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  Happenings (n, pl)
a form of art, often carefully planned but usually including some degree of spontaneity, in which an artist performs or directs an event combining elements of theater and the visual arts. The term was coined by the artist Allan Kaprow (b. 1927) in 1959.
     
  Impressionist (adj)
relating to the progressive art movement that originated in France in the late 19th century. Impressionist painters wanted to capture the rapidly changing Modern world and the fleeting nature of outdoor light. Impressionism relied on optical blending to depict the fluctuations of sunlight and consisted largely of views of everyday middle-class life in the cities and countryside of France.
     
  improvisation (n)
an act performed or composed spontaneously, without previous preparation or rehearsal
     
  medieval (adj)
of (or in the style of) the Middle Ages, the time in European history between classical antiquity and the Renaissance (from about A.D. 500 to around 1500); see also Gothic Revival
     
  Mexican Revolution (1910-1920)
the struggle between factions in Mexico that resulted in the establishment of a constitutional republic, ending a 30-year dictatorship. The revolution was prompted by widespread dissatisfaction with the policies of President Porfirio Díaz that favored wealthy landowners and industrialists. The bogus democratic election that Díaz staged in 1910 incited the revolt.
Modernism (n)
umbrella term originating in the 20th century referring to a self-conscious break with the past and a search for new forms; in the visual arts, many avant-garde styles began to dominate Western art. Modernism began developing in the late 19th century, when artists rejected the notion that art objects had to be representational, embracing instead the idea that works of art can stand alone as formal constructions of color, line, and form.
     
 

monochromatic (adj)
having one color or hue; monochromatic works of art are limited to a palette of light and dark shades of one single color
     
  naturalistic (adj)
of, characterized by, or resembling nature or real life
     
  Neo-Expressionist (n)
of or relating to the artistic style of the 1980s that revived the use of jarring colors and gestural brushstrokes to infuse paintings with energy and emotional intensity. The movement included both abstract and representational art and borrowed its techniques from earlier movements such as German Expressionism and Abstract Expressionism.
     
  Northern Renaissance
referring to art produced in Northern Europe (particularly Flanders, the Netherlands, and Germany) during the Renaissance
 

 

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© 2004. The Art Institute of Chicago. All text and images on this site are protected by
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