Contemporary art terms

Your guide to the dynamic world of artistic expression. From avant-garde to mixed media, explore the vibrant lexicon shaping today's art landscape.

17th-Century Arts

Due to trade, the 17th century saw significant exchanges of artistic objects and the worldwide dissemination of artistic styles.

1960s Art

The 1960s birthed important art styles and movements, including Pop Art, Op Art, Minimalism, Conceptual Art, Performance Art, and Feminist Art.

1980s Art

1980s art was marked by a wide range of artistic styles, including neo-expressionism, abstract paintings, and installation and performance artists.

20th century art

20th century art embraced the new era by departing from realistic representation and traditional ideas, leading to various abstract styles.

Abject Art

Abject art explores themes that challenge and disrupt our notions of cleanliness and propriety, often involving the body and bodily functions.

Abstract Art

Abstract art doesn't try to show things as they appear in reality – it uses shapes, colours, forms, and gestures to create its impact.

Abstract Expressionism

Abstract Expressionism was the dominant art movement in the 1940s and ‘50s, characterised by gestural brushwork and emphasising spontaneity.

Abstract Illusionism

Abstract illusionism is commonly associated with the decorative designs found in Baroque art, particularly in building ornamentation.

Abstract Landscape

Abstract landscapes draw inspiration from the real world but purposefully diverge from it, prioritising shapes over literal representations.

Abstract Photography

Abstract photography involves creating images using photographic materials and equipment that lack a direct connection to the physical world.

Abstract Sculpture

Abstract sculpture involves crafting a shape or form using a combination of lines or a simple shape, without the use of colour.

Acrylic Paint

Acrylic paint is a quick-drying paint composed of pigment suspended in an acrylic polymer emulsion.

Action Painting

Action painting is a style where paint is applied spontaneously by dripping, splashing, or smearing onto the canvas instead of meticulous application.

Activist Art

Activist art is a label applied to art that focuses on action and tackles political or social concerns.

African art

African art includes paintings, sculptures, installations, and various forms of visual culture produced by native or indigenous Africans on the African continent.

AfriCOBRA

AfriCOBRA was a collective of African American artists in Chicago, who aimed to uplift and empower black communities.

Afrofuturism

Afrofuturism is a cultural style blending science fiction, history, and fantasy to delve into the African-American experience.

Airbrushing

Airbrushing is a painting technique that uses an airbrush to achieve a smooth and uniform surface, used to create highly-realistic artworks.

Alabaster

Alabaster is a soft white, mineral rock used for carvings and a source of plaster powder.

Albumen Print

The albumen print, widely used in the late 19th century, is a photographic print crafted from paper coated with albumin from egg whites.

Algorithm

An Algorithm is a set of instructions used to solve problems, perform specific tasks or make decisions.

Allegory Painting

In allegorical paintings, figures may symbolise various emotional states or personify abstract concepts like love, envy, or Revolution.

Altermodern

‘Altermodern’ was coined by Nicolas Bourriaud, seeking to place contemporary art within today's context as a response to commercialisation.

American Abstract Artists (AAA)

American Abstract Artists (AAA) is an organisation established in 1936 with the aim of fostering the appreciation of abstract art in the US.

Analytical Cubism

Analytical Cubism, typically spanning from 1908 to 1912, refers to the initial stage of Cubism, characterised by its fragmented portrayal of subjects.

Angry Penguins

‘Angry Penguins’ was a modernist literary and artistic movement in Australia during the 1940s, aiming to challenge cultural norms.

Anti-Art

‘Anti-art’ is a term used to include various concepts and attitudes that reject conventional definitions of art and raise questions about its nature.

Antiquities

Antiquity refers to the ancient past, from approx 4,500 BCE, marking the origins of Western civilization, to around the start of the Middle Ages.

Aquatint

Aquatint is a print resembling a watercolour painting, etching a copper plate with nitric acid and using resin and varnish to achieve tonal shading.

Art Brut

‘Art brut’ is a French term coined by artist Jean Dubuffet, denoting ‘raw art’ and encompasses creations like graffiti and naïve art.

Art Informel

Art informel describes a variety of abstract painting styles from the 1940s and 1950s, emphasising improvisation and highly gestural techniques.

Art Intervention

‘Art intervention’ is art that’s created with the intention of interacting with an existing structure or situation.

Art Nouveau

Art Nouveau is a global design style from the 1890s, known for its graceful, flowing lines and organic shapes inspired by natural plant forms.

Arte Povera

Arte Povera (poor art) was an art movement in 1960s Italy that endeavoured to forge a fresh sculptural style using modest, common materials.

Artificial Intelligence

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a field of computer science and technology that focuses on creating systems and machines capable of performing tasks that typically require human intelligence.

Artist Appropriation

Appropriation in art involves deliberate borrowing, replicating, and modifying of existing images, objects, and ideas as an artistic approach.

Artist Commission

An art commission involves asking for the creation of a piece, typically on behalf of someone else.

Artistic Tone (AT)

‘Tone’ simply refers to the lightness or darkness of a colour. Each colour encompasses a wide range of tones.

Artist's Proof (AP)

An artist's proof (AP) is a special type of proof that is kept by the artist for their own personal use or for sale at a later date.

Ashcan School

The Ashcan School was an artistic movement in the U.S. during the late 19th to early 20th century, portraying everyday life, especially in poor areas.

Assemblage

Assemblage is characterised by the arrangement of three-dimensional elements on a defined surface, often protruding from the substrate.

Auto-Destructive Art

Auto-destructive art, coined by Gustav Metzger in the 1960s, describes radical artworks where destruction is an integral part of the creation process.

Automatism

Automatism involves crafting artwork without deliberate thought, tapping into the reservoir of the unconscious mind.

Autonomous System

An autonomous system is a system that uses a non-human decision maker.

Avant Garde

Avant-garde in art refers to new and experimental ideas and methods.

Bauhaus

Bauhaus was a groundbreaking institution for art, architecture, and design, founded in 1919 by Walter Gropius in Weimar, Germany.

Ben-Day Dots

The Ben Day process is a method in printing that creates shades of grey or different colours by using intricate ink patterns on paper.

Biennial

A biennial is a significant international art exhibition that takes place every two years.

Biomorphic Art

Biomorphic art, from 'bios' (life) and 'morphe' (form), relates to abstract shapes or images that resemble naturally occurring forms, such body parts.

Biomorphism

Biomorphism comes from the Greek ‘bios’ (life) and ‘morphe’ (form), describing abstract shapes or images that remind people of living things.

Black Aesthetic

The Black Aesthetic is a cultural ideology that emerged in the United States during the 1960s, advocating for black separatism within the arts.

Black Arts Movement

The Black Arts Movement was an art movement led by African Americans, active in the 1960s and 1970s.

Blockchain

The blockchain is a distributed and decentralized digital ledger technology that securely records transactions across a network of computers.

Body Art

Body art is a form of art where the primary medium and focus is the human body, often that of the artist.

Built Environment

The built environment refers to human-made surroundings, typically used in architecture, urban planning, public health, sociology, and anthropology.

Capitalist Realism

Capitalist realism emerged in Düsseldorf, Germany, in 1963 to contest the predominant influence of American pop art in the Western world.

Caricature

A caricature is a picture, description, or imitation of a person in which specific features are exaggerated, often for humorous or grotesque effect.

Certificate of Authenticity (COA)

A Certificate of Authenticity (COA) is a document that accompanies a piece of artwork to verify its authenticity.

Charcoal Drawing

Charcoal is a black drawing material made of carbon, commonly used for sketching, under-drawing in paintings, and creating finished drawings.

Chicano Art

The Chicano Art Movement signifies significant efforts by Mexican-American artists to create a distinct artistic identity within the United States.

Classicism

Classicism is the designation for art that draws inspiration from the styles of ancient Greece and Rome.

CoBrA

CoBrA was an artistic movement established in 1948 by artists from Copenhagen, Brussels, and Amsterdam, drawing inspiration from the art of children.

Collagraph

A collagraph is a collage of materials with different textures adhered to a printing plate, typically made of thin wood or cardboard.

Complementary Colours

Complementary colours exhibit the highest possible contrast with each other.

Composition in Art

Composition in art is the organisation and arrangement of different visual elements within an artwork.

Conceptual Art

Conceptual art emerged in the late 1960s, prioritising the idea or concept behind the piece over the actual art object.

Conceptual Photography

Conceptual photography uses images to portray abstract concepts or ideas.

Conceptualism

Conceptualism is an art movement that emerged in the mid-20th century, emphasizing the idea or concept behind an artwork rather than its visual or aesthetic qualities.

Concrete Art

Concrete art is a form of abstract art that has no connection to observed reality or any symbolic meaning.

Contemporary African Art

Contemporary African art reflects a period of change and modernisation, typically created by African artists born after 1970.

Contemporary Art

Contemporary art is commonly used to describe art that pertains to the current era, often characterised by its innovative or avant-garde qualities.

Contemporary Asian Art

Contemporary Asian art typically describes art created across Asia since the 1980s.

Contemporary Figurative Painting

Contemporary figurative painting is art from the late 20th to the 21st century that portrays recognisable forms or figures from the real world.

Contemporary Impressionist

Contemporary Impressionism refers to artworks created by modern artists that share aesthetic characteristics with the French Impressionists.

Contemporary Jewelry

Contemporary jewellery is current and trendy, blending art and jewellery into something relevant for today.

Contemporary Performance

Contemporary performance is a body of work that blends elements from visual art, dance, and musical compositions, to construct an artistic expression.

Contemporary Photography

Contemporary photography captures or mirrors a perspective on our present-day world, so it can sometimes be defined as an image taken in our lifetime.

Contour Line

In art, contour lines outline the edges of an object, emphasising the shape's boundaries and significant internal lines.

Contrapposto

Contrapposto (Italian for ‘counterpoise’) is a sculptural technique depicting humans resting their weight on one leg, with the other bent at the knee.

Craft in Art

Craft is a creative process that typically results in something that serves a practical purpose, like clothing or utensils.

Creolisation

Creolisation started in the Caribbean, and refers to the blending of diverse people and cultures into a unified whole.

Cubism

Cubism was a revolutionary art style and movement, invented by Picasso and Braque in 1907-08, that brought different viewpoints into the same picture.

Curator

A curator is an individual hired by a museum or gallery to oversee and care for a collection of artworks or artefacts.

Dada

Dada was an artistic movement formed during WWI in Zurich, in response to the war’s horrific scenes. The art was often satirical and nonsensical.

Decadence

Decadence describes an extravagant form of symbolism that emerged in the late nineteenth century, focussing on spiritual, morbid and erotic themes.

Decalcomania

Decalcomania is a transfer technique from the 18th century, applying ink or paint to a surface and covering it with paper or glass while wet.

Décollage

Décollage (to unstick) is linked to the artistic method of nouveau réalisme (new realism) artists, who created art by tearing posters from walls.

Deconstruction

Deconstruction was coined by the French philosopher Jacques Derrida in the 1970s, insisting that a work has multiple meanings, often contradictory.

Degenerate Art

Degenerate art is the term used by the Nazis to denounce and control art that did not conform to their ideology.

Der Blaue Reiter

Der Blaue Reiter was a German expressionist collective founded in Munich in 1909.

Diaspora Art

In the context of art, the term ‘diaspora’ describes artists who have migrated or moved from one part of the world to another.

Digital Art

Digital art is artwork created or presented leveraging digital technology.

Digital Print

Digital printing is a technique that involves printing an image directly onto various types of media from a digital source.

Diptych

A diptych refers to an item consisting of two flat plates that are typically connected by a hinge to create a pair.

Documentary Photography

Documentary photography is aimed at capturing events and settings, whether they’re historically significant or part of everyday life, to create a visual record.

Drypoint

Drypoint is a printmaking method in which a design is inscribed onto a plate using a sharp, needle-like tool.

Dynamism

Dynamic composition revolves around movement and energy, aiming to be captivating and thrilling while avoiding predictability.

Edition

An edition refers to a specific set of prints or artworks that are produced at a certain time or for a particular event.

Edition Number

The edition number is the specific number assigned to a print or artwork within an edition, usually indicated as a fraction.

Edition Size

Edition size refers to the total number of copies produced in a specific edition of prints or artworks.

Embossed

Embossing is the act of decorating an object, typically with letters, using specialised tools that create a raised mark on its surface.

Engraving

Engraving is a printmaking method where incisions are crafted into a metal plate, serving to hold the ink and shape the resulting printed image.

Ephemeral Art

Ephemeral art is a form of art that exists briefly and cannot be preserved as a permanent object in a museum or gallery.

ERC-1155

ERC-1155 is one of two standards within the Ethereum blockchain ecosystem.

ERC-721

ERC-721 is one of two standards within the Ethereum blockchain ecosystem.

Etching

Etching is an intaglio printmaking technique where acid is used to incise lines or areas into a metal plate, creating channels that retain the ink.

Expanded Cinema

Expanded cinema is an artistic expression that goes beyond traditional film, including video, multi-media performances, and immersive environments.

Expressionism

Expressionism is an art style that distorts reality in order to emphasise personal expression, characterised by intense colour and brushwork.

Fairy Painting

Fairy painting is closely linked to the Victorian era, focusing on artwork depicting fairies and other supernatural subjects.

Fauvism

Fauvism is the style of les fauves, a group of early 20th-century painters (including Matisse) who used vivid and non-naturalistic colours.

Feminist Art

Feminist art is a genre of art linked to the feminist movement of the late 1960s and 1970s.

Film Positive

A film positive is a transparent film displaying a positive image, typically used in printing processes like screen printing.

Fin de Siecle

Fin de Siècle, meaning ‘end of the century’, relates to artwork from the end of the century, typically the 19th century.

Flâneur

A 'flâneur' is a French term coined by nineteenth-century poet Charles Baudelaire to describe someone who casually strolls through modern life.

Fluid Dynamics

Fluid dynamics is the study of the movement and behaviour of liquids and gases, a sub-discipline within the broader scope of fluid mechanics.

Fluxus

Fluxus is a global avant-garde collective and network of artists and composers that emerged in the 1960s, and remains active to this day.

Foreshortening

Foreshortening is the technique of depicting an object or body in a way that creates the illusion of depth and projection in a picture.

Form in Art

‘Form’ can describe the physical nature or overall shape of a work, or the element of shape among the components within a work of art.

Formalism

Formalism is the analysis and comparison of art by focusing on the way it’s made and what it looks like.

Found Object

A found object is a natural or man-made item that an artist discovers or acquires and keeps due to its inherent artistic value.

Fresco in Art

A fresco is a form of wall painting, deriving its name from the Italian word ‘fresco’ because it's created on wet plaster.

Frottage

Frottage is an automatic surrealist technique where a textured surface is rubbed with a pencil or other drawing tool to create art.

Genre Painting

Genre painting is a style of art that portrays scenes from everyday life, typically featuring ordinary people engaged in various activities.

Geometric Abstraction

Geometric abstraction is a type of abstract art that uses geometric shapes, often placed in non-realistic space, to create non-objective compositions.

Georgian Art

Georgian art refers to the artistic and architectural style that prevailed during the reigns of the four King Georges in Britain from 1714 to 1830.

German Expressionism

German Expressionism prioritised inner emotions over realism, featuring simplified shapes, vivid colours, and expressive brushwork.

Gestural

Gestural' is a term employed to characterise the technique of applying paint with bold, sweeping brush strokes in a free and expressive manner.

Gouache

Gouache is an opaque, water-soluble paint that differs from watercolour, meaning it stops the white paper surface showing through.

Graffiti Art

Graffiti art is a term used to describe images or text that are typically spray-painted onto buildings.

Graphic Design

Graphic design is the art or technique of integrating text and images in advertisements, magazines, or books.

Graphite

Graphite is a metallic grey writing and drawing material, primarily used in pencil form. However, artists also use graphite powder for drawing.

Grattage

Grattage is a surrealist painting technique that involves using a sharp blade to 'scratch' or scrape fresh paint.

Grupo Frente

Grupo Frente was a Brazilian art movement in the 1950s that rejected the figuration and nationalism of modernist Brazilian painting.

Gutai

Gutai was an avant-garde group established in Japan, 1954, known for creating art that foreshadowed conceptual art during the 1960s and 1970s.

Hand-finishing

Hand-finishing refers to the manual process of adding finishing touches or details to a print or piece of artwork after the primary creation process.

Hard Edge Painting

Hard edge painting is an abstract painting style from the 1960s, defined by the use of flat colours with precise and well-defined edges.

Hindu Art

Hindu art includes various artistic traditions linked to Hinduism, with deep connections to Hindu scriptures, rituals, and worship.

History Painting

History painting is a genre of painting characterised by its subject matter rather than a particular artistic style or era.

Hyperrealism

Hyperrealism is a style in painting and sculpture that mimics the detailed appearance of a high-resolution photograph.

Iconography

Iconography refers to the visual images and symbols used in a work of art.

Immersive Art

Immersive art offers a heightened level of interactivity and experiential engagement, providing viewers with a more immersive experience.

Impasto

Impasto is the process or technique of applying paint or pigment in a thick manner, causing it to stand out prominently from the surface.

Impressionism

Impressionism is an artistic movement that emerged in France in the 1860s, capturing ‘on-the-spot’ moments and the transient effects of sunlight.

Independent Group

The Independent Group was a progressive group of youthful artists, writers, and critics from the Institute of Contemporary Arts in 1950s London.

Insitutional Critique

Institutional critique involves the practice of critiquing an institution as a form of artistic expression.

Installation Art

Installation art revolves around crafting an aesthetic or sensory experience within a specific setting, frequently encouraging active participation.

Intaglio Printing

Intaglio includes printing and printmaking methods where the image is engraved or etched into a surface, and the incised areas retain the ink.

Interaction Art

Interactive art refers to artwork that relies on the engagement and involvement of an observer.

Intersectionality

Intersectionality recognises that discrimination is influenced by things like gender, race, class, sexual orientation, and physical ability.

Kinetic Art

Kinetic art is a form of art that relies on movement to create its impact.

Kitsch

Kitsch refers to art, objects, or design deemed to be in poor taste due to excessive garishness, sentimentality, or knowing irony.

Land Art

Land art is creating art directly within the natural landscape, typically shaping the land itself to form earthworks with natural elements.

Landscape Art

A landscape artwork, whether a painting or drawing, centres on natural scenery like mountains, forests, trees, rivers, and valleys.

Les Nabis

Les Nabis was a collective of post-impressionist French painters from 1888 to 1900, bold contours and simplified drawing techniques.

Linocut

Linocut, also called lino print or linoleum art, is a printmaking technique similar to woodcut, using linoleum sheets as the relief surface.

Lithography

Lithography is a planographic printing technique where a design is drawn onto a flat stone or a metal plate, and adhered via chemical reactions.

Madonna and Child

“Madonna and Child” was painted by Duccio di Buoninsegna, one of the most influential artists of the late 13th and early 14th century.

Magic Realism

‘Magic realism’ was coined by German art critic Franz Roh in 1925, categorising contemporary realistic paintings of fantasy or dream-like subjects.

Mannerist

Mannerist is a 16th-century artistic style marked by artificiality, elegance, and a sensuously distorted portrayal of the human figure.

Medium in Art

‘Medium’ can encompass both the artistic category (such as painting, sculpture, or printmaking) and the materials used in creating an artwork.

Memento Mori

A memento mori is an artwork intended to prompt the viewer to reflect on their own mortality and the brief, delicate nature of human existence.

Mesh Count

Mesh count refers to the number of threads per inch in a screen used for screen printing.

Metaphysical Art

Metaphysical Art was an early twentieth-century Italian art movement known for its dream-like depictions of mysterious arcaded squares.

Mezzotint

Mezzotint is an engraving method that emerged in the 17th century, producing prints of smooth transitions of tone and deep, velvety black areas.

Minimalism

Minimalism was a primarily American art movement of the 1960s, characterised by simple geometric shapes and massive forms.

Mixed Media

Mixed media refers to artworks created by blending various media or materials together.

Mobile Art

A mobile is a form of kinetic sculpture designed to hang weighted objects or additional rods.

Modern Art

Modern art is characterised by a departure from traditional styles and values, notably produced from the late 19th century to the late 20th century.

Mono Ha

Mono-ha, also known as the 'School of Things,' was an innovative art movement that originated in Tokyo during the mid-1960s.

Monotype

A monotype is a unique image produced by printing from a smooth plate, like glass or metal, that has been inked with a design.

Montage

A montage is a compilation of related images, coming together to form a complete piece, or a component of a larger piece.

Mosaic Art

Mosaic art refers to decorating a surface with closely arranged, small fragments of materials like stone, minerals, glass, tiles, or shells.

Motif in Art

Originating from ‘motive’, motifs in art are repeating fragments, themes, or patterns found in a work of art.

Naive Art

Naïve art is described as visual art produced by individuals who lack the formal education and training typically undergone by professional artists.

Narrative Art

Narrative art conveys a story, presenting either a single moment within an ongoing narrative or a series of events unfolding over time.

Naturalism

Naturalism, combined with realism, influenced impressionism and modern art, with an emphasis on plein air practice (painting scenes outdoors).

Négritude

Négritude was an anti-colonial movement started by African and Caribbean students in 1930s Paris.

Neo-Expressionism

Neo-expressionism, which experienced a significant resurgence in the 1980s, marked a global revival of painting in an expressionist style.

Neo-Plasticism

Neo-Plasticism is a label embraced by Piet Mondrian, characterising his style of abstract painting that focuses on horizontal and vertical lines.

Neo-Romanticism

Neo-Romanticism is a painting style that emerged in the 20th century, primarily defined by forms or images that evoke nostalgia and fantasy.

NFT

An NFT (Non-Fungible Token) is a type of digital asset that represents ownership or proof of authenticity of a unique item or piece of content in digital form.

Non-Objective Art

Non-objective art is a term that includes art devoid of representation or portrayal of recognisable individuals, locations, or objects.

Nouveau Realism

Nouveau réalisme was a French art movement in the 1960s that can be regarded as a European counterpart to pop art.

Offset Lithography

Offset lithography is a printing process where the image is first transferred onto an intermediate surface before being printed onto the final sheet.

Oil Painting

Oil painting involves using pigments mixed with a drying oil medium as the binding agent.

Oil Pastel

Oil pastels are a painting and drawing medium similar to both pastels and wax crayons.

Old Masters

The term ‘Old Masters’ describes the well-known European artists, primarily painters, who worked from the Renaissance to 1800.

Op Art

Op Art, short for Optical Art, is an art movement that emerged in the 1960s.

Open Edition

An open edition refers to an edition of prints or artworks with no set limit on the number of copies that will be produced.

Original artwork

An original refers to a unique piece of artwork or the first instance of a particular work, as opposed to reproductions or copies.

Outdoor Art

Outdoor art is art positioned in outdoor environments, typically created as outdoor sculptures and monuments.

Outsider Art

Outsider art is art created by people without formal artistic training, such as children or people with mental illness.

Painterly

‘Painterly’ refers to the technique of painting in a loose or less controlled manner, so you can see brush strokes in the final piece.

Papier Collé

Papier collé, a French term for ‘pasted paper’, is a distinctive form of collage that bears a closer resemblance to drawing than to painting.

Participatory Art

Participatory art refers to an artistic form that actively involves the audience in the creative process, transforming them into active participants.

Patina

Patina typically refers to a distinctive green or brown surface layer that forms on bronze sculptures over time due to oxidation.

Performance Art

Performance art is an art form that combines visual art with actions performed by the artist or other participants.

Performativity

Performativity is the capacity of language to bring about transformative effects in the world.

Photogram

A photogram is an image created using photographic materials, such as light-sensitive paper, without the use of a camera.

Photomontage

Photomontage is a creative process that involves the cutting and merging of multiple photographs to create a single composite image.

Photopolymers

Photopolymers are light-sensitive materials that harden or change their properties when exposed to specific wavelengths of light, commonly used in 3D printing and lithography.

Photorealism

Photorealism includes painting, drawing, and other visual techniques, in which artists strive to recreate a photo image with the utmost realism.

Photosensitive Emulsion

Photosensitive emulsion is a light-sensitive coating applied to a surface, typically used in screen printing and photography to develop images.

Pictures Generation

The ‘Pictures Generation’ describes a cohort of American artists from the early 1970s, noted for their critical examination of media culture.

Plane in Art

Plane in art refers to a flat surface, usually in a painting or sculpture. Any clearly defined flat surface can be called a plane.

Planographic Printing

Planographic printing is printing from a flat surface, unlike relief printing that uses raised surfaces, or intaglio printing’s incised surfaces.

Plaster of Paris

Plaster of Paris is a quick-setting gypsum plaster comprising a finely ground white powder, which solidifies when mixed with water.

Plinth

A plinth is a rectangular slab or block at the bottom of a column, statue, pedestal, or pier, forming its base.

Pop Art

Pop art was a mid-20th-century art movement that celebrated popular culture and everyday objects through vibrant and bold imagery.

Portraits

A portrait is an artwork or image, typically a painting, drawing, photograph, or engraving, that focuses on a person's face or head and shoulders.

Post-Impressionism

Post-Impressionism was a reaction to the Impressionists’ concern for naturalistic depictions of light and colour, developed by Van Gogh and others.

Post-Internet

Post-Internet is a 21st century art movement focusing on creations influenced by the Internet or its impact on aesthetics, culture and society.

Post Painterly Abstraction

Post-painterly abstraction is a response to the painterly and gestural techniques associated with some Abstract Expressionist artists.

Poster Art

Poster art is a type of 2D printed artwork that is hung on a wall.

Pre-Columbian Art

Pre-Columbian art refers to the indigenous artworks of the Americas prior to Columbus' arrival in 1492.

Printer's Proof (PP)

A printer's proof (PP) is a proof made for the printer's use, designed to check the quality and consistency of the printing.

Printmaking

Printmaking is an artistic technique that involves transferring images onto another surface, typically paper or fabric.

Process Art

‘Process art’ is when the creative process is a significant element in the finished piece, often making the act of creation itself the subject.

Proof

A proof is a preliminary version of a print made for the purpose of review and correction.

Proportion

Proportion in art concerns the size relationship between different elements within a composition.

Provoke Era

Provoke was a Japanese magazine from the 1960s that defied commercial imagery and the conventions of documentary photography.

Psychedelic Art

Psychedelic art is linked to the 1960s, created by artists influenced by psychedelic drugs like LSD and DMT.

Psychogeography

Psychogeography is the study of how the emotions and behaviour of individuals are influenced by their geographical surroundings.

Rayograph

A Rayograph is a photographic print created by placing objects onto photosensitive paper and exposing them to light.

Readymade

Marcel Duchamp coined the term ‘readymade’ in 1916 to describe his art created from manufactured objects. It's now used for similar works by others.

Reference Work

A reference work is a book or online resource that provides factual information on a specific subject, like an encyclopedia, dictionary, or handbook.

Registration Marks

Registration marks are symbols added to printing plates or screens to ensure proper alignment of colors during the printing process.

Relational Aesthetics

Relational Aesthetics was coined by curator Nicolas Bourriaud in the 1990s, referring to art that centres on human relations.

Relief printing

Relief is a sculptural technique where carved elements are connected to a solid background of the same material, from the Latin ‘relevo’ (to raise).

Renaissance

Renaissance art encompasses the painting, sculpture, and decorative arts from the European historical period referred to as the Renaissance.

Reproduction

A reproduction is a copy or replica of an original piece of artwork, created through various methods like printing, casting, or digital copying.

Resin

Resin art uses a mix of a fluid chemical known as epoxy resin with a variety of colour pigments and additives. It’s typically used by sculptors.

Rococo

Rococo is a design style characterised by brief curves, scrolls, and counter curves, often embellished with imaginative details.

Romanticism

Romanticism emerged in Europe in the late 18th century as both an artistic and intellectual movement, focussing on human psychology and feeling.

Screen Fill

Screen fill refers to the act of pushing ink through a mesh screen to fill an image area in screen printing.

Secession

‘Secession’ was a significant rift between avant-garde artists and the conservative European academics in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Self-Portrait

A self-portrait is a depiction of oneself created by oneself.

Serigraphy

Serigraphy, also known as screen printing, is a printing technique that involves pushing ink through a mesh screen onto a substrate, using stencils to create patterns or images.

Silkscreen

Silkscreen printing, also known as silk-screening or serigraphy, is a printing technique that uses a tightly stretched mesh or screen.

Simulacrum

A simulacrum is a representation or copy of a person or thing.

Site-Specific Art

Site-specific art describes artwork created specifically for a certain place and is closely connected to that location.

Situationist International

The Situationist International was a European organisation of avant-garde artists, intellectuals, and political theorists, from 1957 to 1972.

Smart Contract

A smart contract is a self-executing computer program that runs on a blockchain and automatically enforces the terms of an agreement between parties without the need for an intermediary.

Socially Engaged Practice

Socially engaged practice is an art form that centres on human interaction and meaningful social discourse as its primary medium.

Soft Sculpture

Soft sculpture is a sculpture created from flexible and non-rigid materials like cloth, foam rubber, plastic, paper, fibres, and similar substances.

Sonic Art

Sonic art, or sound art, is a form of creative expression that primarily uses sound as its medium or material.

Sound Art

Sound art is a form of artistic expression where sound serves as the central medium and material.

Sound-on-Disc

Sound-on-disc is a category of sound film techniques that use a phonograph or disc-based system for synchronising sound with a motion picture.

South African Art

South African art is the art created by the people who live in modern South Africa, which is where some of the world's oldest art objects were found.

Squeegee

A squeegee is a tool with a flat, smooth rubber blade, used to spread or push ink or other substances across a surface, ensuring an even application.

Stencil Printing

Stencilling is a method for replicating designs by applying ink or paint over cut-out holes in cardboard or metal onto the surface.

Street Art

Street art refers to artistic creations produced in a public space, usually without formal authorisation.

Substrate

A substrate is a foundational or base material on which another material is applied or mounted.

Suprematism

Suprematism is an early 20th-century art movement that emphasises the fundamentals of geometry, often using a limited range of colours.

Surrealism

Surrealism was a 20th-century, avant-garde movement in art and literature that aimed to unlock the imaginative power of the subconscious mind.

Synthetic Cubism

Synthetic Cubism is the subsequent stage of cubism, from approximately 1912 to 1914, known for its simplified forms and vibrant colours.

Synthetism

Synthetism is a term used by post-Impressionist artists, including Paul Gauguin, to differentiate their artistic approach from Impressionism.

Tableau

‘Tableau’ describes a painting or photograph in which characters are arranged for a picturesque effect, acting entirely oblivious to the viewer.

Tempera

Tempera is a painting technique that involves using pigments mixed with a water-soluble emulsion, typically composed of water and egg yolk.

Textile Arts

Textile arts are crafts that use natural, synthetic, or animal fibres to create both functional and ornamental items.

The Clique

The Clique was an informal group of friends, from about 1837, during their time as students at London's Royal Academy Schools.

The Sublime

Sublime Art is Edmund Burke's 18th-century theory that defines art as that which alludes to an immeasurable greatness beyond comprehension.

Time-limited Edition

A time-limited edition refers to an edition of prints or artworks that are available for purchase only within a specific time frame.

Topographic Art

A topographical artist aims to create an accurate representation of a chosen land or cityscape’s physical features.

Trompe-l'oeil

Trompe-l'oeil is a French term meaning "deceive the eye", used to describe art that creates a 3D illusion on flat surfaces.

Ukiyo-e

Ukiyo-e is a type of Japanese art that thrived during the 17th to 19th centuries, focussing on paintings and woodblock prints.

Uncanny

‘Uncanny’ in art is a concept that describes a strange and anxious feeling evoked by familiar objects placed in unfamiliar or unsettling contexts.

Underground Art

Underground art is any artistic expression that exists beyond the conventional boundaries of the mainstream art world.

Vanishing Point

The vanishing point is the point at which receding parallel lines, when viewed in perspective, seem to converge.

Vanitas

Vanitas is an art genre that uses symbolism to depict the fleeting nature of life, the emptiness of worldly pleasures, and the inevitability of death.

Verism

Verism was a realistic style in Roman art, primarily observed in portraiture of politicians.

Verso/Recto

The front and back of a single sheet of paper can be referred to as the ‘recto’ (front) and ‘verso’ (back).

Vitrine

A vitrine is a glass cabinet or showcase that displays artworks.

Vorticism

Vorticism, a British artistic movement from 1914 to 1915, was inspired by cubism and futurism, emphasising rugged, angular, and machine-like forms.

VR Artwork

Virtual art describes the transformation of art into a virtual form, created using the technological tools that emerged in the late 1980s.

Web 3.0

Web 3.0 is the next generation of the internet that describes decentralised networks built using blockchain technology.

Wood Engraving

Wood engraving involves carving lines directly into the woodblock, rather than cutting the background to create raised relief lines, unlike woodcut.

Woodcut

Woodcut, the earliest printmaking technique, is a relief process which involves carving a design onto the surface of a wooden block.

YBA (Young British Artists)

‘Young British Artists’ (YBA) is a loosely-affiliated group of British artists from 1988, known for shock tactics and openness to materials.

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Your questions, answered

We collaborate with artists to create both limited editions and works on paper.

A limited edition is a set number of similar or identical artworks. The size of the edition denotes the total number of artworks that will ever be made, underscoring their value.

Framing options vary for each piece and are listed on the individual artwork pages. Our standard glazing offer is a minimum 90% UV acrylic plexiglass, or you can upgrade to an anti reflective Optium museum plexiglass.

Yes, 100%. We work directly with our artists to create editions that accurately represent their body of work. Additionally, every artist personally reviews and approves their final editions.

Every artwork is signed or stamped, and individually numbered. You will also receive a stamped and numbered certificate of authenticity.

No—the copyright is not transferred to the purchaser of the edition.

All the ins and outs can be found on our orders and shipping page.

Parra's studio, with Parra at the centre, his back to the camera as he works on the large painting takes centre stage, showing a faceless blue woman in a striped dress, painted in red, purple, blue and teal. The studio is full of brightly coloured paints, with a large window on the right and a patterned rug across the floor under the painting.