Art Glossary

Brutalism is an architectural style from the 1950s and 60s characterized by the use of raw concrete to create block-like forms. This style was often applied in public housing and civic buildings, (...) read more

Capitalist Realism is a German form of political pop art that emerged in Cold War-era Berlin in 1963. It sought to challenge the dominance of American pop art in the Western world. The movement (...) read more

Chinese Contemporary Art is marked by a wide range of styles and experimental approaches. In the 1980s, avant-garde exhibitions were often shut down by government officials. The 1990s saw the rise of (...) read more

CoBrA stands for Copenhagen, Brussels, and Amsterdam; the group was formed with a desire to break away from the existing art movements of the time. Their critique of Western society led them to (...) read more

Colour Field Painting is an abstract style characterized by large areas of a single color or simple, solid colors. The term was first used in the 1950s to describe the work of three American Abstract (...) read more

Comic strip art refers to artwork that utilizes the subject matter and commercial printing techniques found in comic strips. In the 1960s, a group of artists began creating paintings that (...) read more

Computer art refers to any type of digital imagery or graphic artwork created using a computer. Art curators often classify art made with computers as either digital art or new media art. Artists (...) read more

Sometimes referred to as Conceptualism, this is an art form where the idea(s) or concept(s) behind the work take precedence over material concerns and traditional aesthetics. Many conceptual artworks (...) read more

Concrete Art is an art movement founded by the Dutch artist Theo van Doesburg in the 1930s. The movement emphasizes pure abstraction, focusing on geometric shapes and colors without any reference to (...) read more

Constructivism is an architectural and artistic philosophy of Russian origin that emerged as a rejection of the idea of autonomous art. The movement advocated for art to serve practical social (...) read more

Contemporary art refers to avant-garde or innovative art created in the recent past or present day. The exact starting point of contemporary art varies depending on the institution, often tied to the (...) read more

Contemporary art from India dates from 1985 to the present, marking the post-liberalization era. During this period, artists have felt free to create independently of traditional Hindu or social (...) read more

This Italian art movement includes artists from Italy, Belgium, and France who are known for creating public installations using recyclable plastic to craft massive animal sculptures. The artwork (...) read more

Cubism is an art movement that aimed to depict multiple perspectives of objects or figures within a single picture. Artists Georges Braque and Pablo Picasso pioneered this style around 1907. The name (...) read more

Cynical Realism is a term first used in 1992 by art critic Li Xianting to describe a group of Beijing artists who created satirical social realist paintings. The group aimed to depict the (...) read more

Also known as Dadaism, Dada was a literary and artistic movement that began in 1916 in Zurich, Switzerland. It emerged as a rejection of rationalism and nationalism, which were seen as contributing (...) read more

Tansaekhwa, also known as monochrome painting, is a movement in Korean art that began in the mid-1970s. These artworks are characterized by the manipulation of painting materials, such as pushing (...) read more

Dau Al Set was an artistic movement that sought to express both the conscious and unconscious mind through art. Initially an offshoot of Surrealism, it evolved into a distinct movement over time. (...) read more

De Stijl, meaning The Style, was a group of Dutch artists who created abstract art based on strict adherence to vertical and horizontal geometry. The group was founded by Piet Mondrian and Theo van (...) read more

Digital art refers to artistic practices or works that utilize digital technology as an essential component of both the creation and presentation process. Since the 1970s, various terms like (...) read more

The Düsseldorf School of Photography refers to a group of photographers who studied under Bernd and Hilla Becher at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf during the 1970s. This group was known for its (...) read more

Earth art, also known as Land Art, emerged in the 1960s and 70s as part of the conceptual art movement. It involves creating artworks by sculpting the land or constructing structures in the landscape (...) read more

In 1981, Patti Astor opened the first art gallery in New York City's East Village, helping to launch the careers of various artists and musicians. The gallery started small but quickly gained (...) read more

EAT (Experiments in Art and Technology) was a movement formed to foster collaborations between engineers and artists. It facilitated direct, person-to-person connections between these two groups. The (...) read more