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Art & Art History vocabulary · Describing & Interpreting Art

Critique

Meaning in art & art history, with examples

/krɪˈtiːk/nounCommon term

In art & art history, critique means: A detailed discussion of the strengths and weaknesses of an artwork; in art schools, a session where students show their work and get feedback from tutors and classmates.

In Turkish: kritik, eleştiri, değerlendirme

How it is used

Art students often say crit for short: a group crit, the final crit. Tutors critique work (verb). In writing, a critique is more balanced than criticism, which in everyday English usually means negative comments.

Example sentences

  1. We have a group critique on Friday, so bring two finished pieces.

  2. The tutor's critique focused on the weak composition rather than the subject.

Common collocations

  • group critique
  • final critique
  • written critique
  • give a critique
  • constructive critique
  • artist statementA short text in which artists explain what their work is about, how they make it and why, often written for exhibitions, applications and websites.
  • compositionThe way the parts of an artwork, such as figures, shapes, colours and empty spaces, are arranged within the picture or space.
  • aestheticConnected with beauty and with how something looks and is experienced; as a noun, the particular look or set of artistic ideas of an artist or group.
  • styleThe particular way an artwork looks that links it to an artist, a group, a place or a period, shown in its forms, colours, technique and subjects.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Describing & Interpreting Art

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