Okuzeka
Art & Art History vocabulary · Describing & Interpreting Art

Masterpiece

Meaning in art & art history, with examples

/ˈmæstərpiːs/nounCore term

In art & art history, masterpiece means: An artwork of outstanding quality, or the best work an artist ever made; originally, the piece a craftsman made to be accepted as a master by a guild.

In Turkish: başyapıt, şaheser

How it is used

Common in guidebooks, museum marketing and reviews: a masterpiece of Baroque painting, an early masterpiece, her masterpiece. Art historians use the word carefully, because calling something a masterpiece is a judgement, not a fact.

Example sentences

  1. Many critics see Las Meninas as Velázquez's masterpiece.

  2. The museum's audio guide focuses on twenty masterpieces from the collection.

Common collocations

  • a masterpiece of
  • early masterpiece
  • acknowledged masterpiece
  • minor masterpiece
  • artworkA painting, sculpture, drawing, photograph, installation or any other object or piece of work that an artist makes and that is seen as art.
  • oeuvreThe complete body of work an artist produced during their life, considered as a whole.
  • 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.
  • attributeTo say that a work was made by a particular artist, place or period, based on evidence such as style, documents or scientific tests.

More terms: Describing & Interpreting Art

Practise with graded reading

Reading at the right level is the fastest way to make new words stick. Pick free English books by level: