DESCRIBE IT

1. What kinds of things do you see in this painting? What else do you see?
2. What words would you use to describe this painting? What other words might we use?
3. How would you describe the lines in this picture? The shapes? The colors? What does this painting show?
4. Look at this painting for a moment. What observations can you make about it?
5. How would you describe this painting to a person who could not see it?
6. How would you describe the people in this picture? Are they like you or different?
7. How would you describe (the place depicted in) this painting?

 

RELATE IT

1. What does this painting remind you of?
2. What things do you recognize in this painting? What things seem new to you?
3. How is this painting like the one we just saw? What are some important differences?
4. What do these two paintings have in common?
5. How is this picture different from real life?
6. What interests you most about this work of art?

 

ANALYZE IT

1. Which objects seems closer to you? Further away?
2. What can you tell me about the colors in this painting?
3. What color is used the most in this painting?
4. What makes this painting look crowded?
5. What can you tell me about the person in this painting?
6. What can you tell me about how this person lived? How did you arrive at that idea?
7. What do you think is the most important part of this picture?
8. How do you think the artist made this work?
9. What questions would you ask the artist about this work, if s/he were here?

 

INTERPRET IT

1. What title would you give to this painting? What made you decide on that title?
2. What other titles could we give it?
3. What do you think is happening in this painting? What else could be happening?
4. What sounds would this painting make (if it could)?
5. What do you think is going on in this picture? How did you arrive at that idea?
6. What do you think this painting is about? How did you come up that idea?
7. Pretend you are inside this painting. What does it feel like?
8. What do you think this (object) was used for? How did you arrive at that idea?
9. Why do you suppose the artist made this painting? What makes you think that?
10. What do you think it would be like to live in this painting? What makes you think that?

 

EVALUATE IT

1. What do you think is good about this painting? What is not so good?
2. Do you think the person who painted this do a good or bad job? What makes you think so?
3. Why do you think other people should see this work of art?
4. What do you think other people would say about this work? Why do you think that?
5. What grade would you give the artist for this work? How did you arrive at that grade?
6. What would you do with this work if you owned it?

    7.   What do you think is worth remembering about this painting?

 

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This guide is meant to provide the Art Student with an acceptable pronunciation for names and other words that may be unfamiliar to native speakers of English.  It is not perfect.  It ignores the nasal sounds of the French  en, in, ain, as well as the guttural German consonants, giving instead the nearest English equivalents.  These sounds are difficult to render phonetically and difficult to pronounce for those who have not studied the languages.  However, no student should be embarrassed by using the pronunciations here.

 In many cases there are two or more pronunciations for a particular artist's name, both or all of which are in common use and considered "correct."  The pronunciations in this guide are those most often heard among English-speaking North Americans, and a few alternates have been provided.  Some instructors may prefer variant pronunciations of certain artists' names; these may be equally correct but inadvertently omitted from the list.

 The phonetic system employed for this guide meant to be as simple as possible.  Its conventions include:

   an--plan, tan

   ay--play, day, stay

   ah--spa, hurrah

   eh--her, fur

   oh--toe, show, go

   ohn--phone, moan

   uh--bus, fuss

Akhenaten  ah-keh-NAH-ten

Anuszkiewitz, Richard  ah-NUHS-keh-vitz

Aphrodite  aph-roh-DYE-tee

atueur  oh-TER

Baldovinetti, Alesso  ah-LESS-oh, bal-doh-veen-ETT-ee

Balla, Giacomo  JAH-koh-moh, BAH-lah

bas-relief  BAH-ree-leef

Bellini, Gentile  bel-LEE-nee,  jen-TEE-lay

Bernini, Gianlorenzo  jahn-loh-REN-zoh, bayr-NEE-nee

Bosch, hieronymus  heer-AHN-ih-mus,  bosh

Botticelli, Sandro  SAN-droh, boht-ee-CHEL-ee

Boucher, Francois   frahn-SWAH, boo-SHAY

Brancusi, Constantin  KAHN-stan-teen, BRAHN-koosh

   (more often in the U.S.: brahn-KOO-see)

Braque, Georges  zhorzh, brahk

Bruegel,Pieter  PEE-tur BROO-g 'l(often:BROY-g'l)

camera obscura  KAM-er-uh ob-SKOOR-uh

Caravaggio   kah-rah-VAH-jyoh

Cellini,Benvenuto   ben-ven-OO-toh chel-EE-nee

Ce`zanne, Paul   say-ZAN

Chagall, Marc   shah CAHL, mark

Chardin, Jean Baptisite Sime`on zahan ba-TEEST

  see-may-OHN shar-DAN

Chattres    SHAR-tr'

Chia, Sandro San-droh KEE-ah

chiroscuro kee-ah-roh-SKOOR-oh

Cimabue  chee-mah-BOO-ay

cire perdue  seer payr-DOO

contrapposto  kohn-trah-POH-stoh

Corbusier, Le  luh kohr-boo-ZYAY

Courbet, Gustave   goos-TAHV koor-BAY

Daguerre, Louis Jacques Mande  loo-ee ZHAHK man-DAY dah-GAYR

Dali, Salvador  sal-vah-DOHR DAH-lee, or dah-LEE

Daumier, Honore  ohn-ohr-AY  dohm-YAY

David, Jacques Louis  zhahl loo-EE dah-VEED

Degas, Edger  ed-GAHR deh-GAH

de Kooning, Willem  VILL-um duh KOON-n

Delacroix, Eugene  uh-ZHAYN duh-lah-KRWAH

Demorselles d' Avignon, Les  de mwah zell, dau en yon lay

Derain, Andre'  ahn-DRAY deh-RAN

Donatello dohn-ah-TELL-oh

Dubuffet, Jean  zhahn dyu-boo-FAY

Duccio  DOO-chyoh

Duchamp, Marcel  mahr-SELL doo-SHAHN

Dufy, Raoul  rah-OOL dyu-FEE

Durer, Albrecht  AHL-brekht  DOOR-er

Eakins, Thomas  AY-kins

Faberg'e, Peter Carl  fab-er-ZHAY

Fauve  fohv

Fontainebleau   fon teu blow

Fragonard, Jean-Honore  zhahn ohn-ohr AY frag-oh-NAHR

Gaudi, Antoni  ahn-TOH-nee gow-DEE

Gauguin, Paul  goh-GAN

genre   ZHON ruh

Gentileschi, Artemisia ahr-tuh-MEE-zhyuh jen-till-ESS-kee

Gericault, Theodore  tay-oh-DORE  zheh-ree-COH

Ghiberti, Lorenzo  loh-REN-zoh ghee-BAYR-tee

Giacometti, Alberto  ahl-BAYR-toh  jah-coh-MET-ee

Giorgione  johr-JYOHN-ay

Giotto  JYOH-toh

gouache  gwahsh

Goya, Francisco de  frahn-SISS-coh day GOY-ah

     (in Spain:  frahn-THEES-coh)

Grande Jatte, La   grahnd zhot, la

Greco, El  CRECK o, el

Gris, Juan   greece, Whahn

Guernica   WARE nee ca

haut-relief  OH ree-leef

Hiroshige ,Ando   ANH-doh heer-oh-SHEE-gay

Hokusai,Katsushika   kat-s'-SHEE-kah HOH-k'-sahy

Holbein,Hans   hahns HOHL-byne

Houdon,Jean Antoine   zhahn ahn-TWAHN oo-DOHN

Ingres,Jean Auguste Dominique   zhahn oh-GOOST

   dohm-een-EEK AN-gr'

intaglio   in-TAHL-yoh (sometimes anglicized to

   in-TAG-lee-oh)

Kandinsky,Wassily   vah-SEE-lee kan-DIN-skee

Kirchner, Ernst Ludwig   KEERSH ner, urnst LOOD wig

Klee,Paul   klay

Klimt, Gustav   goos-TAHV kleemt

Knossos   KNAH-sohs

Kokoschka,Oskar   koh-KOHSH-kah

Kollwitz,Kathe   KAY-tuh KOHL-vitz

Laocoon   lay-AH-coh-un

Lascaux   las-COH

Laurencin,Marie   lohr-ahn-SAN

Lautrec,Henri de Toulouse-   ahn-REE deh too-LOOS

   loh-TREK

L'Enfant,Pierre Charles   pyayr shahrl' lahn-FAHN

Leonardo da Vinci   lay-oh-NAR-doh dah VEEN-chee

   (often in U.S.: lee-oh-NAR-doh)

Limbourg   lam-BOOR

Magritte,Rene   reh-NAY ma-GREET

Manet,Edouard   ayd-WAHR ma-NAY

Mantegna, Andrea  ahn-DRAY- ah mahn- TAYN- yah

Mapplethorpe, Robert  MAY-p'l-thorp

Marisol  mah-ree-SOHL

Masaccio  mah-ZAH-chyoh

Matisee, Henri  ahn-REE  ma-TEES

Medici, Lorenzo de'  loh-REN-zoh-  deh  MED-ee chee

Mezzotint  MET-zoh-tint

Michelangelo  my-kel-AN-jel-oh, or mee-kel-AN-jel-oh

Mies van der Rohe, Ludwig  LOOT-fik mees van der ROH-er

Millet, Jean Francolis   mee lay, zhon fron swah

Miro, Joan  hwahn meer-OH

Modersohn-Becker, Paula  MOH-der-zun-BEK-er

Mona, Lisa   MOna, LEEza

Mondrian, Piet  peet MOHN-dree-ahn

Monet, Claude  moh-NAY

Morisot, Berthe  bayr-t'  mohr-ee-ZOH

Moulin, Rouge   nom lan roozh

Munch, Edvard  ED-varhd moonk

Muybridge, Eadweard  ED-werd MY-bridj

Mycenae  my-SEEN-ay,  or my-SEEN-ee

Nebudchadnezzar  neb-uk-ad-NEZ-zer

Piero della Francesca  PYAYR-oh DEL-lah fran-CHESS-kuh

Pieta   pea ay TAH

pointillism  PWAN-teel-ism (sometimes anglicized to POYN-till-ism)

Pollock, Jackson  PAHL-uck

Polyclitus  pahl-ee-KLY-tus

Pompeii  pahm-PAY,  or pohm-PAY

Pont du Gard  pohn dyu Gahr

Poussin, Nicolas  nee-coh-LAH poo-SAN

Praxiteles  prak-SIT-uh-leez

Raphael  RAFF-yell, or RAF-fy-ell, or raf-fy-YELL

Redon, Odilon   r'dawn, o dee lawn

Renoir, Pierre-Auguste  pyar oh-GOOST Ren-Wah

repousse  reh-poo-SAY

Reu des Moulins   rew day moo lau

Rigaud, Hyacinthe  ee-ah-SANT ree-GOH

Rivera, Diego   ree VAIR a, dee AY go

Rococo  roh-coh-COH

Rodin, Auguste  oh-GOOST  roh-DAN

Rousseau, Henri(le Douanier)  ahn-REE roo-SOH (luh dwan-YAY)

St. Sernin  san sayr-NAN

Salle, David  SAL-lee

San Vitale  san vee-TAHL-ay

Seurat, Georges  zhorzh syu-RAH

Simone, Martini   see MO nay, mar TEE nee

Siqueiros, David Alfaro  see-KAYR-ohs

Sotasu, Nonmura  noh-noh-MOOR-ah  SOH-taht-s'

Stieglitz, Alfred  STEEG-litz

Titian   TISH-an, or TEE-shan

Toulouse-Lautrec, Henre de   too loose lo trek, on ree de

triptyck   TRIP tick

trompe-l'oeil   trump-LOY

Tutankhamun   toot-an-KAH-mun

Uccello, Paolo   oo-CHEL-oh, POW-lo

Urbino   oor-BEE-no

Van Eyck, Jan   yahn van IKE

Van Gogh, Vincent   van GOH (in the U.S.; the Dutch

 pronunciation is nearly impossible to render phoneti-

 cally for English speakers)

Van Ruisdael, Jacob   YAH-cub van ROYS-dahl

Vasari, Giorgio   Jore-jyoh va-SAHR-ee

Velazquez, Diego   DYAY-goh vay-LASS-kess (usually,

 in the U.S.; in Spain, vay-LATH-keth)

Vermeer, Jan   yahn vayr-MEER, or vayr-MAYR

Verrocchio, Andrea del   ahn-DRAY-un del vayr-OHK-yoh

Versailles   vayr-SYE

Vigee-Lebrun, Elisabeth   vee-ZHAY leh-BRUN

Vuillard, Edouard   ayd-WAHR vwee-AHR

Watteau, Antoine   ahn-TWAHN wah-TOH, or vah-TOH

Willendorf   VILL-en-dohrf