Glossary   Modern ART Academic art A neo-classical, nonexperimental style promoted by the Royal French Academy during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Art Nouveau A highly ornamental style of the 1890s, characterized by floral patterns, rich colors, whiplash curves, and vertical attenuation. A French term meaning new art. Avant-Garde The leaders in new, unconventional movements; the vanguard. A French term meaning advance guard. Bohemian Literally, of Bohemia, a section of the Czech Republic. However, the term signifies a nonconformist, unconventional style of life because gypsies in transit to Western Europe had passed through Bohemia. Chiaroscuro An artistic technique in which subtle gradations of value created the illusion of rounded three-dimensional forms in space; also termed modeling. From Latin roots meaning clear and dark. Complementary color Those specific pairs of colors (e.g., red and green) that most enhance one another by virtue of their simultaneous contrast. Each pair contains one primary color plus the secondary color made by mixing the other two primaries. Since the complements do not share characteristics of hue, and are as unlike as possible, they eye readily tells them apart. When complementary colors are placed next to one another, the effects are often jarring. Conceptual Portrayed as a person or object is known or thought (conceptualized) to be; not copied from nature at any given moment. Conceptual figures tend to be stylized rather than realistic. Expressionism A modern school of art in which an emotional impact is achieved through agitated brushwork, intense coloration, and violent, hallucinatory imagery. Expressionistic Descriptive of art that emphasizes the distortion of color and form to achieve an emotional impact. Hudson River School A group of nineteenth-century American artists whose favorite subjects included the scenery of the Hudson River Valley and the Catskill Mountains of New York State. Impressionism A late nineteenth-century style of art characterized by the attempt to capture the fleeting effects of light by means of painting in short strokes of pure color. Linear recession Depth as perceived through the convergence of lines at specific points in the composition, such as the horizon line. Local color The hue of an object as created by the colors reflected by its surface under normal lighting conditions (contrast with optical color). Colors that are natural rather than symbolic for the objects they describe. Naturalistic style A style that prevailed in Europe during the second half of the nineteenth century and which depicted the details of ordinary life. Neoclassical style An eighteenth-century style of art that revived the Classical character of Greek and Roman art and is characterized by simplicity and straight lines. 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 Portrayal of objects as they are seen at the moment, especially depicting the play of light on surfaces. The painting of optical impressions is a hallmark of Impressionism. Optical art See Op art. Pastoral Relating to idyllic rural life, especially of shepherds and dairy maids. Planar recession A type of perspective in which the illusion of depth is created through parallel planes that appear to recede from the picture plane. Pointillism A systematic method of applying minute dots of unmixed pigment to the canvas, which is intended to be mixed by the eye when viewed. Also called Divisionism. Postimpressionism A late nineteenth-century art style that relies on the gains made by Impressionists in terms of the use of color and spontaneous brushwork, but which uses these elements as expressive devices. The Postimpressionists also rejected the essentially decorative aspects of Impressionist subject matter. Poussiniste Descriptive of neoclassical artists who took Nicolas Poussin as their model. Contrast with Rubeniste. Primary color A hue—red, blue, or yellow—that is not obtained by mixing other hues. Other colors are derived from primary colors. Realism A style of art characterized by portraying subject matter accurately and truthfully. The name of the nineteenth-century art style which portrayed subject matter in this manner. Romanticism A nineteenth-century movement that rebelled against academic neoclassicism by seeking extremes of emotion as enhanced by virtuoso brushwork and a brilliant palette. Rubeniste Descriptive or Romantic artists who took Peter Paul Rubens as their model. Contrast with Poussiniste. Salon An annual exhibition of the French Academy held in the spring during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Secondary color A color that is derived from mixing pigments of primary colors in equal amounts. The secondary colors are orange (obtained by mixing red and yellow), violet (red and blue), and green (blue and yellow). Steel-cage construction A method of building that capitalizes on the strength of steel by piecing together slender steel beams to form the skeletons of structures. Synthetism Gauguin's theory of art, which advocated the use of broad areas of unnatural color and primitive or symbolic subject matter.