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Term Definition
L'Art Informel See Tachisme
l'Exposition Universelle de Paris See Exposition Universelle
Labronico Group, Group Labronico Organized in 1920 to seek formal recognition of artists of Livorno, Italy, the original group was 15 artists including Renato Natali, John Zannacchini, Ferruccio Rontini and Gino Romiti whose studio was the organizing meeting place. They committed to at least one group exhibition a year. A first order of business was memorializing Mario Puccini (1869-1920) through proper burial because his work had been deeply rooted in depictions of Livorno. The name "labronico' in Italian means 'livornese'. Source: http://chez-edmea.blogspot.com/2011/02/il-gruppo-labronico-di-livorno_16.html; AskART biographies
Lacquer A term with several meanings, it can refer to a natural resin from trees or to various clear industrial coatings to protect artwork. "Lacquer films are glossy, hard, and resistant to wear and weathering." Source: Ralph Mayer, "A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques"
Lacuna A Latin term with an English meaning of "gap" or void, it is used by art historians to refer to a missing part of a painting, manuscript or other artwork that resulted from damage. Source: Ralph Mayer, "A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques"
Lalit Kala Akademi The National Academy of Arts in India, it was founded shortly after India gained its independence in 1947. Its mission is supporting fine arts in India with national and international exhibitions, scholarships, and a fellow program. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lalit_Kala_Akademi
Lambent Fellowship in the Arts Established in 2008 by the Tides Foundation, a San Francisco based non-profit, the goal is "to support diversity" and reward contemporary artists whose work connects aesthetics and social justice. New York City, New Orleans and Nairobi are focus cities, and artist recipients receive $21,000. in installments of three years for unrestricted activity. Lambent Fellowships have been given to artists Sanford Biggers, Elana Herzog, Yoko Inoue and Bradley McCallum. Source: http://www.tidesfoundation.org/news-resources; http://lambentfoundation.org/vision/fund-history; AskART records.
Lambeth School of Art Founded in London in 1854 by William Gregory, it was first a night school associated with St. Mary the Less Church on Black Prince Road. Nearby had been the potter's studio of Henry Doulton, and he became an early supporter of the school and also employed some of its graduates for his business, Royal Doulton. In 1860, the school moved to Millers Lane, now called St. Oswald's Place, at Vauxhall Gardens. In 1879, it became part of the City and Guilds of London Institute with the the South London School of Technical Art. In 1938, the name changed to City and Guilds of London Art School. Students include Arthur Rackham, Elmer Wachtel, Gordon Hope Grant, John Massey Rhind and Henry Poole. John Sparkes was a late 19th century teacher there, who encouraged women artists and is credited as a chief influence in the art of china painting. Sources: Wikipedia/Lambeth School of Art; AskART biographies; Anthea Callen, "Women Artists of the Arts and Crafts Movement, 1870-1914"
Land Art See Earth Art/Earthworks
Landon School of Illustration and Cartooning A mail-order correspondence course "that trained a generation of famous cartoonists in drawing for publication, it was founded in 1909 by Charles N. Landon and lasted until his death in 1936. He managed the Art Department of "The Cleveland Press" from 1900 to 1912, and then was Art Director of the NEA syndicate. Among its students were Fred Taylor, Carl Barks, Milton Caniff, John Garvin and Chic Young. Source: Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_N._Landon
Landscapade A type of surrealist collage invented by Penelope Rosemont in which pieces of a landscape image or images are cut apart and reassembled to form a new landscape. Later the landscapade was developed into the landscapade mask, in which a face is made out of pieces of landscape. Source: Daniel C. Boyer, Artist
Landscape A general term, it is used in art description for any depiction of natural scenery that is land and not water based. In this context, figures, buildings, animals, etc. are of secondary importance. In America, landscape painting did not gain in popularity until the 19th-century, and the Hudson River School of painters was the earliest formalization. Source: Ralph Mayer, "A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques"
Landscape Art See Crop Art
Landscape Club of Washington DC See Washington Society of Landscape Painters
Landseer Scholarship Recognition from the Royal Academy of London, it is a traveling scholarship award named for Sir Edwin Henry Landseer (1802-1873), who was a long time exhibiting member of the Academy. Source: Internet---Gleeson White, "The Master Painters of Britain"
Lapis Lazuli A semi-precious blue stone, it is often used in jewelry and can be found in Chile, Europe and Afghanistan. Source: Ralph Mayer, "A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques"
Laren, Holland, The Laren School With the 'crumbling' of The Hague School of Tonalist artists in Holland in the late 1880s, the village of Laren attracted plein-aire and other impressionist painters who sought bucolic, heathland subjects. Among active Laren School artists between 1880 and 1900 were Anton Mauve, Jozef Israels and Albert Neuhuys. Source: Wikipedia
Latex Paint that is made from water soluble synthetic resin, it is named for a fluid that comes from rubber latex plants. Source: Ralph Mayer, "A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques"
Latimer Art Club One of the founding organizations of the Nevada Museum of Art in Reno, it was named for landscape painter Lorenzo Latimer (1857-1941). The Club was organized by students of Latimer, who for 19 years beginning 1916 traveled to Reno to teach classes. Minerva Pierce was the first President, and members included Dora Groesbeck and Nevada Riley. For many years, the Club was the only art organization in Nevada. In 1967, it formed the Sierra Nevada Museum of Art, whose name changed to the Nevada Museum of Art. Source: http://www.nevadaart.org/exhibitions/detail?eid=11
Layton School of Art Founded in Milwaukee in 1920 at 158 Mason Street, the School became the area's center of art education. It was especially important during the Depression era of the 1930s. The first director was Charlotte Russell Partridge, and she served until her retirement in 1954. Edward Lewandowski was her successor. In 1974, the school reportedly closed, but later it reopened at 4650 North Port Washington Road. Faculty members included Karl Priebe and Knute Heldner, and among the students were Edmund Lewandowski, Walter Quirt, Chet La More and Ora Lee Baker. Sources: Wikipedia: Layton School of Art; AskART biographies. Peter Merrill, "German-American Artists in Milwaukee"
League of American Pen Women Founded in 1897 by journalists Marian Longfellow Donoghue, Margaret Sullivan Burke and Anna Sanborn Hamilton, the League of American Pen Women began as a “progressive press union” for the female writers of Washington, D.C. From its beginning the League welcomed artists, musicians, poets and teachers; however professional credentials in their field were required of all members. In 1921, with 35 branches in various states, the association changed its name to the National League of American Pen Women. In the ensuing years the League has hosted writing competitions, art exhibitions and special events to showcase the works of members and others. The NLAPW currently has over 120 branches in 36 states and is still headquartered in Washington, D.C. Source: National League of American Pen Women. Submitted to askART by M.D. Silverbrooke.
Ledger Art Narrative expression of Plains Indians' painting and drawing on paper or cloth, it was a method for recording events from the 1860s to the 1930s but is used by some contemporary Indian artists. The best-known ledger artists were at Fort Marion in St. Augustine, Florida in the mid 1870s and were members of Cheyenne, Kiowa, Comanche, Arapaho and Caddo tribes. These Indians were imprisoned by the U.S. Army to prevent the Indians from protecting their buffalo. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ledger_art
Legend Painting See Woodland School of Art
Leningrad Institute of Painting, Sculpture and Archi Also known as the I. E. Repin Leningrad Institute of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture), it is the oldest higher educational art institution in the USSR.Founded in 1757 in St. Petersburg as the School of Education of the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts, it was reorganized in 1894 as the Higher School of Art. After the October Revolution of 1917, it became the State Free Art Shops, and in 1926, the Higher Art and Technical Institute. Between 1932 and 1944 the art institute was reorganized as the Leningrad Institute of Painting, Architecture, and Sculpture (becoming a part of the Russian Academy of Arts in 1933). Since 1944 the name of the institute has been the I. E. Repin Leningrad Institute of Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture. It has been maintained by the Academy of Arts of the USSR since 1947. Source: Website of "The Great Soviet Encyclopedia," 1979
Leonardo Da Vinci Art School Founded in 1923 by sculptor Onorio Rutolo, it was funded by the Italian-American community in New York City to provide academic art teaching to talented young men and women from the working poor. It was first located in Manhattan's Lower East Side at 10th street off of Avenue A. The school, during two decades of existence, had many students who later went on to become famous artists including Isamu Noguchi and Elaine de Kooning. Source: Sam Raskin, son of Anne Raskin, in AskART biography of his mother.
Les Automatistes See Automatistes
Les Plasticiens A Montreal group of abstract artists formed in reaction to Automatism and Abstract Expressionism, their name is a reference to Neo-Plasticism (De Stijl). Founders were Louis Belzile, Jean-Paul Jérôme, Rodolphe de Repentigny (Jauran), and Fernand Toupin. They announced their formation with the publication of a manifesto (February 10, 1955) outlining their objectives and philosophy. Fundamentally, it was to create paintings with technical harmony between the plastic elements of tone, texture, form and line. This would be achieved by exerting more control in design and application than the Automatistes or the Abstract Expressionists. And, there would be no conscious regard for any possible meaning or reference to the real world. Their works were, ideally; geometric, with only the suggestion of two-dimensional space and ultimately no texture. The group existed until 1959; however, in 1956, it was partially absorbed into the larger Non-Figurative Artists' Association of Montreal, which included abstract artists of various persuasions. Other artists associated with Les Plasticiens, or influenced by them, are Guido Molinari, Claude Tousignant, Fernand Leduc, Yves Gaucher, Jacques Hurtubise and Charles Gagnon. (All artists mentioned are in AskART and all terms mentioned are in the AskART Glossary). Sources: Francois - Marc Gagnon “The Canadian Encyclopedia”; D. Burnett and M.Schiff “Contemporary Canadian Art”; and J.R. Harper “Painting in Canada” (see all in AskART book references). Written and Submitted to askART by M.D. Silverbrooke, Art Historian and Collector, West Vancouver, British Columbia.
Lettrism / Lettrisme A synthesis of writing and visual art, Lettrism or Lettrisme was founded by the Romanian born French artist Isidore Isou in the mid 1940s. This avant-garde movement was associated with the Situationist [see AskART glossary] branch of the Anarchist family and became the art that dominated posters and barricades in the Paris Spring of 1968. Lettrisme is a form of visual poetry: using calligraphic techniques it began by artists superimposing letters on various objects from furniture to film. This practice foreshadowed layering and other computer techniques, and because of this it is sometimes called hypergraphie. Both Mail art and contemporary Graffiti art, which share many of the Lettrisme’s basic characteristics, could be said to have evolved out of Lettrisme. Other artists, in addition to Isidore Isou, who have been associated with the style are Jean-Michel Basquiat, Douglas James Johnson, J.V. Martin, Mimmo Domenico Rotella, Ben Vautier, Joao Vieira, and Jacques Villegle. Source: Tate Modern. Submitted to askART by M.D. Silverbrooke.
Life Size A sculpture and painting term, it references figure works that are made the actual size of the model. Source: Ralph Mayer, "A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques"
Lift-Ground Etching See Sugar-Lift Etching
Light and Space Art Art expression focused on sensory perceptions rather than traditional fine-art mediums and ideas, it began as a 20th Century art movement. Among its exponents is Robert Irwin with his installations of constantly changing projected light on walls. To achieve the impressions of change, he often filters his light through transparent scrims. Other artists associated with the movement are James Turrell. Helen Pashgian, James Turrell, Peter Alexander and Eric Orr. Source: Robert Atkins, "Art Speak" and askART database
Light Art: Originality and flexibility represent its best qualities of this customized performance, known as WOW for reaction to it. It is basically Light Animation on a luminescent screen - All the images are hand painted in a high speed. You can see the artist starting on the clean screen. It is possible to tell a story, history of the company or introduce new product, brand,... Possible to add a logo, message,... Standard performances are in many parts of the world including Spain's You've Got Talent, Ellada Eheis Talento, France Got Talent, Romania´s Got Talent, Open Air Theatre Expo Milan, El hormiguero,...). Source: Website of artist Alex Dowis, 2023
Lighton Studio, Kansas City, Missouri A refurbished vacant, old brick building dating to the 1880s, it was located at 1718 Holly Street near Kersey Coates Drive in Kansas City, Missouri. In 1929, led by artist and civic leader Gertrude Woolf Lighton, it became a three story studio building whose rent ranged from $5.00 to $40.00 monthly. Occupants included Coah Henry, Gertruce Freyman and Evalyn Miller. It was also an exhibition venue and meeting place for the Kansas City Society of Artists. A popular tea-room site had Oriental decor, bohemian atmosphere and 'sophisticated' cuisine such as Studio Chicken with rich sherry cheese sauce. Lighton Studio flourished for ten years and waned at the beginning of World War II. Source: Karl Marxhausen, Kansas-city-society-of-artists.blogspot.com
Limited Edition A controlled or set number of copies, it applies to literature and art, and in art is a term related to copies of two and three dimensional works. Once the 'limit' of copies is determined, the plate, mold, or die is thrown away---an assurance of uniqueness to collectors. The practice of making limited editions originated with etchings and drypoint because increased use on the plates created wear that led to decreased quality of work. Source: Ralph Mayer, A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques"
Limner Derived from a Latin word that means to draw or paint on a surface, the term in American art is applied to self-taught, often itinerant artists of the 18th and early 19th centuries in the Northeastern United States. However, it is also descriptive of later artists such as Richard Ciccimarra, who founded a movement in Canada to revive the Limner method. Regarded as unsophisticated, these artists and their art are frequently described as naive because they worked from a set of generic templates for poses and backgrounds and filled in faces, which often were simplistic due to the lack of skill and/or the lack of time of the Limner. Also, early limners worked in an era when most persons with art talent did not have schools available to them unless they had enough money to study in Europe. Source: "Antiques and The Arts Weekly", November 25, 2005, p. 17
Limners-Victoria, Canada A group of 18 Victoria-area artists active in the late 1960s, they formally organized in 1971 to socialize and discuss their mutual interest in art. Unlike most art associations, their "reason to be" was primarily social because most were isolated, having their own studios. As members aged, gatherings became increasingly casual. In November 2005, the Moore Gallery of Victoria held an exhibition of work by the members including Maxwell Bates, Richard Ciccimarra, Walter Dexter, Herbert Siebner, Jack Wilkinson and Eliza Mayhew. Source: Brian Grison, Canadian Exhibition Review: "British Columbia: The Limners, Nov. 10-Nov 17, 2005", www.gallerieswest.ca/Departments/ExhibitionReviews
Limoge Porcelain A hard-paste porcelain produced by factories near the city of Limoges, France, it dates to the late 18th Century. The city, known from the 12th Century for its vitreous enamel production, was established for Limoges production in 1771 following the discovery of local supplies of kaolin. Production was placed under the patronage of the French monarchy, and after the French Revolution, was established by a private company including Haviland. Source: "Limoges Porcelain", Wikipedia
Line A mark made by an instrument as it is drawn across a surface.
Line Drawing Revealing of a three dimensional form by using a pencil or pen that provides the outline, which coincides with the internal linear features, it allows the artist to emphasize anatomical features and landmarks. The lines are lighter if light is hitting the subject and dark with shadows. Source: Mark G. Mitchell, "Sight-Size and More at SORA", Drawing, Summer 2007
Linear Perspective Referring to the dominance of line rather than mass, it is a method of depicting three-dimensional depth on a flat or two-dimensional surface. Linear perspective has two main precepts: 1)Forms that are meant to be perceived as faraway from the viewer are made smaller than those meant to be seen as close. 2)Parallel lines receding into the distance converge at a point on the horizon line known as the vanishing point. Sources: Julia M. Ehresmann, "The Pocket Dictionary of Art Terms"; Ralph Mayer, A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques"
Linen The most popular canvas 'ground' for artist paintings, it is made of fiber from the flax plant, and is regarded as superior because of its strength, stability and capacity to retain its texture after the ground has been applied. Most of the linen for artists' canvas is unbleached and comes from Belgium and Ireland. Source: Ralph Mayer, "A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques"
Lingnan School of Painting, Lingnan Painting Created by 19th Century traditional painters in the Gwongdung province of China, it is a style founded by Gou Gim-Fu, Gou Kei-Fung and Chan Syu-yan, known as the three great painters of Lingnan. The movement was revolutionary because it broke from conservative methods and advocated combining western painting styles with traditional Chinese techniques. Today the term 'Lingnan painting' refers generally to the work of painters in the Guongdung province. Source: Wikipedia, Feb. 2018
Linien I and II An artists association and forum for revolutionary art in Denmark in the 1930s and 1940s, the name was taken for the Danish word for 'line" and the focus was on Abstraction and Symbolism. The group's exhibitions of 177 works in Copenhagen created wide international participation, and the last one was held in 1939. After the Second World War, the association was revived as Linien II with emphasis on Concrete art. Founders of Linien I were Vilhelm Bjerke-Petersen who had studied under Wassily Kandinsky and Paul Klee; Ejler Bille and Richard Mortensen. Source: Wikipedia, //en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linien
Lining Often referred to as ‘RELINING’, it is the application of a second canvas to the back of a painting for stabilization purposes. Source: Julia M. Ehresmann, "The Pocket Dictionary of Art Terms
Linked Ring A British photographic society created to promote the idea that photography is a fine art form. Founders were Henry Peach Robinson, George Davison and Henry Van Der Weyde. Membership was by invitation only and included Alfred Horsley Hinton and Alvin Langdon Coburn. Source: Wikipedia.
Linocut A relief print, it is made from a linoleum block. American printmakers using the Linocut method include Wharton Esherick, Juliette Fraser, Emmy Lou Packard, and Ruth Ann Christmann-Wickens. Source: Kimberley Reynolds & Richard Seddon, "Illustrated Dictionary of Art Terms"; AskART database.
Linoleum Cut Block A printing device, it is constructed of battleship linoleum glued to a block of wood and made type-high so it can be cut into with special tools. Linoleum is desirable because it is soft and easily carved in relief and durable for many copies. To make a print, the block is inked with a brayer and printed like a woodcut method either by hand or with a press. Source: Ralph Mayer, "A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques"
Listed Artist A term commonly used by appraisers, it describes an artist who is 'listed' in standard art reference books. In American art, those books include "Who Was Who in American Art" by Peter Falk; "Davenport's Art Reference and Price Guide" by Ray Davenport; "Mallett's Index of Artists" by Daniel Trowbridge Mallett; and "Mantle Fielding's Dictionary of American Painters, Sculptors & Engravers" by Glenn Opitz, Editor.
Lithography / Lithograph A litho-press printing process, it involves a surface, such as a stone or sheet aluminum which is treated chemically so that ink adheres only to selected portions. Usually the design is made with a grease pencil on a special lithograph stone, which is then wetted, leaving an even layer of water over the surface; the area marked by the grease pencil accepts the layer of ink. Lithography dates to 1798 in Solnhofen, Germany to Alois Senefelder. One of the first American lithographers was Rembrandt Peale, who recognized it as a way of making inexpensive copies of his work. The first commercially successful lithographs were made by David Claypool Johnston. Other American lithographers are Glenn Coleman, Peter Moran, Mabel Dwight, Elizabeth Olds and Alfred Howland. A pioneering American was Nathaniel Currier who formed a business with James Ives, which grew into the earliest and subsequently famous lithography firm of Currier & Ives. Their need for illustrators brought public attention to many American artists. Sources: Peter Falk, "Who Was Who in American Art"; Ralph Mayer, "A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques"; 'Museum Accessions', "The Magazine Antiques", August 2006; AskART biographies.
Lithophanes Realistic pictures created by a process of light passing through translucent panes of porcelain, it is a method invented and patented in 1827 by Baron Paul Charles de Bourgoing. The attraction is that the light passing through creates a three-dimensional effect. Although developed in France, the process was perfected in Prussia. The Wadsworth Atheneum Museum in Hartford, Connecticut houses some of the lithophane collection of Samuel Colt, arms manufacturer, who used over 100 of them, purchased in Berlin, as window decorations in his Hartford mansion. Source: Herbert G. Houze, 'Samuel Colt's Porcelain Transparencies', "The Magazine Antiques", April 2006, pp. 106-115.
Little Galleries of the Photo Secession / 291 Opened in New York City in 1905 by photographer Alfred Stieglitz, it was an exhibition and gathering place for the Photo-Secession group, photographers committed to experimental methods of manipulating the camera rather than just taking conventional pictures. A lasting effect was bringing photography into the realm of art along with painting, sculpture, etc. The gallery, whose name was shortened to 291 for its address on lower Fifth Avenue, also pioneered the exhibiting of work by avant-garde European painters and sculptors such as Henri Matisse, Auguste Rodin, Marcel Duchamp and Pablo Picasso. In 1917 the gallery closed, a major reason being that participants were distanced by the overbearing personality of Stieglitz who served as Gallery Director. Sources: Encyclopedia Britannica Online; Wikipedia
Little Gallery, San Diego Opened in 1923 in San Diego by Beatrice de Lack Krombach, a local arts personality, it was a venue for national and regional artists, many whose names remain famous such as Lockwood de Forest, Maynard Dixon, Stanton MacDonald-Wright, Maurice Braun, Charles Reiffel, and Alfred Mitchell. In addition to exhibitions, Krombach held literary Salons. Source: San Diego Historical Society; https://www.sandiegohistory.org/journal/94summer/baldaugh.htm
Livre d'Artiste ‘A distinctive product of French modernism, the "livre d’artiste" came into being at the end of the 19th century and matured through the 20th. The genre was intrinsically eccentric in form, predicated on an urbane European cosmopolitanism and developing markets for avant-garde (predominantly Cubist, Surrealist, and Symbolist) experimentation. Spearheaded most significantly by gallery owners turned publishers (notably Ambroise Vollard and Henry Kahnweiler, among others) who commissioned an astonishing range of visual artists, every "livre d’artiste" was also a team endeavor. Modern masters were enlisted along with young upstarts, and matched with poems and prose ranging from the experimental to the traditional; from there, each project required papermakers, printers, typesetters, etc. – a myriad of skilled craftsmen. Although always inventive, "livres d’artistes" are distinguished by several elements: printed by specialty ateliers, in relatively small, limited editions, the volumes feature original images juxtaposed in relation to text. Commonly encased in boxes, the folios are comprised of sheets of carefully selected handmade paper, often unbound and frequently oversized, and sometimes cut and folded to unusual effect; the text is handset in distinctive typefaces, in flexible and perhaps stylized relation to the page size.’ Georges Braque, Alexander Calder, Marc Chagall, Salvador Dali, Helen Frankenthaler, Louise Nevelson and Andy Warhol are some of the artists who have collaborated on "livre d’artiste" works. Source: University of Arizona Museum of Art, Tucson. Submitted to askART by M.D. Silverbrooke.
Logan Medal of the Arts Initiated in 1907 and active through 1940, it is associated with the Art Institute of Chicago, the Frank G. Logan family and the Society for Sanity in Art. The name is for Frank Granger Logan, founder of the Brokerage Firm of Logan & Bryan, and Board member for over 50 years of the Chicago Art Institute, and for Josephine Hancock Logan, author of the book "Sanity in Art." The Logans opposed all forms of modern art including abstraction and surrealism. Source: Wikipedia
Logogram See Ideogram
London Group An artists' exhibition society from London, England, it was founded in 1913 by artists to challenge the conservative domination of the Royal Academy. Members included Walter Sickert, Wyndham Lewis, Matthew Smith and Henri Gaudier-Breska. The group continues to meet into the 21st century, and tries to hold at least one exhibition a year. Source: Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Group
London International Surrealist Exhibition: Held from June 11 to July 4, 1936, it was at the New Burlngton Galleires in London's Mayfair district. Organizers were committee members from England (10), France (4), Belgium (1), Scandinavia (1) and Spain (1). The official opening was attended by about 2,000 persons and main speaker was Andre Breton. From that time, about a thousand people per day were in attendance. Lecturers included Breton, Herbert Read, Paul Eluard, Hugh Sykes and Salvador Dali. The number of exhibits, paintings, sculpture, objects and drawings displayed during the exhibition's run was around 390. The most iconic image of the exhibition is the opening day performance of Sheila Legge, who stood in the middle of Trafalgar Square, posing in a white, drop tail hemmed wedding dress ensemble inspired by a Salvador Dalí painting, with her head completely obscured by a flower arrangement. In one variation of the images capturing her performance, pigeons are perched on her outstretched, gloved arms. Dalí's lecture was delivered whilst wearing a deep-sea diving suit. Nearly suffocating during the presentation, Dalí had to be rescued by the young poet David Gascoyne, who arrived with a spanner to release him from the diving helmet. Danish painter Wilhelm Freddie's entries never made it to the exhibition, as they were confiscated by British Customs representatives for being pornographic. According to ruling law at the time, the works had to be destroyed, but this was avoided at the last minute and they were despatched back to Denmark. During the exhibition, Welsh poet Dylan Thomas carried around a cup of boiled string, asking visitors would they rather it "weak or strong?" Source: Wikipedia
London Transport Museum Artists Referencing artists who created publicity posters in the 1930s, they were promoting and expressing their pride in the London Transport network of underground trains, buses and trams. Then it was regarded as the world’s most progressive public transport system and a role model of enlightened corporate patronage of contemporary art and design. Eminent artists involved included Man Ray and Graham Sutherland, who did posters; Paul Nash, who designed upholstery fabric for seats of trains, trams and buses; Hans Schleger and László Moholy-Nagy, who did general design work; and the poet, John Betjeman, who wrote its tourist leaflets. Source: Design Museum, London, England – http://designmuseum.org/design/london-transport, Courtesy M.D. Silverbrooke
Long Beach International Sculpture Symposium In 1965, Professor Kenneth Glenn of California State University at Long Beach and Kosso Eloul organized this Symposium. Patterned after several such symposia held in Europe, the Long Beach symposium was the first event of its kind held in the United States. More importantly, it was a significant experiment in the formal collaboration of art and technology. Each of the invited artists (selected from a worldwide roster of distinguished sculptors) was paired with an industrial sponsor who provided technological assistance in the form of expertise, access to facilities, equipment, and materials. The on-campus site also provided students with the opportunity to observe and assist established artists in an environment that was very different from the usual classroom activities. The final result included works by Kengiro Azuma, Andre Bloc, Kosso Eloul, Clare Falkenstein, Gabriel Kohn, Piotr Kowalski, Rita Letendre, Robert Gray Murray and Joop J. Beljon. The sculpture was spread throughout the 322 acre campus. Since then more works have been added. The collection currently includes additional works by Woods Davy, Guy Dill, Bryan Hunt, Robert Irwin and Terry Schoonhoven as well as works by Eugenia Butler, Michael A. Davis, Frederick Fisher, Maren Hassinger, Tom Van Sant and Richard Turner. Source: California State University at Long Beach University Art Museum. Submitted to askART by M.D. Silverbrooke, Art Historian and Collector, West Vancouver, British Columbia.
Los Angeles Academy of Figurative Art Located in Van Nuys, California, it is a school for teaching traditional and modern representational drawing, painting and sculpture. Included is an Atelier Program for full-time students and a Studio Sessions Program for persons who pursue art part time or professional artists who want to supplement their education. Instructors include David Leffel, Aaron Westerburg, and Sherrie McGraw. Source: http://www.laafa.org/sessions/faculty.php
Los Carpinteros Los Carpinteros (The Carpenters) are three Havana, Cuba artists: Daboberto Rodriguez Sanchez, Marco Antonio Castillo Valdes and Alexandre Arrechea. Associated since 1991, and adopting their name in 1994, the trio worked together until the departure of Alexandre Arrechea in June 2003. The decision to renounce individual authorship refers back to an older guild tradition of artisans and skilled laborers and the merging of architecture, design, and sculpture. However, Los Carpinteros express it in unexpected and often humorous ways, and create installations and drawings that negotiate the space between the functional and the nonfunctional. Source: www.skny.com/artists/los-carpinteros/bio/
Los Cinco Pintores Representing a new generation of painters in Santa Fe, New Mexico, this group was regarded as the "wild bunch" in the post World War I era. Members were Fremont Ellis, Willard Nash, Walter Mruk, Josef Bakos and Will Shuster. They were bound together by their awe for the New Mexico environment, their fear of encroaching civilization, and their desperate need to record this era before it passed. They asserted that art should speak to everyone, ranging from peasants to sophisticates, and they wanted to awaken laborers to keener art sophistication, thus developing latent art instincts. They consigned their paintings for traveling exhibitions to factories, mines, and farming towns--wherever laborers could be reached. They held their first of several annual exhibitions in the Art Museum of Santa Fe in December 1921. At that time, these artists were all under the age of thirty, non-European trained, and they painted in modernist, somewhat abstract styles. John Sloan was very encouraging of their efforts. The group, all close friends, only stayed together several years because their art philosophies developed in a variety of directions. Source: Arrell Morgan Gibson,"The Santa Fe and Taos Colonies: Age of the Muses, 1900-1942", pp. 72-72.
Los Four A collaboration of Chicano artists in Los Angeles who, in 1973, formed an art collective, their goal was to bring Chicano street art to the attention of the mainstream art community of Los Angeles. The next year, the University of California at Irvine held an exhibition for the group, and the show then traveled to the Oakland Museum and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Artists involved were Frank Romero, Roberto de la Rocha, Gilbert Lujan and Carlos Almaraz. Source: Website of the Target Corporation, http://pressroom.target.com/pr/news/community/arts/chicano/chicano-bios.aspx
Los Ochos Pintores (The Eight Painters) Transplanted artists from the eastern United States to Taos, New Mexico, they became founders of the early 20th century Taos Art Colony. Members were Joseph Sharp, Ernest Blumenschein, Bert Geer Phillips, Victor Higgins, Eanger Couse, Walter Ufer, Buck Dunton and Ernest Berninghaus. They had sophisticated art training, and most were successful illustrators. Of the eight, Couse was the last to move permanently to Taos, doing so in 1927. They banded together to have marketing strength to sell their paintings, and in 1912, formed an expanded group, Taos Society of Artists. Source: Arrell Morgan Gibson, "The Santa Fe and Taos Colonies".
Lost Colony: Artists of St. Augustine A gathering of artists in St. Augustine, Florida on the north coast of Florida, just off the Atlantic Ocean, they were fascinated by a city settled by a Spanish explorer in 1565 because of its picturesque qualities and chance to escape urban chaos. Martin Johnson Heade led the way in 1883. Then several years later in 1887, the luxurious Hotel Ponce de Leon and other smaller, quaint hotels attracted so many people that St. Augustine was called the "Newport of the South". Henry Flagler, builder of the Ponce de Leon, erected a long building with artist studios on the grounds as an added attraction, and throughout most of the 1890s, artists lived and worked for periods of time in the city. However, in the late 1890s, the city experienced economic decline, and tourists as well as Flagler moved farther south. Other artists associated with the Colony are Reynolds Beal, Arthur Diehl, Charles Hawthorne, Harry L. Hoffman and Henrich Pfeiffer. Pfeiffer was a latecomer who first arrived in 1920, and by then, according to him the art scene "had just about disappeared". Source: Robert Wilson Torchia, "Lost Colony: The Artists of St. Augustine, 1930-1950", from Resource Library Magazine, Traditional Fine Arts on Line.
Lost Wax Method A method used to make sculpture that dates back to the ancient Egyptians and Greeks, it involves the creation of an original piece, usually in clay, and a foundry where the following process occurs: 1)A plaster mold is made of the original. 2)A gelatin mold is made from the plaster mold. 3)The inside of the gelatin mold is coated with molten wax to form a hollow wax mold that is packed with sand. 4)The sculptor can touch up or correct the piece. 5)Rods of wax are attached to the wax model. 6)The entire figure is covered in heat resistant plaster or clay. 7)Metal pins are inserted to keep the object in place. 8)The whole structure is placed in an oven and baked until the plaster mold has become dry, and the hot wax has been released through the vents created by the melting of the wax rods. 9)The mold is then packed in sand. 10)Bronze is poured through vents in the space left by the melted or lost wax. 11)Cooled, the cast is shed of the inner sand. 12)It is cleaned and finished. Source: Ralph Mayer, "A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques"
Lot An auction term, it refers to an object or group of objects, which are sold together at auction and assigned a number. Source: www.sothebys.com
Lotos Club Established in New York City in 1870, it is one of the oldest literary clubs in the United States. Founded as a men's social club of prominent artists and business professionals including Mark Twain, it is noted in American art history for hosting the first exhibition of Tonalist painting in the United States. Club headquarters from 1892 to 1909 was at 556-558 Fifth Avenue; from 1910 to 1947, it was at 110 West Fifty-seventh Street; and in the late 20th and 21st centuries, it is at 5 East 65th Street. In February 1896, because of the dedication to Tonalist painting of committee member William T. Evans, the Lotos Club hosted a breakthrough American Tonalist exhibition. Entrants with work were eight men: Albert Blakelock, George Bogert, George Inness, Homer Dodge Martin, Robert Minor, Albert Pinkham Ryder, Henry Ward Ranger, and Alexander Wyant. Sources: Peter Hastings Falk, Editor, "Who Was Who in American Art"; Ralph Sessions, 'Introduction', and Jack Becker, essay, 'Championing Tonal Painting' in "The Poetic Vision: American Tonalism", (Spanierman Galleries exhibition catalogue, 2005)
Louis Prang Company A Boston lithography company that made lithographic reproductions of paintings in a process that employed a separate stone for each color. These were called chromo-lithographs. The company founder was Louis Prang (1824-1909), and he created the firm in 1856.
Louis-Philippe Hebert Prize In 1971, the St-Jean-Baptiste Society of Montréal honored the memory of sculptor Louis-Philippe Hébert by creating the Prix Louis-Philippe Hébert (medal), given to an artist of outstanding ability and stature in Québec arts. It is not awarded on a regular basis. In 1971, Fernand Leduc was a recipient. The last artist awarded was Jocelyne Alloucherie in 1998. Sources: The St-Jean-Baptiste Society of Montréal (phone call) and the Canadian Encyclopedia. http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/; Submitted to askART by M.D. Silverbrooke, West Vancouver, British Columbia.
Louisiana Purchase Exposition of 1904 Commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Louisiana Purchase, the Exposition was held in 1904 in St. Louis with the theme of manifest destiny. Emphasis was more on history than progress, and participating artists, nearly 900, expressed this theme through allegory and narrative. Exhibiting artists included John White Alexander, Worthington Whittredge, Robert Henri, Thomas Anshutz, Karl Bitter and Cecilia Beaux Source: Donald Martin Reynolds, "Masters of American Sculpture"; AskART biographies
Loveland Sculpture Invitational An annual sculpture exhibition in Loveland, Colorado, it was founded several years after the exhibition, Sculpture in the Park, and held nearby at the same time to accommodate a second group of sculptors. It is located on the grounds of Loveland High School, and has featured sculpture by Cammie Lundeen, Chris Navarro and George Lundeen. Source: Editor, 'Rocky Mountains Best of the West', "Southwest Art", July 2006, p. 96
Lowbrow Art A kind of populist art, it is intended to convey a sense of humor and poke fun at convention. It has roots in 1950s popular 'street' culture, especially southern California hot rods, babes, and surfing, and always is presented through realist or representational art. It is basically aligned with illustration, and most of the practitioners come from that background with emphasis on the commercial side, including tattoo art and comic books. The first lowbrow artists, Williams and Gary Panter (1950-), were also underground cartoonists, and early lowbrow art shows were held in alternative galleries in Los Angleles. Robert Williams founded highly popular magazine "Juxtapoz" in 1994 with a group of artists and collectors, and it brought the movement broad attention around the world. Other artists currently working in this style are Camille Rose Garcia, Todd Shorr, Mark Ryden, Tim Biskup, Gary Baseman, and Anthony Ausgang. Sources: Paul Karlstrom PhD; the website wikipedia; arthistory.com; lowbrowartworld.com. Submitted by Teta Collins
Lowell Art Association Founded in Lowell, Massachusetts in 1878 to preserve and collect work by New England Regional artists, the Association has exhibition space in the Whistler House Museum, which it owns and operates. It claims to be the nation's oldest incorporated art association on record. Included in the collection is work by museum namesake, James McNeill Whistler as well as Benjamin Mather, Thomas Lawson and Aldro Hibbard. Source: www.whistlerhouse.org
Lowell Institute Established in 1848 in Boston, Massachusetts for educational purposes, the Institute was named for and endowed with a bequest of $237,000. by John Lowell, Jr., who died in 1836. Members of the Lowell family have continued to be involved as trustees and administrators. The Institute offers both popular and erudite lectures, and also began classes in drawing and design, which have been taken over by schools. In 1952, Institute personnel created WGBH radio, whose foundation is now one of the producers in the U.S. of public television. American artists who have studied at Lowell Institute include Willard Metcalf, Alfred Bricher, Robert Harris, and Frank Shapleigh. Source: Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lowell_Institute; AskART biographies
Luci' d'Artista An exhibition of large-scale light installations, it is one of Italy's leading cultural events, launched in 1998 in Turin, Italy. The event is administered by the city's cultural services department, and is funded by corporate sponsors and an entity of regional government. Selection of artists is by government officials and curatorial staff of Castello di Rivoli, a Turin contemporary art museum. Participating installation artists include Mario Merz, Daniel Buren, Rebecca Horn, Michelangelo Pistoletto, Gilberto Zorio and Joseph Kusuth. Source: David Ebony, 'Italy's Northern Lights', "Art in America", February 2008.
Lumiere Technology A multi-spectral digitization technology, it derives from a camera developed by French photographer Pascal Cotte. This LT camera projects a ray of light across the painting being studied and reveals many aspects of the painting not seen by the naked eye. LT scans have 240 million digital pixels, a huge pixel increase over previous scanners, which insures that nothing goes unnoticed in the painting. One of the many benefits is virtual restoration, meaning an image created that shows what the painting will look like after restoration. Development of the LT camera was funded by the European Union through a grant to Pascal Cotte whose company, Lumiere Technology, does the scanning. Source: Kelly Compton, 'A World of Art, No Longer Invisible', "Fine Art Connoisseur", April 2008, p. 55
Luminism A style made popular by 19th Century American Hudson River School landscape painters, it "dealt with phenomena seen through a saturating light that united compositional elements into a spatial whole."(Goodyear, 133) Major characteristic are glowing light and atmospherics, the playing with the effects of light on natural forms to convey allegorical themes, especially the suggestion that God is revealed in nature. However, the descriptive name, Luminism, did not appear until the 1950s when art historian John I.H. Baur used it in an article titled 'American Luminism' in "Perspectives U.S.A." Luminist painters have never been united under a 'school' of painting, but in 1980, a large exhibition at the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. titled "American Light: The Luminist Movement 1850-1875" brought together works in one venue of many artists employing the style. Hudson River School luminist artists include Albert Bierstadt, Sanford Gifford, George Inness and Martin Johnson Heade. By the end of the 19th Century, the Barbizon style of painting, focused on misty, poetic qualities away from natural landscape, replaced the popularity of Luminism. Source: Frank H. Goodyear, Jr., 'American Landscape Painting, 1795-1875', "In this Academy"; Andrew Wilton and John Wilmerding, "American Sublime: Landscape Painting in the United States 1820-1880".
Luminos A process of developing photographs on canvas, it was used by the artist/photographer, Michael Jay Knigin, for his series, "Japanese Suite". These were city skyline scenes 'luminosed' on canvas and enhanced with hand-painted images. Source: Leonard Davenport Fine Arts biography of Knigin on AskART.com
Luminous / Luminosity Appearance of giving off light, it has a diffuse glow which conveys a sense of the light coming from within. Source: Ralph Mayer, "A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques"
Lunette A semicircular panel with a painting, it is often over a doorway or window with the lines of the painting corresponding with the flowing line of the Lunette. An example would be a Renaissance scene with a Pieta. Source: Ralph Mayer, "A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques"; Kimberley Reynolds and Richard Seddon, "Illustrated Dictionary of Art Terms".
Lyme Art Association Founded at the art colony of Old Lyme, Connecticut in 1914 by artists including Childe Hassam, Carleton Wiggins and William Chadwick, the goal was facilitating exhibitions of the colony's landscape painters. In 1921, an Association Gallery opened. Designed by New York architect Charles Platt, it was the first self-financed gallery of an American art Colony. However, in the next two decades interest in the exhibitions waned because of intransigent dedication of its exhibitors to Impressionism in the face of changing tastes towards modernism. The Association had financial problems, and by the late 1930s was considerably weakened. Association rules were that membership was open only to artists owning property in Lyme and living there a certain number of weeks each year. Frederick Sexton was anxious enough to join the Lyme Art Association that he bought land from Guy Wiggins and built a home there. Shortly, in 1936, he was elected to membership, and years later was very angered when the Association relaxed those rules and allowed artists who lived within a twenty-five mile radius of Lyme to be members. Sources: William Benton Museum of Art, “Connecticut and American Impressionism”; Helen K. Fusscas, “Frederick Sexton, 1889-1975”; William Gerdts, “American Impressionism” (221-227.
Lyrical Abstraction Tied to the beginnings of Abstract Expressionism and breaking away from Realism, it was a strong abstract art movement against Minimalism in the 1960s and 1970s. Adjectives associated with the style are intuitive, loose, spontaneous, illusionist, expressive, emotional, sensual and harmonious. Larry Aldrich, founder of the Contemporary Art Museum in Ridgefield, Connecticut, is credited as the originator of the name, Lyrical Abstraction. American artists known for Lyricism include Ronald Bloore, Jean McEwen, Jack Shadbolt and Marion Scott. Sources: The Free Dictionary; AskART biographies; Wikipedia: "Lyrical Abstraction"

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