Definitions for terms beginning with the letter B

James Abbott McNeill Whistler, 'Nocturne: Blue and Silver - Chelsea' 1871
Whistler introduced the ideas of French impressionist artists to Britain, leading to the development of British impressionism



James Abbott McNeill Whistler
Nocturne: Blue and Silver - Chelsea 1871
Oil on wood

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Baghdad Modern Art Group
Tate glossary definition for Baghdad Modern Art Group: A highly influential post-war modern art group founded in 1951 with the intention of promoting an Iraqi form of modernism
The Baroda Group
Tate glossary definition for The Baroda Group: pioneering art collective formed in Baroda, India in 1956 by a group of artists who had taught or studied at the Faculty of Fine Arts at MSU Baroda
Sir Peter Paul Rubens, 'The Apotheosis of James I and Other Studies: Multiple Sketch for the Banqueting House Ceiling, Whitehall' circa 1628-30
Baroque
Tate glossary definition for Baroque: The dominant style in art and architecture of the seventeenth century, characterized by self-confidence, dynamism and a realistic approach to depiction
Josef Albers, 'Study for Homage to the Square' 1963
Bauhaus
Tate glossary definition for Bauhaus: Revolutionary school of art, architecture and design established by the pioneer modern architect Walter Gropius at Weimar in Germany in 1919
Colin Self, 'Power and Beauty No. 6' 1968
Beauty
Tate glossary definition for beauty: A combination of shape, colour and form that pleases the eye
Jack Smith, 'Figure in a Room I' 1959
Beaux Arts Quartet
Tate glossary definition for Beaux Arts Quartet: The name given to a group of four young realist painters whose work was exhibited at the Beaux Arts gallery, London in the early 1950s
Performance of Zhang Huan To Raise the Water Level in a Fish Pond Beijing 1997
Beijing East Village
Tate glossary definition for Beijing East Village: Short-lived, politically motivated, Chinese arts collective that came to prominence in the early 1990s
Gary Hume, 'Water Painting' 1999
Biennial
Tate glossary definition for biennial: A large international art exhibition held every two years
Big Tail Elephant Group
Tate glossary definition for Big Tail Elephant Group: An art collective formed in Guangzhou in China in the early 1990s in response to rapid urbanisation
Bio art
Tate glossary definition for bio art: Art that uses biotechnology as its medium and raises questions about the future of life, evolution, society and art
Jean Arp (Hans Arp), 'Sculpture to be Lost in the Forest' 1932, cast circa 1953-8
Biomorphic
Tate glossary definition for biomorphic: Forms or images that while abstract nevertheless refer to, or evoke, living forms such as plants and the human body
Sir Thomas Lawrence, 'Homer Reciting his Poems' 1790
Bitumen
Tate glossary definition for bitumen: A naturally-occurring, non-drying, tarry substance used in paint mixtures, especially to enrich the appearance of dark tones
The black aesthetic
Tate glossary definition for black aesthetic: A cultural ideology that developed in America alongside the civil rights movement in the 1960s that promoted black separatism in the arts
Black arts movement
Tate glossary definition for black arts movement: An ideological movement that emerged in America the early 1960s when black artists and intellectuals came together to organize, study and think about what new black art and black politics might be
Aubrey Williams, 'Tribal Mark' 1961
Black Atlantic
Tate glossary definition for Black Atlantic: Term used by critic Paul Gilroy in 1993 to describe a fusion of black cultures with other cultures from around the Atlantic
Black Audio Film Collective, still from Handsworth Songs, 1986
Black Audio Film Collective
Tate glossary definition for Black Audio Film Collective: A pioneering arts initiative founded in 1982 whose ground-breaking experimental works engaged with black popular and political culture in Britain and cross-examined its new multicultural reality
Aldo Tambellini Black Zero
Black box
Tate glossary definition for black box: Relating to performance art, the black box is the name for a square room painted black in which artists performed experimental work
Kenneth Noland, 'Gift' 1961-2
Black Mountain College
Tate glossary definition for Black Mountain College: Highly influential college founded at Black Mountain, North Carolina, USA, in 1933 where teaching was experimental and committed to an interdisciplinary approach
Donald Rodney, 'How the West was Won' 1982
The Blk Art Group
Tate glossary definition for Blk Arts Group: Formed in Wolverhampton, England, in 1979, The Blk Art Group was an association of young black artists who raised questions about what Black art was, its identity, and what and what it could be in the future
Vanessa Bell, 'Mrs St John Hutchinson' 1915
Bloomsbury
Tate glossary definition for Bloomsbury: A circle of intellectuals and artists who lived in Bloomsbury, near central London, in the period 1904–40
Arnulf Rainer, 'Untitled (Body Language)' circa 1973
Body art
Tate glossary definition for body art: Art in which the body, often that of the artist, is the principal medium and focus
F.N. Souza, 'Crucifixion' 1959
Bombay Progressive Artists’ Group
Tate glossary definition for Bombay Progressive Artists’ Group: A short-lived progressive art group founded in 1947 in Bombay by a group of artists who challenged India’s existing conservative art establishment
Mario Merz, 'Igloo, Do We Go Around Houses, or Do Houses Go Around Us?' 1977/85
Bricolage
Tate glossary definition for bricolage: The construction or creation of an artwork from any materials that come to hand
Samuel Colman (or Coleman), 'The Temple of Flora' date not known
Bristol school
Tate glossary definition for Bristol school: Artists associated with Bristol in the early 1800s and inspired by local scenery especially the River Avon and Avon Gorge
Rasheed Araeen, 'Bismullah' 1988
British black arts movement
Tate glossary definition for British black arts movement: A radical political art movement founded in 1982 which, inspired by anti-racist discourse and feminist critique, sought to highlight issues of race and gender and the politics of representation
John Singer Sargent, 'Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose' 1885-6
British impressionism
Tate glossary definition for British impressionism: Artists working in Britain in the late nineteenth-century who were influenced by the ideas of the French impressionists
Browser art
Tate glossary definition for browser art: Art that uses the computer as its medium transforming the codes, the structure of the websites and the links between servers into visual material
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, 'Bathers at Moritzburg' 1909/26
Brücke
Tate glossary definition for Brücke: German expressionist group founded in Dresden in 1905 which developed a radical anti-traditional style
Frank Auerbach, 'Small Head of E.O.W.' 1957-8
Brushwork
Tate glossary definition for brushwork: The characteristics of a paint surface applied with a brush
Paul Seawright, 'Untitled (Vents)' 1999
Brutalism
Tate glossary definition for brutalism: Architectural style of the 1950s and 1960s characterised by simple, block-like forms and raw concrete construction
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