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Term Definition
J. Sanford Saltus Award A prize of the American Numismatic Society, it is named for J. Sanford Saltus, one of the founders and librarian of the Salmagundi Club in New York City. It is the most prestigious award for medallic art, and was established in 1919 by Saltus, a dedicated member of the American Numismatic Society. He initially gave five-thousand dollars for striking the medals. James Earle Fraser was the first recipient, and Laura Gardin Fraser was the first woman to win the award. Other winners include Paul Manship, John F. Flanagan, Gertrude Lathrop and Sidney Waugh. Sources: Donald Martin Reynolds, "Masters of American Sculpture"; AskART biographies http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Jack of Diamonds, Knave of Diamonds A group of Moscow artists founded in 1909 and active until 1917, Jack of Diamonds launched modernist art in Russia and represented the country's pre-revolutionary culture. It stirred much controversy beginning 1910, with its Moscow exhibition, "Knave of Diamonds", which featured French Cubist paintings and work of four Russian artists who had been expelled by the Moscow Art School. The exhibition name came from Mikhail Larionov, who simply liked the sound of it. Members included Robert Falk, Alexander Kuprin, Mikhail Larionov, Natalia Gontcharova and Kazimir Malevich. Source: 'Jack of Diamonds',"Wikipedia",
Jade A hard stone ranging in color from white to deep green, it has been used for carving since prehistoric times, and, although difficult to carve, it is especially popular in the Orient for delicate work and ornamentation. It has two components, Nephrite and Jadeite, and the name is tied to French and Spanish words meaning loin, because of its early association with curing loin and kidney ailments. Source: Ralph Mayer, "A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques"; 'Jade", "Wikipedia"
James Earle Fraser Sculpture Award Recognition of "exceptional artistic merit" by judges of the annual Prix de West exhibition of the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, the prize carries a cash award of three-thousand dollars. It is named for western sculptor James Earle Fraser. Recipients include Gerald Balciar, Glenna Goodacre, Richard Greeves and Tim Shinabarger. Sources: National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum; AskART database
James Gallery, New York An artist-run cooperative at 70 East 12th Street in New York City, it was founded in 1954 by students of Hans Hofmann. Source: Betty Krulik Fine Art Limited
Japan / Japanning Japan refers to several types of quick drying, clear and colored varnishes that are used for decorative work, sign painting or industrial products such as ironware. It is too brittle for fine-art or permanent painting. Japanning means using Japan and dating from the 17th Century, refers to "the European imitation of Asian lacquerwork". Margaret Mellor-Gill, Philadelphia artist, was known for her 18th century method of Japanning. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanned; Peter Hastings Falk, Editor, "Who Was Who in American Art". Ralph Mayer, A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques
Japonisme A French term used frequently in western culture to refer to the influence on western art of Japanese arts and crafts, especially during the latter part of the 19th Century. This influence was especially notable after the 1850s when trade routes flourished between the East and West because of the 'opening with Japan' by Commodore Perry. Included in Japonisme is porcelain, fans, lacquerware, scrolls, woodblock prints and paintings. The reason the common western word to describe such items is French is that the Parisiens were the most avid admirers and collectors of objects influenced by "Japonisme". In painting, Claude Monet did a portrait of his wife in a kimono; James McNeill Whistler, emulating the Japanese, adapted a butterfly signature for his paintings. Vincent Van Gogh said: "Japanese art---we all had that in common." Public reception was high for "Japonisme" in the mid 1800s because academic art was seeming tiresome to many persons, and modernist art trends were just entering the art scene. Japanese art combined both formal and somewhat abstract qualities, and seemed much refreshing in a period open to aesthetic exploration. Source: Robert Atkins, ART SPOKE
Jasper Yellow, brown or dark green, and occasionally black or blue, it is a compact and opaque type of quartz. Source: Ralph Mayer, "A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques"
Jasper Ware Multi-colored ceramic ware, it was developed by Josiah Wedgewood in England in 1774 and is widely used for cameos and bas reliefs. Source: Ralph Mayer, "A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques"
Jasperware A fine hard stoneware, it was developed by Josiah Wedgwood in England in the late 18th Century and said to be perfected in 1774. It is noted for its matte finish and variety of colors, although the most famous is a rich blue, known as Wedgwood Blue. The name comes from jasper, which are the mineral oxides used for staining. Classical white figures are applied after the coloration. Source: Wikipedia: Jaspwerware
Jennie Sesnan Gold Medal A premium prize offered by the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts beginning 1901, it was the first regular prize in America offered for landscape painting. Among winners are John Fulton Folinsbee, Edward Willis Redfield, Walter Baum, Francis Speight and Thomas Hart Benton. Source: Frank Goodyear, Jr., 'American Landscape Painting, 1795-1875", "In This Academy-Pennyslvania Academy of the Fine Arts", p. 122
Jepson Art Institute Founded in 1945 in Los Angeles at 2861 West 7th Street by artist Herbert Jepson, it had a curriculum focused on modernist theories, experimental figure drawing and printmaking, especially serigraphy, which was pioneered at the school. In 1953, the school closed. Instructors included Jepson, Rico Lebrun and Francis de Erdely, and notable alumni students were Wallace Berman, Frank Chamberlin and Vincent Price. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jepson_Art_Institute
Jessie Dow Prize Named after the 19th and early 20th-century brewing heiress, philanthropist and Governor of the Art Association of Montreal, the prize is awarded by the Art Association of Montreal [now Montreal Museum of Fine Arts] at their Annual Spring Exhibitions for excellence in oil, watercolor, and sculpture (added 1957). It is considered the most prestigious Canadian art award and, offered from 1908 to 1965, is the most long running. Among recipients are Leon Bellefleur, Frederic Marlett Bell-Smith, Helen McNicoll, Jack Shadbolt and William Brymner. In 2001, an exhibition of Jessie Dow Prize winners was held at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, February 3 to March 11. Sources: Canadian Association of New York; AskART database; and “Canadian Men and Women of the Time: A Handbook of Canadian Biography of Living Characters” (1912), edited by Henry James Morgan. Submitted to askART.com by M.D. Silverbrooke
Jewish Society for the Encouragement of the Arts, Founded by art lovers, patrons and artists; goals was "development of plastic arts (painting, sculpture, architecture, etc.) among the Jews." The Charter was approved on 22 November 1915. The Board included prominent public and political figures and representatives of art. Organized were exhibitions, art publications, lectures on art, and opening of schools and drawing classes. Three exhibitions were held: April 1916 in Petrograd and April 1917 and July — August 1918 in Moscow. The last exhibition was accompanied by a catalogue in two languages. March 19, 1916 was founded the Moscow branch of the society in the same year set up offices in Kharkov and Kiev. By January 1917 the society consisted of 240 members, of them — 82 member of the art section. In the spring of 1917, the society joined the Union of artists. Source: Website of ART Investment.
Joe Kubert School of Cartoon and Graphic Art Founded in 1976 in Dover, New Jersey, by comic book artist Joe Kubert and his wife, Muriel, it is a three-year technical school of comic illustration. Instructors include Joe Kubert and his comic-book illustrator son, Adam and Andy Kubert. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Kubert_School
Joe Plaskett Foundation Award Created in 2005 by Canadian artist Joseph Plaskett, born 1918, it is one of the largest visual-arts awards in Canada. This annual prize of $25,000. is eligible exclusively to painters from across Canada who are studying for their Master of Fine Arts degree or who have just attained that degree and are deserving of support for a one-year residency in Europe. Plaskett's motive for creating the award was the life-long positive influence he received from the Emily Carr Scholarship he earned in 1946. Plaskett Award recipients include Vitaly Medvedovsky, Nam Duc Nguyen, Todd Tremeer, Ehryn Torrell, Jennifer Lefodrt, and Mark Neufeld. Source: http://www.joeplaskett.com/history.php?lang=en
Joe Shuster Canadian Comic Book Creator Award Presented for outstanding achievement to comic book, novel, and web comic illustrators, it was created in 2005 by the Canadian Comic Book Creator Awards Association, and named for Joe Shuster (1914-1992), Canadian born creator of "Superman". Winners are chosen from a ballot put forth to the Canadian public by a nominating committee of industry journalists and comic-illustration fans. Source: http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Joe_Shuster_Awards
John Herron Art Institute With buildings at 16th and Pennsylvania Streets in Indianapolis, it was dedicated as the John Herron Art School in 1906 on the mansion site of John Herron. He was an Indianapolis businessman whose will gifted $225,000.00 for the school. The facility became the second United States school dedicated primarily to art education. First faculty members included Brown County painters Theodore Steele, J. Ottis Adams, Otto Stark, Richard Gruelle, and William Forsyth. The school expanded in 1929 and 1967, and in 2004 was absorbed into the campus of Purdue University-Indianapolis in downtown Indianapolis. It became the Herron School of Art and Design. Among its students are Viji Celmins, Robert Indiana, and Hale Woodruff. Sources: Wikipedia and Indiana University at Purdue website.
Johnson Collection A collection of directory listed names to document and celebrate achievements of women artists associated with the Southern United States. Emphasis is on Southern women artists active between the late 1890s and early 1960s. A book of the Collection is titled "Central to Their Lives: Southern Women Artists in the Johnson Collection." Source: Website of "The Johnson Collection."
Jolly Daubers A group of art students who painted with Frank Heath in California, the association was forerunner of the Santa Cruz Art League, which Heath then served as the first president. Source: Edan Hughes, "Artists in California, 1786-1940".
Jugendstil See Art Nouveau. Named after the journal "Die Jugend", the term in German means 'youth'.
Jugentil A German word for youth style, it is a reference to Art Nouveau and named for the magazine "Jugend", which promoted the style. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jugendstil
Jugtown Potter Jugtown Pottery is a working pottery and an American Craft Shop located in a grove of trees and bamboo eight miles south of Seagrove, in Moore County, NC. It is just off Busbee Road, a road named for Jacques and Juliana Busbee, the founders of Jugtown. Both artists with a love of craft and form, together they created Jugtown Pottery, melding forms from ancient traditions with those developed in North Carolina. In 1917 they created The Village Store and Tea Room in New York City, and in 1922 they began stamping each piece with the circular Jugtown Ware stamp. The forms derive from simplicity and practice, a continuous line, then a complimentary glaze and occasional decoration. Drawing from the North Carolina tradition, you will find jugs, pitchers and candlesticks in wood fired Salt Glaze and Frogskin, and tablewares in green, blue, brown and gray. Vases, bowls and jars in glazes made with wood ash, local clays, copper reds, greens and iron earth tones, have origins in world clay traditions. Source: Website of Jugtown Ware
Jugtown Pottery Jugtown Pottery, a working pottery and American Craft Shop,it iis located in Westmoore, eight miles south of Seagrove, North Carolina. Founders were Jacques and Juliana Busbee, who began stamping Jugtown pieces in 1922. Today's owners keep the traditions of the founders: local clays with copper reds, greens and iron earth tones; simple lines and shapes; occasional decoration; gas or wood firing, and glazes of wood ash. Among Jugtown pottery pieces are tableware, jugs, candlesticks, vases, bowls and jars. Source: www.jugtownware.com/
Julia A. Shaw Memorial Prize, National Academy of Design A recognition award established by Samuel T. Show through the National Academy of Design, it is recognition for artistic merit in figure painting or sculpture by a woman. Recipients include Josephine Miles Lewis, Mary Macmonnies, Laura Gardin Fraser, Charlotte Coman, Susan Watkins and Margaret Cresson. Source: Mark Brock, "Selections II", Brock Gallery, Carlisle, MA; Appleton's Annual Cyclopaedia and Google; AskART biographies
Julian Levy Gallery Located at 602 Madison Avenue in New York City between 1931 and 1949, it was only one of a few galleries in the city at that time. The Gallery was known for exhibitions of Surrealism, avant-garde photography and films. Represented artists included Dorothea Tanning, Max Ernst, Friedo Kahlo, and Joseph Cornell. It is credited as a major influence on artists who pioneered Abstract Expressionism. Source: The ArtStory.org
Julius Hallgarten Prize, National Academy of Desig Begun in 1883 with seventeen thousand dollars for National Academy School scholarships from Julius Hallgarten, a New York Stock Exchange business man, it has become a highly prestigious recognition and was the first regular prize offered at the annual exhibitions. Stipulation is that the recipient be under age 35. Julius Hallgarten died at age 42, but his son, Albert Hallgarten continued to support the Academy. Recipients include Charles Curran, Wilbur Reaser, Daniel Garber, Gifford Beal, and Jonas Lie. Source: David Dearinger, "Paintings and Sculpture in the Collection of the National Academy of Design"; AskART biographies
Junge Wilde, Neue Wilde A German word for wild youth, Junge Wilde refers to young artists in Germany in the late 1970s and early 1980s who rebelled against academic authority and did expressive paintings, using emotion-driven colors and brushstrokes. Jorg Immendorff (1945-2007)of Dusseldorf was one of the leaders. Sources: Wikipedia; "ARTnews", Summer 2007, p. 100
Junk Art Throw-away materials, the term by artists derived from their use of junk as a medium because it reflects practices of western cultures who operate as though 'things' can be thrown away because they can easily be replaced. Kurt Schwitters, German artist, was one of the pioneers, using items he found in the streets. Junk Art gained a reputation as a legitimate art form after World War II with the huge increase in easily-replaced manufactured items. Representative artists include Lee Bontecou, Richard Stankiewicz, John Chamberlain, Mark DiSuvero, Robert Raushenberg, Louise Nevelson and Jean Tinguely. Stankiewicz worked with discarded industrial items; Bontecue with canvas from weathered tarpaulin; Nevelson from wood of destroyed homes; and Chamberlain from smashed automobile parts. Watts Towers by sculptor Simon Rodia in Los Angeles is an isolated but exemplary piece of junk art in that it is an accumulation of discards that “grew” between 1921 and 1954. Sources: Robert Atkins, "Art Speak"; "Phaidon Dictionary of Twentieth Century Art"

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