National Galleries of Scotland

Abstract art

Art in which there is no attempt to represent anything existing in the world, particularly used of the 20th century onwards. `Abstraction? refers to the process of making images that may in part derive from the visible world but which are reduced to basic formal elements.

Avant garde

Cultural practices that challenge tradition through experimentation and innovation. Originally a military term, in art it is particularly associated with the late 19th and 20th centuries.

Constructivism

A geometric, abstract style founded in the early twentieth century in Russia by Vladimir Tatlin. The movement reflected the machine age through its use of new technology and materials and applied its theories to architecture and design as well as fine art. Exiled artists such as Naum Gabo helped to spread the Constructivist ideas. `Constructionist? and `constructed abstract art? are also terms used to describe work relating to these ideas.

Cubism

A style of painting originated by Georges Braque and Pablo Picasso in the first two decades of the 20th century. Instead of painting a figure or object from a fixed position they represented it from multiple viewpoints.