artists Founded March 31, 1891 in Buffalo, New York in the studio of James Francis Brown, he served as first President. It was reaction against the conservative Fine Arts Academy of Buffalo, which was omitting local artists from its exhibitions. From the Society's inception, it has managed most of the time to endure with volunteering members and without salaried staff. Early members besides James Brown who figured large in the Society formation include William J. Wilgus, Thomas Le Clear, William H. Beard and Lars Gustaf Sellstedt. Initially it was composed of only "color men," but that quickly changed to include all artists, men and women, and sculptors and paintings working in black and white as well as color. The organization remains vital into the 21st Century. Source: Website of the Buffalo Society of Artists.
Burin A rod-shaped tool, also called a graver, with wooden handle and a variety of shaped points in a variety of sizes used for steel engraving. Source: Ralph Mayer, "A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques"
Burning Man A gathering of artists, it is based around events at the end of summer, and was co-founded by Larry Harvey, who in 1986 burned a wooden effigy on a San Francisco beach to celebrate the summer solstice. From that time, the art world has taken notice with free-spirited annual spectacles "that have occupied a dry lake bed outside Reno for nearly 30 years." Depictions "tend to focus on the hedonistic antics of attendees." Now with money from tickets being sold, artist grants have been given for artist participants. By 2018, income has been over one-million dollars annually, and this money plus "quiet funding from Silicon Valley has allowed Burning Man's art projects to grow in ambition and quality." Source: Brian Schaefer,'Will the Spirit of Burning Man Art Survive in Museums", The New York Times, March 23, 2018
Burnishing The act of rubbing greenware (clay) with any smooth tool to polish it, and tighten the surface.
Butler Institute of American Art Opened in 1919 in Youngstown, Ohio with leadership and funding of industrialist Joseph G. Butler, Jr., it was the first museum in the United States dedicated solely to American Art. Architects in Beaux Arts Style were McKim, Mead and White, and the goal of Butler was to expose the many foreigners that were settling in Ohio to American culture. Into the 21st century, it has stayed with its original mission statement and has examples of nearly every art style, movement and artists representing those areas. Source: 'Butler Institute of America Art', "The American Midwest: An Interpretive Encyclopedia", by Richard Sisson, Christian Zacher and Andrew Cayton.
Butter Sculpture Sculpture carved from butter, it has its roots in ancient Tibetan Buddhist art where it symbolized impermanence. It is a method first publicly introduced at the Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition of 1876 with a sculpture, "Dreaming Iolanthe" by Caroline Brooks, exhibited in a tub of ice. She became known as the 'Butter Woman', and subsequently patented the method because she felt that butter was a much more sensitive surface for making plaster molds than clay. From the time of its introduction at the Centennial Exhibition, Butter Sculpture became a regular feature at many state and regional fairs and continues into the 21st Century. However, some persons think it is a disservice to the credibility of women as sculptors. Of the 1876 exhibition, it was written that "the unfortunate 'Iolanthe' became the butt of many jokes and some bitterness; many more important exhibits and works of art were forgotten." (Weimann, 3) However, another critic wrote: “it was the best sculpture at the fair.” (Rubinstein, 93) Sources: Jeanne Madeline Weimann, "The Fair Women"; Pamela Simpson, "A Look at Women's History and Butter Sculpture as Art", http://www.su.edu/temp_news.cfm?urlnum=469; www.picturehistory.com; Charlotte Streifer Rubinstein, “American Women Sculptors”, p. 93yn
Buttress A projection, usually on the outside of a building and across from a major point of stress. Source: Julia Ehresmann, "The Pocket Dictionary of Art Terms"
Buy-In An auction entry that was not sold at an auction, usually because of not achieving the preset minimum price set by the auction house and/or the consignor. Source: www.sothebys.com
Buyer's Premium The amount above the hammer price that is taken by the auction house for the handling of the transaction. Source: www.sothebys.com
Byam Shaw School of Art Founded in 1910 in London by artists John Byam Shaw and Rex Vicat Cole as a school of drawing and painting, it remains as a school of Fine Art. In 2003, it became part of the University of London by joining the Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design. Source: http://courses.csm.arts.ac.uk/byamshaw/area.asp?area=1
Byrdcliffe Art Colony Organized in 1902, it was located in a beautiful rural setting on Mount Guardian near Woodstock, New York. Ralph Radcliffe-Whitehead, a wealthy Englishman was the founder. He was a student of fellow Englishman, John Ruskin, and committed to the Arts and Crafts Movement espoused by Ruskin and William Morris in England. Whitehead's goal was to create an arts and crafts environment in America that adhered to Ruskin's ideals that everyday objects should have aesthetic qualities. Whitehead purchased 1500 acres of land, seven farms, and oversaw the construction of 30 buildings that stood as "textbook example of a utopian Arts and Crafts community". The emphasis was on brotherhood and artistic collaboration, and one of the earliest committed American artists was Bolton Brown, who influenced Whitehead to settle at Woodstock. Ironically Whitehead and other supporters of the Colony used money from industrialist fortunes to finance their philosophical opposition. The name Byrdcliff combines part of the middle name of Whitehead with that of his Philadelphia-born wife, Jane Byrd McCall. Artists came from all over the United States and created pottery, textiles, metalwork, and furniture. Among these artists were Dawson Dawson Watson, Herman Dudley Murphy, Bruno Zimm, Zula Steele, John Fabian Carlson, Birge Harrison, Carl Eric Lindin, Leonard Ochtman, Gino Perera, William Schumacher; Miss Dewing Woodward, Jane Whitehead and, of course, Ralph Whitehead who became proficient at pottery. The Colony was never a financial success but continuing to function, is remembered as a key part of the Arts and Crafts Movement in America and is an ongoing center for creativity. Many objects in a variety of art forms have been produced including furniture, ceramics, and oil paintings. The art colony was also draw for liberated artistic women, who were involved in all aspects of daily life. A local historian claims, ''It was one of the few places creative women who didn't want to be housewives could go in those days.''Sources: Treadway Toomey Galleries, Catalogue of 5/23/2004; http://www.woodstockguild.org/ (See Arts and Crafts Movement); David Cook Galleries.
Byzantine Art / Byzantium Distinct stylized, often iconic art from A.D. 330 until the mid-15th Century, it was from Byzantium, which was ancient Constantinople when it was capital of the Greek Empire before the Turks invaded. Subjects were usually religious, and styles ranged from Oriental to Greek Classical Realism to French Gothic. European Catholic and Greek Orthodox Churches have had much Byzantine Art in frescoes, stained glass, mosaics, statuary and paintings. Sources: Ralph Mayer, "A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques"; Julia Ehresmann, "The Pocket Dictionary of Art Terms"

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