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Term Definition
Gag Art An infrequently used name for Pop Art. Source: Kimberley Reynolds & Richard Seddon, "Illustrated Dictionary of Art Terms"
Gaine The lower part of figurative sculpture, it is unfinished or tapered while the top part is finished or realistic. Many Egyptian and Greek temples have these tapered pillars. Source: Ralph Mayer, "A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques"
Gainsborough Studios Located at 222 Central Park South in New York City, it was an artist studio-apartment cooperative founded by Colin Cooper, Elliot Daingerfield and August Franzen. The building, completed in 1908 with 30 units and 16 stories, was designed by Charles Buckham and Isodore Konti. The facade and interior were ornate with Ionic columns, white terra cotta, friezes with classical themes, multi-colored tiles and a middle niche with the bust of painter Thomas Gainsborough. Franzen, who had special admiration for this artist, is credited with the name. In 1988, the building, after extensive renovation, was given New York City Landmark designation. Originally artists including Cooper, Daingerfield and Franzen were the primary occupants but gradually it became a mix of owners. Source: Christopher Gray, 'Streetscapes', "The New York Times", July 10, 1988; August Franzen AskART biography
Gall Nut / Nutgall The round swelling formed on an oak tree from an insect sting, it is used in the preparation of writing ink. Source: Ralph Mayer, "A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques"
Gallery 291 / Photo-Secession Gallery Located at 291 Fifth Avenue in New York City and usually referred to as "291", this Gallery was opened in 1905 by photographer Alfred Stieglitz with the original goal being to exhibit photography. But in 1907, Stieglitz broadened the scope to include avant-garde painting, sculpture and graphic arts with the hope of showing that photography could hold its own on an equal level with the other visual arts. Gallery 291 then became the center of contemporary, leading-edge American and European art in America with the first American exhibitions of work by Auguste Rodin, Henri Matisse, and Paul Cezanne, Pablo Picasso and Constantin Brancusi. From 1909, American modernists were featured including Marsden Hartley, Alfred Maurer, John Marin, Arthur Carles, Stanton Macdonald-Wright, Max Weber, Elie Nadelman, Arthur Dove, and Georgia O'Keeffe, whom Steiglitz married and promoted her career. From 1903 to 1917, "Camera Work" was the Gallery's official publication. Gallery 291 closed in 1917 when the building was torn down. Successor galleries opened by Steiglitz were Anderson Galleries from 1925 to 1929, and An American Place from 1920 to 1946. Source: "Phaidon Dictionary of Twentieth Century Art"
Gallery Nature Morte Gallery Nature Morte showcased a post-modern genre of deconstructionist conceptual photography, sculpture, and painting. The gallery continues to be recognized as an influence on today’s condition of contemporary art. Artists who were exhibited at Gallery Nature Morte in New York include: Vito Acconci, Steven Parrino, Thomas Nozkowski, Michelangelo Pistoletto, Keith Sonnier, Louise Lawler, Sherrie Levine, Ross Bleckner, Robert Gober, Not Vital, James Welling, Barbara Kruger, David Robbins, Lisa Beck, Haim Steinbach, Richard Pettibone, Allan McCollum, Laurie Simmons, Joseph Nechvatal, James Brown, Jennifer Bolande, Joel Otterson, Howard Halle, Dennis Adams, Michael Zwack, Robin Weglinski, Clegg and Guttmann, Steve DiBenedetto, Julie Wachtel, Kevin Larmon, Ken Lum, Gretchen Bender, Ericka Beckman, and Cady Noland. In 1997 Nature Morte was reincarnated by Peter Nagy in New Delhi, with a concentration on Indian contemporary art. Source: Website of Alan Belcher, 2018
Gallery Picture A large painting and normally one in which the figures are life-size or larger, it must therefore be hung in spacious surroundings. Source: Kimberley Reynolds & Richard Seddon, "Illustrated Dictionary of Art Terms"
Gallery Tone A term used euphemistically in the 19th Century, it referenced the yellow coloration of a painting whose varnish had darkened with grime. This look used to be considered desirable, but the modern preference seems to be for the clean, restored look. Source: Ralph Mayer, "A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques"
Gallipot / Galipot A small porcelain container, it can be used by painters to hold their oil paints. Source: Ralph Mayer, "A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques"
Galvanized Metal Usually iron or steel and used in welded sculpture, it is coated with electroplated zinc so it is resistant to weather. Source: Ralph Mayer, "A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques"
Gamboge A clear, transparent yellow substance, it is obtained from yellow gum-resin from a variety of trees grown in India, Sri Lanka, and Thailand. It is not suitable for oil painting, but is effective in gilding and watercolor because of its transparency. Source: Ralph Mayer, "A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques"
Gammadion A design formed by the junction of four gammas of the Greek alphabet, examples include Swastikas and Greek Crosses. Source: Ralph Mayer, "A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques"
Gardena High School Collection A now-valuable collection of early California Impressionist paintings, it is owned by Gardena High School in Los Angeles. The paintings were acquired beginning with the graduating class in 1919, a year the school principal, John Whitely, suggested that each senior class purchase a painting as a parting gift to the school. Students held fund raisers and then visited artists' studios to make the selections. Once the selection was made, studio talks and special receptions were held. In 1999, educator Dr Robert Detweiler worked with others including Joan Irvine Smith, Jean Stern, and representatives of the W.M. Keck Foundation to hold a special exhibition of the paintings, "Painted Light: California Impressionist Paintings from the Gardena High School". Among artists represented are Maynard Dixon, Guy Rose, Franz Bischoff, Armin Hansen, Jesse Botke, Frank Tenney Johnson, Jean Mannheim and Edgar Payne. Source: Jean Stern, "Painted Light: California Impressionist Paintings"
Gargoyle Meaning "grotesque", it is a building decoration, common to Gothic architecture that is an open mouth projecting from an upper gutter of a building to carry water away from the walls. Source: Julia Ehresmann, "The Pocket Dictionary of Art Terms"
Garland Paintings Garland paintings are a type of still life invented in early 17th century Antwerp by Jan Brueghel the Elder and subsequently practised by leading Flemish still life painters, and in particular Daniel Seghers. Paintings in this genre typically show a flower or, less frequently, fruit garland around a devotional image or portrait. In the later development of the genre, the devotional image is replaced by other subjects such as portraits, mythological subjects and allegorical scenes.Garland paintings were usually collaborations between a still life and a figure painter. Source: Wikipedia
Garnet Paper Used for smoothing gesso in the preparation of grounds for paintings, it is pink colored abrasive paper coated with fine fragments of garnet and resembles sandpaper. Source: Ralph Mayer, "A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques"
Gary Melchers Memorial Medal Established in 1947 by Artists' Fellowship, Inc., it is dedicated to the distinguished career of Gari Melchers. Source: Artists' Fellowship, Inc.http://www.artistsfellowship.org/event.html
Garzone An artist's young apprentice or studio boy. Source: Kimberley Reynolds & Richard Seddon, "Illustrated Dictionary of Art Terms"
Gavel A hammer of the auctioneer, it is used when the bidding is closed. Source: www.sothebys.com
Gee's Bend Quiltmakers An association of black-American quiltmakers from Gee's Bend, a remote community in Alabama, members have created hundreds of original design quilt masterpieces. Oldest examples go back to the 1920s, and are considered a major contribution to African-American art. Their artistic improvisational achievements, called 'my-way quilts,' are credited to geographical isolation and an unusual degree of cultural continuity. Source: "Gee's Bend Quiltmakers," from website of Souls Grown Deep.
Gees Bend A Quilt cooperative in Gee's Bend, Alabama, members are known for their original designs and compositions. Their work has been described as "more often associated with the inventiveness and power of the leading 20th-century abstract painters than it is with textile making." The quilting tradition in Gee's Bend goes back to the time when that area was a plantation owned by Joseph Gee. Female slaves pieced together strips of cloth to make bedcovers for the time when they lived in unheated shacks, but along the way "they developed a distinctive style, noted for its lively improvisations and geometric simplicity." By the 21st century, more than 50 women are part of the Collective with every quilt being unique and individually produced. Source: 'The Quilts of Gees Bend', Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Quilts_of_Gees_Bend
General Idea / Miss General Idea A Toronto-based collaborative art movement founded in 1968 by George Saia, Ronald Gabe, and Michael Tims, it lasted until the deaths of Saia and Gabe in 1994. Each man took a new name to use as an artist, and these names are respectively Jorge Zontal, Felix Partz and AA Bronson. Working as a trio to be freed "from the tyranny of individual genius", they functioned artistically as a single entity called Miss General Idea. Their intent was to make fun of contemporary art, media promoting it, and museum exhibitions. Their mediums were installation sculpture, films, performances, photographs and publications including their own magazine called "File". In the 1980s, AIDS was a major focus of their efforts, and Miss General Idea created and distributed mass-produced (multiples) posters, billboards, stamps, lottery tickets and other electronic images. They also did cynical commentary works about pharmaceutical companies' research methods for AIDS medications. Spreading their messages, the creating of Multiples was a key component, and in 1974, Miss General Idea established a multiples distribution center called Art Metropole. Included in their multiples were humorous and sardonic references to modern art. They also kept a regular exhibition schedule. After Zontal and Partz died of AIDS, Bronson felt as though he had lost his own identify and produced many works dealing with death, survival and moving on in order to rebuild himself with a new self image. In 2003, the Galerie Frederic Giroux in Paris hosted an exhibition of his work, "AA Bronson Healer". In January 2003, a traveling exhibition titled "General Idea: Editions, 1967-1996" was organized by Barbara Fischer for the Blackwood Gallery of the University of Toronto at Mississauga. Source: Peter Gallo, 'The Enduring Ephemera of General Idea', "Art in America", March 2005, pp. 81-83.
Genesee Group of Painters, Geneseeans This group of representational painters were active in the Genesee River Valley near Rochester, New York, in the early 20th Century. Dedicated to resisting European modernism, which increasingly was influencing American painters, they sought through plein-air painting to capture the Spirit of Place through their regional landscapes. Among other early members were Milton Holm, Enoch Stoddard, George Mumford and Carl Peters. Source: R.H. Love Galleries, courtesy, Michael Worley, Ph.D.
Genre A subject for many artists, it is depiction of people going about human interactive activities such as domestic chores, moving into frontiers, fighting or socializing. Genre paintings are often narrative, and because they eschew 'lofty' subjects such as religious symbolism and mythology, it was not until the 17th century that they gained respect as 'high art'. Dutch 17th-century artists Jan Steen, Jan Vermeer, and Pieter de Hooch first used genre as subject matter. In American painting, the word genre was first used in the mid-19th century to describe works that showed daily life. Among noted American genre artists are William Sidney Mount, Thomas Waterman Wood, Seymour Joseph Guy, Edward Lamson Henry, John Joseph Brown and Enoch Wood Perry. Sources: Kimberley Reynolds & Richard Seddon, "Illustrated Dictionary of Art Terms"; Donald Martin Reynolds, "Masters of American Sculpture"
Geometric Abstraction An art style popularized in the 20th century, it refers to artwork whose subjects are shapes based on simple geometry such as straight lines, circles, squares and rectangles. In contrast to Abstract Expressionist painting, Geometric Abstract shape colors are distinct, not blended, and often are delineated by bold colors. Pioneering Geometric Abstract painters were the Russian, Kasimir Malelvich (1878-1935), and Dutchman, Piet Mondrian (1872-1944). American sculptors and painters include include Carl Andre, Frank Stella, Patrick Henry Bruce, and Allan d'Arcangelo. Sources: Ralph Mayer, "A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques"; AskART biographies.
Geometric Shapes Shapes created by exact mathematical law.
German Expressionism See Blue Rider/"Der Blaue Reiter and "Die Brucke"/The Bridge
Gershon Iskowitz Prize In 1985, to recognize the value of the Canada Council's assistance to him over the years, Gershon Iskowitz established The Gershon Iskowitz Foundation, and the Gershon Iskowitz Prize, which awards $25,000 annually to a mature, practicing artist. The prize includes an exhibition of the recipient’s works at the Art Gallery of Ontario accompanied by a publication. It is considered one of the most prestigious visual arts awards in the country. Artists who have earned the prize include Betty Goodwin, Jack Shadbolt, Stan Douglas and Shirley Wiitasalo.Submitted to askART by M.D. Silverbrooke, Art Historian and Collector, West Vancouver, British Columbia.
Gesso A ground made of gypsum (gesso in Italian) or chalk mixed with water or glue to provide a dense, brilliantly white absorbent surface for tempera and some types of oil painting, it is usually applied to a panel in several coats before painting begins. The first application, a coarse undercoat, is called "gesso grosso"; the final application is a fine surface coat known as "gesso sottile". However, modern painters usually do only one coat because pre-smoothed panels can be purchased. When applied to flat panels, frames, or furniture, the gesso is usually sanded until very smooth and ivory-like. It is never used with canvas as it would be too brittle. Sources: Source: Ralph Mayer, "A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques"; Kimberley Reynolds & Richard Seddon, "Illustrated Dictionary of Art Terms"
Gestalt A German word for form, figure or shape, in fine art it is used to describe the "phenomenon that the total effect of an object may seem greater than the sum of its constituent parts." In other words, Gestalt is the process whereby the mind of the viewer selects sensations from the totality of images in an artwork and mentally re-shapes it into an image and sensation that makes sense to the viewer. The theory was first put forth in the 1930s in Germany and England. Source: Kimberley Reynolds & Richard Seddon, "Illustrated Dictionary of Art Terms"
Gestural Painting, Gesturalism A term to describe artwork whose purpose is to express personal "handwriting" or subjectivity of the artist, the activity reflects the emotions of the artist. Frenchman Edouard Manet pioneered Gesturalism as did Dutch artist Vincent Van Gogh. Jackson Pollock is arguably the most famous American gestural artist with his Drip Paintings that he created with arm-swinging gestures. Source: Robert Atkins, "Art Speak" (Also, see Drip Painting)
Giclee A French word pronounced 'zheeclay,' it is is derived from the verb gicler meaning to splash, and references the process of making fine art prints from a digital source. This blend of art and technology produces copies with a higher resolution and broader color range than such other copy methods such as lithography or serigraphy. Source: /www.google.com/search?&q=define:Giclee
Gilded Age A term based on the word "gilded" or covered with gold, it refers to a period of extravagance in America between the end of the Civil War and the end of the 19th Century. It was a time when America changed from an agricultural to industrial based society, which meant the growth of a middle class and big fortunes for some industrial tycoon families such as Vanderbilts, Rockefellers, Astors, Carnegies and Forbes. Painters and sculptors reflected this era through idealized and expansionist themed genre, portraits, monumental statues and industrial scenes. Examples are works by Thomas Eakins, Eastman Johnson, Winslow Homer, Augustus St. Gaudens, Daniel Chester French, John Ferguson Weir and Albert Pinkham Ryder. Source: Shirley Glubok, "The Art of America in the Gilded Age".
Gilded, Gilding, Gilting Referencing surfaces covered with gold or metal leaf, the process creates the appearance of solid or inlaid gold or metal. The word "Gilding" is derived from the word Gold, but the term in recent times has come to reference metals as well as gold. The gilded leaf is used in painting and sculpture and often for decorative affects. Gilding can be applied either to a tacky base that has been sized with glue, gesso or thick oil varnish and then burnished, or it can be glued to any un-sized surface but then cannot be burnished. The method of Gilding dates back to the ancient Egyptians and Chinese, to Old Testament Biblical figures and Ancient Greeks. In the Middle Ages, Gilding was used for manuscript illumination, lettering and for backgrounds of paintings. It reached its most popular time in Europe and America during the Victorian Era of the late 19th and early 20th Centuries when ornate decoration was very popular. Sources: Ralph Mayer, "A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques"; Kimberley Reynolds & Richard Seddon, "Illustrated Dictionary of Art Terms"
Gilder's Cushion A pad about 6 to 12 inches in surface covered with cotton batting over a piece of suede, it is used to flatten gold leaf so that it can be cut and applied by the Gilder. The Cushion attaches to the thumb and secures the gold leaf from drafts so that it is absolutely flat. Sources: Ralph Mayer, "A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques"; Kimberley Reynolds & Richard Seddon, "Illustrated Dictionary of Art Terms"
Gilder's Knife A knife used to cut metal leaf into the desired size and shape for application. Source: Ralph Mayer, "A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques"
Gilder's Tip An implement used to gather up fragile gold leaves so they can be carried to the gilding area, it is brush-like with a row of camel hair of varying density protruding from two cards, about four inches wide. In order to pick up the metal leaf, the Gilder runs the brush through his own hair to make the tip slightly oily so that the leaf will attach. A Gilder's Tip is usually necessary only with fragile gold leaf because other metals are heavy enough not to need the Tip. Source: Ralph Mayer, "A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques"
Gilder's Wax A combination of beeswax with verdigris or some other acidic substance, it is used to accent the color of gold and provide a warm tone to the surface when gold leaf has been applied to another metal. The applied Wax is then burned off, and the gilded surface is cleaned with acid. Source: Ralph Mayer, "A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques"
Giornata An Italian word meaning in English, 'a day's work', the term refers to the amount of painting work the muralist can do in one day before the plaster dries. On very high walls, the plastering and fresco painting is done horizontally, with the scaffolding being lowered gradually as the sections are completed. Source: Ralph Mayer, "A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques"
Gisant A sculptured effigy of a deceased person, it is usually part of a tomb monument. Gisants were often part of Gothic sepulchral monuments in Europe, sometimes with death emphasized by depictions of crawling vermin. Source: Ralph Mayer, "A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques"
Giverny, France A French town, its name has become synonymous with Impressionism because its most famous resident was Claude Monet, one of the first Impressionists. Origins of the Giverny art colony date to 1887, when a small band of artists, including Americans Willard Metcalf, Louis Ritter, Theodore Wendel and John Leslie Breck "discovered" the village. Claude Monet, by then known to the American artists through both Parisian and American exhibitions, had settled there in 1883. He was receptive at first to having "disciples" learn from him, but soon tired of the invasion. The first group of artists painted primarily landscapes, and the second group focused on depicting family life, especially the female figure in the intimacy of the artist's own garden or private interior setting. World War I (1914) marked the end of an era for the art colony, but the place with its Monet gardens remains a tourist attraction. Sources: William Gerdts, "Monet's Giverny: An Impressionist Colony"; AskART biographies
Glare Aesthetic An emphasis on brilliant effects of light, it is a method used to reinforce strong outlines. Many of paintings of Walter Ufer (1876-1936) represent this light-filled style. Source: AskART Ufer biography
Glascow School A group of artists from Scotland, primarily landscape painters, who were active in the late 19th Century, they rejected prevalent tenets of Academic painting and painted with French influences in the more modernist, Barbizon style of 'en plein air' or painting in the open air. Their subjects were Scottish, such as rather conventional scenes of the countryside or wildlife in marshes, etc. The Glascow School was England's late 19th-century contribution to western art, but the movement peaked after their exhibition in 1890 at the Grosvenor Gallery in London. Source: Robert Atkins, "ART SPOKE"
Glasgow Boys A collective of painters in Scotland, members interpreted and expanded Impressionist and Post-impressionist painting by using recognizable scenes of Glasgow, and producing true-to-nature paintings. Their naturalistic, plein-air paintings were innovative, new to this time period. Also strong influences were Japanese prints, French Realism and painting by Jules Bastien-Lepage and James Abbott McNeill Whistler. Glasgow Boys included Joseph Crawhall, Thomas Millie Dow, Sir James Guthrie, George Henry, E. A. Hornel, and E. A. Walton. David Gauld, William Kennedy, Sir John Lavery, Stuart Park, William Wells, Sir D. Y. Cameron, Alexander Roche, Arthur Melville, Thomas Corsan Morton, James McLachlan Nairn, Sir George Pirie and J. Quinton Pringle. James Paterson and William York Macgregor were leading figures in the group, which used to meet at Macgregor's studio. Source: Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glasgow_School
Glasgow Girls A group of Scottish female designers and artists, they focused on continuing the tradition of china painting into the 1940s and 1950 by hand painting ceramics with floral designs. Included were Margaret and Frances MacDonald, Jessie M. King, Annie French, Jessie Wylie Newbery, Ann Macbeth, Bessie MacNicol, Norah Neilson Gray, Stansmore Dean, Eleanor Allen Moore, De Courcy Lewthwaite Dewar and Chris J Fergusson (Chrissie Stark) (1876–1957). (See Glossary entry, Glasgow School). Source: Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glasgow_School
Glasgow School of Art Scotland's only independent art school offering university level programming, it is affiliated with the University of Glasgow. Disciplines include Fine Art Photography, Painting, Printmaking, Sculpture, Environmental Art, Product Design, Textiles, Jewellery, Interior Design, Digital Culture and Architecture. It was founded in 1853, and "has produced most of Scotland's leading contemporary artists including since 2005, 30 percent of the Turner Prize nominees." Among students have been Chantal Joffe, Simon Starling and Nathan Coley. Source: Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glasgow_School_of_Art
Glasgow School Style of Art A group of modern painters and designers, they were influential in Scotland between the 1870s and early 20th century. They reflected the economic boom at the end of the 19th century, and pursued modernist styles such as Art Nouveau in the fields of architecture, interior design and painting. Among the most prominent artists, whose work defined the Glasgow School were Margaret MacDonald, Charles Rennie Mackintosh, and Frnaces and Herbert MacNair: Wikipedia.
Glass Art Society An international, non profit organization founded in 1971, its purpose is to encourage development of the glass arts through a journal, annual conference and exhibitions. Marvin Lipofsky and Mark Peiser were founders, realizing that such an organization would facilitate sharing ideas and helping each other. By 2016, membership was over 2000 persons from 46 countries. Source: "About the Glass Art Society," www.glassorg.
Glass Blowing See Blown Glass
Glass Painting A term that has two meanings, it can refer to a process of kiln-fired painting on glass, whose fragments are used for stained-glass windows; and also to unfired painting with oil or gouache directly onto sheets of glass to be viewed from the underside. Source: Ralph Mayer, "A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques"
Glassine Paper Smooth, glossy paper used in packaging and by conservators. it is used as facing in the lining of an oil painting. The adhesive is wax, which can easily be peeled away with light heat application. Source: Ralph Mayer, "A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques"
Glaze / Glazing A very thin, transparent colored paint, it is applied over a dried painted surface to alter the appearance and color of the surface. In ceramics, Glaze is a thin, vitreous coating fused to the piece with the high heat of the kiln process. Glazing paintings was done in Europe by the Old Masters. Restoration can remove Glaze. Sources: Ralph Mayer, "A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques"; Kimberley Reynolds, Richard Seddon, "Illustrated Dictionary of Art Terms"
Gobelins, Gobelin Tapestry Fabric dyers who date back to the middle of the 15th Century in Paris, their name of Gobelins has become synonymous with tapestry making for royalty beginning with Louis XIV. The Gobelins Manufactury is located in Paris at 42 Avenue des Gobelins, and the Ministry of Culture is now in charge of the operation, which has expanded far beyond the Gobelin family. Gobelins also ran a Tapestry School, where one of the first American women students was Elizabeth Gardner Bouguereau. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gobelins_Manufactory; AskART biography
Gold Leaf Thin, delicate sheets of gold, they are usually obtained from a book of 25 three-inch sheets that can be removed individually by a delicate process. Gold Leaf, which is literally gold beaten into flat leaves, can be put on board or paper. Because gold is inert, it does not tarnish, so it retains its ability to lend elegance to works of art. A person correctly applying Gold Leaf first puts down sizing, lets it dry until sticky, and then attaches it to the sized surface by using a small brush and a leaf lifter, which is a small piece of clear plastic activated by rubbing it on one's arm to charge it with static electricity. Then the the leaf-lifter is used to pick up the delicate sheets of gold, usually in three-inch squares between tissue paper, and places them on the sized surface. The next step is burnishing, which is rubbing the leaf so that it adheres. Standard Gold Leaf is 23.5 carats, with about 2000 leaves weighing one ounce. However, variations are available such as lemon gold (18.5 carats) and pale gold (16 carats). Gold Leaf can enhance a work by suggesting grandeur or wealth or divinity as expressed in the artwork of Judeo-Christian religion. It has been used throughout western history on sculpture, church domes, picture frames, decorations, manuscript illuminations, and religious paintings suggesting haloes, etc. Sources: Anne Heywood, 'All That Glitters is Gold', "The Pastel Journal", December 2005, pp. 23; Ralph Mayer, "A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques".
Golden Age of Danish Painting See Danish Golden Age
Golden Gate International Exposition Held 1939 from February through October, and in 1940 from May 25 through September, the location was San Francisco at Treasure Island, which was built for this World's Fair. It was a celebration of recognition of the completion of the city's two new bridges, The Golden Gate Bridge, finished 1937, and The Oakland Bay Bridge, dedicated in 1936. The Fair theme was Pageant of the Pacific, "primarily showcasing the goods of nations bordering the Pacific Ocean." Hundreds of American artists exhibited their work in the Gallery of Arts and Sciences including many from California such as Claire Falkenstein, Rowena Abdy, Maurice Braun, Alice Chittenden, Armin Hansen, Edgar Payne, Nicolai Fechin. The International Business Machines Corporation assembled a Contemporary Art section, with representatives from each of the 48 states plus Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands and District of Columbia. Sources: Wikipedia; AskART biographhies; Bakkom Collection, St. Paul MN
Golden Section, Golden Mean, Golden Ratio A theory of proportion, it has been used for centuries by artists in painting compositions and is based on proportions found in nature. It is a division of sections whereby the smaller one is the same proportion to the larger as the larger is to the whole work, a ratio of of approximately 5 to 8: A(the whole) is to B (the larger section) as B is to C (the smaller section). The name Golden Section was first used in the nineteenth century, but the proportion itself dates back to the work of the Greek mathematician, Euclid. In the early fifteenth century the Italian mathematician, Luca Pacioli, wrote a book on the subject called "Divina Proportione", which was illustrated by Leonardo da Vinci and used in his "Last Supper" composition. This influential work led to the widespread use of the Golden Section by many Renaissance and later artists and architects. Source: Wikipedia: http://www.goldennumber.net/goldsect.htm
Goldener Plotter Award, Computerkunst / Gladbeck, Ge A competition and award in computer art offered by the city of Gladbeck, Germany, it was first awarded in 1986 and has continued every two years since then. The winner receives a small sculpture in the form of a plotter device and a moderate financial sum. Source: Website of Goldener Plotter der Stadt Gladbeck.
Gongbi A precise, realist Chinese painting method of painting, it requires drawing with fine lines to represent exact likenesses and then washing and adding of ink and color, layer by layer. It is the opposite of spontaneous, sketchy or expressive. The name is derived from the Chinese word "gong chin", which means tidy or meticulous in English. The method dates back about 2000 years to the Han Dynasty, a period of political stability and respect for tradition. Gongbi peaked between the 7th and 13th centuries, when wealthy people took special interest in supporting its artists, who needed financial guarantee because they had to give total commitment to the process. Some 20/21st century Chinese artists practice the method including Pang Zouyu. Source: Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gongbi
goofy painting An art form consisting of applying paint to a piece of glass and then viewing the image by turning the glass over and looking through the glass at the image. This art form has been around for many years. It was widely used for sacral paintings since the Middle Ages. The most famous was the art of icons in the Byzantine Empire. Later the painting on glass spread to Italy, where in Venice it influenced its Renaissance art. Since the middle of the 18th century, painting on glass became favored by the Church and the nobility throughout Central Europe. A 20th century artist using the method was Fritz Aigner. Source: Wikipedia, askART biographies.
Gotham Art School Opened at 695 Broadway in New York City in 1880, the school was intended to provide flexibly scheduled art classes. The "New York Times", January 15, 1888 carried the following information: "The design of the institution is to give a chance for instruction to those who work week days and who have a taste for art. There is a ladies' class in the morning in drawing from cast and life, an evening class for men and boys, and there are Sunday classes for those who cannot come at any other time. . . .Altogether there are about 60 students recruited from nearly all classes---compositors, artisans and bookkeepers. The fees are $6 a month, and $2 a month for cast work." Teachers included Frederick Moynihan and H. Siddons Mowbray, and among students who became well known are Charles Cookman, Otto Stark and Jules Goodman. The school was supported by artist patrons including Augustus St. Gaudens and William Merritt Chase. Source: "The New York Times" archives.
Gothic Architecture A style dominate in Europe from the 12th to the 15th centuries, it is noted for pointed arches, ribbed vaults, and often large areas of stained glass. It is especially prevalent in the great cathedrals of Europe such as Notre Dame in Paris with flying buttresses, "which made possible thin stone walls and an airy interior space." Sources: Wikipedia; Ralph Mayer, "A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques"
Gouache Watercolor based, it is made opaque by the addition of white pigments and sometimes with a glue binder and lightens considerably from drying. Unlike transparent watercolor, gouache does not allow whiteness of the paper to show through the paint. Source: Ralph Mayer, "A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques"
Goupil and Company See Knoedler Gallery
Government School of Design, London See South Kensington School of Art, London
Governor General's Awards, Canada Given as recognition for Visual and Media Arts, they are Canada's foremost distinctions for excellence in these disciplines and were created in 1999 by the Governor General of Canada and the Canada Council for the Arts. The Canada Council funds and administers the awards. Up to eight prizes are awarded annually to artists for distinguished career achievement in architecture, independent film and video, or audio and new media. Each prize is valued at $25,000. Source: Canada Council for the Arts. Among recipients are Fernand Leduc, Alexander Colville, Charles Gagnon, Gathie Falk and Michael Snow. http://www.canadacouncil.ca/prizes/ggavma/2010.htm. Submitted to askART by M.D. Silverbrooke, West Vancouver, British Columbia
Graffiti Art / Street Art Graffiti, an Italian word for 'scratches', refers to an art form most popular during the 1970s and 1980s, but still alive today. Graffiti Art results from artists who create images, usually with paint, in a manner that appears to be sloppy, undisciplined, and defiant-seeming image making by street kids on the surfaces of city structures. The formal practice of graffiti goes back to the Egyptians, but was not thought of as an art form until the 1970s when artists began imitating the 'scratchings' of street teens in the New York subway stations. Some artists such as Crash, Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat were acknowledged as Graffiti artists by the art world, but interest faded when Graffiti Art arrived on canvases into the galleries of New York. In the 21st century, artists such as Shepard Fairey, Barry McGee and Swoon continue the tradition. Source: Robert Atkins, "Art Speak". "ARTnews", 11/2008; AskART biographies
Graham Art Medal An award of the Brooklyn Institute, it was named for Augustus Graham (1776-1851), a manufacturer, philanthropist, and founder of the Apprentices' Library, a facility of lectures and entertainment for working men. Under his leadership, it grew into the Brooklyn Institute, later named the Brooklyn Museum of Art. The Graham Art Medal is given each year for outstanding contribution to the Museum. An early recipient was Ernest Albert (1857-1946). Source: http://www25.uua.org/uuhs/duub/articles/augustusgraham.html; ASkART biography.
Grand Central Academy of Art Established in New York City in the fall of 2006 by Jacob Collins for the teaching of Classical Realist painting, it is a four-year program and an extension of Collins' Water Street Atelier, which is offered in the same building. However, the Academy space is larger; and the curriculum is more structured in that it includes copying works of art, and classes in anatomy, dissection, composition and art history. Enrollment is about 15 students. Teachers include Collins, Scott Waddell, Patrick Connors and Edward Minoff. Sources: www.jacobcollinspaintings.com/teaching.html; http://grandcentralacademy.classicist.org/instructors.html
Grand Central Art Galleries Formed in 1923 by artists led by Edmund Greacen and managed by art dealer Erwin Barrie, it had sprawling showrooms on the top floor over Grand Central Station, and at first was one of the "strongest citadels of conservatism" relative to art style. The Galleries began as an entity of non-profit cooperatives for artists, where they could exhibit their work and also store it for ongoing exhibitions. Businessmen provided the capital; artists paid their dues with artwork; and later traveling exhibitions were organized by members. However special recognition came in 1934, when art dealer Edith Halpert staged a show there called "33 Moderns", described in "Time" magazine as "the biggest event in the campaign to modernize U.S. art since the Armory Show of 1913." Artist members included Lamar Dodd, Burt Procter, Henry Hensche, Frederick Frieseke, James Earle Fraser, John Singer Sargent and Guy Wiggins. Sources: Lindsay Pollock, "A Girl With a Gallery", p. 174; AskART biographies
Grand Central Atelier A collaborative work space founded by Jacob Collins at Long Island City devoted to the practice and study of drawing, painting and sculpture, and to public education about classical inspired art through lectures, exhibitions and public discussion. Artist enrollees commit to a four-year curriculum and are selected from online application and interviews. Studio sessions are full days, Monday through Friday. Curriculum follows classical academy methods of beginning with drawing and painting from casts and then progressing to individual expressions of painting and sculpture in classical realist style. Source: Grand Central Atelier, Web, Sep. 2016
Grand Central School of Art Founded in 1923 in New York City by John Singer Sargent, Edmund Greacen and Walter Leighton Clark, it was operated by members of the cooperative, Grand Central Art Galleries. Sargent and Daniel Chester French served as first Directors in the facility, which was a 7,000 square foot space on the 7th Floor of the east wing of the Grand Central Terminal. The first year enrollment was about 400 students, and the school expanded rapidly, becoming one of the largest art schools in the city. Among the teachers were Harvey Dunn, Dean Cornwell, Nicolai Fechin and Arshile Gorky, and students included Ken Riley, Gerald Delano, Charles Addams and Norman Rockwell. The school, which held summer sessions in Eastport, Maine, closed in 1944. Despite similarities in name, the Grand Central School of Art had no relationship to the Grand Central Academy of Art. Sources: Wikipedia, Grand Central School of Art; AskART biographies
Grand Detour Art Colony In 1898 Chicagoan Wallace Heckman invited Lorado Taft, Charles Francis Browne, Ralph Clarkson, Hamlin Garland, Henry Blake Fuller and other artists to establish a summer retreat and workplace on his Oregon property overlooking the Rock River now known as Taft Campus at Lowden State Park. The colony was named Eagle’s Nest Association for the ancient gnarled cedar tree which stood for many years on the bluff. The Oregon public library, designed by two of the architects from the colony, houses a collection of art done by various Eagle’s Nest members. Grand Detour artist colony developed as an offshoot of the Eagle’s Nest artist camp when member and landscape painter Charles Francis Browne began bringing students to Grand Detour where they spent several weeks each summer painting and sketching in the village and along the Rock River. Grand Detour was a quiet, peaceful and picturesque village at this time. There were two hotels, the Sheffield and the Colonial Inn, which provided room and board at a reasonable cost. Vacant houses were used for storing art supplies and paintings. Most of the artists in the Grand Detour art group were summer residents, but after the Sheffield Hotel burned down in 1928, several built homes on the west side of the village along the Rock River. Six artists were most prominent in this group, with John Nolf as their unofficial leader. A short distance from Nolf’s house was that of Holger Jensen, a year-round resident. Oscar Soellner built a small cottage and spent summers here with his family. Water color painter Fred Garner lived in the stately old house built in the early days of Grand Detour by Willard House. Garner was most active in the day-to-day life of the village. Mattie Lietz stayed at the Colonial Inn. Dixon native Agnes Ferguson built her house on a bluff with an imposing view of the river and was the last member of the art group when she died in 1985. Beside painting and holding exhibitions, most of these artists supplemented their income by conducting art classes and some of the later local artists took lessons from members of the Grand Detour art group. Among these were Eunice Schuler, Hazel Howell and Charles Kested. The heyday of the Grand Detour art group was the 1920s through the 1940s. By the mid-1950s a majority of the artists had died, but their paintings, especially of local scenes, can be found in many area homes and the Loveland Community House in Dixon. Written by Duane Paulsen, historian of the Grand Detour Art Colony.
Grand Manner An aesthetic of idealism first applied to history painting and then portraiture, its proponents avoided realism and used visual metaphors to suggest noble qualities. In the 18th century, it was especially prevalent in Britain where Sir Joshua Reynolds promoted the method in Royal Academy lectures. Other Grand Manner proponents were Peter Paul Rubens, Thomas Gainsborough and Anthony Van Dyck. Source Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_manner
Grand Marais Art Colony Oldest art colony in Minnesota, it is located on the north shore of Lake Superior. Its founding dates to 1947 when Birney Quick (1912-1981) took students to Artist' Point for plein-air painting classes, which were often followed by an evening fish fry. Today participants are housed and offered studio space and classes in the village of Grand Marais. Until 1958, the Colony was administered by the Minneapolis School of Art, but that entity's supervision has been replaced by an Art Colony Board of Director. An annual juried plein-air painting exhibition and sale is held with many family events. Sources: www.grandmaraisartcolony.org/; www.grandmaraisartcolony.org/events.html
Grand Marais Outdoor School of Painting See Grand Marais Art Colony
Graphic Arts / Graphics Terms referring to multiple replica arts in which original prints are created with lines, marks, or other characteristics on a flat surface, usually paper. Processes include aquatint, drypoint, etching, line engraving, lithography, mezzotint, monotype, serigraphy, stipple engraving, woodcuts, wood engravings, and mixed media where several of these methods are combined. "A trend of the late 1960s is to shorten the term graphic arts to graphics, which refers not only to the techniques but also to the individual prints." Sources: Julia M. Ehresmann, "The Pocket Dictionary of Art Terms"; Ralph Mayer, A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques"
Graphite / Pencil A soft black form of carbon, it is used in pencils which then are used for writing, drawing or marking. Like charcoal and having no relationship to lead, graphite is a higher form of coal and is closely related to diamonds. "It is metallic in appearance, and almost glassy, which accounts for its sheen when applied in concentration." Today graphite is easily obtainable, but it used to be a rare commodity. The Borrower's Mine in the Lake District in England became the chief early source of graphite. Dating from the 1600s, this graphite was first used only by local herdsmen to mark their sheep, but the demand became worldwide with the discovery that graphite could be put in a stylus and then make a consistent dark line. In the art market, graphite drawings tend not to bring high-dollar prices, but some artists such as Chuck Close are exceptions. Source: Bob Bahr, ‘Graphite: The Drawer’s Humble Tool’. “Drawing” magazine, Summer 2007; AskART database
Graver See Burin
Gray's School of Art In Aberdeen, Scotland, it was founded in 1885 by local businessman John Gray and originally was housed adjacent to the Aberdeen Art Gallery. In 1966, it moved to a building on the Gardee campus of Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen, where it is integrated into curriculum options.It is one of the oldest established fine-art institutions in Scotland, and opened with 96 day students and 322 evening students. Notable alumni include Josephine Broekhuizen, Robert Brough and Callum Innes. Sources: Robert Gordon University online; Wikipedia, "Gray's School of Art"
Greason School of Painting See Saugatuck (Ox Bow) School of Painting
Great German Art Exhibitions The Great German Art Exhibition took place a total of eight times from 1937 to 1944 in the specially built House of German Art in Munich. It was representative of art under National Socialism.The “Great German Art Exhibition”, which extended over the ground floor, the upper floor and the two-story “Hall of Honor” in the middle of the building, was promoted as the most important cultural event in National Socialist Germany. The show was conceived as a sales exhibition, artists could be represented with several works (usually up to ten works), whereby sometimes also works that were not for sale, e.g. B. Loans, were issued. During the exhibition, a selected artist was given the opportunity to present himself more comprehensively in a “special show”. While the organizational and technical part of the exhibition preparation was incumbent on the "House of German Art (New Glass Palace)" as an institution under public law , the overall artistic management was held by a "Commissioner of the President of the Reich Chamber of Fine Arts " appointed by Adolf Hitler. The duration of the exhibition was fixed in advance until 1940; the later exhibitions were announced "until further notice". The exhibitions were open daily - including Sundays and public holidays - from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Works sold during the exhibition could be replaced by other works “that were found to be good when the works were examined”. Only the “House of German Art” acted as contractual partner for the sale. Photographing and copying of exhibited works was initially not permitted during the exhibition hours. From 1943, however, this was possible for press purposes with the prior consent of the exhibition management The “Great German Art Exhibition” was officially opened on July 18, 1937 together with the “House of German Art” building. In the opening speech, Hitler gave an extensive presentation of the National Socialist understanding of "German art", which in future will be the only one that will be publicly admitted. According to Stefan Schweizer, Hitler outlined a basic, ethnic and racist guiding structure of historical and art-historical ideas and interpretations. With his idea that art was a direct expression of the defining circumstances of the time, he identified the art of the Weimar Republicwith the political system of that time. By contrast, he saw the art he valued as legitimized by politics and at the same time legitimizing as politics. He defined the new German art stylistically and ideologically with the words: “'To be German means to be clear.' But that would mean that to be German means to be logical and, above all, to be true. " In contrast to this, Hitler defamed "modern art" that was "degenerate" and announced the end of that kind of art. However, there was little international interest. Source: https://second.wiki/wiki/groc39fe_deutsche_kunstausstellung
Greek Cross Cross with four arms of equal length, it is often used as the basis for churches having a centralized plan, especially in Byzantine architecture. Source: Julia M. Ehresmann, The Pocket Dictionary of Art Terms"
Greenware Finished pottery or sculpture, it has been allowed to dry rather than fired. Source: Ralph Mayer, "A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques"
GreenWood (Green-Wood) Cemetery Collection A collection, its focus is representative art by each of the 220 artists buried in the Greenwood Cemetery of Brooklyn, which dates back to the 1830s. Among the prominent deceased New York 'inhabitants' are William Merritt Chase, Louis Tiffany, John La Farge and Philip Evergood. Beginning in 2004, Richard Moylan, Cemetery President, has led the budget-supported art acquisition project whose artworks are housed at the Cemetery. Although some dollar amounts, such as those of Jean-Michel Basquiat, are beyond the collection price range, others, including an early portrait by Eastman Johnson, have been affordable. Special collection pieces are the George Catlin portrait of New York Governor De Witt Clinton, and the life-size bronze bear that sits astride the grave monument of William Holbrook Beard. The Greenwood Cemetery Collection project is adding up to Brooklyn's most monumental art collection. Literally." Source: Glenn Collins, 'Green-Wood Cemetery Builds a Collection', "New York Times", 12,7/2008, p. 37
Gregory Fellowships, University of Leeds Teaching fellowships established by Leeds University, England between 1950 and 1980, they were established by E.C. Gregory whose goal was to bring younger, vanguard artists into contact with the country's young aspiring artists. Fellowships were established in Poetry, Music, Painting and Sculpture. Recipients in painting include Trevor Bell, Terry Frost and Norman Stevens. Among Sculptor recipients were Kenneth Armitage and Austin Wright. Source: University of Leeds, http://www.leeds.ac.uk/library/spcoll/leedspoetry/tables.htm#paint
Grez-sur-Loring The village setting in the late 19th century of a French art colony near Fontainebleu, it was 70 kilometers south of Paris on the Seine River and was influenced by romantic realist painters Jules Bastien-Lepage and Alfred Sisley. Unlike many of his American peers who went to Giverny with Impressionist Claude Monet, Robert Vonnoh was at Grez-sur Loring much of the time between 1887 and 1891. Other resident American painters were Birge Harrison, Kenyon Cox and Alexander Wyant. Other notable 'colonists' were Swedish artist Carl Larsson; English composer Frederick Delius; and American writer, Robert Louis Stevenson. Also spending much time there was a group of Scottish Impressionist and Post-Impressionist painters, known as The Glasgow Boys including James Guthrie and James Nairn. Sources: Colby & Atkinson, "Footprints of the Past"; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grez-sur-Loing
Grisaille Pronounced Gri-Zay, the term is derived from the French term "gris" (grey), and refers to monochrome painting executed entirely in shades of gray. Historically the method of Grisaille has been used by artists in several ways: 1) Preliminary sketch where tonal values are worked out before using color. 2) As under painting for an actual work of art, something that was used extensively by the Old Masters. 3) A teaching method whereby educators illustrate line and shape or composition with Grisaille before letting the students proceed to using color. 4) Depicting objects intended to represent the color gray for actual gray objects such as marble statues or temple columns depicted often in Renaissance paintings. Source: Butch Krieger, 'Shades of Gray', "The Artists Magazine"; http://www.artistsmagazine.com/tam_terms.asp
Grolier Club Founded in New York City in 1884 and continuing into the 21st century with nearly 800 elected members, it is dedicated to promoting books as art---quality of images, paper and cover artwork. The Club dates to January, 1884, when book collector Robert Hoe convened nine men who "shared the opinion that the arts of printing and typography in late 19th-century America were in need of reform. They named themselves for French bibliophile, Jean Grolier (1489-1565). Today's members hold to original goals of maintaining a collection of exemplary books, sponsoring educational programs and publishing books that meet their criteria. Source: The Grolier Club, Wikipedia
Grosvenor School of Modern Art A leading force in the production and promotion of modern printmaking, the school was founded in London in 1925 by Claude Flight, Ian McNab, Cyril Power and Sybil Andrews. Flight lectured on linocutting and Power on architecture and the curriculum had much focus on the dynamic movement of Futurism. The School did not last long, and waned by the outbreak of World War II in 1939. Source: website of artrepublic
Ground Of several meanings, it is the surface to which paint is applied as well as a coating material used in preparation of the surface to receive paint. For canvas, a ground of oil and white pigment is commonly used, and on boards or panels, gesso (chalk and glue) is applied. Source: Ralph Mayer, "A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques"
Group of Seven Guest Exhibitors Group of Seven Guest Exhibitors: As noted in the askART glossary article, the Canadian art movement known as the Group of Seven was very influential in early 20th century Canada. Even today it informs the visual art taste of many Canadians. Its principle members are well known; however, many Canadian artists exhibited with the group as guests, some more than once (note dates after names); and, Prudence Heward, Yvonne McKague, Lilias Newton, Albert Robinson and George Pepper exhibited with the group more times than its famous members LeMoine FitzGerald and Frank Johnston. Between 1920 and 1931 there were eight official Group of Seven exhibitions (1920, 1921, 1922, 1925, 1926, 1928, 1930 [also shown in Montreal], and 1931) held at the Art Gallery of Toronto (now Art Gallery of Ontario) and two exhibitions that toured the U.S.A. (1920 – 1921 and 1923 – 1924). The guest artists included: John Alfsen (1926, 1928), Andre Bieler (1931), Bertram Brooker (1928, 1931), Emily Carr (1930, 1931), Charles Comfort (1928), Emily Coonan (USA 1923), Rody Courtice (1931), Kathleen Daly (1931), Charles Eliot (1931), Ruth Eliot (1931), LeMoine FitzGerald (1930 and 1931 before membership in 1932, none after), Joachim Gauthier (1931), Prudence Heward (1928, 1930, 1931), Randolph Hewton (1920, USA 1923), Edwin Holgate (USA 1923 and 1928 before membership in 1930), Ruth Hood (1931), William Hood (1931), Bess Housser (1926, 1928), Mabel Lockerby (1928), Thoreau MacDonald (1926,1928, 1930), Mabel May (1928, 1930), Yvonne McKague (1928, 1930, 1931), Isabel McLaughlin (1931), Marion Miller (1926), Doris Mills (1926, 1928), Kathleen Munn (1928), Lilias Newton (USA 1923, 1930, 1931), Pegi Nicol (1928), George Pepper (1926, 1928, 1930), Robert Pilot (1920), Sarah Robertson (1928, 1930), Albert Robinson (1920, 1925, 1928), Percy J. Robinson (1922), Anne Savage (1926, 1931), Carl Schaefer (1928), Tom Stone (1926), Tom Thomson (USA 1920), Lowrie Warrener (1926, 1928) and W.J. Wood (USA 1923, 1928). Source: “The Group of Seven: Art for a Nation” (1995), by Charles C. Hill (see askART Publications). Compiled and submitted to askART by M.D. Silverbrooke.
Group of Seven / G7 An association of artists questing for a distinctinve Canadian style, it was a movement that shaped the vision of how Canadians saw their own country and that left a legacy that continues to provoke debate and discussion. The Group began to form in 1913 when Lawren Harris convinced A.Y. Jackson to move to Toronto from Montreal. In that same year, Lawren Stewart Harris and J.E.H. MacDonald visited the Albright Art Gallery in Buffalo, New York to view an exhibition of Scandinavian paintings. That show was a flashpoint for the creation of the Group. In 1920, seven artists – Lawren Harris, J.E.H. MacDonald, Arthur Lismer, Frederick Varley, Frank Johnston, Franklin Carmichael and A.Y. Jackson – decided, for the first time, to exhibit as the Group of Seven. The formal founding of the Group was its first exhibition, which opened at the Art Gallery of Toronto in May 1920. Tom Thomson would not live to see the birth of the Group of Seven. Yet, despite his untimely death in 1917, Thomson’s name became synonymous with the Group. His sketches and finished canvases created a painting style truly representative of the Canadian landscape and experience. Despite its name, the Group of Seven membership eventually grew to include ten artists. Frank Johnston only exhibited in one of the 1920 exhibitions before resigning from the Group. Following this, A.J. Casson joined the Group in 1926. In an effort to widen the geographical base beyond Toronto, Edwin Holgate of Montreal was asked to join in 1930. L.L. FitzGerald (of Winnipeg) joined the Group in 1932. From its birth in 1920 to the early 1930s, the Group was immensely influential. The final Group of Seven exhibition was held in 1931. Source: The McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Source: M.D. Silverbrooke, Art Historian and Collector, West Vancouver, British Columbia.
Group of Twelve-Seattle An informal association of Seattle artists interested in modern art, they banded together around 1935 and disbanded about five years later. In 1937, they published a catalogue, "Some Work of the Group of Twelve" and also exhibited locally. Members were: Kenneth Callahan, Margaret Gove Camfferman, Peter M. Camfferman, Elizabeth A. Cooper, Earl T. Fields, Takuichi Fujii, Morris Graves, Walter F. Isaacs, Kenjiro Nomura, Ambrose Patterson, Viola Patterson, Kamekichi Tokita. Source: David Martin, Martin-Zambito Fine Art, Seattle, WA
Grupa 5-CIU See Nowohucka Group
Grupa Nowohucka See Nowohucka Group
Grupo Arte Generative-Group Grupo Arte Generativo- Group founded by Eduardo Mac Entyre and Miguel Ángel Vidal in Buenos Aires in 1960. It took its name from an essay by Ignacio Pirovano on the work of Georges Vantongerloo. It went on to have a broad impact in Argentina and the rest of the world by opening up a new route for concrete art towards the territory of cinetism and Op Art. In generative art, linear geometric forms, sketched with mathematical rigor, move across the plane and create the illusion of penetrating and transcending it to finally give rise to a new, superior geometric form. Artists such as Ary Brizzi were to join generative art later. Source: JCMAC website, Mar. 2018
Guerrilla Girls A group of women artists, in 1985, their focus is on public awareness of discrimination against female artists. They assumed the names of dead women artists and in their guise performed in a touring show wearing gorilla masks to cover their own identities. Since their founding, over 100 women have worked on the Guerrilla Girls' project including the making of posters and producing of "Guerrilla Girls on Tour", which with text, visuals and humor make their point. Emphasizing that women artists are grouped with women generally to be perceived as sex objects rather than creative individuals, Guerrilla Girls have published a book, 2003, "Bitches, Bimbos and Ballbreakers". Sources: www.guerillagirls.com/; www.guerrillagirls.com/stereotype/index.shtml
Guggenheim Fellowship Intended as 'mid-career' arts recognitions, recipients are about 220 persons each year judged to have shown exceptional ability in art production or scholarship. Duration is six and 12 months, and average dollar amount of each one is $43,000, enough to insure a block of time free of preoccupation with making money. There is no stipulation as to how the award period is spent. The program began in 1925 with the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. There are two separate competitions, Canada and/or the United States and Latin America and/or the Caribbean. Artist recipients include Robert Colescott, Emil Bisttram, Karel Appel, Peter Blume, Giorgio Cavallon and Walter De Maria. Sources: http://www.gf.org/about-the-foundation; AskART biographies.
Guild of Boston Artists An association founded in 1914 of painters and sculptors, criteria for membership was schooling in the Boston area and dedication to realistic modeling and traditional craftsmanship over modernism. Most of the 42 founding members had studied together at the Boston Museum School with well-known teachers Edmund Tarbell, Frank Benson, Philip Hale and William Paxton. Early Guild members included Lilla Cabot Perry, Marguerite Stuber Pearson and Lilian Westcott Hale. The Association, active into the 21st Century, is located on Newbury Street in Boston where yearly exhibitions are held. Source; www.guildofbostonartists.org
Guild of Saint Luke An organization in post-medieval Europe of painters, sculptors, illuminators and dealers, its name is taken from the Evangelist Luke, the patron saint of artists, who allegedly painted a portrait of the Virgin Mary. The Guild was especially prevalent in the Low Countries and in cities such as Antwerp, Delft and Bruges. It was also very active in Italy beginning the late 14th century. Strength of the Guild diminished in the 17th century in part because of tensions between local artists and ones imported as court painters or to serve wealthy mercantile patrons. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guild_of_Saint_Luke
Guildhall Art Gallery Housing the art collection of the City of London, England, the Gallery is in a structure built in 1999, which replaces and is adjacent to the site of historic Guildhall destroyed by The Blitz of 1941. Originally built in 1885 on the site of London's Roman amphi-theatre, the Gallery has about 4,000 works of art. The centerpiece of the largest gallery is "The Defeat of the Floating Batteries at Gibraltar" by John Singleton Copley. Source: "Guildhall Art Gallery", Wikipedia,
Gum Arabic A binder used in watercolors, gum tempera and ceramics for glaze, it is, made from the gum of the acacia tree, which is traditionally associated with Arabia. Source: Ralph Mayer, "A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques"
Gund Collection A collection of western art housed in Indianapolis at the Eiteljorg Museum, it was created by George Gund (1888-1966, a Cleveland businessman. Gund was born in LaCrosse, Wisconsin and was raised in Seattle, where as a child he learned to ride horses. Although his family subsequently settled in Cleveland, he never forgot his love of the West, which translated to his collection of paintings, lithographs and sculpture representing the "West of the Horse". Included are works by Alfred Jacob Miller, Charles Bird King, Frederic Remington, Charles Schreyvogel, Charles Russell, Frank Tenney Johnson and Henry Farny. Gund also collected western landscapes such as paintings by Thomas Moran and Albert Bierstadt. Honoring Gund's wishes, his family sponsored a traveling exhibition of the collection, which toured for two decades before settling into a permanent home at the Eiteljorg in 2002. Source: Susan Campbell, 'The Gund Collection at the Eiteljorg Museum', "American Art Review", February 2006, pp. 100-101.
Guohua, Guo Hua Traditional Chinese painting, it is distinguished from Western art because it is painted on xuan (silk) with a Chinese brush, Chinese ink and mineral and vegetable pigments. Source: www.chinaculture.org
Gutai Art Association Led by Osaka-based artist Yiro Yoshihara, it became the major experimental postwar Japanese art movement whose proponents pioneered "happenings"and "performance art". It became popular in Europe and America. The Japanese word "gutai" means 'concrete' or embodiment', and the method involved the artist's body being a direct part of the medium such as Kazuo Shiraga rolling in clay or the concrete he so often used in his work of art. Source: Wikipedia; Museum of Modern Art, New York; AskART biography of Kazuo Shiraga.

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