Glossary Chaps 20 & 21 Early 20th Century Art and Contemporary Art Abstract Expressionism A style of painting and sculpture of the 1950s and 1960s, in which artists expressionistically distorted abstract images with loose, gestural brushwork. See expressionistic. Action painting A contemporary method of painting characterized by implied movement in the brushstroke and the splattering and dripping of paint on the canvas. Automatist surrealism An outgrowth of automatic writing in which the artist attempts to derive the outlines of images from the unconscious through free association. Calligraphy Beautiful handwriting; penmanship; ornamental writing, as with a pen or brush. Color-field painting Painting that uses visual elements and principles of design to suggest that the color field stretches beyond the canvas to infinity. Figure and ground are given equal emphasis. Combine painting A contemporary style of painting that attaches other media—frequently found objects—to the canvas. Conceptual art An anticommercial art movement begun in the 1960s in which works of art are conceived and executed in the mind of the artist. The commercial or communal aspect of the work is often a set of instructions as to what exists in the artist's mind. Figurative Representing the likeness of human and other figures. Hard-edge painting A contemporary art style in which geometric forms are rendered with precision, but there is no distinction between foreground and background. Installation Site-specific artwork; a work of art created for a specific gallery space or outdoor site. Kinetic sculpture Sculpture that actually moves (as opposed to providing the illusion of movement). Minimal art A contemporary art style that adheres to the Minimalist philosophy. Minimalism A twentieth-century style of nonobjective art in which a minimal number of visual elements are arranged in a simple fashion. Neo-Expressionism A violent, figurative art style of the second half of the twentieth century, which largely revived the German Expressionism of the early twentieth century. New image painting An art style of the second half of the twentieth century which sought to reconcile abstraction and representation through the use of simplified images that conveyed the grandeur of abstract shapes. The images did not dominate visual elements such as color and texture, or their design. Op art A style of art begun in the 1960s that creates the illusion of vibrations through afterimages, disorienting perspective, and the juxtaposition of contrasting colors. Also called Optical art or Optical painting. Optical painting A contemporary school of painting characterized by the manipulation of light or color fields to produce visual illusions, often in the form of vibrations. Also referred to as Op art. Pattern painting A decorative contemporary style of art, which uses evocative signs, symbols, and patterns. Photorealism An art movement that began in the 1960s in which subjects are rendered with hard, photographic precision. Pop art An art style that originated in the 1960s and uses commercial and popular images and themes as its subject matter. Ready-made Found objects that are exhibited as works of art, frequently after being placed in a new context and being given a new title. Shaped canvas A canvas that departs from the traditional rectangle and often extends the work into three-dimensional space. The shaped canvas challenges the traditional orientation of a painting. Trompe l'oeil A painting or other art form that creates such a realistic image that the viewer may wonder whether it is real or illusionistic. A French phrase meaning fool the eye.