Glossary and Pronunciation Guide

This glossary provides definitions of key terms and pronunciation guidance for French names and terms. Pronunciations are given in simplified phonetic spelling for English speakers.

A

Abstraction - Art that doesn't attempt to represent external reality but seeks to achieve effect through shapes, colors, and textures

Academic art - Traditional art following established rules taught in official academies, emphasizing technical skill and classical subjects

Académie Julian (ah-kah-day-MEE zhoo-lee-AHN) - Private art school in Paris that admitted women and foreign students

Alla prima - Painting technique completing work in single session while paint still wet; favored by Impressionists

Aix-en-Provence (ex-ahn-pro-VAHNS) - Cézanne's hometown in southern France

Apollinaire, Guillaume (ah-poh-lee-NEHR, gee-YOHM) - Poet and art critic who championed Cubism

Appropriation - Using pre-existing objects or images with little transformation; controversial when involving other cultures

B

Barbizon School - Pre-Impressionist painters who worked outdoors in Barbizon forest

Baroque - Dramatic, ornate style preceding modern movements

Les Bateau-Lavoir (leh bah-TOH lah-VWAHR) - "The Laundry Boat"; Montmartre building where Picasso and others worked

Belle Époque (bell ay-POCK) - "Beautiful Era"; period of French prosperity 1871-1914

Bohemian - Unconventional lifestyle associated with artists and writers

Bonnard, Pierre (boh-NAHR, pee-EHR) - Post-Impressionist painter known for intimate domestic scenes

Braque, Georges (brahk, zhorzh) - Co-inventor of Cubism with Picasso

Broken color - Applying pure colors in separate strokes rather than mixing on palette

C

Café society - Social life centered in cafés where artists gathered

Canvas - Cloth surface for painting, usually linen or cotton

Cassatt, Mary (kah-SAHT) - American Impressionist painter

Cézanne, Paul (say-ZAHN, pohl) - Post-Impressionist who influenced Cubism

Chiaroscuro (kee-ah-roh-SKOO-roh) - Strong contrasts between light and dark

Collage (koh-LAHZH) - Artwork made by gluing materials onto surface

Colonialism - System of political and economic control over other countries; influenced cultural exchange

Color theory - Principles of how colors interact and affect perception

Complementary colors - Opposite colors on color wheel that intensify each other

Composition - Arrangement of elements in artwork

Cubism - Movement fragmenting objects into geometric forms from multiple viewpoints

D

Degas, Edgar (deh-GAH, ed-GAHR) - Impressionist famous for ballet dancers and pastels

Delacroix, Eugène (del-ah-KWAH, ö-ZHEN) - Romantic painter who influenced Impressionists' color use

Delaunay, Robert and Sonia (deh-loh-NEH) - Couple who developed Orphic Cubism with bright colors

Les Demoiselles d'Avignon (leh dem-wah-ZEL dah-vee-NYOHN) - Picasso's revolutionary 1907 painting

Derain, André (deh-RAN, ahn-DREH) - Fauvist painter

Divisionism - Technique separating colors into dots; also called Pointillism

Durand-Ruel, Paul (doo-RAHN roo-EL, pohl) - Art dealer who supported Impressionists

E

École des Beaux-Arts (ay-KOHL deh boh-ZAHR) - Official French art school

En plein air (ahn plehn EHR) - Painting outdoors

Expressionism - Art emphasizing emotional over physical reality

F

Faceting - Breaking surfaces into geometric planes in Cubist works

Fauvism (FOH-vizm) - Movement using bold, non-naturalistic color

Les Fauves (leh fohv) - "The Wild Beasts"; Fauvist artists

Foreshortening - Depicting object at angle to create depth illusion

Fresco - Painting on wet plaster

G

Gauguin, Paul (goh-GAN, pohl) - Post-Impressionist who worked in Tahiti

Genre painting - Scenes of everyday life

Gesso - White ground preparation for painting surface

Giverny (zhee-vehr-NEE) - Monet's garden home

Glazing - Applying transparent paint layers

Gouache (gwahsh) - Opaque watercolor paint

Gris, Juan (grees, hwahn) - Spanish Cubist painter

H

Haussmann, Baron (ohs-MAHN) - Redesigned Paris with wide boulevards

Haute bourgeoisie (oht boor-zhwah-ZEE) - Upper middle class

I

Impasto - Thick paint application

Impressionism - Movement capturing light and momentary effects

Independent artists - Those working outside official systems

J

Japonisme (zhah-poh-NEEZM) - Japanese influence on Western art

Jardin du Luxembourg (zhahr-DAN doo look-sam-BOOR) - Paris garden where artists gathered

K

Kahnweiler, Daniel-Henry (KAHN-vy-ler) - Picasso's dealer and Cubism supporter

L

Laurencin, Marie (loh-rahn-SAN, mah-REE) - Painter associated with Cubists

Léger, Fernand (lay-ZHAY, fehr-NAHN) - Cubist painter

Life drawing - Drawing human figure from live model

Local color - Object's actual color unaffected by light conditions

M

Manet, Édouard (mah-NEH, ay-DWAHR) - Forerunner of Impressionism

Matisse, Henri (mah-TEES, ahn-REE) - Leader of Fauvism

Medium - Material used to create art (oil, watercolor, etc.)

Métro (may-TROH) - Paris subway system, opened 1900

Millet, Jean-François (mee-LEH, zhahn frahn-SWAH) - Barbizon painter of peasants

Modernism - Broad movement rejecting traditional forms

Monet, Claude (moh-NEH, klohd) - Leading Impressionist

Montmartre (mohn-MARTR) - Paris hill district where artists lived

Montparnasse (mohn-par-NAHS) - Left Bank district; artist quarter after Montmartre

Morisot, Berthe (moh-ree-ZOH, behrt) - Impressionist painter

Motif - Recurring subject or theme

N

Nabis (nah-BEE) - Post-Impressionist group meaning "prophets"

Neo-Impressionism - Scientific color division; Pointillism

Nude - Unclothed human figure in art

O

Odalisque (OH-dah-leesk) - Reclining female figure, often Orientalized

Oil paint - Pigment mixed with drying oil

Orientalism - Western depiction of Eastern cultures, often stereotypical

Orphism - Cubist movement emphasizing pure color

P

Palette - Surface for mixing paints; also artist's range of colors

Palette knife - Tool for mixing or applying paint

Papier collé (pah-pee-YAY koh-LAY) - Pasted paper technique

Paris Salon - Official annual art exhibition

Passage - Cubist technique merging planes

Pastel - Dry medium in stick form

Perspective - Creating three-dimensional illusion on flat surface

Picasso, Pablo (pee-KAH-so, PAH-blo) - Spanish artist; co-inventor of Cubism

Pigment - Colored powder mixed with binding medium

Pissarro, Camille (pee-sah-ROH, kah-MEE) - Impressionist painter

Plein air - See "En plein air"

Pointillism (PWAN-til-izm) - Applying small dots of pure color

Post-Impressionism - Various styles following Impressionism

Primary colors - Red, yellow, blue; cannot be mixed from other colors

Primitivism - Interest in non-Western art, often problematically framed

R

Realism - Mid-19th century movement depicting everyday subjects

Renoir, Pierre-Auguste (ren-WAHR, pee-EHR oh-GOOST) - Impressionist painter

Représentation - Depicting recognizable subjects

S

Salon d'Automne (sah-LOHN doh-TOHN) - Annual autumn exhibition showcasing modern art

Salon des Indépendants (sah-LOHN deh zan-day-pahn-DAHN) - Jury-free exhibition

Salon des Refusés (sah-LOHN deh reh-foo-ZAY) - Exhibition of works rejected by official Salon

Secondary colors - Orange, green, violet; mixed from primaries

Seurat, Georges (sö-RAH, zhorzh) - Neo-Impressionist who developed Pointillism

Shchukin, Sergei (SHOO-kin) - Russian collector of modern art

Signac, Paul (see-NYAHK, pohl) - Neo-Impressionist painter

Simultaneous contrast - How colors appear different next to other colors

Stein, Gertrude - American writer and collector in Paris

Still life - Painting of inanimate objects

Studio - Artist's workspace

Support - Surface painted on (canvas, panel, etc.)

Symbolism - Movement emphasizing emotions and ideas over reality

T

Tertiary colors - Colors mixed from primary and secondary

Toulouse-Lautrec, Henri de (too-LOOZ loh-TREK, ahn-REE duh) - Post-Impressionist painter of Parisian nightlife

Trompe-l'oeil (tromp LOY) - "Deceive the eye"; extremely realistic painting

U

Ukiyo-e (oo-kee-yoh-eh) - Japanese woodblock prints; "pictures of floating world"

Underpainting - Initial paint layer

V

Valadon, Suzanne (vah-lah-DOHN, soo-ZAHN) - Self-taught painter; Utrillo's mother

Value - Lightness or darkness of color

Van Gogh, Vincent (van KHOKH, VIN-sent) - Dutch Post-Impressionist

Vanguard - Artists at forefront of new movements

Vauxcelles, Louis (voh-SEL, loo-EE) - Critic who named Fauvism and Cubism

Vlaminck, Maurice de (vlah-MANK, moh-REES duh) - Fauvist painter

Vollard, Ambroise (voh-LAHR, ahm-BRWAHZ) - Important modern art dealer

W

Watercolor - Transparent water-based paint

Workshop - See "Studio"; also master artist's workplace with assistants

Z

Zola, Émile (zoh-LAH, ay-MEEL) - Writer who supported Impressionists

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