-
Adobe
Computer software company for the creation and publication of content including graphics, photography, illustration, video and print; also a type of clay used as building material, typically in the form of sun-dried bricks.
-
Agnostic
Having a doubtful or noncommittal attitude toward something, usually religious.
-
AI
Artificial Intelligence, the theory and development of computer systems able to perform tasks that normally require human intelligence, such as visual perception, speech recognition, decision-making, and translation between languages.
-
Allan Kaprow
American painter and writer(1927-2006) credited for helping establish the theoretical basis for performance art, such as the “Environment” and the “Happening.”
-
Alexander Berggruen Gallery
Art gallery with locations in New York est. 2019.
-
Algorithmic art
One single, unique work of visual art created by a piece of code.
-
Amy Sherald
American painter (b. 1973), who works predominately in portraiture. Known most for her portrait of Breonna Taylor on Vanity Fair and the Official Portrait of First Lady Michelle Obama.
-
Andy Warhol
Major historical figure (1928-1987) and founder of the American pop art movement.
-
Archives
Collection of historical documents or records providing information about a place, institution, or group of people.
-
ArtBlocks.io
Platform (est. 2020) for the appreciation and purchase of generative digital art via a decentralized marketplace.
-
Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO)
Large, encyclopedic museum in Toronto, Ontario, Canada (est. 1900).
-
(Art) Movement
A development in art instigated by a group of like-minded people working to advance their shared ideas about style, technique or purpose.
-
Auction House
Company that facilitates the buying and selling of assets, in this case art and decorative objects. The big three in the art world are: Sotheby’s, Christie’s and Philips.
-
Avant-garde
French word for “before the vanguard,” and used in art to describe work that is experimental, radical or unorthodox.
-
Barnett Newman
American painter (1905-1970) and seminal figure in color-field painting, known for juxtaposing large blocks of uniform color with narrow marginal strips of contrasting colors.
-
Baroque
Denoting a style of European art of the 17th and 18th centuries characterized by ornate detail and strong contrast.
-
Beeple
Stage name of artist Michael Winkelmann (b. 1981), American digital artist known for his comical and thought-provoking work, and especially his Everydays, the first 5000 days of which sold together for $69.34 million through Christies in March 2021.
-
Bennington College
Private liberal arts college in Bennington, Vermont, USA (est. 1932), all women’s until 1969 and credited for originating visual and performing arts as equal partners in the liberal education. Alma Mater to Helen Frankenthaler.
-
Bequest
A legacy, usually in the form of money or property left to someone or something in a will.
-
Bitcoin
Decentralized digital currency without a central bank or single administrator, that can be sent from user to user on a peer to peer (P2P) blockchain network.
-
Blender
A 3D creation editing software.
-
Blockchain
Shared, decentralized, immutable ledger that facilitates the process of recording transactions and tracking assets. Umbrella term – Ethereum and the bitcoin network are both “on the blockchain.”
-
Brandon Joseph
Frank Gallipoli Professor of Modern and Contemporary Art in the Department of Art History and Archaeology at Columbia University, author of books on Robert Rauschenberg, Andy Warhol, John Cage, Diane Arbus, and others.
-
Catalogue Raisonné
Comprehensive, annotated listing of all the known works of an artist either in a particular medium or all media, with added explanations and scholarly commets.
-
Celebration, FL
Master-planned community in central Florida originally developed by Disney in the 1990s.
-
Centre Pompidou
Centre Pompidou national d’art et de culture Georges-Pompidou, complex building in the Beaubourg area of Paris, France, which houses France’s National Museum of Modern art, its Public Information library, and the IRCAM, a center for music and acoustic research.
-
Charles Gaines
American-born artist (b. 1944) whose practice spans across mediums and investigates politics and philosophy.
-
Christie’s
British-founded global auction house, established in 1766.
-
Commercial Art
Art created primarily for market profit. Term can be used derogatorily to describe work or artists that pay close attention to buyer and auction trends.
-
Conceptual (art)
Art for which the idea behind the work is more important than the finished product, emerged in the 1960s and still applied today.
-
Conservator
A person responsible for the repair and preservation of works of art, buildings, or other things of cultural or environmental interest.
-
Consigning Stage
The preparatory stage before an auction goes live, when catalogues are written, works are valued and ordered, and preemptive deals are made.
-
Contemporary (art)
Living or occurring at the same time, applied variably to art from 1959/60 to present.
-
Cooper Union
A private college in downtown Manhattan offering degrees in art, architecture, and engineering, est. 1859.
-
Cryptocurrency
Digital currency designed to work as a medium of exchange through a computer network that is not reliant on any central authority to uphold or maintain it.
-
Crypto Kitties
Online game (est. 2017 by Dapper Labs) that allows players to buy and trade digital cats on Ethereum. Important for its introduction of the ERC720 smart contract which standardized the mechanism for transferring ownership of a digital asset on the blockchain.
-
Cryptopunks
One of the earliest examples of NFTs on Ethereum, 100 x 100 grid of 24-pixel characters created by Larva Labs in June 2017. Free at first, connected to smart contracts which are now worth millions. Almost $2B in sales since 2017.
-
Cubism
Early 20th-century art movement characterized by simple geometric shapes, interlocking planes, and later, collage.
-
Curator
Someone employed by a museum or gallery to manage a collection of art works, organize shows, conduct research and draw connections between art and life.
-
Dada
Early 20th century movement in art, literature, music, and film, (est. 1916 in Zurich by Tristan Tzara and others) which mocked artistic and social conventions, and emphasized the illogical and the absurd.
-
Damien Hirst
English Artist (b. 1965) known for his conceptual art and astronomically priced works which turned the commercial art world upside down in the 1990s.
-
DAO
Acronym for Decentralized Autonomous Organization, or an organization represented by rules encoded as a transparent cListen Here: Episode 3omputer program controlled by the organization members and not influenced by a central government. Used in this context to represent a group of buyers at auction.
-
David Zwirner
German art dealer and gallerist, founder of the international gallery, David Zwirner, with outposts in New York, London, Paris, and Hong Kong.
-
Decentralized
Controlled by several local offices or authorities rather than one single one.
-
Declassify
Officially declare (information or documents) to be no longer secret.
-
De Kooning
Willem de Kooning (1904-1997), Dutch-born US painter and leading proponent of abstract expressionism, known for his highly emotional works which often retained figural elements, especially the female form.
-
Discord
Free voice, video and text chat app, recently adopted by blockchain and crypto communities to discuss trends and innovation in the space.
-
documenta
Exhibition of contemporary art which takes place in Kassel, Germany every 5 years, est. 1955 by artist, teacher and curator Arnold Bode.
-
Donald Judd
American artist (1928-1994) whose works, mostly of sculpture, associated with Minimalism, seek autonomy and clarity for the constructed object and the space created by it.
-
Duchamp
Marcel Duchamp (1887-1968), French-American artist regarded as the pioneer of the Dada movement, champion of the readymade.
-
Edition Sale
Sale of artist editions, which are pieces in a set of original works of art intended for graphic reproduction, produced by or under the supervision of the artist who designed them.
-
Eric Fischl & April Gornik Church at Sag Harbor
Deconsecrated church in Long Island, New York renovated and converted to a community arts center by artist couple Eric Fischl and April Gornik in 2018. Intended to house local art exhibitions, educational programming and workspace.
-
Estate
All the money and property owned by a particular person, especially at death.
-
Ethereum
Decentralized blockchain network among which Ether is exchanged as native digital currency.
-
Experiential/Immersive Art
Art that requires a viewer to activate a space, usually installed in public, and often enveloping viewers in a full-body experience.
-
Fauvism
Early 20th century movement in painting (ca. 1905 Paris) characterized by vivid, non-naturalistic use of color, of which Henri Matisse regarded as leading figure.
-
Figurative
Representing forms that are recognizably derived from life.
-
Fluxus
International group of avant-garde artists in the 1960s and ‘70s who engaged in experimental art performances that emphasized the artistic process over the finished product.
-
Foundation
An institution established with an endowment, usually under a philanthropic mission and 501(c)(3) tax exemption.
-
Generative Art
Visual art created by a predetermined system, in this case an algorithm, that often involves an element of chance.
-
George Brecht
American conceptual artist and avant-garde composer (1926-2008), key member of Fluxus and an originator of participatory art.
-
Gordon Parks
American photojournalist (1912-2006) whose body of work explores Black and African-American’s lives during the civil rights movement.
-
Grace Hartigan
American painter (1922-2008) known for her painterly, expressive treatment of subjects in popular culture, one of few successful female members of the Abstract Expressionist movement.
-
Grant
A sum of money given by a government or other organization for a particular purpose.
-
The Guggenheim
The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, art museum in New York City exhibiting an expanding permanent collection of Impressionist, Post-Impressionist, modern and contemporary art, est. 1937 and housed in iconic Frank Lloyd Wright spiral building.
-
Helen Frankenthaler
American artist (1928-2011) known for her pioneering technique of staining unprimed canvas to create sumptuous works of abstract post-war art, one
-
Immersive (art)
Deployed variably to describe an exhibit or work that appears to surround its viewer.
-
Interdisciplinarity
The quality of involving or drawing on two or more branches of knowledge.
-
Jackson Pollock
American painter (1912-1952), known for abstract, gestural works incorporating his novel ‘drip painting’ technique, credited as pioneer of the Abstract Expressionist movement.
-
James Turrell
American artist (b. 1943), member of the California Light and Space movement and known for sculptures and installations that manipulate light and sky.
-
James Van Der Zee
Leading American photographer (1886-1983) of the Harlem Renaissance.
-
Jasper Johns
American painter (b. 1930) who is associated with abstract expressionism, Neo-Dada, and Pop Art.
-
Jerry Saltz
Pulitzer prize-winning American art critic (b. 1951), columnist for New York Magazine since 2006 and former senior art critic for The Village Voice.
-
Joan Mitchell
American painter (1925-1992) known for monumental, abstract works based in the palettes and essence of nature, one of few successful female members of the Abstract Expressionist movement.
-
John Malkovich
Decorated American actor (b. 1953).
-
Kandinsky
Wassily Kandinsky (1866–1944), Russian painter and theorist, pioneer of abstraction in western art.
-
LACMA
Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
-
LA MoCA
Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art (est. 1979) featuring a large collection of American and European post-war contemporary art.
-
Landscape Painting
A painting whose subject is nature or countryside, usually a large swath below a horizon.
-
LAXART
LA nonprofit dedicated to promoting contemporary culture through public programming and exhibitions.
-
Le Corbusier
Pseudonym used by Charles Jeanneret (1887-1965), Swiss-French architect, designer, and writer, pioneer of what is now regarded as modern architecture.
-
The Louvre
Principal museum and art gallery in France, formerly a royal palace but established as a museum by the National Assembly during the French Revolution, home to some of the West’s greatest masterpieces such as the Mona Lisa and the Venus de Milo.
-
MACBA
Museum of Contemporary Art, Barcelona, large contemporary art museum in the heart of Barcelona, Spain, est. 1995.
-
Malevich
Kazimir Malevich (1878-1935), Russian painter and designer whose geometric, restrained works form the basis of the Suprematist art movement.
-
Mark Bradford
American painter (b. 1961) who represented the U.S. in the 2017 Venice Biennale and is know for his large-scale abstract paintings.
-
Maslow’s Hierarchy
Framework for understanding human needs and motivations, developed by psychologist Abraham Maslow in 1943.
-
MCA Chicago
Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago, IL, USA (est. 1967), one of the world’s largest contemporary art venues.
-
Meritocracy
A society or system organized on the basis of ability alone; values skill and education above all.
-
Minimalism (art)
Art movement originating in the 1950s that aims to use simple units of form like lines, shapes, or single words or sounds rather than representative or complex images or scores.
-
MoMA
The Museum of Modern Art in New York City, home to one of the largest and most influential collections of modern and contemporary art in the world, est. 1929.
-
MFA
Masters in Fine Arts, a graduate program for artists.
-
Modern (art)
Suggests a departure from tradition, applied variable from art from ~1789 (French Revolution) to the 1960s.
-
Mondrian
Piet Mondrian (1872-1944), Dutch painter and founder of the De Stijl movement, early champion of strict geometrical abstract painting.
-
Nan Jun Pike
Korean multi-media artist (1932-2006), member of Fluxus and considered the founder of video art.
-
Neo-
Prefix meaning new or revived.
-
Neo-Dada
Artistic and literary movement which sought to expand upon Dada sensibilities of playfulness, iconoclasm, appropriation, and the merging of art and daily life, flourished in 1960s New York.
-
Neo-Impressionism
Late 19th century movement in French painting which sought to improve upon Impressionism through a systematic approach to form and color, associated most closely with the pointillist technique of artists like Georges Seurat, Paul Signac and Camille Pissarro.
-
Obama Portraits
Presidential portraits of Barack and Michelle Obama painted by Kehinde Wiley (U.S., b. 1977) and Amy Sherald (U.S., b. 1973).
-
Old Masters
Name for great artists of former times, especially the 13th-17th centuries in Europe.
-
Pace Gallery
Leading contemporary art gallery with locations in New York, LA, London, Hong Kong & more.
-
Participatory (art)
Art that can only be experienced by the active involvement of the viewer, est. in 1960s New York by members of Fluxus.es here
-
Performance & Performativity (art)
Relating to or including dramatic or artistic action for an audience, involving human or mechanic actors.
-
PFP
Acronym for Profile Picture, now a popular type of NFT usually dropped in series as avatars for use on social media (ex. Cryptopunks and Bored Ape Yacht Club).
-
Philip Johnson Glass House
Historic house museum in New Canaan, Connecticut built between 1947 and 1949 by architect, Philip Johnson, recognized for its architectural novelty, minimalism, and communion with nature. Johnson lived in the home with his long-time partner, art critic and collector David Whitney.
-
Phillips
British-founded global auction house, established in 1796, which focuses on contemporary art and design.
-
Plein Air Painting
The practice of painting “en plein air,” French for “in the open air” or outdoors. Developed by French painters of the 19th century in their pursuit to capture natural changes in lighting and atmosphere across days and seasons. Associated with Impressionism.
-
Post-Minimalist
Art movement that goes beyond (or attempts to go beyond) the aesthetic of minimalism.
-
Post-war Art
Art produced after WWII, usually associated with the Abstract Expressionist movement in the United States.
-
Primary Market
Where an artwork “goes” the first time it comes to sale, often through a gallery or from the artist directly.
-
Prospect 5
The fifth edition of the triennial art fair, celebrating New Orleans’ rich art scene.
-
Provenance
The history of the creation and ownership of a work of art. Key to determining authenticity.
-
Readymade (art)
Art created from undisguised, but often modified, items or products that are not normally considered materials from which art is made, often because they already have a non-art function. Popularized by Cubist and Dada artists like Pablo Picasso and Marcel Duchamp.
-
Renaissance (art)
European revival of art and literature under the influence of classical Greek and Roman models in the 14th – 16th centuries.
-
Residency
A residential post held by an artist, typically for teaching or collaboration purposes.
-
RISD
The Rhode Island School of Design, highly respected art school in Providence, Rhode Island, est. 1877.
-
Robert & Ethel Scull Auction
1957 landmark contemporary art auction that included artists such as Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg, Franz Kline, and Frank Stella. One of the first occasions of contemporary art selling for the high prices we see regularly today.
-
Robert Rauschenberg Foundation
Philanthropic foundation that manages the estate of artist Robert Rauschenberg: tends to and places art and archives, oversees oral history project, collaborations, retrospectives and the residency program.
-
Romanticism & the Romantics
The members of an artistic and literary movement, Romanticism, emphasizing inspiration, subjectivity, and the precedence of the individual. Originated in late 18th century Europe.
-
Roy Lichtenstein
American painter and sculptor (1923-1997) and leading exponent of pop art, creating punchy works inspired by comic strips.
-
Score (music)
A written representation of a musical composition showing all the vocal and instrumental parts in the arrangement, one below the other.
-
Secondary Market
Where an artwork “goes” after it has already been sold once, and is in the process of being resold or moved.
-
Sol LeWitt
American artist (1928-2007) whose geometric, minimalist work divided the idea from execution as the chief role of an artist.
-
Simone Forti
Italian-American artist (b. 1935) who works primarily in dance, writing and choreography, early member of Fluxus movement and innovator in postmodern dance construction.
-
Simone Leigh
New York based artist (b. 1965) representing the U.S. at the Venice Biennale.
-
Sotheby’s
British-founded global auction house, established in 1744.
-
Sound Stage (in Hollywood)
A region of a movie studio with acoustic properties suitable for the recording of sound, typically used to record dialogue.
-
Stems Gallery
Art gallery in Brussels, Belgium, est. 2015.
-
Studio Museum Harlem
A “nexus for artists of African descent locally, nationally, and internationally and for work that has been inspired and influenced by Black culture.” - Studio Museum in Harlem
-
SuperBlue
Collective that supports and exhibits experiential artists, currently in Miami and London.
-
Suprematism
Russian abstract art movement (est. 1915 by Kazimir Malevich) characterized by simple geometric shapes and associated with ideas of spiritual purity.
-
Tate Modern (Gallery), London
World-class museum that houses the majority of Britain’s publicly owned modern and contemporary art.
-
teamLab
International art collective (f. 2001) of artists, programmers, engineers, mathematicians and architects whose collaborative practice seeks to “navigate the confluence of art, science, technology, and the natural world.”
-
Top Shot
A revolutionary NFT marketplace (est. July 2019 by Dapper Labs and NBA Players Association) that allows users to buy, sell and collect influential NBA scoring moments.
-
Turner
J. M. W. Turner, (1775-1851) an English Romantic painter known for his landscapes and stormy seascapes
-
Venice Biennale
International art exhibition established in 1895 that brings together global talent every two years in Venice, Italy.
-
Zeitgeist
The defining spirit or mood of a particular period of history as shown by the ideas and beliefs of the time.