Vocabulary List for 19th Century Art Images

Aesthetic Movement — “Art for Art’s Sake”; art is created and celebrated for its creation and the sheer beauty of it with no focus on its function or purpose

Aquatints — a printmaking technique that resembles the movement of watercolor

Bravado — bold or overly confident behavior

The Collectors — a group of people who support the efforts of the museum and help buy pieces of artwork for the museum. Many members of this group are from the local community. If you are interested in art, the art museum, and educating the community about art, get involved on a committee to help.

Composition Decorative Arts — art made for a practical, or functional purpose (weaving and textiles, ceramics, glassware), but is also used as a decoration

Draftsman — a person who draws or designs plans to build objects or buildings

Drypoint — a printmaking technique using a needle to scratch a design into a copperplate, ink is added on top of the plate, and then the design printed

Evocative — to bring about an emotional response

Expatriate — a person who no longer considers themselves of their home country, or a person banished from their homeland

Exquisite rendering — an intricate or beautiful drawing

Form — how an object is structured; shapes can be put together to create form

Historical narratives — combining storytelling and biography to create interpretations of history

Hues — colors

Impressionist — An artist who focuses on the changes of light and color to show a brief glimpse of the world at a given moment. The use of short, choppy brushstrokes and daubs of paint offered the artist’s “impression” of everyday objects and scenes.

Impromptu — unrehearsed or “spur of the moment”

Industrialization — the production of goods, the development of factories to produce goods

Irrelevant — unrelated or unimportant

Landscape — a picture or scene involving land

Literary sources — literature or writing

Lithographic stone — see lithography

Lithography — a printmaking technique using a limestone slab, grease pencils for the design, and greasy paint to create the print. The artist draws the design with a grease pencil, the slab is dipped in water, and greasy paint added to the slab; the paint will only stick to the parts of the limestone covered with grease pencil.

Loom — that which is used to weave cloth. The loom holds the warp so that the weft may be woven into it.

Modified — slightly changed or adjusted

Monotype — mono means one; this is a printmaking technique where the printed image is singular or happening only once.

Parisian period — Parisian meaning French or of French influence, this was a period in the artist’s life influenced by French interests.

Printmaker — a person who practices the art of making prints; monotypes, aquatints, and lithographs are mentioned in the readings.

Portrait — a picture of a person or animal

Preliminary — that which comes before or introduces

Prominent — well known

Prosperous — doing well or wealthy

Salon — The Society for French Artists was a group in Paris who gathered together to show or exhibit respected artists of the day.

Self-sufficiency — independence or the ability to provide for yourself

Scholars — a person respected for their knowledge of a subject, a well-educated person

Steely resolve — a firm decision or acceptance

Tariff — a tax placed on imported and exported goods

Textiles — woven fabrics

Tone — a tint or shade of a color

Transient effects — causing change or movement

Westerners — usually referring to those from North America