Author name: Artlex

Islamic Art

Islamic art spans over 1400 years, beginning in the seventh century and consists of painting, calligraphy,  and decorative arts such as ceramics and metalwork. Islamic art is not specific to a geographic location, or Islamic countries, but a is fusion of Arab, Turkish and Persian cultures with global influence. Notable Islamic Artwork       […]

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Stone Age Art

Stone Age art, also called prehistoric art, was created between the period of 40,000 BCE to 3000 BCE ending with the Bronze Age. Global prehistory is a period called lithic or stone ages. Prehistoric art from the Stone Ages is divided into three segments: Paleolithic or Old Stone Age art, 40,000 BCE to 10,000 BCE;

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Acrylic Photo Prints vs. Glass Photo Prints – A Comparison

When deciding between acrylic printing and glass printing, assessing the qualities of each can feel a bit confusing. Each medium has benefits and drawbacks depending on your intended usage of the print. Luckily, we’re here to help! We’ll go over the characteristics of both glass and acrylic prints so that you can make the best

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Mesopotamian Art

What is Mesopotamian Art? Mesopotamian art encompasses art and architecture from the ancient Near East beginning in 3500 BCE and lasting until 331 BCE.  Mesopotamia was an area that stretched across the areas now known as Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, Syria, Jordan, and Cypress. Mesopotamian art was influenced by religion, patron god or

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Analytic Cubism Art Movement – History, Artists and Artwork

Analytic Cubism is the early phase of the Cubism art movement that developed around 1907 and lasted until 1912. Analytic Cubism is characterized mostly by paintings that represent a subject from multiple overlapping viewpoints within a single picture plane. The resulting artworks had a fragmented, geometric and abstracted appearance. Artists Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque and

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High Renaissance Art Movement – History, Artists and Artwork

What is High Renaissance Art? High Renaissance art is defined as painting, sculpture, architecture, and other decorative arts created, during Renaissance period, between 1490-1527.  The rebirth of classicism, and an appreciation of the classical learning of ancient Greek and Rome as practiced by earlier Renaissance artists continued, with Renaissance art reaching its greatest heights. Notable

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Readymade

  What is Readymade Art? Readymade art, or readymade, is the term used to describe art that is created from found objects. These objects are often modified by the artist and amplify the non-art quality of the original object without disguising its utilitarian purpose. Readymade art challenged the conventions of Western art by questioning what

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Expressionism Art Movement – History, Artists and Artwork

What is Expressionism? Expressionism is a modernist movement that first developed around 1905 and continued until around the end of World War II. Expressionist artists sought to represent the world from a subjective perspective by using color and distortion of the subject to evoke moods and achieve an emotional effect. Expressionism was initially very popular

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Renaissance Art Movement: History, Artworks, and Artists

Renaissance art is defined as the painting, sculpture, architecture and other decorative arts created in Europe between the 15th and 16th centuries, just after the Middle Ages. The Renaissance period provided a rebirth of classicism and an appreciation of the classical learning of ancient Greece and Rome, influencing fine art, literature and philosophy based on

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Synthetic Cubism Art Movement: History, Artwork, and Artists

Synthetic Cubism is the second phase of the Cubism art movement that lasted from 1912 to 1914, around the time of the first world war. Led by artists Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, Synthetic Cubism is characterised by flat depictions of everyday objects and bolder, more symbolic compositions than its antecedent, Analytical Cubism. Many art

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Bauhaus Architecture Style – History, Characteristics and Artists

The Bauhaus was a school of design, architecture, and applied arts established by German architect Walter Gropius (1883 – 1969) in Weimar, Germany in 1919. The school was operational in three different cities (Weimar, Dessau, and Berlin) until 1933 when it was shut down by the Nazi regime. It was an enormously influential school that

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Performance Art

What is Performance Art? Performance Art is an experimental act of visual art that is meant to be experienced as a live event. Performance artworks are created on the basis of actions performed by the artist and sometimes other participants. The term “Performance Art” emerged in the 1970s and is closely related to the “Happenings”

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Pendentive

What is a Pendentive? In architecture, a pendentive is a triangular structure enabling the placing of a circular dome over a square room, or an elliptical dome over a rectangular room. Pendentives are positioned at the four corners of a room, where they curve inward to meet the dome’s round base, resulting in triangular segments of a sphere.

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Earth Art (Land Art)

What is Earth Art? Earth art, also known as land art, earthworks, or environmental art, refers to a visual arts movement that began in the 1960s and 70s, primarily in the U.K and U.S. Earth art took nature as its central theme and artists in the movement predominantly used natural materials to construct artworks, including

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Post-Impressionism Art Movement: History, Artists, Artwork

What is Post-Impressionism? Post-Impressionism is a term used to describe the development of art that took place in France after Impressionism. It lasted roughly from 1886, when the last impressionist exhibition occurred, up to 1910, when Fauvism was born. The main Post-impressionists were Paul Cézanne (1839-1906), Paul Gauguin (1848-1903), Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890), Georges Seurat

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Trompe-L’oeil

What is Trompe l’oeil? Trompe l’oeil (sometimes stylised as trompe-l’œil or trompe loeil) is a French term that, when literally translated, means ‘to deceive the eye’. It is an art technique that uses optical illusions for mimetic effect or to push the boundaries of nature, creating puzzling realities. Trompe l’oeil is often used to describe

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The 10 Scariest Evil Creatures and Monsters in Art History

Throughout the centuries, monsters and malevolent creatures have populated countless artworks. This fascination came from a need to express human fears but was also a way to depict men’s vices. What’s more, monsters and creatures offered artists the opportunity to let their imagination run wild. For centuries, artists followed established rules and mainly depicted religious

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Soft Pastels vs. Oil Pastels – What is the Difference?

Historically, mediums like oil paint, watercolor, and acrylics have outshined soft and oil pastels. However, pastels offer the opportunity to blend colors and create textures that many other mediums can’t compete with. If you’re wondering about the differences for soft pastels vs oil pastels, we applaud you for doing your research—some people assume they’re the

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Neo-Impressionism Art Movement – History, Artists and Artwork

What is Neo-Impressionism? Neo-impressionism was a movement in painting that appeared in France in the late nineteenth century as a reaction to the spontaneity of Impressionism. It was led by Georges Seurat (1859-1891), the initial theorist of the movement, and Paul Signac (1863-1935), its leading spokesman. Neo-Impressionists invented a new painting technique known as pointillism

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Abstract Expressionism Art Movement – History, Artists, and Artwork

What is Abstract Expressionism? Abstract Expressionism is a modern art movement that developed in New York City after World War II and was initially popular during the 1940s and 1950s. Abstract Expressionism is recognized for its large-scale paintings consisting of large blocks of color and non-traditional treatment of materials and processes. Abstract Expressionist artists avoided

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Map

A map is a visual representation of an area, most commonly the surface of the Earth. The map is a symbolic representation of the entire area it shows, with the emphasis on showing the relationships rather than exact distances, sizes, and topological shapes. Maps can be printed on flat paper, made as a relief sculpture,

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Impressionism Art Movement – History, Artists and Artwork

What is Impressionism? Impressionism is an art movement that originated in France in the 1860s and lasted until the late 1880s. The movement introduced new approaches to painting, such as capturing the changing effects of daylight on colors and objects at different times of the day, painting outdoors, and painting scenes from everyday life. The

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Chiaroscuro

What is Chiaroscuro? Chiaroscuro, a portmanteau of the Italian words for light and dark, refers to the strong contrast in the application – or manipulation – of light and shadow. Used to achieve drama and dimensionality, the technique was popular across different media, including painting, sculpture, and print. Although it is now considered one of

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Byzantine Art Movement – History, Artists and Artwork

What is Byzantine Art? Byzantine Art refers to the artistic production from the Byzantine Empire, which lasted from the 4th to 15th century AD. Famed for its development of Early Christian art, Byzantine icons and models continue to influence religious artworks to this day. The artistic and architectural production of the Byzantine Empire is divided

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Romanticism Art Movement: History, Artwork, Artists

What is Romanticism? Romanticism is a European cultural movement promoting the expression of feelings, individualism, the beauty of nature, and a melancholic past. Starting at the end of the 18th century and in vogue until the mid-19th century, Romanticism stood in stark contrast to the Age of Enlightenment’s celebration of reason. The movement first flourished

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Diptych

What is a Diptych? A diptych is a term naming an artwork composed of two parts. The word comes from the Greek “dipthukos”, and the Late Latin “diptycha” meaning folded double. The two plates or panels, attached or hinged together, are either mobile or stationary. The panels are usually painted or carved with related illustrations.

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Triptych

What is a Triptych? A triptych – from the Greek ‘tri’ meaning three and ‘ptyx’ meaning fold – is a work of art in three sections. Commonly a triptych is painted on wood, composed of a central panel flanked by two hinged pieces on either side. The term itself originates from the 18th century. Before

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Relief Sculpture

What is a Relief Sculpture? A “relief” sculpture is a sculpture where the foreground elements are attached to and made of the same material as the background. “Relief” comes from the latin root “relevo”, which means “to raise”, as the sculpted elements of the artwork are “raised” up from the background.  These works are sometimes

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Anastole

  What is “Anastole”? “Anastole” is the Greek name for a hairstyle originally made popular by Alexander the Great during his reign in the 4th Century BC. The style can be seen in the many sculptures and paintings of Alexander the Great, including: The hairstyle involves hair flipped up away from the forehead, and Alexander

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