Section

GLOSSARY OF ART TERMS

Edited by Mark Quinlan

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Fairy Painting

A fascination with fairies and the supernatural was a phenomenon of the Victorian age and resulted in a distinctive strand of art depicting fairy subjects drawn from myth and legend and particularly from Shakespeare’s play A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Early, pre-Victorian examples are in Fuseli, Blake and Von Holst. Other contributions came from many painters [...]

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Ferrule

The metal cylinder that surrounds and encloses the hairs on a brush. Customarily made of nickel or nickel-plated base metal.

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Fete Champetre

A French term for country festival, and in fine art, referring to a painting of a country festival such as that depicted in Bruegel’s Dance of the Peasants.

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Fete Galante

A term first used in the 18th century to describe an oil painting of a dream-like pastoral setting which depicted people, often in extravagant costume, amusing themselves with dancing, music-making and courtship. Watteau is referred to as a painter of ‘fetes galantes’.

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Figurative

The term used to describe art which is based on the figure, usually in realistic or semi-realistic terms; also loosely used to describe an artist who paints or sculpts representationally, as opposed to painting or sculpting in an abstract or non-objective manner.

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Figure Painting

Painting representing the human figure.

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Fin de Siècle

The term ‘fin de siècle’ usually refers to the end of the 19th century, in Europe, France and/or Paris. It is most commonly associated with French artists, especially the French symbolists, and was affected by the cultural awareness characteristic of France at the end of the 19th century. However, the expression is also used to [...]

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Fine Art

Art created for purely aesthetic expression, communication, or contemplation. Painting and sculpture are the best known of the fine arts.

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Finish

The appearance of the surface of a work of art. To speak of a high degree of finish implies that an artwork has a polished, smooth, even “licked” surface.

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Fixative

A resinous or plastic spray used to affix charcoal, pencil, or pastel images to the paper. Used lightly it protects finished art (or underdrawing) against smearing, smudging, or flaking.

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Florentine School

From the 13th century, the Florentines held a prominent position in the art world. They were particularly concerned with problems of design and their approach to art was both scientific and intellectual. Giotto and Leonardo are foremost among the many artists that Florence produced.

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Focal Point

In two-dimensional images, the centre of interest visually and/or subject-wise; tends to be used more in traditional, representational art than in modern and contemporary art, where the picture surface tends to have more of an overall importance, rather than one important area.

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Folk Art

Art produced by people who have had no formal, academic training, but whose works are part of an established tradition of style and craftsmanship.

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Foreground

The portion of a picture that appears to lie in front of all other depicted elements or to contain the forward-most elements; the space closest to the picture plane. In a landscape, this would include the area from the viewer, to the middle distance.

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Foreshortening

The diminishing of certain dimensions of an object or figure in order to depict it in its correct spatial relationship. In realistic depiction, foreshortening is necessary because, although lines and planes that are perpendicular to the observer’s line of vision and the extremities of which are equidistant from the eye, will be seen at their [...]

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Form

In its artistic sense the term ‘form’ has two meanings. Firstly it refers to the overall form taken by the work - its physical nature. Secondly, within a work of art, form refers to the element of shape among the various elements that make up a work. Painting for example consists of the elements of [...]

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Formal

A term used by artists to describe the visual elements of a work of art, such as composition, space, colour, etc., i.e., formal elements.

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Found Object

A term first used in the early years of the 20th century (in the Dadaist movement), a found object is any object that an artist comes upon, and uses in an artwork, or as the artwork itself. Marcel Duchamp called these works ‘readymades.’ He exhibited a urinal at the Society of Independent Artists exhibition in [...]

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Foxing

The development of patterns of brown or yellow blotches (stains) on old paper. Caused by a type of mould, foxing can often be removed by treating with diluted bleach.

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Frame

A framework, typically rectangular in shape and made of wood or metal, in which a picture or other object is mounted in order to enhance its presentation, to make it easier to display, and/or to protect it. Sometimes referred to as the ‘chassis’.

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Fresco

From the Italian ‘affresco’ meaning fresh. A painting technique in which pigments suspended in water are applied to a damp lime-plaster surface. The pigments dry to become part of the plaster wall or surface.

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Friable

An adjective used to describe the extent to which a dry drawing medium crumbles and flakes.

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Frottage

A method of producing a design by placing a piece of paper on top of an object and then rubbing over it, as with a pencil, charcoal, or crayon, a design so made.