Glossary of Art Terms · Women In Art

25 terms

Abrasion: A rubbed or scraped area on the paint surface or paper, resulting in loss of media. Often caused by poor framing where glass has rubbed against the art, or improper cleaning.
Abstract Art: Art that does not attempt to represent external reality, but instead uses shapes, colours, forms and gestural marks to achieve its effect. The subject is often non-representational.
Acid Burn: Brown, brittle discolouration on paper caused by prolonged contact with an acidic material such as a non-archival mat or cardboard backing. An extreme form of acid migration.
Acid Migration: The transfer of acid from one material to another — e.g. from a backing board into the artwork — causing staining and weakening of the paper. The stain is often called a "ghost" of the acidic element.
Acid-Free: Paper or framing materials with a neutral pH (7 or above) that resist yellowing and deterioration over time. Crucial for preserving works on paper.
Acrylic: A fast-drying, water-soluble synthetic paint made from pigment suspended in acrylic polymer emulsion. Can mimic oils or watercolours depending on how it's used.
Aesthetic: The set of principles concerned with the nature and appreciation of beauty in art. Collectors often define their "aesthetic" as their personal taste.
After [Artist Name]: A work created by another hand that copies a known composition by the named artist — not by the artist themselves. "After Picasso" is a copy, not a Picasso.
Albumen Print: A 19th-century photographic printing process using egg white (albumen) to bind light-sensitive silver salts to paper. Highly prone to foxing and yellowing with age.
Alkyd: A synthetic resin used in modern oil paints and mediums to speed drying time and increase flexibility. Often used in conservation retouching.
Alla Prima: Italian for "at first attempt". A wet-on-wet direct painting method where a work is completed in one session without layers or underdrawing.
Annealing: In glass and metal, a controlled heating and cooling process that relieves internal stress. For bronze sculpture, important in ensuring a cast does not crack over time.
Appraisal: A written, professional opinion of a work's monetary value for a specific purpose (insurance, donation, estate, resale). Different purposes yield different values. Always ensure an appraiser is USPAP-compliant (in the U.S.) or follows equivalent standards elsewhere.
Aquarelle: The French term for transparent watercolour painting.
Aquatint: An intaglio printmaking technique that creates tonal areas rather than lines, producing soft, watercolour-like washes.
Archival: Materials or processes designed to be long-lasting and chemically stable, preventing damage to the artwork (e.g., archival paper, archival tape).
Archival Pigment Print: A museum-grade digital inkjet print using lightfast pigment inks and acid-free archival paper. The correct, stable alternative to the loosely used term "giclée".
Armature: The internal framework or skeletal support for a sculpture, often wire or metal, over which clay, plaster, or wax is modelled.
Artist's Proof (A/P): A print outside the numbered edition, traditionally kept by the artist. Usually marked "A/P" and makes up a small percentage of the total run. They are not inherently more valuable but are often sought after.
Artist's Resale Right (Droit de Suite): A legal right entitling living artists (and their heirs, for a period after death) to a small percentage of the resale price when their work is sold through an auction house or commercial gallery. Applies in the UK, EU, Australia and some other jurisdictions, but not the US.
Assemblage: A three-dimensional artwork made by combining found objects, everyday items, and other materials.
Attribution: The determination of who created an artwork. Terms like "attributed to", "school of", or "circle of" indicate degrees of certainty about authorship. An outright "by [artist]" is the strongest claim.
Auction Estimate: The price range an auction house expects a lot to sell for, usually based on past sales, market conditions, and condition. It does not include the buyer's premium.
Autograph: In art terms, executed by the artist's own hand. An "autograph replica" is a second version made by the same artist, not by a copyist.
Avant-Garde: Artists or work that are innovative, experimental, and ahead of their time. Collecting avant-garde works means embracing works that challenge convention.

20 terms

Backboard: The rigid board at the back of a framed work, providing structural support and protection. Archival framing uses acid-free conservation backboard.
Bark Inclusion: A natural imperfection in a wooden panel where bark from the tree has been incorporated. Over centuries, this can shrink and cause a linear crack in the paint layer.
Binder: The substance in paint that holds pigment particles together and adheres them to the support (e.g., linseed oil in oil paint, acrylic polymer in acrylics).
Bistre: A transparent brown pigment made from the soot of burned wood, used historically for ink washes and monochromatic drawing.
Blanching: A cloudy, whitish bloom appearing in patches on a varnished oil painting, usually caused by moisture penetrating the varnish layer. Can sometimes be reversed without relining.
Bleaching: The lightening or total loss of colour in a pigment caused by prolonged exposure to light, particularly UV. Watercolours and certain 19th-century aniline colours are particularly fugitive.
Bleed: In a print or watercolour, where the image extends to the very edge of the paper with no visible margin.
Blind Stamp (or Chop Mark): An embossed, inkless mark, often from the printer, publisher, or artist, used to authenticate a print. Can be very small and subtle.
Block Estimate: At auction, a printed estimate that reads "Estimate on Request" or a symbolic figure like "$100 – $150" for a high-value lot, where the true pre-sale estimate is kept confidential but disclosed to serious bidders.
Bloom: A dull, bluish haze on the surface of a varnished painting, typically from residual moisture trapped during the varnishing process or exposure to damp conditions. Distinct from blanching but similarly treatable.
Bole: A fine, coloured clay (often reddish-brown) applied over the gesso on a wood frame before water gilding with gold leaf. It provides a flexible, slightly absorbent cushion for burnishing.
Bon à Tirer (B.A.T.): French for "good to pull". The final proof approved by the artist, against which all other prints in the edition are matched. It remains the printer's property.
Bon à Tirer (B.A.T.) — Deeper Context: A B.A.T. proof is uniquely important because it is the artist's absolute approval standard. Should a subsequent print in the edition be questioned, it is compared against the B.A.T.
Bookplate: A label pasted into a book to indicate ownership. Sometimes an artwork on paper originates from a disassembled book, and a bookplate can be a provenance clue — or a detraction if it overprints the image.
Brayer: A rubber or gelatin roller used in printmaking to apply ink to a relief surface.
Brushwork: The characteristic way an artist applies paint with a brush. Can be smooth and invisible, or thick and expressive (see Impasto).
Burin: A sharp steel cutting tool used to incise lines directly into a metal plate in engraving.
Burnishing: (1) In metal-leaf gilding, aggressively rubbing the gold leaf with an agate tool to achieve a high mirror finish. (2) In intaglio printing, scraping and smoothing the metal plate with a burnishing tool to lighten areas of a mezzotint or correct errors.
Burr: The tiny, displaced curl of metal thrown up along the line when a drypoint needle scratches a plate. The burr holds ink and creates the characteristic velvety, soft line. It wears down quickly, so early impressions are richest.
Buyer's Premium: An additional charge on the hammer price at auction, paid by the buyer. It's a percentage (often around 20–30%) added on top of the winning bid.

33 terms

Cadeaux d'Artistes: Small, often intimate works given as gifts by artists to friends, sometimes with a dedication. Their informal, personal nature can affect market value compared to a "gallery standard" work.
Camera Obscura: An optical device used by artists (notably Vermeer and Canaletto) that projects an external scene onto a surface for tracing, aiding realistic perspective and detail.
Cancellation Proof: The final print pulled from a defaced plate (scored through or punctured), proving the edition has been destroyed and will never be reprinted. Collected in their own right.
Canvas: A woven fabric (usually cotton or linen) stretched over a wooden frame, used as a support for painting.
Cartoon: A full-scale preparatory drawing for a fresco, tapestry, or large painting, transferred to the support by pouncing or tracing.
Catalogue Raisonné: A comprehensive, scholarly listing of all known works by a particular artist. The definitive reference for authenticity and provenance research.
Catalogue Raisonné — Deeper Insight: The definitive publication is not infallible. Some catalogues omit works the compiler deemed questionable; others include works later found to be forgeries. A collector must know the scholarship behind the book and whether a revised edition exists. "Not in the catalogue raisonné" can be fatal to value unless new evidence surfaces.
Certificate of Authenticity (COA): A document stating that a work is genuine, often issued by the artist, their estate, a gallery, or a foundation. A COA is only as credible as its issuer.
Chalk Ground: A traditional gesso of glue and calcium carbonate used on panels. Oil paintings on canvas sometimes developed a white chalk ground that becomes brittle with age.
Chandelier Bid: A fictitious bid called by an auctioneer to stimulate competitive bidding up to the reserve price. Legal in certain jurisdictions as long as the auctioneer does not bid above the reserve.
Chiaroscuro: The strong, dramatic treatment of light and shadow in a painting or drawing, creating a sense of three-dimensional volume.
Chine-Collé: A printmaking technique where a thin sheet of paper (often Asian tissue) is printed on and simultaneously glued to a heavier backing sheet during the printing process.
Chop Mark: See Blind Stamp.
Cliché-Verre: A hybrid printmaking/photographic process where a drawing is made on a glass plate and then contact-printed onto light-sensitive paper, popular with Barbizon and Corot-circle artists.
Cockling: The wavy, wrinkled distortion of paper, usually due to humidity fluctuations. Can occur when a work on paper is not properly hinged or is exposed to damp. Framing with a proper air gap helps prevent it.
Collection Management: The practice of cataloguing, documenting, insuring, caring for, and tracking the location and value of artworks in a collection.
Collotype: A photomechanical printing process capable of reproducing continuous tone without a visible dot screen. Prized for fine art facsimiles before inkjet printing became ubiquitous. Can sometimes be mistaken for an original photograph.
Colour Field: A style of abstract painting characterised by large, solid areas of colour intended to envelop the viewer, associated with Rothko, Newman and Frankenthaler.
Composition: The arrangement of visual elements (line, shape, colour, form) within an artwork.
Condition Report: A detailed document describing the physical state of an artwork, noting any damage, restoration, or irregularities. Essential to request before any private sale or auction purchase.
Condition Report — What to Look For: Ask specifically about: retouching visible under UV light, tears or repairs, foxing, mat burn, tape stains, relining, paint loss, bloom, craquelure pattern, and whether the work has been cut down. A verbal "good condition" is insufficient; demand the written report.
Conservation: The professional treatment and stabilisation of a damaged or deteriorating artwork. Distinct from restoration, which aims to return an artwork to a known earlier state.
Conservation vs. Restoration — Key Difference: Conservation is stabilisation with minimal intervention, preserving historical evidence. Restoration is returning the object to a known or assumed earlier appearance, sometimes involving additive work. A heavily restored painting might be visually pleasing but is considered compromised by purist collectors.
Consignment: When an owner places an artwork with a gallery or auction house for sale, with payment to the owner only upon a successful sale.
Contact Sheet: In photography, a sheet of photographic paper showing all the negatives from a roll of film printed at actual size. The photographer's grease-pencil crop marks on a contact sheet can be highly collectible.
Contemporary Art: A loose term, generally meaning art produced from the 1970s to the present day. It does not simply mean "modern art".
Copyright: The legal right of an artist (or their heirs) to control the reproduction of their work for a certain period after their death. Owning a physical artwork does not automatically grant you copyright.
Counterproof: A print made by pressing a sheet of paper against a freshly printed impression while the ink is still wet, transferring a reversed, faint ghost image. Used by artists like Degas to rework a composition. Rare and delicate.
Cradle: A wooden grid attached to the back of a wooden panel painting to prevent warping. An aged, stable cradle is often a good sign on an old master panel.
Cradle (Panel) — Risks: A cradle glued to the back of a panel painting can, over time, restrict the natural expansion and contraction of the wood, causing the panel to crack at the cradle's crossbars. An "uncradled" panel, if stable, is often preferred by purists.
Craquelure: The fine network of cracks that appears in the varnish or paint layers of an older oil painting, often due to natural ageing. Can be forged, so pattern matters.
Craquelure — Forensic Nuance: Natural age cracking is irregular, spiderweb-like, and has rounded edges. Forced craquelure (to fake age) often looks mechanical, with sharp-edged, uniform patterns. The pattern is as crucial as the presence.
Cut Down: A print or drawing where the original margins have been trimmed, often for rebinding or to fit a smaller frame. Significantly reduces value. Collectors measure margins against the known sheet size recorded in a catalogue raisonné.

13 terms

Daylight Fluorescence: In ultraviolet (UV) examination, fresh retouching, modern varnishes, and certain pigments fluoresce under UV light while an aged original surface does not. A key non-invasive forensic tool used by conservators and condition inspectors.
Deaccession: The formal process by which a museum removes a work from its permanent collection, usually to sell it and use the funds only for new acquisitions.
Deckle Edge: The natural, feathered, uneven edge of handmade paper. Sometimes imitated on machine-made paper. Often left visible when framing a print.
Décollage: The opposite of collage; an artwork created by cutting, tearing, or removing layers of glued paper from a surface, famously used by Mimmo Rotella and Jacques Villeglé.
Dendrite Spot: A dark, branching speck on paper, often mistaken for mould, which is actually a tiny metallic inclusion from the papermaking process. Innocuous but alarming to the uninitiated.
Diazo Print: An early 20th-century photographic copying process producing a purple or sepia print on thin paper. Not lightfast and prone to rapid fading; not considered fine art.
Dibond: A brand name for aluminium composite panel, consisting of two thin aluminium sheets with a polyethylene core. Widely used by contemporary artists and conservators as a rigid, non-warping support for mounting photographs and works on paper.
Diptych: An artwork consisting of two panels, hung side-by-side, meant to be seen as one piece.
Distemper: A fragile, matte paint made with pigment mixed with animal glue. Often used for interior decoration and theatre backdrops. Highly water-soluble and easily damaged.
Drop-Out: In printmaking, a colour separation screen where a specific colour is removed ("dropped out") to achieve a desired effect.
Droit de Suite: See Artist's Resale Right — the legal right of an artist (or heirs) to receive a royalty on each subsequent resale of their work.
Drypoint: An intaglio printmaking technique where the image is scratched directly onto a metal plate, creating a soft, velvety line due to the metal burr left behind.
Dust Cover: The protective paper applied to the back of a framed work to seal out dust, insects, and atmospheric pollutants. A professional framer applies it with a breathable, acid-free paper.

16 terms

Edition: A set of identical prints from the same matrix (plate, screen, stone, etc.), numbered and signed by the artist. Limited edition (e.g., 15/50) means only 50 will ever be produced. Open edition has no set limit.
Edition Variable (E.V.): A limited-edition print where each impression differs slightly, for example in colour, paper, or ink, intentionally making each unique within the set.
Efflorescence: A crystalline, salty bloom on the surface of a painting, fresco, or sculpture caused by moisture drawing soluble salts from within the material to the surface.
Emerging Artist: An artist in the early stages of their career, typically starting to gain critical attention and gallery representation. Often a higher-risk, potentially higher-reward area of collecting.
En Plein Air — Market Context: A plein-air sketch often has a vivacity and immediacy prized by collectors, but it may be painted on unstretched canvas, thin board, or paper, making it physically more fragile. Condition issues are common.
Encapsulation: A preservation method in which a document or artwork on paper is sealed between two sheets of inert polyester film (Mylar), protecting it from handling and pollutants while remaining removable. Not to be confused with lamination, which is destructive.
Encaustic: A painting technique using pigments mixed with hot beeswax, resulting in a luminous, textured surface.
Encre de Chine: See India Ink.
Engraving: An intaglio technique where a design is incised into a metal plate using a sharp burin, creating clean, precise lines.
Épreuve: French for proof or print impression. Often used in print documentation.
Épreuve d'État (E.E.): French for "state proof". A working proof pulled by the artist to check the progress of a plate at a particular stage of development. States can vary dramatically and are sometimes highly valued for revealing the artist's creative process.
Estimate (Auction): Always understand that the low estimate is a marketing tool, not a prediction. A lot that sells below the low estimate is seen as underperforming; one that doubles the high estimate is a strong result. The "mid-estimate" is the figure most closely watched by the market.
Etching: An intaglio printmaking process where acid is used to bite lines into a metal plate. Lines are drawn through an acid-resistant ground.
Ex Libris: A Latin term for "from the library of…". An Ex Libris label or stamp on the back of a framed work or print can be a provenance goldmine, linking the piece to a known, named collection.
Expressionism: A style in which the artist distorts reality for emotional effect, often using vivid colour and bold brushwork to convey an inner state of feeling.
Expressionism (Abstract): A post-WWII American movement combining emotional intensity with the self-denial of abstraction. Key figures: Pollock, de Kooning, Rothko. The epitome of the heroic, gestural brushstroke.

17 terms

Fading: The loss of a pigment's colour due to light exposure. The most fugitive pigments in watercolour (e.g., some reds and yellows) can fade completely within a few decades of unprotected display. UV glass is the primary defence.
Fair Market Value: The price a willing buyer and willing seller would agree upon, both having reasonable knowledge of the facts. This is the standard valuation used for tax, donation, and estate purposes, often lower than insurance replacement value.
Feathering: In printmaking, the soft, tapered end of a drypoint line or the edge of an aquatint area. Also used to describe a paintbrush technique.
Figurative Art: Art that is clearly derived from real object sources and depicts figures or scenes from the real world. It is representational, unlike abstract art.
Fillet: A small, thin moulding, often gilded or painted, used inside the inner lip of a frame or between the mat and the artwork for decorative separation.
Filler: In conservation, a putty-like substance (often gesso-based) used to infill areas of paint loss before inpainting. A good fill is slightly recessed and never covers original paint.
Flaking: Active, cupped paint that is lifting from the surface and in danger of falling off. Requires immediate conservation attention. Often caused by a faulty ground or moisture damage.
Float Frame: A framing method where the artwork is mounted on a backing and appears to "float" within the frame, with a space visible between the art's edges and the frame's rebate.
Float Frame — Practical Note: The visible space between the artwork and the frame requires the art to be secured at the back, often with a platform mount. This exposes the entire sheet, so paper edges, deckle, and any staining will be fully visible — works best with pristine or deliberately aged edges.
Fluting: A rippled distortion of the canvas, often parallel to the stretcher bars, caused by changes in humidity and tension. Minor fluting is common, but severe fluting can indicate the need for re-stretching.
Foreground: The part of a composition that appears closest to the viewer.
Foxing: Reddish-brown mould spots that appear on old paper, due to metallic impurities or fungal growth in humid conditions. Affects condition and value.
Foxing — Advanced: "Bullseye" foxing (circular spots centred around a dark core) is often metallic in origin, while "sheet" foxing is a more generalised mould growth. Treatment is possible with aqueous deacidification baths, but it's delicate and costly.
Fresco: A mural technique where pigment is applied to wet plaster, becoming an integral part of the wall as it dries.
Fugitive Pigment: A pigment that fades or chemically alters with light exposure or atmospheric conditions. A watercolour described as having "fresh" colours despite its age suggests the pigments were lightfast; a faded work may have lost fugitive roses and reds, leaving only stable blues and ochres.
Full Margins: When a print retains the original paper around the image exactly as the artist intended. Trimmed margins reduce value significantly.
Fumage: A surrealist technique of creating a drawing or painting with the smoke of a candle or kerosene lamp, leaving delicate, sooty black marks. Extremely fragile; fixative is essential.

12 terms

Gallery Wrap: A method of stretching a canvas so that the painting extends around the sides of the wooden stretcher bars, allowing it to be hung unframed.
Genre Painting: Art that depicts scenes or events from everyday life — domestic settings, markets, interiors — not portraits, landscapes, or historical subjects.
Gesso: A primer made of chalk, gypsum, and binder. Applied to canvases or panels to create a smooth, absorbent surface for painting. Modern acrylic gesso is standard today.
Giclée: A high-resolution digital inkjet print using archival pigment inks. Often used to reproduce existing artworks, but also an original digital art medium. Quality varies enormously.
Gilding: The application of gold leaf or metallic powder to a frame, furniture, or painting surface.
Glassine: A glossy, transparent, air- and moisture-resistant paper used for interleaving prints and drawings in storage. Archival only if made from alpha-cellulose without acidic additives.
Glaze: In oil painting, a thin, transparent layer of colour applied over a dried underlayer to create a luminous, jewel-like depth. In framing, it refers to the glass or acrylic sheet protecting the artwork.
Gouache: An opaque water-based paint, similar to watercolour but with added chalk or white pigment for body and matte finish.
Gouache — Key Collecting Nuance: Gouache is prone to cracking if applied thickly or rolled. When buying a gouache, inspect the surface with a raking light to detect micro-cracking and any flaking, particularly in white highlights where the pigment load is heaviest.
Ground: The prepared painting surface (e.g., the gesso layer on canvas). In etching, it also refers to the acid-resistant coating applied to the plate.
Gum Arabic: The water-soluble binder used in watercolour and gouache. Its film is brittle, which is why watercolours are glazed and never varnished directly.
Gum Bichromate: A pictorialist photographic process where gum arabic, pigment, and light-sensitive dichromate are mixed, producing soft, painterly images. The resulting print is essentially a pigmented gum layer on paper and is extremely stable if processed correctly.

8 terms

Halftone: The mechanical reproduction of a continuous-tone image by a regular pattern of dots. Under a magnifying loupe, a halftone screen is clearly visible, distinguishing a printed reproduction from an original continuous-tone work.
Hammer Price: The final bid price at auction when the auctioneer's hammer falls. The buyer actually pays the hammer price plus the buyer's premium (and any applicable taxes).
Hard-Edge Painting: An abstract style using precisely defined, sharp-edged areas of flat colour, as seen in the work of Ellsworth Kelly or early Frank Stella.
Hinging: The method by which a work on paper is attached to its mount. Conservation-grade hinging uses reversible Japanese tissue and wheat starch paste, applied only at the very top edge. Never use pressure-sensitive tapes.
Hors Commerce (H.C.): French for "outside commerce". Proofs marked "H.C." are produced for the publisher's use and are not intended for sale, though they often appear on the market.
Hot-Pressed Paper: Smooth, hard-surfaced watercolour paper made by pressing the sheet through heated rollers. Favoured for detailed botanical and miniature work. The opposite is cold-pressed (Not) or rough paper, which has more tooth.
Hue: The pure, unmodified colour itself (red, blue, yellow) as distinct from its tint, shade, or tone.
Hue (vs. Pigment Name): A colour labelled "Cadmium Yellow Hue" contains no genuine cadmium pigment; it's a mix made to mimic it at lower cost and lower permanence. Artist-grade paints always name the true pigment (e.g., "Cadmium Yellow" listed as pigment PY35 on the label).

12 terms

Impasto: A technique where paint is laid on the canvas very thickly, often with a palette knife or stiff brush, so that brush or knife marks stand out in relief.
Impasto — Structural Risk: An extremely thick impasto can be vulnerable to cracking as the paint film ages and becomes less flexible. It can also be easily damaged by careless cleaning or if glass is laid directly on it. Never allow a glazing material to touch an impasto surface — use spacers.
Impressionism: A 19th-century art movement characterised by visible brushstrokes, accurate depiction of light, and ordinary subject matter, often painted en plein air (outdoors).
Incunabula: Very early, rare printed books and woodcuts from the infancy of printing (before 1501). Print collectors might encounter single leaves from incunabula.
India Ink: A carbon-based black ink, traditionally made from lampblack and a binding agent like shellac. Permanent, lightfast, and used for drawing and calligraphy.
Inherent Vice: A defect or instability built into an artwork's materials from the start, such as a fugitive pigment, a poorly prepared ground, or a chemically unstable medium. No amount of careful conservation can fully arrest it.
Inpainting: The careful, reversible application of pigment by a conservator only within the exact area of paint loss, matching the original colour but not covering any surviving original paint. Done with stable materials that will not discolour over time.
Installation Art: A three-dimensional, large-scale work designed to transform the perception of a space. It is often site-specific and temporary.
Insurance Replacement Value: The retail replacement cost of an artwork, usually the highest valuation figure. Necessary for insuring your collection. If a work is destroyed, this is the cost to purchase a comparable work from a gallery at full retail, not a secondary-market auction price.
Intaglio: A family of printmaking techniques (etching, engraving, drypoint, aquatint, mezzotint) where ink is held in grooves incised into a metal plate and transferred to damp paper under high pressure.
Intaglio — Identification at a Glance: Always look for the plate mark, the indentation in the paper around the image. Its presence proves the paper was forced into an inked metal plate under extreme pressure. Also, the ink in an intaglio stands slightly raised from the paper surface, which you can feel with a light fingertip (on the margin, never on the image).
Iris Print: An early, high-end digital inkjet fine-art print process, favoured in the 1990s for limited edition reproductions and digital art. The term was often used interchangeably with giclée, but Iris prints can be fugitive if dye-based inks were used. Always check if an Iris is dye or pigment.

3 terms

Japanese Tissue (Washi): A family of handmade papers from the inner bark of kozo, gampi or mitsumata plants. Extremely long-fibred, strong, and used for conservation mending and archival hinging.
Japonisme: The influence of Japanese art, design and aesthetics on Western artists, particularly after Japan opened to trade in the 1850s. A major collecting category for prints, ceramics and paintings that demonstrate this cross-cultural exchange.
Jury: The selection committee that decides which artists will participate in a competition or invitational exhibition. "Jury accepted" on a label adds to the exhibition history.

3 terms

Kakemono: A Japanese vertical hanging scroll, painted or inscribed on paper or silk and mounted on a flexible backing. Requires specific knowledge to store, unfurl and conserve.
Key Block: In multi-block colour printing (like Japanese woodblock), the key block prints the black outlines. The colour blocks are then registered against it.
Kunstkammer / Wunderkammer: A Cabinet of Curiosities: the precursor to the modern museum, where a collector amassed a universal collection of art, natural history and scientific instruments. The modern collector sometimes emulates this eclecticism.

15 terms

Laid Paper: Paper with a pattern of closely spaced parallel lines (chain lines) visible when held up to light, a result of the traditional wire-mould making process. Common in old master prints.
Laid Paper — Dating Clue: The spacing of chain lines and the watermark design are key tools for dating old master prints and drawings. A genuine Rembrandt etching on a paper with a 20th-century watermark is a forgery.
Lamination (Destructive): The process of sealing a document or artwork in plastic film with heat or adhesive. Permanent and ruinous; it will eventually degrade, yellow, and cannot be reversed. Never confuse it with archival encapsulation.
Lightfastness Rating: The resistance of a pigment to fading under light. A rating of ASTM I or II is considered excellent to very good permanence. Any serious artist-grade paint lists this. A collector of contemporary work should ask about the lightfastness of unusual materials.
Lignin: A natural polymer in wood-based paper that causes yellowing and brittleness over time. High-quality archival papers are lignin-free.
Limited Edition: See Edition — a print run with a fixed maximum number of impressions, numbered and signed.
Limited Edition — Legality and Ethics: A trustworthy publisher discloses the total edition number, the number of artist's proofs, printer's proofs, and any other variants. If a publisher has a history of "reissuing" editions from old plates with new colouring, the market devalues all impressions.
Line Engraving: The most disciplined intaglio technique; no acid, just a burin pushed through copper. Distinguished by the crisp, swelling-and-tapering line. Used for reproductive prints in the 17th–19th centuries.
Linen: A preferred, stronger and more expensive fabric for painting canvases, made from flax fibres. Has a finer, more irregular weave than cotton.
Linocut: A relief printmaking technique where the image is carved into a linoleum block, ink is rolled onto the raised surface, and printed.
Linseed Oil: The primary drying oil used in oil paint. Cold-pressed linseed oil is the highest quality. Over time, linseed oil yellows in darkness, which is reversible with light exposure — something conservators exploit.
Lithograph: A planographic print technique based on the antipathy of grease and water. The artist draws on a stone or plate with a greasy medium, which is chemically treated so that ink only adheres to the drawn marks.
Lithograph — Identification at a Glance: Under a loupe, a true stone or plate lithograph has no dot screen; the texture is a random, irregular grain. An offset lithograph reproduces the image with a mechanically regular rosette pattern of dots. The difference is absolute proof of reproduction.
Lost Wax Casting: The process by which a sculptor's wax model is encased in a refractory mould, the wax is melted out, and molten metal (bronze) is poured in to create a unique or editioned cast.
Lot Number: The number assigned to an item in an auction sale.

17 terms

Masking: In painting and printmaking, covering an area to protect it from colour or chemical action. A masking fluid in watercolour is a latex-based solution removed after painting.
Masonite: A brand of hardboard, popular as a rigid painting support for mid-20th-century artists. Early versions are not archival and can leach acids; later conservation-grade tempered hardboard is available.
Mat (or Mount): A flat, paperboard border (often acid-free) placed around an artwork inside a frame to separate the image from the glass and provide a visually pleasing margin.
Mat Burn: A dark, acidic stain line on a work on paper exactly where the window of an old mat overlapped it. The light-exposed area may have faded, while the covered edge remains dark, leaving a "ghost" of the mat. Partial UV protection can cause differential aging.
Medium: (1) The materials used to make an artwork (e.g., "oil on canvas", "bronze"). (2) The liquid added to paint to modify its working properties (e.g., linseed oil for oil paints).
Medium (Binder) — Depth: The choice of medium dramatically affects the sheen, flexibility and aging properties of paint. An oil painter might use a medium of stand oil (for smooth, enamel-like finish) or an alkyd medium (for faster drying). Modern artists experimenting with mixed materials can create inherent vice.
Mezzotint: An intaglio technique that works from dark to light. The plate is roughened to print a rich black, then the artist scrapes and burnishes areas to create halftones and white.
Mid-Career Artist: An artist with a significant, consistent body of work, a track record of exhibitions, and a developing secondary market. Often considered a lower-risk segment than emerging artists.
Mixed Media: An artwork that combines two or more different artistic media (e.g., oil, collage, and graphite on a single surface).
Modern Art: A period of art spanning roughly the 1860s to the 1970s, characterised by a break with tradition, experimentation, and styles like Impressionism, Cubism, Surrealism and Abstract Expressionism. Not a synonym for contemporary.
Monoprint / Monotype: A unique, one-of-a-kind print made by painting onto a smooth, non-absorbent plate and then transferring the image to paper. No two are identical; it is not part of an edition.
Monotype — Ghost Impression: After the first, strong impression is pulled, a second, fainter pull from the remaining ink on the plate is the "ghost" or cognate. Ghosts are sometimes worked up in pastel by the artist, becoming a mixed-media work.
Motif: A recurring theme, subject, or visual element in a single work or across an artist's career.
Multiple: A 3D artwork produced in an edition, distinct from a print because it is an object (sculpture, light box, etc.). In the 1960s, multiples democratised art collecting. Ensure the multiple has its original certificate and packaging.
Mural: A large-scale painting applied directly to a wall, ceiling, or other permanent surface.
Museum Glass: A high-quality, anti-reflective, UV-protective framing glass. It appears nearly invisible and blocks 99% of harmful UV light, which causes fading. More expensive than standard UV glass.
Museum Mount: A method of securing a work on paper to its mount using reversible hinges, with no adhesive touching the art's front, and with an acid-free, hinged top edge that allows the paper to expand and contract freely.

1 term

Non-Reproducible Blue: A specific pale blue pigment that photographic and early photocopying processes do not pick up. Artists and cartoonists used it for sketch lines that were not meant to reproduce. If you see faint blue lines under a finished ink drawing, you're likely seeing the artist's hand at work.

10 terms

Obverse: The front or main face of a work, medal, or coin. Opposite of reverse.
Offset Lithograph: An automated commercial printing process where the ink is transferred from the plate to a rubber blanket cylinder and then to paper. The ubiquitous rosette dot pattern under a loupe is the tell-tale sign. Not an original fine-art print in the traditional sense.
Oil Gilding: Applying gold leaf to a frame or surface using an oil-based size. It cannot be burnished to a mirror shine but is more durable and suitable for exterior use.
Oil Paint: A slow-drying paint made of pigment suspended in a drying oil, usually linseed oil. Prized for its depth, luminosity, and blending capability.
Old Master: A term for a highly skilled European painter of the period roughly from 1300 to 1800. An "Old Master drawing" or "Old Master print" refers to works from this era.
Open Edition: A print run with no predetermined limit. Can be printed on demand and is generally less valuable than a limited edition.
Original Print: A print where the artist personally created the matrix (plate, block, stone, screen) with the specific intent of making a print. A signed, limited-edition photo-mechanical reproduction is not an original print, even if it is marketed as one.
Ormolu: Gilded bronze or brass, often used in the decorative mounts of high-end antique frames.
Overmat: The window mat placed on top of the artwork. Together with the undermount (the board behind the art), it forms a protective sandwich.
Overpainting: Paint applied by a restorer over areas of original paint loss. Overly broad overpainting is frowned upon and can devalue a work, as it covers the artist's original hand.

24 terms

Palette: (1) The flat surface an artist uses to mix colours. (2) The range of colours characteristically used by an artist in a particular work or across their career.
Palette Knife: A flexible, blunt steel knife with no cutting edge, used to mix paint on the palette and to apply it thickly and directly to the canvas in impasto work.
Panel: A rigid support for painting, historically wood (poplar, oak, mahogany) but also modern materials like aluminium composite board.
Panel Cracking: A vertical or curvilinear split in a wooden panel, following the wood grain. Common in old masters. A split that is cleanly rejoined by a conservator is stable; one with a significant gap may require filling and inpainting.
Passe-Partout: A simple framing method of a glass-fronted sandwich sealed with tape around the edges, often used in the early 20th century for prints and photographs. Highly acidic and prone to degrade, but sometimes historically significant.
Pastel — Collecting Caution: A pastel is pure pigment held together with a minimum of binder, forming a velvety, powdery surface. It is the most fragile of all painting media. Never allow anything to touch the surface. Framing must include spacers to keep the glass far away, and pastels should never be vibrated or rolled.
Patina: The surface change on a sculpture, bronze, or wooden frame resulting from age, handling, and oxidation. Often considered highly desirable and valuable; careless polishing destroys it.
Pentimento: Visible evidence of an artist's alteration, where an earlier painted element emerges through the paint film as it becomes more transparent with age (or is revealed by infrared). A sign of authenticity, showing the artist changed their mind during the work's creation.
Perspective: The technique used to create an illusion of three-dimensional depth on a two-dimensional surface. Linear perspective uses converging lines to a vanishing point.
Photogravure: A beautiful, continuous-tone photomechanical intaglio process using a gelatin-coated copper plate and an aquatint grain. Produces prints of extraordinary depth, used by Steichen and Stieglitz. Distinguishing a fine photogravure from a photograph requires expertise.
Pigment: The finely ground, coloured powder that gives paint its colour. It is mixed with a binder to create paint. Pigment quality is a major factor in the permanence and cost of an artwork.
Pigment Number: The universal Colour Index number (e.g., PY3, PR122, PB29) that precisely identifies the pigment used, irrespective of the paint's marketing name. A genuine "Alizarin Crimson" is PR83, an impermanent but beautiful pigment; a "Permanent Alizarin" might be a blend of more stable modern pigments.
Plate Mark: The indentation in the paper around the image area of an intaglio print, created by the edges of the metal plate during the high-pressure printing process. Its presence is a key identifier of a true intaglio.
Plein Air: French for "open air". Painting outdoors to capture the immediate effects of light and atmosphere, famously practiced by the Impressionists.
Plywood Support: Many mid-century abstract painters used plywood. Over time, the wood grain can telegraph through the painting, and acidic adhesives within the ply can leach through the ground, causing discolouration.
Pointillé: A decorative gold-tooling technique on frames where small, punched dots are used to create patterns and background texture.
Polyptych: An artwork consisting of more than three panels.
Portfolio: A compilation of an artist's work, either physical or digital. For print collectors, it can also be a published set of prints, often on a single theme.
Pouncing: A technique for transferring a drawing: charcoal dust is rubbed through pinpricks in a full-scale cartoon, leaving a dotted outline on the support below.
Pressure-Sensitive Tape: Ordinary sticky tape. The adhesive will ooze, yellow, stain, and become permanently impossible to remove without damaging paper. A large percentage of a paper conservator's work is reversing tape damage.
Primary Market: The market where an artwork is sold for the first time, directly from the artist or their representing gallery. The artist is the seller.
Print: A two-dimensional image made by transferring ink from a prepared matrix (plate, block, stone, screen) to paper, usually in multiples. Not to be confused with a painted reproduction.
Printer's Proof (P.P.): Proofs reserved for the printer, distinct from the artist's proofs. Often fewer in number and highly valued when the printer was a notable collaborator.
Provenance: The documented history of ownership of an artwork. A clear, unbroken provenance tracing back to the artist adds significant value and helps authenticate a work.

1 term

Quarter-Sawn Oak: A method of cutting wood used for high-quality panel painting supports and frame-making, where the log is cut radially. This produces a more stable, less warping grain pattern with a distinct "flake" figure.

14 terms

Rabbet (Rebate): The inner L-shaped lip of a frame into which the glazing, artwork, mount and backing are fitted.
Rag Paper: Paper made from cotton fibres (rag) rather than wood pulp. Inherently acid-free, strong, and the highest-quality paper for prints and archival matting.
Ready-Made: A mass-produced, ordinary object designated by an artist as an artwork. Pioneered by Marcel Duchamp.
Recto: The "front" side of a two-dimensional sheet (the side with the main image or text). The back is the verso.
Relief Print: A printmaking technique where the negative space is carved away from a block (wood, linoleum). Ink is applied to the remaining raised surface, which prints. Woodcut and linocut are examples.
Relining (or Lining): A conservation process where a new canvas is glued to the back of the original painting canvas to give it structural support. Common in older paintings, but can sometimes flatten the paint texture.
Relining (Lining) — Negative View: A 19th- or early 20th-century relining with an animal glue adhesive and a heavy iron can literally flatten every trace of impasto, permanently altering the artist's intent. Modern conservation uses a minimally invasive, low-pressure, synthetic adhesive lining only when essential.
Representational Art: Art that depicts recognisable subjects from the real world. The opposite of abstract.
Reserve: The confidential minimum price a seller is willing to accept at auction. If bidding does not reach the reserve, the lot is "bought in" (unsold).
Restoration: Treatment intended to return a damaged or altered artwork to its previously known or assumed state. Distinct from conservation, which focuses on stabilisation.
Retouching: The inpainting of small losses and scratches, often done at auction to present the work in presentable condition. The long-term stability of retouching varies. Always ask if retouching was done with reversible conservation paints.
Return: The side of a painting's canvas that wraps around the stretcher bars. Labels, gallery inscriptions, and even small painted studies are often found here. If a work is gallery-wrapped, the image continues onto the return; framing may then hide part of the composition.
Rocker: A broad, curved, serrated tool used in mezzotint to roughen the entire metal plate, creating the initial black ground.
Rosette Pattern: The visible pattern of regular dots in an offset lithograph or halftone reproduction, clearly visible under a 10× loupe. Learning to spot it is the single most important skill for a print collector to avoid buying reproductions as originals.

19 terms

Salon Hang: A dense, floor-to-ceiling style of hanging artworks, often in a clustered, overlapping, or highly organised grid, originating from the Paris Salon exhibitions.
Scale: The size of an artwork in relation to the human body or its surroundings. "Large-scale" and "small-scale" are relative terms.
School of [Artist/Region]: A term indicating a work created by a follower or student of a particular master or regional style, not by the master themselves. It denotes the work's stylistic origin, not its authorship.
Scumble: A thin, semi-opaque layer of lighter, broken colour painted over a darker underlayer to create a soft, atmospheric effect.
Secondary Market: The resale market for artworks, where the artist is no longer the seller. Galleries, auction houses, and private collectors buy and sell works on the secondary market.
Serigraph (Silkscreen): A stencil-based printmaking technique where ink is forced through a fine mesh screen onto paper. Parts of the screen are blocked to create the image. Favoured by Pop artists.
Sfumato: From the Italian for "smoky". A technique of softening the transition between colours and tones, so outlines blur and forms melt into shadow, famously used by Leonardo da Vinci.
Signature: The artist's mark of authorship, usually a hand-applied name, initials, monogram, or symbol. Hand-signed works are generally more valuable than those with a printed or stamped signature.
Signed in the Plate (vs. Hand-Signed): When a signature is printed as part of the image, it was drawn or stencilled onto the original printing matrix. A hand-signed work has the signature applied in pencil or ink directly on the paper after printing. Hand-signed is almost always more valuable.
Silvering: A mirror-like, bronzy haze that appears in the dark areas of old gelatin silver photographs, caused by the migration of silver particles to the surface. A condition issue that can sometimes be treated by a photograph conservator.
Size: (1) A thin glue solution applied to canvas to seal the fibres before applying gesso. (2) The adhesive layer used in gilding to make gold leaf adhere.
Sleeper: An auction lot that is undervalued or misattributed, bought by a knowledgeable collector for a fraction of its true worth. The archetypal collector's dream.
Solvent: A liquid used to dissolve or thin paint and clean brushes (e.g., turpentine or mineral spirits for oils, water for acrylics).
Spit Bite: An aquatint technique where acid is painted directly onto the plate with a brush, often mixed with saliva or gum, creating painterly, fluid washes in the print.
Stretcher: The wooden frame over which a canvas is stretched. The stretcher's keys (small wedges) can be gently tapped to tighten the canvas.
Stretcher Keys: Small triangular wooden wedges inserted into the inner corners of a stretcher. Tapping them gently pushes the corners apart and tightens a sagging canvas. Over-tightening can distort the frame and tear the canvas.
Stump: A tightly rolled paper or leather tool used for blending graphite, charcoal or pastel.
Support: The physical surface on which an artwork is created: canvas, paper, panel, copper, etc.
Support-Induced Discolouration (SID): Brown staining on a canvas painting from the inside out, caused by impurities in the canvas or stretcher wood migrating into the ground. Often visible as dark lines corresponding to the stretcher bars.

10 terms

Tarnish: In silver-based photographs, the chemical degradation of the silver image, turning it yellow-brown or blue. A key condition issue for 19th-century photographs.
Tear Sheet: A page physically torn from a magazine or book, often featuring a reproduction or an article about an artist. Different from a true print, yet sometimes collected for rarity.
Tempera: A fast-drying paint made of pigment mixed with a water-soluble binder, typically egg yolk. It was the primary panel painting medium before oil paint.
Tint: A colour mixed with white, making it lighter.
Tone (Value): The relative lightness or darkness of a colour, independent of hue. A crucial component in creating form and depth — a black-and-white photograph of a work reveals its tonal structure.
Tooth: The surface texture of paper or canvas, which gives grip to dry media like pastel, charcoal and graphite. A work with heavy tooth aggressively holds the pigment.
Transfer Paper: Coated paper used to transfer a drawing outline. In the 19th century, artists often used a graphite-coated sheet, leaving a faint, non-photographic blue or grey line. No stigma; it's part of the working method.
Triptych: An artwork in three panels, often hinged together.
Triptych — Collecting Note: When buying, ensure all three panels have the same provenance, that the painted image aligns perfectly across the gap, and that no panel has been sold separately at any point. Reuniting separated panels is exceptionally difficult.
Trompe-l'oeil: French for "deceive the eye". A highly realistic painting style that creates the optical illusion that the depicted objects exist in three dimensions.

3 terms

Ultraviolet (UV) Examination: A standard condition-checking procedure. A conservator's UV lamp makes modern retouching, overpaint, and certain varnishes fluoresce purple, black, or yellow-green, while the original surface remains inert. Essential before any significant purchase.
Ultraviolet (UV) Glass: Framing glass that filters out a large percentage of ultraviolet light, which causes fading and paper deterioration. An absolute must for works on paper. Museum glass offers UV protection plus anti-reflective coating.
Underpainting: The initial layer of paint, often monochromatic, applied to a ground to establish the composition, values and forms before colour is added. Visible in infrared reflectography and a window into the artist's working method.

8 terms

Value: In a collecting context, this can refer to aesthetic/artistic merit, cultural importance, or monetary market value (fair market value, insurance replacement value). In colour theory, it refers to the lightness or darkness of a hue.
Vanishing Point: In linear perspective, the point on the horizon line at which parallel lines appear to converge.
Varnish: A protective, transparent final layer applied to a finished painting. It can be glossy or matte, saturates the colours, and protects the paint surface from dirt. Must be removable for conservation.
Varnish — Why It Matters to a Collector: A natural resin varnish (dammar, mastic) yellows and embrittles with age, becoming insoluble and requiring removal by a conservator — a delicate, costly process. A modern synthetic varnish stays colourless and is easily removable. A collector of contemporary paintings should know what varnish was used.
Veduta: A highly detailed, topographically accurate city view, especially associated with Canaletto and 18th-century Venice.
Vehicle: The liquid component of paint that carries the pigment and binder (e.g., water in watercolour, mineral spirits in oil painting).
Verso: The back or reverse side of a two-dimensional sheet. Important for finding gallery labels, inscriptions, and collector's marks that reveal provenance.
Verso — What to Look For: A work's verso can be a treasure trove: exhibition labels, framer's labels, collector's stamps, old auction lot numbers, inscriptions. Never detach these. They constitute physical provenance. Photograph the verso when cataloguing your collection.

9 terms

Water Gilding: The highest-quality frame gilding, using a bole ground and gold leaf applied with a water-based size, then burnished with an agate tool. A deep, lustrous, liquid-metal finish that oil gilding cannot match.
Watercolour: A paint made of pigment suspended in a water-soluble gum arabic binder, known for its transparency and luminosity.
Watermark: A design or lettering visible in paper when held up to light, created during the papermaking process. It can help identify the paper's manufacturer and date, which is crucial for authenticating prints and drawings.
Watermark — Advanced Use: A watermark can pinpoint the paper mill and a window of years the paper was produced. A supposed 17th-century etching on paper with an 1830 watermark is either a late impression from the original plate or a reproduction.
Wet-on-Wet: Painting into an already wet layer of paint, allowing colours to blend softly on the canvas. Characteristic of the work of the Impressionists and alla prima portrait painters.
Wheat Starch Paste: The standard adhesive for conservation hinging. It is strong, reversible with water, and will not stain paper. Do not trust a frame that uses any other adhesive for the mount.
Woodcut: The oldest relief print technique, where an image is carved into a block of wood, and the raised surface is inked and printed.
Woodcut vs. Wood Engraving: A woodcut uses the plank grain of soft wood with knife-like tools, producing bold, graphic lines. A wood engraving uses the dense end-grain of hard wood with a burin, allowing for incredibly fine, white-line detail.
Wove Paper: Paper made on a finely woven wire mesh, producing a smooth, uniform surface with no chain lines. Introduced in the late 18th century — so an "old master" print on wove paper is either a later impression or a reproduction.

2 terms

X-Radiography: A conservation imaging technique that passes X-rays through a painting to reveal what lies beneath the visible paint — earlier compositions, underdrawings, structural damage, and pentimenti. A standard tool in old-master authentication.
Xylography: The historical name for woodblock printing — the art of engraving on wood. Old-master print specialists still use the term "xylographic" for early woodcuts.

2 terms

Yellowing: The natural, age-driven warming and darkening of paper, varnish, or paint binder. A clear sign of a non-archival material — works on rag paper resist yellowing far longer than wood-pulp paper.
Yupo: A brand of synthetic, plastic-based paper made from polypropylene. Increasingly used by contemporary watercolourists for its non-absorbent surface that lets pigment pool and flow. Behaves and ages differently from cotton rag — ask the artist.

2 terms

Zinc Plate: Used in etching and lithography. Zinc lithography plates produce a grain very similar to stone and were used extensively in the 20th century. The term "stone lithograph" often implies a finer, more authentic cachet, but a zincograph is a perfectly valid original print process.
Zinc White (Zinc Oxide): A white pigment used in oil paint that is brilliant and cold. Critically, it is known to cause severe, brittle delamination cracking in oil films when used as a primary white in thick layers. A smart collector of post-1940 paintings is aware of the zinc white problem.

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