Advanced Vocabulary - Words Used to Describe Works of Art and Pictures

Words Used to Describe Works of Art and Pictures

a determiner

used before the name of a famous artist to mean a picture by that artist.

abstract adjective

art abstract art expresses the artist’s ideas or feelings rather than showing the exact appearance of people or things.

accessible adjective

accessible art, music, literature etc is easy to understand and enjoy.

aesthetic adjective

relating to beauty or to the study of the principles of beauty, especially in art.

artistic adjective

relating to any form of art, including painting, music, literature, acting, and dancing.

artistic adjective

relating to drawing, painting etc.

artistic adjective

painted, arranged, or done in a way that shows skill and imagination and looks beautiful.

arty-crafty adjective

British informal made by someone who enjoys creating and decorating things themselves, but who you think lacks skill.

avant-garde adjective

avant-garde music, art etc is very modern and may shock people because it is so different from what has gone before.

baroque adjective

art, music relating to the very detailed style of art, building, or music that was popular in Europe in the 17th and early 18th centuries.

camp adjective

art or entertainment that is camp deliberately does not follow traditional ideas about what is considered good in order to produce a humorous effect.

cubist adjective

art relating to an early 20th-century style of painting in which the artist paints several different views of a person or object in a single painting, usually using straight lines.

esthetic

an American spelling of aesthetic.

evocative adjective

formal an evocative work of art expresses something very clearly and makes you have a strong reaction to it.

figurative adjective

art figurative art represents people, objects, and scenes, rather than representing feelings or ideas as abstract art does.

folk adjective

folk art, traditions, stories etc were developed by people in a particular region and have become traditional there.

folksy adjective

made or done in a way that is intended to remind you of traditional art, customs, or stories.

formal adjective

relating to the form or structure of something such as a piece of writing, art, or music.

freehand adjective

drawn without using a ruler or other equipment.

Gothic adjective

art Gothic styles of building and art were common in Europe between the 12th and 15th centuries.

grandiose adjective

designed to look very impressive, but really looking artificial or silly.

graphic adjective

relating to drawing.

lifelike adjective

a lifelike picture, model etc looks like a real person or thing.

literary adjective

relating to books that are considered to have value as art.

magisterial adjective

a magisterial work is written by someone whose knowledge and opinions are respected.

mature adjective

the mature work of an artist, writer etc is produced when they are no longer young and have developed their skill to a high level.

minimalist adjective

relating to minimalism.

monochrome adjective

art using different shades of a single colour.

naturalistic adjective

art, literature a naturalistic painting, novel etc shows people and things as they are in real life.

painterly adjective

with a style or appearance that reminds you of a painter or painting.

pictorial adjective

consisting of pictures.

postmodern adjective

relating to postmodernism.

pre-Raphaelite adjective

art typical of a style of art popular in late 19th century England that used a lot of detail and bright colours and showed a very romanticized view of life.

pulp adjective

pulp books, magazines, and films have not been written very well, and are often about sex or violence.

pure adjective

a pure form of art does not have any practical purpose, such as selling something.

realist noun

art, literature relating to realism in art or literature.

representational adjective

art representational paintings and other works of art show things as they really are.

Romantic adjective

relating to the style of literature, art, and music known as romanticism.

satirical adjective

literature satirical writing or art uses humour to criticize people or things and make them seem silly.

seminal adjective

formal a seminal piece of writing or music is new and different and influences other literature or music that comes after it.

silk-screen adjective

printed by silk screen, or related to this method of printing.

spacey adjective

informal spacey music or art seems to have been created by someone who takes drugs that change the way that they think.

stereoscopic adjective

a stereoscopic picture is designed so that when you look at it through a special piece of equipment, it looks solid and real.

stylized adjective

in a style that is artificial rather than realistic like life.

surrealistic adjective

art, literature connected with surrealism.

three-D adjective

a three-D film, picture etc looks as if it has height, depth, and width.

three-dimensional adjective

used for describing images that look as if they are three-dimensional.

untitled adjective

an untitled poem, book, painting etc has not been given a title.

aesthetically adverb

artistically adverb

expressionist adjective, noun

freehand adverb

Impressionist adjective

lithographic adjective

modernist adjective

mural adjective

pictorially adverb

pointillist adjective

postmodernist adjective

satirically adverb

scribbled adjective

surrealist adjective

three-D noun

uncompromisingly adverb

from life

if you draw, paint etc from life, you use a real object or person as your subject instead of copying a photograph or picture

total words = 65