From Shelley Esaak,
Your Guide to Art History.
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Definition:

(noun) - A principle of art - and probably the universe itself - pattern means the repetition of an element (or elements) in a work.

An artist achieves a pattern through the use of colors (children playing with Legos® know this instinctively), lines (think: Op Art) or shapes (as with mosaics, tessellations, etc.).

Pronunciation: pat·ern

Examples: "Art is the imposing of a pattern on experience, and our aesthetic enjoyment is recognition of the pattern." - Alfred North Whitehead