FAQs on Art Speak

A growing list of articles, in which those broad, vague art terms are tackled and forced to become understandable. (All right, it's not as violent as that sounds, but, you get the idea.) You won't find papers written for you, but the articles will help you write your own.

What is a Catalogue?
In matters art historic, a "catalogue" is a published listing of the works included in something. "Something" can be either permanent, as with collection catalogues and catalogue raisonnés, or temporary, as happens in the cases of exhibitions and auctions. Let's look at each in turn.

What Is Artistic License?
If you wish to be polite, artistic license means taking liberties with reality. Conversely, you may be the blunt sort and thus able to call it cheating. Either way, artistic license is usually harmless and entertaining.

What is art?
What is art? 6.3 billion different things, strictly speaking. When writing a paper, however, you should probably stick with "Art is form and content."

What are the "elements" of art?
The elements of art are both fun and useful. Remember: line, shape, form, space, texture, value and color. Knowing these elements will allow you to analyze, write and chat about art, as well as create it yourself.

What are the functions of art?
Try to remember four main points if required to describe "the functions of art": (1) context and (2) personal, (3) social and (4) physical functions.

What is visual art?
What are the visual arts? The visual arts are those creations we can look at, such as drawing or painting. If you care to know how we arrived at this term, read on.

What is representational art?
What is representational art? The word "representational", when used to describe a work of art, means that the work depicts something easily recognized by most people.

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