Showing 1–30 of 52 art terms
Art Term
Painterly
Painterly refers to the application of paint in a 'loose' or less than controlled manner, resulting in the appearance of …
Art Term
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint or other media to a surface, usually with a brush
Art Term
Palette
A palette is a smooth, flat surface on which artists set out and mix their colours before painting, often designed …
Art Term
Pan-Africanism
The term pan-Africanism refers to an ideology of racial solidarity with Africa and its diaspora formed in the mid-nineteenth century
Art Term
Paper
Paper is made from matted plant fibres made into sheet form either by hand (traditional) or machine (modern) and used …
Art Term
Papier collé
French term which translates as pasted paper, papier collé is a specific form of collage that is closer to drawing …
Art Term
Participatory art
Participatory art is a term that describes a form of art that directly engages the audience in the creative process …
Art Term
Pastel
Pastel is a coloured drawing medium made from pure coloured pigment mixed with a binder to form a stick
Art Term
Patina
The word patina usually refers to a distinct green or brown surface layer on bronze sculpture
Art Term
Pendant
A pendant picture is one of two pictures designed to hang together as a matching pair
Art Term
Penwith Society of Arts
Penwith Society of Arts is an artists' society formed in 1948 at St Ives, Cornwall, Britain by artists working in …
Art Term
Performance art
Artworks that are created through actions performed by the artist or other participants, which may be live or recorded, spontaneous …
Art Term
Performativity
The term performativity describes the interdependent relationship between certain words and actions – as when a word or sentence implies …
Art Term
Perspective
The term perspective refers to the representation of objects in three-dimensional space (i.e. for representing the visible world) on the …
Art Term
PESTS
PESTS was an anonymous protest and pressure group of artists operating in New York in the 1980s who aimed to …
Art Term
Photobook
The photobook is a book of photographs by a photographer that has an overarching theme or follows a storyline – …
Art Term
Photogram
A photogram is a photographic print made by laying objects onto photographic paper and exposing it to light
Art Term
Photography
Photography refers to the process or practice of creating a photograph – an image produced by the action of light …
Art Term
Photojournalism
Photojournalism is a form of journalism which tells a news story through powerful photography
Art Term
Photorealism
Photorealism is a painting style that emerged in Europe and the USA in the late 1960s, characterised by its painstaking …
Art Term
Pictures generation
The name pictures generation was given to a group of American artists who came of age in the early 1970s …
Art Term
Picturesque
The word picturesque refers to an ideal type of landscape that has an artistic appeal, in that it is beautiful …
Art Term
Pittura Metafisica
Early twentieth century Italian art movement typified by dream-like views of eerie arcaded squares with unexpected juxtapositions of objects (English …
Art Term
Plane
A plane surface is a flat surface, and any distinct flat surface within a painting or sculpture can be referred …
Art Term
Plaster of Paris
The material plaster of Paris is a fine white powder which, when mixed with water, forms a white solid
Art Term
Plein air
The French term plein air means out of doors and refers to the practice of painting entire finished pictures out …
