Art Word of the Day: Polychromatic - polychrome

artopium (66)in #wordoftheday • 5 years ago

Term: Polychromatic - polychrome

Definition: Having many colors as opposed

to monochromatic, which means only one hue or color. Polychrome means decorated in many colors and most frequently references wood and stone carving that is covered in full color and gold. Many ancient sculptures from Egypt, Greece and Rome were polychromed as were sculpture in the Medieval and Renaissance periods. In the early 20th Century, sculptors working in Cubist styles such as Alexander Calder, Alexander Archipenko and David Smith used color in their sculpture. In the late 1950s, a new movement developed in polychrome sculpture and continued through the 1960s. Influences were the new interest in color stirred by Op Art and materials such as neon lighting and certain plastics that had inherent color. Examples are assemblage metal works of John Chamberlain, colored neon of Vardea Chryssa, colorful still-life sculpture arrangements of Robert Hudson, and polychrome clay sculptures of Peter Voulkos, John Mason and Kenneth Price. Sources: Ralph Mayer, "A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques"; "Phaidon Dictionary of Twentieth Century Art"

Art Word of the Day

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