Fine Arts Glossary

A practice using an AI system in one or several stages of conception or realisation, without prejudging the legal status of the result.

An American post-war movement associated with gestural paintings or large colour fields.

Creation that does not necessarily seek to represent recognisable objects; it may favour lines, colours, gestures or structures.

An artistic operation consisting in simplifying, transforming or detaching forms from their visible referent.

The set of rules and practices linked to academic teaching and institutions, whose criteria vary by period.

A drawn or painted study from the nude model, traditionally linked to the learning of the human body.

The repeated gathering of numerous similar or disparate elements, producing an effect of mass and series.

Painting using an acrylic polymer dispersion as a binder, commonly water-dilutable before drying.

A set of practices privileging gesture, event and action over the autonomous object.

An expression associated with a painting in which gesture and bodily action take a determining place in the process.

A set of indications describing an artistic action to be carried out, sometimes interpretable by different participants.

The formation of luminous colours by adding sources, classically according to the red-green-blue model.

A branch of reflection on sensory experience, art and judgements of taste; also designates the formal qualities of a work.

A body of artistic and critical practices articulating African or diasporic experiences, science fiction and alternative visions of the future.

A formula indicating that a work takes up the composition of another creation, without necessarily being executed by the author of the original.

An instrument that finely projects paint with compressed air in order to obtain controlled layers and gradients.

The lateral space of a church or building with several vessels, often separated from the main vessel by supports.

Creation mobilising formalised procedures or algorithms to elaborate forms or behaviours.

A composition whose visual activity unfolds across the entire surface, without a traditionally dominant centre.

A direct painting method that largely executes the image in a fresh layer rather than through a succession of dried layers.

A concrete representation of an abstract notion through a figure, a scene or a system of symbols.

A structure or composition placed behind an altar, able to combine painting, sculpture and architecture.

A physical or chemical modification of a work liable to affect its matter, appearance or stability.

The presence of an object, costume or reference attributable to an era different from that of the represented subject.

Hues close to one another on a colour wheel.

A phase of Cubism strongly fragmenting forms and values in order to study the structures of the subject.

A distorted image that regains an intelligible appearance from a particular viewpoint or through an optical device.

The artistic traditions of ancient civilisations; its boundaries vary according to the cultural area studied.

A treatment process depriving certain harmful organisms of oxygen under controlled conditions.

The name given by Yves Klein to a series of works using body prints made with paint; not to be confused with the scientific measurement of bodies.

The set of material, spatial or symbolic means that organise the presentation and experience of a work.

Design-oriented artistic practices also intended for objects, uses or communication, such as design and the crafts of art.

The reuse of existing images, objects or forms in a new artistic proposition, with issues of context and rights.

An intaglio technique producing values by biting around protective grains.

An ornamental motif composed of curved lines, scrolls or interlacing.

Elements in terracotta or other ceramics integrated into buildings for structural or decorative functions.

The art and discipline of designing buildings and built spaces according to technical, functional and cultural requirements.

An internal structure used to support a modelling or sculpture during fabrication or permanently.

A creative activity and the body of works to which a society accords an aesthetic, expressive, symbolic or critical dimension; its boundaries vary according to cultures and periods.

A set of post-war European practices often privileging matter, gesture and non-geometric forms.

A late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century movement linking architecture, decorative arts and graphic design, with a frequent taste for organic lines.

A notion developed by Jean Dubuffet to designate productions distant from the conventions of the art world, notably by makers on the margins of its institutions.

A structure mainly devoted to the production and dissemination of artistic projects, often without its own permanent collection.

An activity that mobilises specialised technical and aesthetic know-how in order to produce or restore objects.

An author analysing and contextualising works, exhibitions and artistic approaches in texts or other media.

A professional buying and selling artworks or objects, according to their activity and the applicable framework.

A person mandated to analyse a work or assess its characteristics; competence and status depend on the field and context.

An event generally bringing together galleries and market actors to present and offer works for sale.

A space or structure presenting works; some galleries commercialise them, others exhibit them without sale.

The creation of objects or works in glass by blowing, moulding, hot-shaping or cold-working.

Financial aid attributed to an artist or project according to precise criteria.

An English-language term for a professional trained in the handling, installation and movement of works.

The technical and administrative organisation of movements, condition reports, transports and installations of works.

A researcher studying works, practices and their historical contexts through documentary and interpretive methods.

A structure generally allowing the borrowing of artworks according to an operation close to a library.

An Italian movement of the late 1960s using notably ordinary materials and elementary situations to question art and society.

A person participating in the preparation, fabrication or organisation of an artist's work under their direction or within an agreed framework.

A group developing a common practice or projects, with a more or less formalised organisation.

A set of documents presenting an approach, works and a project to an interlocutor.

An artist hosted for a working period in a place or residency programme.

A hosting programme placing a place, time and sometimes resources at an artist's disposal.

Text written by the artist to explicate their approach, questions and means; also called note of intention in some contexts.

A copy identified as intended for the artist, generally marked "EA"; its exact status depends on edition practices.

The manner in which an artist formulates questions, chooses means and develops work over time.

Creation superimposing digital contents on the perception of a real environment by means of a suitable device.

An identifiable reference to a previous work, artist or form, integrated into a new creation.

The set of actions aimed at making works accessible to publics in various places or media.

The aim, questioning or orientation claimed by the artist; it does not suffice to exhaust the meaning of a work.

A representation of the unclothed body in an aesthetic, study or expressive approach.

The set of principles, intentions and processes that structure a creative approach.

A historical category describing Western appropriation or reinterpretation of forms perceived as "primitive"; the term and its colonial presuppositions require critical contextualisation.

A set of instructions or rules defining a work or the conditions of its realisation.

Public or private financial aid granted to an activity or project under defined conditions.

Creation using a digital immersive environment experienced through a dedicated interface.

Practices articulating artistic creation and militant action; the notion describes a mode of commitment, not a single aesthetic.

A British movement of decorative arts and craft reform, critical of certain forms of industrial production.

An approach articulating the encounter with works, artistic practice and the acquisition of knowledge.

A voluminous creation obtained by bringing together and fixing pre-existing objects or materials.

A contract transferring certain exploitation rights within the provided limits; the sale of the material support does not automatically entail the assignment of these rights.

A deliberately non-symmetrical organisation of the elements of a composition.

A sculpted male figure used as architectural support, by analogy with caryatids.

An impression of depth obtained by attenuating contrasts and details and by modifying the colours of distant objects.

A proposal identifying the likely author of a work on the basis of stylistic, technical and documentary indices.

A professional authorised, under the applicable law, to organise or conduct auction sales.

An audio or multimedia commentary device accompanying a visit.

The process of examining characteristics and documents to support or contest the attribution of a work.

A creative method seeking to reduce conscious rational control over gesture or the association of ideas.

A designation for approaches claiming a break with dominant conventions; its meaning depends on historical contexts.

A geometric projection representing a volume without perspective convergence of parallels, according to determined axes.

The area represented as distant from the viewer or situated behind the main subject.

A lighting situation in which a luminous source lies behind the subject relative to the observer.

A historical category covering forms of the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries in which movement, theatricality and contrasts may play a strong role.

A silver print on paper containing a layer of barium sulphate, traditionally valued for its image and support properties.

A sculpture whose forms emerge slightly from a background to which they remain attached.

The element on which a sculpture or presented object rests.

A German school and artistic project founded in 1919, bringing together art, craft, design and architecture around experimental teaching.

Weaving and design practices developed in the Bauhaus textile workshop; to be distinguished from the school-movement as a whole.

An aesthetically variable notion, founded on conceptions of taste, harmony or experience.

A historical designation for disciplines such as painting, sculpture and architecture; its institutional scope has evolved over time.

A set of real or imaginary animals represented within a corpus, sometimes with symbolic values.

An artistic event organised in principle every two years, without this name guaranteeing all future editions.

A substance that holds pigments together and allows them to adhere to the support.

Creations that mobilise organisms, biological processes or questions related to living matter; their implementation calls for ethical and technical precautions.

A ceramic object after a first firing without glaze, or porcelain deliberately left unglazed in certain uses.

The action of a mordant on a matrix, determining the depth of recesses and printing effects.

A dark drawing material used in stick or pencil form for intense marks and modelling.

Glass shaped by introducing air into a heated vitreous mass, often with a blowpipe.

Practices using the body as site, material or central means of creation; close to corporeal art.

The aesthetic quality and shape of the out-of-focus areas of a photographic image.

An impression validated as the reference for continuing or controlling a print run.

The quantity of light perceived or emitted; its precise meaning depends on the artistic or technical context.

An alloy based on copper, often with tin, commonly used in cast sculpture.

An engraving tool that cuts metal to form a clean furrow; also designates the corresponding technique.

The artistic traditions of the Byzantine Empire and its influence, notably mosaics, icons and religious architecture.

The craft of designing and making furniture, often with fine techniques of assembly and veneering.

A procedure to select people or teams for a programme, residency or exhibition.

An invitation to submit applications responding to an artistic objective and announced criteria.

A composition in which the arrangement of words or letters draws a form linked, or not, to the meaning of the text.

The art of forming written signs by working gesture, rhythm, proportions and qualities of the stroke.

A historical photographic process on paper negative allowing several positive prints.

A composition working the variations of a single colour family.

An optical device projecting onto a surface the inverted image of the outside world through a small aperture or a lens.

A sensibility playing on exaggeration, artifice, theatricality and sometimes diverted aesthetic codes.

A prepared or unprepared fabric used as a support for painting, often stretched on a stretcher.

A representation exaggerating certain features of a subject for satirical, expressive or critical purposes.

A sculpture of a female figure serving as an architectural support, real or figured.

The darkened zone produced when an object intercepts light and throws its shadow onto another surface.

The transformation of a material heated until liquid in order to pour it into a mould and obtain an object.

A critical inventory seeking to methodically list an artist's work with attribution, history and references.

A representation in which the depth lines remain parallel rather than converging towards a vanishing point.

Creations executed on the walls of caves, shelters or other rock surfaces, often associated with prehistoric contexts.

The set of materials and mineral objects durably transformed by firing, such as earthenware, stoneware and porcelain.

A person designing and producing creations in ceramic materials.

A document attesting, in a given framework, to the origin or claimed characteristics of a work; it does not replace critical examination of its provenance.

A term associated with engraving on copper and, by extension, with the collections and workshops that preserve and print engraved plates.

A mineral material used in stick or powder form for drawing, marking or highlighting.

A stick of carbonised wood enabling supple drawing, large values and erasures.

Fine work on a metal surface using struck or pushed tools, without necessarily removing material.

A marked contrast between shadow and light used to construct volumes, depth or a dramatic effect.

The organisation and use of colours in a work.

A term that varies by context: reference to Greco-Roman antiquity or to an aesthetic of rules and measure associated with classicism.

A process combining drawing on a transparent or prepared plate and contact photographic printing.

A framing or presentation device intended to stabilise the microclimate around a sensitive work.

A technique in which fine metallic partitions delimit compartments filled with coloured vitreous matter before firing.

An event organised on the occasion of the closing of an exhibition.

The participation of several partners in the financing or realisation of the same artistic project.

A European artistic group founded in 1948, privileging spontaneity, experimentation and references to non-academic creations.

A preparatory layer applied to a support before painting in order to adjust texture, absorbency or colour.

A work or project conceived and produced jointly by several people, according to explicit modes of cooperation.

A technique bringing together on a support distinct elements, mainly flat, by assembly and fixing.

A printing process using a matrix built up by gluing materials and textures onto a surface.

A body of works or objects brought together according to a history, ownership or a documentary project.

A person or institution bringing together works according to their own choices and means.

A current privileging vast chromatic zones and an immersive relation to colour.

A visual sensation associated with light and with the reflection, transmission or emission properties of surfaces.

The organisation of hues producing a sought-after coherence, without corresponding to a universal rule.

A circular representation ordering hues in order to visualise their relationships.

Creations intended to maintain the memory of people or events.

The history of transactions and holders of a work, useful to the study of its authenticity and circulation.

A person or body requesting and financing the realisation of a work according to agreed conditions.

Colours placed in opposition within a given chromatic system; their association produces contrast effects.

The organisation of visual elements and their relationships within a work or a space.

A practice that gives a central role to idea, statement or protocol rather than to the materiality of an object alone.

A document describing the material state of a work at a given date, notably before transport or intervention.

Additional cultural or affective values and associations attached to a sign or image.

The set of actions aimed at studying, protecting and transmitting cultural goods under adapted conditions.

An analysis of the state of an object, its materials and its risks in order to determine adapted measures.

Protection designed to limit shocks, dust and other risks while remaining compatible with the materials of the object.

A professional specialised in the study, conservation and material restoration of cultural goods.

The handing over of a work to an intermediary for conservation or sale without immediate transfer of ownership, according to agreed terms.

The realisation of forms by arranging pieces and structures rather than by removal of matter.

An avant-garde emphasising construction, materials and the relation between art, technique and society.

A body of recent artistic practices, often situated after 1945 or from the 1960s; the starting date and scope remain debated.

The placing in relation of a work with the historical, social, technical and institutional conditions of its production.

The line or apparent limit separating a form from its environment.

A perceptible opposition between values, colours, dimensions, textures or shapes.

A conventional set of hues associated notably with blues and certain greens or violets; their effect depends on context.

A reproduction of a work carried out manually or by a similar method, which may be declared as such.

The set of rights recognised to the creator of an original work; in France, it notably includes moral and economic rights.

An infringement of certain intellectual property rights by unauthorised acts, subject to the applicable legal framework.

A network of cracks present in a paint layer or varnish, due to varied material and historical factors.

A family of standardised licences permitting certain uses under explicit conditions; the variants do not all give the same permissions.

The superposition of networks of strokes in different directions in order to densify shadows.

A body of research developed notably by Picasso and Braque, deconstructing representation through planes and multiple viewpoints.

The set of means reducing physical, sensory, cognitive, social or economic obstacles to the experience of works.

The body of goods, practices and knowledge to which a society attributes a value to be transmitted.

The set of practices facilitating the encounter between works, knowledge and publics.

A professional facilitating access to works and building situations of encounter adapted to different publics.

Direct intervention aimed at stabilising a property whose degradation is active or threatens its integrity.

The production of forms by cutting paper or other materials, possibly constituting an autonomous work.

A photographic process with a characteristic blue rendering, based on the light sensitivity of iron salts.

An avant-garde that appeared during the First World War, contesting artistic and cultural norms through the absurd, montage and détournement.

A historical photographic process producing a generally unique image on a silvered metal plate.

A darkened space used for film development and printing; to be distinguished from the camera obscura.

A Dutch movement seeking a reduced plastic language, notably through orthogonal lines and determined colours.

The transfer of a coloured matter by pressure between two surfaces, able to generate unforeseen forms.

The body of practices that create and ornament objects or interiors, notably furniture, textiles, ceramics and glassware.

An intentional modification of the proportions or appearance of a form.

A damaging evolution of the state of an object or material.

A critical notion describing practices in which idea, information or action take precedence over the traditional object; it does not imply the total absence of materiality.

The descriptive or relatively direct meaning of a sign or image within a given context.

The extent of distances appearing sharp in a photograph; may be used analogically in image analysis.

The loss or transformation of the volatile constituents of a material; it does not alone explain the hardening of an oil paint.

A design approach linking uses, forms, materials, production and human experience.

A device in a lens adjusting the aperture through which light passes.

A patented process for mounting an image under an acrylic plate with specific materials and conditions.

A brand of composite panel with aluminium facings used notably as a mounting and presentation support for images.

The set of practices using digital devices or data as tools, supports or constitutive components of the work.

A creative practice in which a computer system executes defined rules to produce or transform a work.

An image encoded as data and displayable, calculable or reproducible by an electronic device.

A digital creation that modifies its appearance or behaviour based on public actions.

A photographic process that records the image as data from an electronic sensor.

A set of two panels or parts conceived to be linked.

A method in which the artist removes material directly from the final material, without systematic mechanical transfer from a model.

Action intended to fight harmful insects affecting an object or its place of conservation.

A family of techniques using a water-miscible binder; the exact composition varies by period and recipe.

A process separating colour components into distinct touches rather than blending them fully on the palette.

A set of texts, images, recordings or data preserving the traces and conditions of a work, particularly important for ephemeral practices.

The superposition of several exposures or images on a single photographic or cinematographic image.

A person exercising drawing as an artistic, research or professional practice.

The practice of representing or exploring through marks, values and gestures on a physical or digital support.

A painting technique consisting in letting paint run, drip or be projected onto the support.

The hardening of a drying oil through reactions with oxygen, notably in oil painting.

A technique in which a point directly incises a plate, sometimes creating burrs that hold the ink.

The reuse of a sign or object in a context that displaces its meaning or function.

An artistic intervention that reshapes or directly uses the earth and formations of a site; a related but not always identical term to land art.

An adjustable or fixed support intended to hold a canvas or panel during work or presentation.

An approach explicitly addressing ecosystems, environmental transformations or modes of artistic production.

Economic prerogatives allowing certain exploitations of a work to be authorised or prohibited according to the applicable legislation.

A painting technique using egg, notably the yolk, as part of the binder.

A figure or sign associated in a relatively stable way with a person, a group, an idea or an institution.

The decoration of a textile by threads or materials fixed by needle or machine.

The software recreation of an older technical environment in order to maintain the execution of a digital work.

A vitreous coating formed by firing on a compatible support, notably ceramic or metal.

Painting using wax as a binder, applied according to processes adapted to its temperature and matter.

Creation that takes a position on social, ethical or political questions through its forms or contents.

A person creating or working engraved matrices intended or not for printing.

The work of incising or hollowing a matrix and, by extension, the printed image from such a process.

Practices exploring the relations between work, environment and ecology, from landscape to environmental engagement.

Creation conceived for a limited duration or using materials and actions destined to disappear.

A family of thermosetting resins used notably for casting and coatings, requiring adapted precautions for use.

The removal of graphite or charcoal, which may serve both to correct and to draw lights.

A range or indicative amount attributed to a work for sale or evaluation.

An intaglio technique in which a mordant acts on the metal exposed by drawing through a protective ground.

A creation intended to change over time, through natural action, programming or participation.

An object or image offered in fulfilment of a vow or in thanks in a religious or ritual context.

A publication accompanying an exhibition through notices, reproductions and studies; its scope varies.

A person in charge of conceiving or coordinating the intellectual and artistic content of an exhibition.

The intellectual conception and selection of works for an exhibition, with elaboration of a proposition and route.

The organised removal of works and devices at the end of a presentation, with verification of their condition.

The material installation of works, equipment and scenographic elements before opening to the public.

The design of spaces, routes, lighting and devices that structure the experience of an exhibition.

A trial whose result is not entirely determined, used to test artistic possibilities.

The field of designing the spatial arrangement and means of presenting exhibitions; distinct from museography in the broader sense.

The quantity of light received by a sensitive surface, controlled notably by aperture, duration and sensitivity.

A family of approaches emphasising the deformation and affective intensity of representation.

A collective creation game where each person successively contributes without fully knowing the previous contributions.

A label completed by an explanatory text helping to understand the context or stakes of a work.

A reproduction aiming to recover as faithfully as possible the appearance of a document or object.

A porous ceramic often covered with a glaze; the term covers several historical families.

An early twentieth-century current characterised notably by the expressive autonomy of colours and contrasts.

The exterior face of a building, organised by materials, openings and architectural composition.

A plural body of artistic practices questioning experiences, representations and social relations linked to gender.

The portion of space visible within the limits of a representation.

Creation in which elements of the visible world remain recognisable, even when distorted or stylised.

An individualised form perceptible through contrast with a ground; the word also denotes a human representation.

A photographic process using photosensitive materials that require chemical processing after exposure.

Practices that transform forms, materials and spaces in order to produce visual or sensory works, from drawing to installation.

An approach using photography as an element of a fine-art project, sometimes combined with other media or supports.

Loss of matter in small plates, often observed on a weakened paint layer.

A zone covered uniformly by a colour or value, without marked internal modelling.

An international network of artists privileging events, scores, humour and the blurring of the boundaries between art and life.

The focal length of a lens, influencing notably its angle of view for a given sensor format.

The element or area that attracts the eye as a priority.

The concentration of attention on a dominant area of the work.

Creations associated with popular traditions, practices or cultures; the expression covers diverse realities depending on context.

The area represented as close to the viewer in an image constructed in depth.

A condensed representation of a form oriented towards the viewer, of which certain dimensions appear reduced.

An object deceitfully presented as an authentic work; its legal qualification depends on the facts and the applicable law.

The visible organisation of an object or set, whether geometric, organic, open or closed.

The part of an object deprived of direct light under the lighting considered.

Methodical observation of forms, colours, materials, dimensions and spatial relations without immediately concluding on their meaning.

The dimensions and proportions of a support or a work; may also designate a presentation convention.

The conversion of a file to a more durable or accessible format, with monitoring of possible losses.

A pre-existing object chosen to be integrated into a work; it may be transformed or assembled.

The division of a figure, a support or a visual narrative into distinct elements.

The material border surrounding a work, or, in the visual sense, the limit that determines the represented field.

The choice of what is included in an image and the way its boundaries cut into the subject.

A movement that appeared in France in the early 1980s mixing popular references, energetic drawing and freedom of figurative treatment.

Painting executed on a still-wet lime plaster, in which the pigments are fixed by the carbonation of the support.

A horizontal decorative or narrative band, possibly belonging to a building, an object or an image.

A texture transfer technique by rubbing a tool on a paper laid over a relief surface.

The portion occupied by matter or forms, often considered in its relation to the void.

An avant-garde born in Italy in the early twentieth century celebrating notably speed, movement and technical modernity, with a political history to be contextualised.

A person directing or running a gallery, able to present, promote and sell works.

An approach in which the artist defines rules or a system that produces all or part of the forms, with or without computing.

A representation of ordinary, everyday or domestic situations, without necessarily narrating a historical event.

An abstract approach privileging organised geometric structures and forms.

A priming preparation for painting or gilding; its traditional and modern acrylic compositions differ.

A commercial term for certain digital inkjet prints, often made with artist-grade inks and papers; it does not guarantee a precise lifespan.

The application of gold or gold-looking materials onto a support through various techniques.

A thin and transparent or translucent paint layer laid over an underlying layer to modify its colour and depth.

A vitreous surface coating of a ceramic, transparent or coloured according to its composition.

An extremely thin metallic sheet used for gilding or certain pictorial effects.

A body of forms developed in medieval Europe, notably in architecture, sculpture, stained glass and illumination.

Water-based paint formulated to offer usually more opaque coverage than watercolour.

A gradual transition between colours, values or degrees of saturation.

Inscription, drawing or composition traced on a support, notably urban; the word covers diverse historical and contemporary practices.

The design of visual messages through composition, image, colour and typography.

A carbon-based material used in pencil leads to produce marks of varying darkness.

The surface or space against which forms stand out in a composition.

An exhibition bringing together works by several artists.

A representation bringing together several people within a single composition.

The emblematic object of the auction; "hammer price" designates the price of adjudication before any fees.

The attribution of a lot to the highest bidder at the end of a sale, under the applicable conditions.

The technical and sensory manner in which a work is executed: gestures, matter, surface qualities and treatments.

The selection and organisation of the works presented on walls or supports in an exhibition space.

A historical form of artistic event often leaving room for the unforeseen and public intervention; not a systematic synonym of any performance.

Painting with colour zones sharply delimited by precise contours.

A set of parallel or oriented strokes giving a value, a texture or a volume.

A photomechanical intaglio process intended for the reproduction of images or artistic print runs.

A professional responsible for scientific and heritage missions within institutions; statuses vary by country.

The creation of a digital representation of a heritage good or information for study, access or documentation.

The return of a cultural good to a person, group or State according to a determined historical, ethical or legal framework.

The process by which an object, place or practice receives a status and measures of heritage recognition.

A sculpture whose forms stand out strongly from the background, without being entirely detached from it.

A luminous or coloured mark added to a drawing to emphasise certain areas.

A current of the 1960s-1970s making idea and language structuring elements of the work; to be distinguished from the more general use of the conceptual.

A genre historically valued by the academies, representing historical, mythological, biblical or allegorical subjects.

An organised body of documents, works or archives constituting a unit of preservation or research.

A reference line corresponding to eye level in a perspective constructed at constant height.

The characteristic that distinguishes families such as red, green or blue.

An intellectual current valuing the study of texts and human faculties, important in Renaissance culture.

The measurement and control of air humidity, an important parameter for the stability of many cultural goods.

An approach seeking an extreme degree of figurative precision, often beyond simple photographic imitation.

A conventional index used to characterise or set the response of the photographic device to exposure.

A sacred image, particularly associated with Eastern Christian traditions, according to specific codes and uses.

The identification and contextualisation of the represented subjects, objects and motifs.

An object, garment or sign allowing the recognition of a represented figure or character.

The study and description of subjects, motifs and attributes depicted in images.

A method of interpretation seeking to relate images to their historical, cultural and symbolic meanings.

The quantity of light received per unit area, measured in lux and monitored to protect certain collections.

Painted decoration of a manuscript, including initials, ornaments and images, sometimes with gold leaf.

The search for effects that give an image or device the appearance of material or spatial reality.

An image created to accompany, interpret or develop a text, a concept, an object or a narrative.

A drawing produced without a model directly present, from ideas, memory or invention.

A device that sensorially envelops the public and integrates it into the environment of a work.

Creation building an enveloping experience through space, image, sound or several sensory modalities.

The application of paint in thickness, bringing out its materiality and sometimes the marks of the tool.

A copy of a print obtained during printing.

A movement that appeared in France in the 1870s, exploring notably the effects of light, perception and brushwork.

A fine initial coloured layer that prepares the tonality of a painting.

A creation conceived in close relation to the characteristics of a particular place.

A sculpture developed in all directions that can be viewed from several sides.

A black ink traditionally made of carbon black and a binder, used for drawing and calligraphy.

The application of ink to a matrix according to the requirements of the process employed.

The introduction of materials into a prepared cavity in order to produce a decoration or effect of matter.

A work composed of elements arranged within a space whose configuration contributes to the experience.

An approach examining the powers, codes and operating conditions of museums, galleries and systems of legitimation.

A family of processes that print the ink held in the recesses of a generally metallic matrix.

A machine exerting significant pressure to transfer onto paper the ink held in the recesses of a plate.

A temporal gap chosen by the artist in order to create a new reading of a subject or reference.

A creation of which certain characteristics react to the actions of a viewer or user.

Dialogue between several artistic disciplines, each partly retaining its methods.

Relations and passages between several media within a single work or project.

A proposal of meaning constructed from the forms, context and observable indices of a work.

The relations that a work maintains with other works, narratives and cultural signs, beyond explicit citation.

The regulated or documentary recording of the goods of a collection, with identifiers and descriptive information.

A broad designation of papers from Japanese traditions, whose fibres and processes vary; often used for printmaking and restoration.

The placement of elements side by side without necessary fusion.

A suspended Japanese vertical support able to present painting or calligraphy; its structure allows rolling up.

A practice in which real or apparent movement contributes to the perceptual structure of the work.

A Japanese practice of repairing ceramics that visibly values cracks, traditionally with lacquer and sometimes metallic powder.

A historically often pejorative term for objects or effects perceived as sentimental or conventional; it can also be artistically claimed.

An Archaic Greek statue representing a young woman, generally clothed.

An Archaic Greek statue representing a young man, usually standing and nude.

A type of exhibition institution, common in German-speaking countries, generally without a permanent collection comparable to that of a museum.

A finishing coating that may designate traditional techniques based on resins or industrial paints; the context must be specified.

An area of missing matter in a work, such as a loss of paint layer.

Paper showing characteristic lines left by the mould used in its fabrication.

Artistic approaches intervening in a landscape or with materials of the territory, often in relation to site and transformation.

A genre representing natural, rural, urban or imaginary spaces.

An impression produced after the initial period of the image, possibly with the agreement of the author or their successors.

A book or sequence of images whose pages are bound in an accordion fold and unfold in a continuous strip.

The drawing of specific letters conceived as visual elements, rather than a simple arrangement of an existing typeface.

A movement founded by Isidore Isou giving letters and signs an autonomous artistic role.

An authorisation defining the acts of exploitation permitted for a work, possibly under precise conditions.

A local detachment of a layer, for example pictorial, from the underlying support.

Production announced in a restricted number of copies, with printing or fabrication conditions to be specified.

A trace or elongated element that guides the eye, delimits a form or structures a composition.

A spatial construction based on the apparent convergence of lines towards one or several vanishing points.

Relief cutting on linoleum, in which the uncut parts print the motif.

Planographic printing based on the repulsion between water and greasy substances, historically practised on limestone.

A form's limit left indistinct in order to suggest continuity with its environment.

A technique in which a wax model is eliminated from a refractory mould in order to leave room for the molten metal.

An object or set of objects presented as a unit of sale at auction.

A current linked notably to popular culture, comics, tattooing and alternative illustration, sometimes called pop surrealism.

The SI unit of illuminance used notably in managing light levels in exhibitions.

A designation for abstract approaches emphasising gesture, spontaneity, emotion and matter, according to variable historical uses.

Practices of exchange and circulation of works using notably postal networks as support and artistic device.

A set of sixteenth-century practices playing notably on artifice, elongated proportions and complex compositions.

A polishable metamorphic rock used in sculpture and architecture, whose appearance depends on its composition.

A mark produced by an instrument, a gesture or a process, particularly in drawing.

An indication of estimated price or commercial recognition for an artist; it does not constitute a single official value.

The fixing of a flexible support onto another, often rigid, support with a suitable adhesive.

A composition of wood veneers or other materials cut and assembled to decorate a surface.

A professional specialised in glasswork, notably for stained glass or certain art objects.

A transmission or analysis session led by an experienced person before a public or participants.

The ability of materials used together not to cause harmful interactions under the foreseen conditions.

The support carrying the motif to be transferred during printing, such as an engraved woodblock, a plate or a screen-printing screen.

An area that has become locally matte or dull in a painting, often linked to binder absorption or layer behaviour.

The substance constituting a work and the sensory quality it produces; in painting, the term also describes the thickness of the paste.

A material or technical means of expression used to create a work, such as painting, drawing, video or performance.

A formula and motif inviting remembrance of death, present in several artistic traditions.

A situation in which two colours appear identical under one lighting but different under another.

An engraving technique producing deep blacks from a grained plate, then smoothed to create values.

A notion inherited from antiquity around the imitation or representation of the real; its meanings vary according to theories.

A small painting or finely executed image, notably in manuscripts; the term does not mean exclusively "very small work".

An approach reducing formal means, often through geometry, repetition and direct relations to space.

The inclusion of an image or representation within another, sometimes playing on reflexive repetition.

The use of several materials or processes within a single work, without one necessarily constituting its exclusive medium.

A reduced or preparatory model used to study the proportions and organisation of a creation.

The shaping of a malleable matter, such as clay or wax, by adding and displacing material.

The impression of relief obtained through the transitions between light, shadow and colour on a form.

A historical body of disruptive approaches developed mainly from the nineteenth century to the mid-twentieth century; its boundaries differ according to art-historical traditions.

A basic element repeated or combined to build a larger structure.

The use of a single colour or chromatic family, possibly broken down into values.

A sign made of combined letters or initials, used notably as an artist's signature.

An exhibition devoted mainly to the work of an artist or collective.

A print produced from an image generally created on a smooth surface and usually yielding a single main impression.

A dimension large enough to produce a marked bodily or architectural relation with the viewer.

The personal prerogatives of the author including notably paternity and respect for the work, under the applicable law.

An image or decoration produced by assembling small units of stone, glass, ceramic or other materials.

An identifiable visual element that can be taken up, transformed or organised within a composition.

A device carrying in negative the form to be reproduced or cast.

The operation of taking an imprint of a form in order to obtain a mould or to produce a replica.

A work conceived to exist in several copies, notably through edition, moulding or printing.

Practices of monumental painting on walls, associated with different traditions, notably in twentieth-century Mexico.

The practical implementation of the museum or exhibition project, linking contents, publics and means of presentation.

The study of museums, their functions, histories and relations with societies.

An institution that preserves, studies and makes accessible collections and knowledge within a cultural and heritage framework.

A designation framed by the Heritage Code for collections and institutions meeting the criteria and missions provided by law.

A storage space adapted to the conservation and controlled access to unexhibited collections.

A body of traditional narratives mobilising supernatural figures and events, frequently taken up as artistic subjects.

A token recorded on a blockchain that can serve as a certificate or transaction trace; its ownership does not automatically transfer the copyright on an associated work.

A guarantee covering, according to the contract, a work from its taking down at departure to its remounting after transport or exhibition.

A determined moment of a narrative represented in an image, a relief or a body of works.

A French pictorial approach developed in the 1960s putting images, narratives, politics and media culture in dialogue.

A work conceived from the outset for a digital environment, rather than a simple digitisation of a material creation.

A designation for pictorial practices often characterised by non-academic perspective and simplified forms; it does not presume the artist's level of skill.

A photographic image whose tonal values or colours are reversed for positive production.

A set of late twentieth-century practices often reactivating gesture, figuration and pictorial expressiveness.

A current founded notably on the division of colour into distinct touches and a systematic reflection on perception.

An eighteenth- and nineteenth-century current reinterpreting the forms and ideals of antiquity, frequently with a search for clarity.

A historically situated body of creations taking the Internet and its technical or social possibilities as artistic material.

A German interwar current exploring a figuration that is often precise, sometimes critical or satirical.

An instrument fitted with a point used to deposit ink in strokes of varying fineness.

An approach that forgoes representing identifiable objects; the expression frequently overlaps with abstraction but varies by author.

Text presenting the objectives and orientations of an artistic project, before or during its realisation.

A group constituted in 1960 around artists using notably the object, accumulation and taking from the real.

An inscription identifying the copy within an announced print run, for example 3/30, which alone does not guarantee authenticity.

The bringing together of found materials and objects in order to produce a new plastic form.

Text placed near a work generally indicating title, author, date, materials and other identifying information.

A documentary sheet identifying a creation, its characteristics, its history and its references.

A drawing made from a directly observed subject, rather than from imagination alone.

The space not shown but suggested by the image, or liable to extend what it represents.

An indirect printing process in which the image passes from a plate to a blanket before being transferred to the support.

Painting in which a drying oil forms the paint film by hardening as it sets.

A pigmented stick with an oily or waxy binder giving a greasier, more adherent mark.

A French device commissioning artworks for certain public constructions, subject to precise rules and exceptions.

A work conceived to exist or be experienced within online networks and environments.

Optical art exploiting motifs, contrasts and structures to produce effects of vibration or apparent movement.

The capacity of a material to prevent the passage of light.

Production of copies without a fixed numerical limit.

The opening of an exhibition, traditionally marked by a reception; the term no longer necessarily implies the application of a varnish.

A body of Western representations of so-called "Eastern" societies, often linked to historical power relations and stereotypes.

A print conceived as a work by the artist, who takes part in the elaboration of the matrix or creative process; to be distinguished from a simple reproduction of a pre-existing work.

A work presenting an expression specific to its author; in French law, originality is assessed according to circumstances and does not depend simply on the uniqueness of an object.

A decorative element added to a form or integrated into its structure.

A term associated notably with the colour and rhythm research of Robert and Sonia Delaunay.

The first graphic formulation of a work, intended to explore its composition or intention.

An English-language expression often compared with art brut, but whose international uses are broader and more varied.

The choice of containers and materials adapted to protect a work during storage or transport.

A tool with bristles or fibres used to deposit, draw or blend pictorial materials.

An artist whose practice includes principally or notably painting.

The practice of depositing coloured matter on a support in order to produce an image or a plastic object.

A flexible tool with a blade used to deposit, spread or remove paint, often to work impasto.

A preparation added to a paint to modify its flow, transparency, drying or gloss.

The set of colours used by an artist, or the surface on which they are prepared.

A support reused after partial erasure of a previous inscription; by extension, a work showing several strata of creation.

A rigid support intended to receive a painting, historically of wood and later of other materials.

A representation embracing a very wide visual field; the term also designates historical immersive devices.

A technique integrating fragments of paper into a composition, historically important in Cubism.

A material obtained by assembling paper fibres or fragments and a binder, shaped then dried.

A writing or painting support made from prepared animal skin without ordinary tanning.

A transformed reprise of a work or genre producing an effect of displacement, often humorous or critical.

An approach in which the public's contribution is part of the process or the work.

A recognisable imitation of a style or manner, with or without critical intention.

A surface aspect due to time, to a chemical treatment or to an intentional intervention, notably on metals.

A person or organisation supporting artistic activities without necessarily seeking equivalent promotional return.

A template or model used to reproduce or cut a shape, particularly in textile arts and certain decorative processes.

An American current of the 1970s re-evaluating pattern, ornament and decorative traditions.

A method of settling certain obligations by handing over a good, notably a cultural one under special regimes; not to be confused with an ordinary donation.

An elevated support intended to give prominence to a sculpture or monument.

A modification made by the artist during the execution of a work, sometimes made visible by time or analysis.

A practice in which an action carried out in a given time and context constitutes all or part of the work.

An approach in which an action, a presence or an act of language contributes constitutively to the work; to be contextualised according to disciplines.

An impression made close to the time of the shot or under the historical control considered; the qualification requires documentary examination.

A collection held durably by an institution, even if not all works are on continuous display.

A presentation intended to last, though liable to be modified for conservation or programming reasons.

The set of processes that construct an impression of depth or organise the representation of space.

Local or global modification of a photograph, from technical correction to creative transformation.

A material composition by assembling images or photographic fragments, possibly with other elements.

Alteration of materials caused or accelerated by exposure to light.

An image obtained without a camera, by placing objects or shapes directly in front of a photosensitive support.

A person using photography to produce documentary, artistic or commissioned images.

The selection of limits and organisation of the subject within the photographic image.

An impression produced on a support from a negative, a file or another photographic process.

The creation or recording of images through the action of light on a sensitive surface or digital sensor.

An image composed by combining several photographs or photographic fragments.

Painting or drawing constructed from photographic references in order to reproduce their visual effects precisely.

A presentation or fixing element for works on walls and exhibition panels; the term also designates, by extension, the walls of a gallery.

An elaborate graffiti, generally based on complex lettering and thorough work on forms and colours.

A colouring substance, insoluble or poorly soluble, dispersed in a binder to form a paint or ink.

A collection or museum mainly devoted to painting.

A very small aperture producing a photographic image without a conventional lens, at the origin of a camera device.

A surface or level of depth within a composition; "foreground" denotes the level perceived as closest.

A family of processes printing from a surface without functional relief, such as lithography.

A mineral material hardening after mixing with water, used for moulding, sculpture and surface preparation.

The study of the sensory organisation of a work, its materials, gestures and perceptual effects.

Experimentation with forms, processes and materials intended to explore a question of creation.

The practice of working directly facing the represented subject, often outdoors for landscape.

A small painted study executed quickly to capture an impression, a light or a compositional idea.

The real or constructed position from which a subject is observed or represented.

A technique of applying small coloured dots or touches, associated with certain Neo-Impressionist artists.

Surface finishing by progressive abrasion aimed at reducing irregularities and sometimes increasing gloss.

The use of several colours in a creation or on an object.

A composition of several panels, often associated with historical religious art.

The possibility for a form or sign to receive several meanings according to contexts.

A current exploring images and objects of mass culture, advertising and the media.

A vitrified ceramic, often white and sometimes translucent in thin section, produced with suitable raw materials.

An articulated set of two panels designed to be transported, notably for devotional use.

An organised selection of works and projects used to present an artist's work.

A representation of a person or group seeking to render certain features of their appearance or identity.

A retrospective designation for late nineteenth-century approaches extending or contesting Impressionist solutions.

A set of practices extending or displacing minimalism towards soft matter, process and the body.

A set of critical positions contesting certain modernist grand narratives and practising citation, hybridation and plurality of styles.

A nineteenth-century British movement seeking detail, chromatic intensity and references to art prior to Raphael.

A faculty provided for by certain laws allowing a public body to acquire a lot under legal conditions after adjudication; the applicable rules must be verified case by case.

The lower part of an altarpiece, able to accommodate painted or sculpted scenes.

A phase presenting the intentions, constraints and first forms of a creation to be realised.

A drawing to scale intended to guide the realisation of a painting, tapestry or stained glass.

A graphic stage used to organise the realisation of a more developed work.

An expression denoting creation of our time; close to "contemporary art" in some uses, but without a universal historical cut-off.

Measures acting on the environment and the management of works to reduce risks without directly intervening on their matter.

The basic colours of a given model; they differ according to whether one refers to pigments, light or printing.

Transactions concerning the first commercialisation of works, often directly by the artist or their gallery.

An image printed from a matrix or an artistic printing process; it may be original or reproductive.

A person or structure ensuring the production and dissemination of print editions according to an artistic project.

The printing operation or the number of copies produced from a matrix or edition file.

A work whose unfolding and transformations are part of the artistic result.

The design of products and objects by articulating function, fabrication and sensory qualities.

The organisation of the human, technical and financial resources necessary for the material realisation of a work.

A technique projecting images or animations onto surfaces while taking into account their shapes and position.

The relationship between the dimensions of the parts of a figure or composition.

The realisation of a trial version allowing a project to be tested before its final production.

The documented history of owners, holders and movements of a work; any gaps must be noted.

A work intended to be shown in places accessible to the public; the term does not predetermine its owner.

An artistic production commissioned and financed by a public body within a defined framework.

A situation in which certain economic rights have expired or do not apply; moral rights or other protections may remain.

A work or edifice situated in a common space and devoted notably to a figure, a memory or an idea.

Paper composed mainly of textile fibres, often valued for its resistance in artistic uses.

A Russian avant-garde developing beams of lines and colours to represent effects of radiance.

A manufactured object selected and presented as a work, a notion historically linked to Marcel Duchamp.

The volume effectively occupied or traversed by a work and its public.

Approaches aiming to represent ordinary or social subjects without conventional idealisation, notably in the nineteenth century.

The physical and documentary verification of the existence, location and state of goods inscribed in an inventory.

The manner in which a work is perceived, interpreted and evaluated by its publics over time.

A trimmed reed or analogous tool used as a writing and drawing instrument.

The object, person or phenomenon to which a representation or sign refers.

The light or image returned by a surface, liable to specify its matter and environment.

A professional organising the material and administrative aspects of movements and installations of works.

The exact alignment of colour passes or of the different matrices during printing.

A term associated with practices that take human relations and social interactions as the material of the work.

A sculpted form projecting from a reference surface, to be distinguished from sculpture in the round.

A family of processes in which the raised parts of the matrix print the image.

A process in which the ink is applied to the reliefs preserved on the matrix.

A pictorial work placing in image narratives, figures or practices linked to a religious tradition.

The ability of a restoration treatment or material to be subsequently removed under controlled conditions.

A period of European artistic renewal between the fourteenth and sixteenth centuries, marked notably by the dialogue with antiquity and new spatial research.

The reappearance of a single motif or form in order to build a series or structure.

A technique of raising a metal sheet by working it from its back face.

The space depicted by an image, distinct from the material place where it is exhibited.

A gallery engaged in promoting or commercialising the work of an artist according to a representation agreement.

A new printing campaign from an existing matrix or negative; to be documented separately from the first printing.

A mechanical, photographic or digital copy of an existing work, distinct from the original object reproduced.

A printed image intended to reproduce a work already realised in another medium.

The right allowing certain authors of graphic or plastic works to benefit, under conditions, from remuneration upon resales involving a professional of the art market.

A support preserving ideas, trials, notes and references throughout a creative process.

The confidential or agreed minimum price below which a work cannot normally be sold at certain auctions.

The part of the support deliberately left uncovered in order to contribute to the image, notably as a light area.

A natural or synthetic material used as binder, coating, adhesive or moulding material according to its formulation.

Specialised intervention on a cultural property aimed notably at facilitating its understanding and transmission while respecting its matter and history.

An exhibition offering a broad survey of the different phases of an artist's career.

A desired property of an intervention allowing its removal without disproportionate damage; it is rarely absolute.

The right framing the communication of a work to the public, notably through exhibition or dissemination, according to the acts and exceptions concerned.

The right framing the material or digital fixation of a work by any process, subject to the provided exceptions.

A decorative motif formed of undulating vegetal stems bearing leaves, flowers or fruits.

Duplicator printing using specific masters and inks; also valued for small- to medium-scale graphic editions.

Creations made on rock, in the open air or under shelter, by painting, engraving or other processes.

An eighteenth-century style often associated with asymmetrical ornaments, supple lines and a decorative aesthetic.

A European medieval style developed mainly in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, visible notably in architecture and monumental sculpture.

An artistic and literary movement valuing notably emotion, imagination, history and the power of nature, in varied expressions.

The first shaping of a work that leaves its structures and incompleteness visible.

A form of sale entrusted to an intermediary who offers the object for sale in exchange for remuneration, within a contractual framework.

An event presenting works or professionals according to its own selection framework and history.

Controlled abrasion of a surface to even it, reveal a material or prepare a finish.

A traditional drawing material, often based on iron oxide, producing a reddish-brown hue.

The perceived chromatic intensity of a colour, from neutral grey to a vivid hue.

The size relationship between a represented object, its referent or the other elements of a work.

A professional designing the spatial and sensory organisation of an exhibition or performance.

A catalogue formula linking a work to an artistic milieu or tradition, without guaranteed personal attribution.

A flexible designation for artistic milieus active in Paris in the twentieth century, without a single aesthetic programme.

The removal of matter by scraping or scratching a layer to reveal what is beneath or to create a texture.

Printing using a partially blocked screen through which ink passes in the open areas.

An artist producing works in volume or developing sculptural work.

A set of volumetric elements organised in a place and also appreciated for their relation to that space.

The practice of creating forms in volume by removal, modelling, assembly, casting or other processes.

A copy obtained from a mould or an edition process, whose numbering conditions may be framed according to context.

A light application of paint over the reliefs of a layer or support, letting the underlying surface show through.

A landscape genre taking as main subject the sea, coasts or maritime activities.

Painting executed on a dry plaster with a suitable binder; to be distinguished from fresco proper.

Transactions concerning works already sold, notably in galleries, with dealers or at auction.

A representation that the artist makes of their own person, from observation or construction.

The study of signs and their modes of operation within systems of signification.

A set of works linked by a common protocol, motif, subject or device of variation.

A process of very soft transitions between contours, tones and shadows, notably associated with Renaissance painting.

A luminous or chromatic variation perceptible in a material according to viewpoint or lighting.

The duration during which the sensitive surface receives light at the moment of capture.

An element that refers to something other than itself according to a code, a usage or a relation of resemblance.

A mark associated with an author, applied to the work or a document, which alone does not suffice to prove attribution.

The concept associated with a signifier in certain semiotic models.

The perceptible form of a sign in certain theories of language and image.

The overall contour of a form, often readable without its interior details.

A flexible label used for personal approaches that escape established artistic categories; it does not constitute a unified movement.

The concrete place in which a work is installed, with its physical and social characteristics.

A transnational group founded in 1957 developing a radical critique of the society of the spectacle and practices of everyday life transformation.

The application of a preparation, often glue-based, to isolate or stabilise a support.

A quick drawing retaining the essential features of a subject or idea.

A positive photographic image on transparent film intended to be viewed by luminous transmission or projection.

A layer of liquid clay applied to a ceramic piece to modify its surface before firing.

A suspension of clay in water used for casting, joining or decorating ceramics.

An artistic current mobilising inquiry, communication and criticism of social institutions or relations.

A narrow support or pedestal used to display a sculpture or art object.

An intaglio technique on metal in which a soft ground allows textures and drawings to be transferred before biting.

A lightly bound pigmented stick producing a powdery matter, sensitive to friction.

An effect of partial inversion of values associated with certain photographic treatments, whose artistic use may be intentional.

A liquid capable of dissolving certain substances, used notably to adjust or clean compatible paints.

Practices using sound as artistic material, independently of belonging to a musical work in the traditional sense.

The design of the functional and sensory qualities of an interior or exterior environment.

A person who looks at or experiences a work; certain practices also make them a participant.

A method of transferring the proportions of an image by means of a grid.

A composition of coloured or painted glass pieces, assembled in a structure to transmit and modulate light.

A mark printed, struck or affixed on a work or object, sometimes used to identify a studio, a collection or an authority.

A version of a matrix at a given stage of its evolution; a modification may produce a new state.

A cut-out shape used as a mask to apply colour into the open areas.

A genre depicting mainly inanimate objects, sometimes charged with symbolic meanings.

The work of cutting, roughing out and finishing a stone material.

A ceramic fired at high temperature until significant vitrification, generally little porous.

Creations realised from or issuing from practices in urban space, in varied forms and legal statuses.

A frame, usually of wood or metal, on which a painting canvas may be stretched.

The mark left by the application of paint, revealing the gesture, the tool and the handling.

A place of creation and experimentation for an artist; may also designate a historical production team.

A formula designating a work realised within the production environment of an artist, potentially by their assistants, without necessarily attributing its execution to them.

A preparatory work that deepens a pose, a detail, a lighting or a formal problem.

An action or tool used to soften and blend a pencil or charcoal drawing.

The transformation of a subject by privileging certain characteristic traits rather than detailed imitation.

An aesthetic notion designating an experience mixing admiration, power, disturbance or the surpassing of ordinary measure.

The material surface intended to receive a paint layer; a technical term common in conservation.

The formation of colours by selective absorption of light, notably in inks and pigments.

The placement of elements one on another, materially or through an illusion of depth.

The surface or structure receiving the work, such as canvas, panel, wall or sheet.

A French group that appeared in the late 1960s exploring the material components and conventions of painting.

An abstract avant-garde linked to Malevich, giving a central place to elementary geometric forms.

The outer extent of a material or the visible field on which colours, textures and marks intervene.

A movement exploring dream, the unconscious and unexpected associations, notably through experimental writing and images.

A perceptible element referring, according to a cultural context or convention, to an idea that exceeds its material presence.

A late nineteenth-century current privileging suggestion, myth, dream and symbolic correspondences.

An organised correspondence between elements on either side of an axis, point or plane.

A phase of Cubism making greater use of large legible planes, signs and the integration of materials such as papier collé.

A term associated with certain forms of gestural abstraction based on spontaneous stains and marks.

A stylised signature, often rapid, associated with the graphic identity of a graffiti writer.

A textile work obtained by interlacing warp and weft threads, in which the image is built during the weaving.

The risk that a work dependent on software, files or hardware becomes difficult to present or preserve over time.

Artistic practices using telecommunication networks to connect places, participants or systems.

The presentation of works organised for a determined period.

A clay object shaped and hardened by firing, which may remain porous and unglazed.

A small constitutive element of a mosaic.

The creation of surfaces, motifs or structures intended for fabrics and textile uses.

The visual or tactile quality of a surface, related to its grain, matter or representation.

An exhibition structured around a question, a subject or a shared research axis.

A substance added to reduce viscosity or modify the application of a paint; it does not always act as a solvent.

A graffiti of letters made relatively quickly, generally with voluminous shapes and few colours; also called flop in some French uses.

The general chromatic dominant of an image or the character of a set of coloured values.

A work in circular format, particularly used for certain paintings and reliefs.

The ability to reconstruct the stages of circulation and operations carried out on an object.

A preparation historically made notably of animal glue and a mineral filler, distinct from modern acrylic primers sold under this name.

A designation theorised in the late 1970s for approaches renewing notably with painting, figuration and historical references.

An approach crossing the boundaries of disciplines to produce forms or methods that no longer amount to their mere addition.

The property of a material that transmits light while diffusing the image of objects behind it.

The deployment of a universe or proposition across several media, each providing a specific contribution.

The property of a material that lets what is behind it be seen, in full or in part.

A print used to test settings or the state of a matrix before the definitive print run.

An artistic event organised in principle every three years.

A set of three panels or parts articulated or composed as a unit.

A figurative process that seeks to make a painted representation be perceived as a real object or space.

The use of two distinct colours; the term may apply notably to painting or printing.

The art and technique of organising type to produce a legible and expressive form.

A Japanese tradition of representations of the "floating world", notably associated with paintings and woodblock prints of the seventeenth to nineteenth centuries.

A layer of paint or primer situated beneath subsequent applications, able to influence their rendering.

An object or realisation existing in an identified single copy; this uniqueness does not automatically imply legal originality.

A broad designation for artistic practices associated with the city and its spaces, including street art and certain authorised projects.

The placing of posters, drawings or printed fragments in urban space, sometimes without authorisation.

The temporary character of an intervention exposed to erasure, transformations of the place or public policies.

An artistic action temporarily or lastingly modifying the perception of a place in the city.

Large-scale painting executed on a wall or façade, commissioned or independent.

The application of an image or sign in public space by means of a cut mask.

The degree of lightness or darkness of a hue or area, independently of its chromatic family.

The point of a perspective representation at which certain parallel directions of space visually converge.

A still-life genre recalling the fragility of existence, the passage of time and human finitude.

A layer applied to a surface, notably to modify its appearance and sometimes contribute to its protection; its properties depend on its composition.

A detailed urban or architectural view, particularly associated with certain Italian pictorial traditions.

A fine translucent layer, often lighter and more veiled than a glaze, used to nuance the surface.

A writing or painting support obtained by preparing a very fine animal skin, in its historical sense.

Practices using the video image as an artistic medium, distinct from narrative cinema.

A reserve designed to provide supervised public access to part of the collections usually kept off display.

The proposed organisation of movements and the discovery of works in a space.

A person developing an artistic practice in the field of fine arts, whatever medium is chosen.

The body of creations primarily apprehended through sight; a broad category that notably includes painting, photography, graphic design and digital arts.

The perceived distribution of masses, colours and directions giving a sensation of stability or tension.

An organisation that allows certain elements to emerge before others in the reading of an image.

The placing in image of an idea through the bringing together of two different realities.

The effect of progression created by the repetition and variation of lines, shapes, colours or spaces.

An area left without figural elements or sparsely occupied; it can structure the composition as much as the present forms.

A three-dimensional extent or the illusion of relief given on a flat surface.

A British avant-garde born in 1914 exploring dynamic geometry in dialogue with Cubism and Futurism.

A Japanese sensibility often described by attention to imperfection, simplicity and the transient character; its contemporary uses are varied.

A work painted on a wall; in the strict technical sense, fresco is executed on fresh plaster.

A mediation text presenting a section of an exhibition or its general context.

A conventional set of hues associated notably with yellows, oranges and reds; their effect depends on context.

The application of ink, watercolour or a highly diluted colour to form values and transparencies.

A supple brush intended notably for spreading solutions of ink or diluted pigment.

A family of traditional Japanese papers generally made from adapted plant fibres.

Water-based paint generally using a gum arabic binder, often worked transparently on paper.

A process of permanently joining materials, often metallic, by localised fusion or filler material.

A nineteenth-century photographic process requiring a prepared plate, exposed and developed before drying.

A model of exhibition space with white walls and a stripped-down environment, intended to visually isolate the works; its apparent neutrality is debated.

A graffiti lettering style with strongly interlocking letters sometimes difficult to read.

The controlled removal of surface ink in certain processes, notably intaglio, in order to keep the ink in the recesses.

A relief process in which the raised parts of a wooden block receive the ink.

A rigid pictorial support made of one or several pieces of wood prepared to receive paint.

A catalogue formula indicating that an attribution to an artist is envisaged, with a degree of certainty lower than a fully established attribution.

The provision of a work in another institution or with a depositary, under conditions often more lasting than a one-off loan.

The temporary provision of a work by its holder to another structure, according to an agreement framing transport and conditions.

A realisation inscribed within an artistic intention or recognition; it may be object, image, event, instruction or process.

A collective working session centred on practice, often conducted over a short period.

Chromatic modification of a material or varnish over time or under the action of external factors.