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Art & Art History vocabulary · Describing & Interpreting Art

Figurative

Meaning in art & art history, with examples

/ˈfɪɡjərətɪv/adjectiveCommon term

In art & art history, figurative means: Showing people, animals or objects in a way you can recognise, even if they are simplified or distorted; the opposite of abstract.

In Turkish: figüratif, betimleyici, temsili

How it is used

Common in gallery and exam language: figurative painting, a figurative sculptor, a return to figuration. Representational means almost the same. Be careful: in language and literature, figurative means not literal (a figurative meaning).

Example sentences

  1. After years of abstraction, he returned to figurative painting in the 1980s.

  2. The prize is open to both abstract and figurative work.

Common collocations

  • figurative painting
  • figurative art
  • figurative sculpture
  • semi-figurative
  • abstract artArt that does not try to show people, objects or places realistically and uses shapes, colours, lines and marks to create its effect instead.
  • RealismA mid-nineteenth-century movement, led in France by Gustave Courbet, that showed ordinary people and everyday life truthfully instead of idealised or historical scenes.
  • depictTo show a person, scene or idea in a picture, sculpture or other artwork.
  • portraitA painting, drawing, photograph or sculpture of a particular person, usually showing the face and saying something about their character or status.

More terms: Describing & Interpreting Art

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