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Peabody Fine Art Gallery


Albumen Eggwhite. Used on glass as a medium for light-sensitive emulsions to make finely detailed negatives albumen positive prints are made on paper coated with eggwhite and salt solution and sensitized with silver nitrite solution. The print is made by exposure to sunlight through a negative.
Art Deco Style of art characterized by repetitive, ornamental and highly finished, curvilinear and geometric designs, (1920's-1930').
Artist Proof Also known as A/P. Prints outside the edition that are equal in quality to the edition and signed as Artist Proof or A/P. They are traditionally the property of the artist and usually limited to 10% of the edition.
Art Nouveau A style of decoration and architecture emphasizing fluid, biomorphic lines and swirling motifs.
Bon a Tirer Also called BAT. A french term used for printer's meaning "good to print". Traditionally, this is the first good impression an artist approves for the master printer to use as the standard for the edition.
Blind Printing using an uninked plate to produce the subtle embossed texture of a white-on-white image, highlighted by the shadow of the relief image on the uninked paper. This technique is used in many Japanese prints.
Carte-de-Visite A mounted photographic print measuring 4 1/2 inches by 2 1/2 inches popular in the late 19th century, usually as a portrait.
Chiaroscuro (ke-ar e skoor o) Technique of depicting light and dark tones to create an illusion of depth and modeling.
Chine colle (sheen coal lay) Process of taking thin paper, like rice paper, dampened with water and glue, placed on another paper, then placed in the etching press, before the etching is done.
Chop Also called dry stamp or seal. A mark impressed on a print by a workshop or a printer. Some artists and publishers also use their own chop to identify authentic prints.
Chromalith Replica A continuous tone reproduction with hand drawn touch colors, using both serigraphy and lithography.
Chromist "One who works with color". An artist craftsman who separates paintings or drawings into individual colors, used to print.
Classical Style with emphasis on symmetry, proportion and harmony of line and form.
Collograph A print that uses a build-up of applied surfaces, such as glue, mat board, cloth, sand, etc. It is then inked by hand and printed on an intaglio press.
Collotype Also called photo gelatin print or heliotype, a reproduction process using gelatin-coated glass or metal plate that produces a continuous tone print.
Craquelure Network of small cracks in painted or varnished surface of an old painting.
Daguerrotype Invented in 1838, this was the first practical photographic process, in which an image is formed on a copper plate coated with highly polished silver. Following exposure, the image is developed in mercury vapor, resulting in a unique image on metal that cannot be used as a negative for replication.
Deckle The natural rough edge on a sheet of paper in hand made paper.
Del (Latin, delineavit) He(she) drew it. Generally inscribed next to the artist's signature.
Diptych (dip-tic) Two paneled altarpiece or painting.
Documentation A certificate that identifies techniques and materials used to produce an edition, as well as total number of prints plus proofs, signed by both printer and artist.
Dye Transfer A high quality color photographic printing technique involving the transfer of dyes from three separately prepared images onto a single sheet of paper.
E.A. (French, epreuve d' artist) an artist's proof.
Encaustic Painting done with pigment mixed with beeswax and blended with heat.
Etching Technique where a soft ground is laid on a copper or tin metal plate, and using a sharp etching tool, the artist draws through the ground, exposing the metal plate. The lines of exposed metal are then "bitten" in an acid bath. The strength of the acid and the length of time the plate is bathed determines the depth of the lines. After the ground is removed the artist inks the plate, making sure that the etched lines are filled with ink. The excess ink is wiped away, the plate placed, face up on the press and the paper face down. The pressure of the heavy rollers on the press is so great it leaves the impression of the plate on the paper and pushes the ink onto the surface.
Exc or Imp (Latin, exudit) He(she) executed it. The meaning is synonymous with he(she) printed it.
Folk Art Any, untrained, nonacademic or unschooled style of painting.
Fugitive In reference to ink it means the pigment is not stable or will fade at a fast rate. Fugitive pigments are synthetic based and made of cheap components.
Futurism Style of glorifying modern technology, speed and the machine age, (Italy, early 20th Century).
Gelatin Silver A high-quality, black-and-white photographic printing technique in which a natural protein is used as a transparent medium to hold light-sensitive silver halide crystals in suspension, binding them to the printing paper or film, yet allowing penetration of processing solutions.
Genre (zhan-re) Realistic depiction of scenes from everyday domestic life. Also, a type or class like a certain "genre" of painting.
Gesso Plaster of Paris used as white primer for painting surface, esp. canvas.
Giclee (Zhee-clay) Computer controlled, fine art print making process. Similar to the look of a serigraph but no screens are used. It uses a very fine spray of ink, 15 microns in size, about 4 times smaller than a human hair. The microscopic jet-stream is controlled by a crystal frequency. The print is then coated with up to 15 layers of waterproof U.V. varnishes.
Gothic Style emphasizing Christian imagery, brilliant color and strong verticality in composition.
Gouache (gwash) Opaque watercolor paint bound with gum.
Hors de Commerce Also known as HC prints. Prints not equal in quality to the edition that may have minor flaws. These usually aren't signed and are canceled in some way, such as a hole in the corner or a stamp indicating they are not for sale. These are used by sales people to show potential clients.
Impasto Thick application of paint that forms an opaque relief surface.
Impressionism An art movement founded in France in the last 3rd of the 19th century. The artist's sought to break up light into its component colors and render its emphemeral play on various objects. The artist's vision was intensely centered on light and the way it transforms the visible world The short brush-strokes of bright color are chosen to represent light which is broken down into its spectrum components and re-combined by the eyes into another color when viewed at a distance.
Inc. or Sculp (Latin, incidit) He(she) cut it or carved it. These abbreviations refer to the individuals who engraved the master plate.
Intaglio Derived from the Italian, "cut in", or engrave. It stands for any or several print making methods -- engraving, etching, drypoint, aquatint, soft-ground etching or mezzotint. These all have this in common: The areas which print on the paper have been cut, scratched or chemically bitten.
Inv. or Invent (Latin, invenit). He(she) designed it. Generally inscribed next to the artist's signature.
Master Printer A printer who has studied and practiced all processes, including serigraphy, lithography, intaglio and relief printing. Advanced techniques must be mastered in each process. Generally 100 editions must be produced to earn the title.
Modernism Style that breaks with traditional art forms and searches for new modes of expression (early 20th century).
Monoprint Sometimes used interchangeably with monotype, a one-of-a-kind print made by painting or inking on a sheet of metal or glass and transferring the still wet painting to a sheet of paper by hand or with an etching press. If enough paint remains on the master plate, additional prints can be made, however, the reprint will have substantial variations from the original image. Monotype printing is not a multiple-replica process since each print is unique.
Neo-classicism Style modeled after proportion and restraint of Greek and Roman classical antiquity (late 20th c.).
New Wave Combination of cartoon, graffiti and performance art in a minimalist, unsophisticated style. (Late 20th c.).
Offset Lithograph A special photo-mechanical technique in which the image to be printed is transferred to the negative plates and printed onto papers.
Op art Style with graphic abstraction and pattern-oriented optical effects (mid. 20th c).
Original Print One-of-a-kind print in which artist personally conceived the image, created the master plates, and executed the entire printing process.
Pigment Coloring matter mixed with a binder to form paint.
Pinx. (Latin, pinxit) He(she) painted it. Generally inscribed next to the artist's signature.
Pointillism Neo-impressionism, employing tiny, closely spaced points of color that blend to produce a luminous quality. (France, late 19th c.).See artist, George Seurat.
Polytych Altarpiece or painting with 3 or more panels.
Pop-Art Style making use of images from popular culture and commerce, often reproduced exactly. See Andy Warhol's Campbell's soup cans, etc.
Postmodernism Style reflecting the exhaustion of modernist experimentation and a partial return to more traditional forms. (Late 20th c.)
Presentation Proof Prints outside the edition that are generally dedicated to an individual as a gift.
Printer's Proof Also known as BAT. Prints outside the edition that are property of the master printer.
Progressive Proofs Prints outside the edition that show incomplete states of the edition.
Provenance Record of ownership for a work of art, ideally from the time it left the artist's studio to it's present location, thus creating an unbroken ownership history.
Remarque Typically a technique on a limited edition, where the artist adds verbage, drawings or sketches, to the Border around the image, increasing the value, because only a few are remarqued.
Renaissance Pertaining to humanistic art that is classical in form and content-revival of aesthetics of classical antiquity (14th -17th c.).
Restrike An etching plate that is reworked and new editions pulled from new plate.
2nd ed Second Edition: prints of the same image as the original edition but altered in some way (as a change in color, paper or printing process).
2nd st Second state: prints of proofs which contain significant changes from the original print.
Serigraph Basically a stencil or silkscreen process. Was given the name after WW1, by a noted art historian, Carl Zigrosser. It was established as an art form in the 1950's. A direct printing process, the image isn't reversed like in lithography. A screen of silk, nylon or wire mesh is tightly stretched across a frame. A design is made in stencil form on the mesh by blocking out portions. The remaining open areas will let the ink through to the paper below. Another method of stencil making; using tusche and glue, where the artist draws on the screen with tusche, then coats the entire area with a fast-drying glue. The tusche is dissolved and the hard glue forms the stencil. You could also use a series of acetate overlays. One overlay for each color. The artist draws the image on the overlay with a light-blocking substance. Then the printer exposes the image and the light passes through the acetate. This process called, "cutting" the screen leaves the stencil.
Serilith A process combining hand drawn lithography and serigraphy.
Sfumato Technique used to depict hazy, smoky shadows.
Sgraffito Technique in which surface layer of paint is scratched through to reveal color underneath.
Stone Lithograph Invented in the late 1700's by Aloys Senfelder. The image is printed on a flat surface. The chemicals don't eat away at the plate like they do in etchings, they simply change the surface to accept or reject the ink. The artist draws directly on the plate or stone with a greasy pencil and after a chemical process will accept ink and repel water. Lines can be drawn thick or thin and at times it is hard to distinguish a lithograph from an actual drawing.
Surrealism Style using subconscious mental activity as it's subject matter, characterized by dreamlike, hallucinatory imagery. (Early 20th c.) See artists: Miro, Dali, Magritte and Ernst.
Triptych (trip-tic) Three paneled altarpiece or painting.
Trompe I' oeil (Trick of the Eye) A style of painting in which architectural details are rendered in extremely fine detail in order to create the illusion of tangible and spatial qualities. This form of painting was first used by the Romans, thousands of years ago in frescoes and murals.
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