Department of Fine Arts, Okanagan University College
WORDS OF ART: THE Q_LIST
WORDS OF ART: THE Q_LIST
Compiled by Robert J. Belton
If you would like to see something removed, added or corrected,
please feel free to contact
bbelton@klo1.ouc.bc.ca.
QUADRIVIUM: See liberal arts.
QUALITY: A degree of excellence or
superiority, whether of form or content. Quality in a work of art has become a highly problematic concept from a postmodern point of view, since any notion of what constitutes
quality by definition excludes other possibilities, leading some to
charge that it is little more than an instrument of imperialism, racism and other forms of oppression. And yet, however vaguely it is defined,
some types of criticism -- especially connoisseurship and formalism -- have relied on it very heavily. (For a complaint in
this regard, see Hilton Kramer's "The Prospect Before Us," in
New Criterion [September 1990]). See also cultural selection, genius, masterpiece.
QUANTOHISTORY: The historical study of patterns of
cultural change with the tools and methods of statistical analysis. The approach has made very few inroads into artwriting.
QUOIN: Corner stones in architecture lending strength or other emphasis, distinguished from the rest of the surface by greater size, different colour, and/or rustication, or the imitation of same in brick or paint.
QUOTATION: The presentation, within one's own work, of a selection or brief passage from another's work and the acknowledgment thereof. This is usually restricted to verbal
excerpts from another's work, but it is easily extendable to visual culture,
especially in instances of allusion, appropriation, and citation. See also source
analysis.
© Copyright 1996 Robert J. Belton
Back to Words of Art Index
Back to Fine
Arts Page
Back to OUC Arts and Education Home Page
Back to OUC Home Page