The Honest Art Dictionary

A Jovial Trip through Art Jargon

The Art History Babes, Carmen Casado

• Publisher: Frances Lincoln
• Year: 2020
• ISBN:
  9780711254152
• Topic: Arte
• Subtopic: Historia del arte

From the popular @arthistorybabespodcast, "a tidy, helpful and informative guide to what can be a Tower of Babel of art jargon" ( Republican American ). In this art dictionary like no other, The Art History Babes (the hosts behind the prolific podcast) break down the elitist world of art with definitions of over three hundred essential art terms. Art speak is infamously alienating, strange, and confusing as hell. Think stereotypical, stylish art dealers who describe art as 'derivative' and 'dynamic'—or stuffy auction houses filled with portraits of dead white people called 'Old Masters'. What do these words mean? Where did they come from? And how can you actually use them? The Honest Art Dictionary spans art history, iconic movements, peculiar words, and pretentious phrases. After reading this book, you'll be able to lay down that art jargon with the best of them. From avant-garde to oeuvre, the Harlem Renaissance to New Objectivity, museum fatigue to memento mori—the Babes use their whip-smart humor, on-point knowledge, and a heavy dose of candor to explain even the most complex ideas in bite-sized, relatable and often humorous definitions. With illustrations from Carmen Casado—The Honest Art Dictionary is a valuable starter pack for those new to the study of art history, those re-exploring the discipline, or those simply interested in impressing their friends during a trip to the local art museum.

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CALLIGRAPHY (n.)

Calligraphy combines writing with visual art. Calligraphers handwrite and carefully design letters, applying them with brushes or broad-tipped instruments, just as a painter might. The practice goes way back and its consistent influence across the world is pretty amazing.

The practice of calligraphy can be traced back to 200 BCE in China, and Chinese calligraphy is still widely practiced today. Islamic calligraphy was first used in the Quran in the 6th century CE and soon developed into multiple distinct styles.

Due to its reliance on the written word, calligraphy is often overlooked as a visual artform. However, as we have seen with contemporary graphic design and text-based art, the written word can function as a visual element. Bringing words to life with stylized letters and a practiced hand is what calligraphy is all about. I’ve always been fascinated by calligraphy and have meant to take a class at some point—I’ll sign up for one after this book is done, hold me to it. G

CAMERA OBSCURA (n.)

Thousands of years before the invention of cameras as we know them, there were predecessors known as camera obscuras. For those like myself who never formally learned Latin, that translates to “dark room,” though a camera obscura is much closer in concept to an actual camera than the red-lit space that comes to mind. One major difference between a camera obscura and a camera, is that a camera obscura projects a temporary image. They can range in size from a small box to an entire room. In order to make a camera obscura, you need a very dark space—be it box or room—with one pinhole to admit light. An inverted image of whatever is well-lit on the outside of the pinhole is projected onto the adjacent wall inside the dark space.

Originally, camera obscuras were used to view solar eclipses without damaging the eyes, but eventually some smart and curious people figured out that it’s a fantastic way to project a scene or object in order to achieve a nearly perfect sketch for a painting. (If you’ve ever used a projector to trace a preliminary sketch on a canvas, you know what I mean). Much like modern-day cameras, camera obscuras kept getting smaller—i.e. more portable and convenient. The technology advanced as well. During the 16th century, a small mirror was placed inside to reflect the image right-side-up and eventually a convex lens was added to the pinhole. Leo da Vinci became slightly obsessed (as he did with many things) with camera obscuras and what they could tell us about optical theory, and our boy Caravaggio was believed to have used a camera obscura to sketch the form of his figures in some of his paintings. N

CAMP (n./adj.)

Bad taste. Irony. Banality. Artifice. Frivolity. These are just some of the aspects that build the backbone of camp.

So, what is camp? It is hard to wrap up with a pretty bow (I mean, we can, that would certainly be in the spirit of camp). Camp can be thought of as an aesthetic style or sensibility that disrupts ideas of what is considered high society and high art. It can also be considered a kind of social practice that many subscribe to through fashion and performative identity for the purpose of entertainment. (Take RuPaul’s Drag Race, for example, a TV show in which the American drag queen searches for America’s next drag superstar.) Elements of camp have been identified in popular culture dating back to the turn of the 20th century, but it was not until Susan Sontag wrote Notes on “Camp” in 1964 that the term came to describe a cohesive aesthetic.

In many academic readings it is asserted that camp is not identified with any specific group, but I would argue that you cannot discuss camp without discussing the queer community that birthed and raised it, complete with massive, peroxided beehive and feather boa. Entertainers such as Divine, Liberace, and Cher paved the way for an anti-academic take on pop culture that was largely driven by gay fanfare. Pop art giants such as Andy Warhol (whose queerness is often erased or downplayed) made huge contributions to the camp aesthetic. In 2019, the Met Gala had camp as its theme, with no mention of its queer roots and history (you blew it, guys). Ultimately, camp is not necessarily making fun of culture, but rather making fun out of it. Camp deserves several theses and dissertations, which we unfortunately do not have room for, so consider this your primer, darling, and get lost. J

CANNIBALIZE (v.)

Wait, how is this an art term? Well, hear me out. We’re talking about the concept of cannibalism, which became a powerful metaphorical tool and approach to modernism for a group of Brazilian modernists in the early 20th century (see Antropofagia). The idea was that, as a trope, the act of human cannibalism marked the line between savagery and civilization—a line that became a very important cornerstone of colonial thought. By reclaiming the act of cannibalism, historically an act that denotes difference, Brazilian modernists cannibalized European culture to create a hybrid identity. This identity celebrated difference as a central concept in defining Latin American identities (I know, its complex stuff).

The artist Tarsila do Amaral has long been considered the first modernist Brazilian cannibal. Her painting, Abaporu (1928), depicts a stylized figure with massive feet seated next to a cactus with a lemon-slice sun in the background. She gave it to her husband, Oswald de Andrade, as a birthday gift. He was so taken aback by what he saw in the work as a devouring of European styles, that he gave it its title (which means “man eats” in an indigenous language). He wrote his Manifesto Antropófago that same year. J

CANON (n.)

Canon, not to be confused with artillery that shoots cannonballs, is a word that refers to what is generally accepted as “the best” of a given subject. The phrase is naturally biased, as “the best” ramen noodle place in the city in your opinion, is l...