Nkisi

a spiritual "power figure" or container created by the Kongo peoples of Central Africa.

Yu

ancient bronze wine vessel.

Art nouveau

a popular style of art and design from around 1890 to 1910 that is famous for its whiplash curves, flowing lines, and nature-inspired

Avant-garde

artworks and artists that are experimental, radical, and way ahead of their time.

Expressionism

an art movement from the early 1900s where artists painted their inner feelings and emotions rather than trying to make things look realistic.

Fauvism

a short-lived French art style from the early 1900s famous for using wild, unnatural, and explosive colors straight from the tube.

Die Brucke (the bridge)

Die Brücke (The Bridge) was a group of radical German Expressionist artists formed in 1905 who wanted their art to act as a bridge between the traditional past and a new, modern future

Der Blaur Reiter (The blue Riders)

a group of German Expressionist artists formed in 1911 who believed that colors and abstract shapes could express deep spiritual feelings, just like music does.

Non-objective

art that does not depict or represent any real-world objects, people, or places.

Analytic cubism

the first phase of Cubism (around 1909 to 1912), invented by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, where they analyzed an object by breaking it down into flat geometric shapes and showing it from multiple angles at the exact same time.

Synthetic cubism

he second phase of Cubism (starting around 1912) where artists built up pictures by collage-ing different materials together, creating flat, colorful, and playful compositions.

Collage

an artwork made by gluing different materials like paper, photographs, fabric, and trash onto a flat surface.

Dada

a radical, anti-art movement formed during World War I

Ready made

an everyday, factory-manufactured object that an artist takes out of its normal context, signs, and declares to be an artwork without changing it.

Photomontage

specific type of collage made by cutting out, rearranging, and gluing together different real-world photographs or magazine pictures to create a brand-new image

Surrealism

a famous art movement from the 1920s that focused on unlocking the power of the subconscious mind, dreams, and weird, unexpected imagery.

Trompe lveil

an art technique that uses realistic imagery and 3D shading to trick the viewer into believing that a flat, painted object is actually a real, physical thing.

Cubanidad

An art history and cultural term that refers to the unique, blended identity of Cuba, specifically how artists express what it truly means to be Cuban.

Mestiza

a woman of mixed racial heritage, specifically someone with a blend of European (usually Spanish) and Indigenous American ancestry.

Suprematism

an early 20th-century Russian abstract art movement

Constructivism

a radical Russian art and architectural movement from around 1913 to the 1920s

Non-objective art

Non-objective art (also called pure abstraction) is art that does not depict or represent any real-world objects, people, or places.

De Stijl

Dutch art and design movement founded in 1917 t

Geometric abstraction

form of abstract art that uses clear, precise geometric shapes, sharp lines, and solid colors to create a clean, orderly composition.

Bauhaus

a revolutionary German school of art, design, and architecture that operated from 1919 to 1933. I

Functionalism

an architectural and design principle popular in the 1920s and 1930s which states that the design of a building or an object should be based entirely on its practical purpose.

Rationalism

an architectural movement from the 1920s and 1930s (mostly in Italy) based on the idea that every single part of a building should be completely logical, mathematical, and easy to understand using reason.

Degenerate art

Nazi regime in Germany during the 1930s to describe and ban modern art

International style

a major architectural style that emerged in the 1920s and 1930s,

1916 Zoning law

forced skyscrapers to use a "step-back" design so that sunlight and fresh air could still reach the streets below.

Cantilever

A cantilever is a long beam or structure that is anchored at only one end and sticks out horizontally into space without any support at the other end.

Ashcan school

a group of realistic American painters working in New York City in the early 1900