11 Things Only Art Lovers Will Understand

Elitist and intellectual it may be, the art world can be easily navigated once you’ve mastered the subtleties of these 11 points all art lovers have under their belt.

Quite simply, an art lover knows not to insult a graffiti artist by calling them a street artist and vice versa. Graffiti artists predominantly create word-based murals while street artists create image-based murals. There is undeniably overlap between styles but a true art lover will be able to make the distinction.

Artists are commonly referred to by their surname. Why? Because it’s easier and we’re obviously too lazy to say full names. The Spanish, though, took it that one step further. Because Doménikos Theotokópoulos was obviously too much to get their lips round, the renaissance painter and sculptor was simply nicknamed ‘The Greek’, in reference to his origins even though he lived out his days in Toledo, Spain.

Art might cost an arm and a leg to hang on your wall, but many cities have amazing national collections you can visit for free, as well as commercial galleries that don’t charge an entrance fee. So don’t be put off by the security guard, remember he’s there to hold the door open for you, as you might be the next big art collector!

It should come as no surprise that the creative industries are built on aesthetics, therefore looking the part is half the battle of getting into a VIP art party. During art-fair weeks like Frieze, there are parties aplenty, so you’re never too far away from a soiree to blag your way into, as anyone who is anyone is never really invited anyway – they just turn up and waltz in.

Artists love to use allegorical devices and symbolism in their work, as it gives scope to convey a wealth of information in a compact way. Back in the day, these pictorial codes wouldn’t have eluded us, but now you might need an art history degree to know that a lit candle indicates the presence of God, a skull represents death and rotting fruit reminds us of the shortness of life.

When Kusama’s free show opened at her London gallery, Victoria Miro’s Wharf Road space, there were queues round the block just so people could get Instagram proof they were at the must-attend show. So every art lover knows when Instagram envy is on the cards; they have to keep their ears to the ground and finger on the pulse to be the first at the next big art show.

Artists use multiple mediums to create their masterpieces, but a variety of printing techniques enables them to duplicate the same image many times over, giving rise to limited editions. So whether a print is made using woodcut, linocut, etching, engraving, lithograph or screen printing, any art lover will be able to tell the difference.

Art historians love to categorise art movements and groups of artists – well, there’ve been so many over the centuries. So we’ve had neoclassicism, romanticism, impressionism, fauvism, cubism, futurism, surrealism, abstract expressionism, modernism, post modernism, neoism and stuckism, to name but a few. And now we’re supposedly in the era of remodernism. But all art lovers know that we’re really in the era of the no-ism. Oh, it’s so art!

We don’t want to get all mathematical on you, but the Greeks devised an equation known as Phi – commonly referred to as the golden mean, golden section, golden ratio or divine proportion – which when followed creates compositions which are pleasing to the eye. Repeatedly used throughout the history of art, you’ll see this device in the work of renaissance artists such as polymath Leonardo da Vinci, as well as architects including Le Corbusier.

The proclamation ‘My kid could do that!’ doesn’t wash with art lovers. That’s not to say such children won’t grow up to be the next Jackson Pollock, but any art lover understands the visual language the American artist employed, which moved away from the formal aspects of representation and focused on the materiality of paint.

Aside from street and graffiti art, public spaces are also the perfect location to install sculptures and installations. Forget municipal statues that commemorate royal or military figures, public art is about engaging in a dialogue with the public in a sphere that does not abide by the same rules as an art gallery or museum. Here, art can activate a space 24 hours a day for all to appreciate.

Want to know more arty facts? These European artworks were so controversial they shocked the world