6 ARTS TOPIC IELTS

ARTS VOCABULARY  ABSTRACT – ADJECTIVE abstract art expresses the artist’s ideas or feelings rather than showing the exact appearance of people or things  Accessible – ADJECTIVE easy t

ARTS VOCABULARY

 ABSTRACT – ADJECTIVE abstract art expresses the artist’s ideas or feelings rather

than showing the exact appearance of people or things

 Accessible – ADJECTIVE easy to understand and enjoy

 Aesthetic – ADJECTIVE relating to beauty or to the study of

the principles of beauty, especially in art

 Artisan – ADJECTIVE made by hand and with skill using traditional methods

 Artistic – ADJECTIVE relating to any form of

art, including painting, music, literature, acting, and dancing

 Arty-crafty – ADJECTIVE made by someone

who enjoys creating and decorating things themselves, but who you think lacks skill

 Avant-garde – ADJECTIVE avant-garde music, art etc is very modern and

may shock people because it is so different from what has gone before

 Baroque – ADJECTIVE relating to the very detailed style of art, building, or music that was popular in europe in the 17th and early 18th centuries

 Camp – ADJECTIVE art or entertainment that

is camp deliberately does not follow traditional ideas about what

is considered good in order to produce a humorous effect

 Cubist – ADJECTIVE relating to an early 20th-century style of painting in which

the artist paints several different views of a person or object in

a single painting, usually using straight lines

 Evocative – ADJECTIVE an evocative work of art expresses something

very clearly and makes you have a strong reaction to it

 Figurative – ADJECTIVE figurative art represents people, objects, and scenes, rather than representing feelings or ideas as abstract art does

 Folk – ADJECTIVE folk art, traditions, stories etc were developed by people in

a particular region and have become traditional there

 Folksy – ADJECTIVE made or done in a way that is intended to remind you

of traditional art, customs, or stories

 Formal – ADJECTIVE relating to the form or structure of something such as

a piece of writing, art, or music

 Freehand – ADJECTIVE drawn without using a ruler or other equipment

 Gothic – ADJECTIVE gothic styles of building and art were common in europe between the 12th and 15th centuries

 Grandiose – ADJECTIVE designed to look very impressive,

but really looking artificial or silly

 Graphic – ADJECTIVE relating to drawing

 Lifelike – ADJECTIVE a lifelike picture, model etc looks like a real person or thing

 Literary – ADJECTIVE relating to books that are considered to have value as art

 Magisterial – ADJECTIVE a magisterial work is written by someone

whose knowledge and opinions are respected

 Mature – ADJECTIVE the mature work of an artist, writer etc is produced when they are

no longer young and have developed their skill to a high level

 Minimalist – ADJECTIVE relating to minimalism

 Monochrome – ADJECTIVE using different shades of a single colour

 Naturalistic – ADJECTIVE a naturalistic painting, novel etc shows people and things as they are in real life

 Painterly – ADJECTIVE with a style or appearance that reminds you of

a painter or painting

 Pictorial – ADJECTIVE consisting of pictures

 Postmodern – ADJECTIVE relating to postmodernism

 Pre-Raphaelite – ADJECTIVE typical of a style of art popular in late 19th century england that used a lot of detail and bright colours and showed a very romanticized view of life

 Pulp – ADJECTIVE pulp books, magazines, and films have not been written very well, and are often about sex or violence

 Pure – ADJECTIVE a pure form of art does not have any practical purpose, such

as selling something

 Realist – NOUN relating to realism in art or literature

 Representational – ADJECTIVE representational paintings and other works of art

show things as they really are

 Romantic – ADJECTIVE relating to the style of literature, art, and music known as

romanticism

 Satirical – ADJECTIVE satirical writing or

art uses humour to criticize people or things and make them seem silly

 Seminal – ADJECTIVE

a seminal piece of writing or music is new and different and influences other literature or music that comes after it

 Silk-screen – ADJECTIVE printed by silk screen, or related to this method of printing

 Skeuomorphic – ADJECTIVE

a skeuomorphic design includes features which make a new thing look older or

more familiar

 Spacey – ADJECTIVE spacey music or art seems to have been created by someone

who takes drugs that change the way that they think

 Stereoscopic – ADJECTIVE a stereoscopic picture is designed so that when you look at it through a special piece of equipment, it looks solid and real

 Stylized – ADJECTIVE in a style that is artificial rather than realistic (=like life)

 Surrealistic – ADJECTIVE connected with surrealism

 Three-D - a three-d film, picture etc looks as if it has height, depth, and width

 Three-dimensional – ADJECTIVE used for describing images that look as if they

are three-dimensional

 Untitled – ADJECTIVE an untitled poem, book, painting etc has not been given a title

 Wearable – ADJECTIVE wearable technology or art is worn on the body

 Eclectic - (adj) deriving ideas, style or taste from a broad and dicerse range of

sources

 still life - (n) a picture of flowers or foods, or other unmoving objects.

 Mural - (n) a large picture on a wall

 Choreograph - (v) compose the sequence of steps and moves (for a performance of

dance or ice skating)

 Renaissance - a period in the late 15th and 16th centuries in Western Europe when

there were lots of new discoveries in art and science

 Impressionism - an art movement that originated in the 1860s, founded by Monei

and his friends, in France

 Expressionism - an early 20th century style developed in Germany.

 Surrealism - a 20th-century art movement based on creating art inspired by dreams

and subconscious thoughts

IDIOMS

 Art is long and life is short: works of art last much longer than human lives

 Blank canvas: something with no content such that it can be easily filled with

completely new things

 Con artist: a person who makes a living by swindling people.

 Drama queen: a person who tends to react to every event or situation in an

over-dramatic or exaggerated way

 Paint something with a broad brush: to describe something in general terms, without

mentioning specific details and without paying attention to individual variations

 State of the art: something that reflects the highest level of development, something that

is very up-to-date

 have a good taste in: used when someone likes something that the majority judges as

"good" or if it's something that you also like

SAMPLE

CUE CARDS (PART 2)

Talk about a painting you would like to have in your home

You should say:

 what is it

 how you know about it

 how much it would cost you

and explain why you want to have it in your home.

Sample Answer:

‘The Creation of Adam’ painted by Michelangelo is the painting that I would like to have in my house This is a painting that forms the part of the Sistine Chapel Ceiling and it illustrates the Biblical creation narration of human from the book of Genesis This picture depicts the creation

of human where God breathes the life into Adam This is considered to be one of the finest works ever done by a painter and only rivalled by two other great painting: Mona Lisa and The Last

I saw a picture of this painting in our history book when I was in high school and then I was amazed by the painting and the idea of the painting I am sure this painting is priceless and no individual would be able to own it and hang it in his/her house But I can buy a copied version of this painting which would cost me around $90

When I looked at the painting in my early childhood, I was enthralled by the idea and fine work

of this painting This was the painting that inspired me to learn more about painting and greatest work of mythological paintings Later I learned about other great paintings by Michelangelo and

by other greatest artists Furthermore, every time I look at this picture, I feel the overwhelming joy of creation, the human race and divinity Because of this, I would like to have this picture (more accurately the copy of the original one) in my home

Describe a museum that you have visited.

You should say:

 when you visited the museum

 describe the museum

 how you felt after going there

and describe your experience of the visit.

Possible Answer:

I have visited 5-6 museums in total in different countries and enjoyed visiting the (tell a museum name you know about) in (say the country name) I went to the museum 2 years back while

visiting the city Visiting the museum was not in our tour plan and yet we went there as it was prominently expressing its present in front of us I went there with my 2 friends and one cousin who were my tour partners My cousin and one of my friends were not at all interested to roam inside the museum as they had other plans I insisted them to go there and convinced them by saying that if you do not enjoy it; I would pay for the dinner!

After we bought our tickets, we entered into the museum and the colossal front side of the

museum building and the large open garden in front of it mesmerised us At that time I had a

feeling that our time would worth the visit

After we entered inside the museum, we found that the place is even larger than we initially

the imperial age We could see the top of the building from the ground floor People from

different age groups and countries were closely observing the museum Taking photo was

prohibited and yet I was sometimes lured to take some hidden snaps especially when I saw the colossal dinosaur fossil and alien ship!

The first floor of the museum had some art from a famous artist of the world and sculptures from

a different era The first floor gave us the impression of visiting a theatre or art gallery rather than a museum We came to know that some of the arts were so expensive that one can buy an island by selling it! Then we moved to the second floor which was full of Second World War

memories Guns, tanks and other war materials from 1945 WW II had been arranged there A video was showing some of the fighting scenes of WW II

When we reached the third floor, it’s been already 2.5 hours We found all the costumes and

traditional things from different parts of the world have been placed here One can easily learn about the customs of different ages and countries just by visiting this floor The next floor had more adventure and surprises for us It has placed all the major inventions of different ages and they were historically famous I felt overwhelmed seeing the First computer, Speed boat, Wheel, Motor Engine and many more famous invention of history at this floor I was so much dying to touch the first 4 wheeler that had been placed there

We had visited the whole museum as much as possible and spent almost the whole day We were

so enthralled to visit the place that we literally forgot to have our lunch The overall experience was fantastic and I learned so many things in few hours As soon as I left the place, I planned to revisit it someday

TWO-WAY DISCUSSION (PART 3):

Q How often do you visit museums?

A. Although I would love to go to museums more often, I have only visited three of them until now and that would make it three times that I have been to museums!

All of them were of archaeological type but I still remember the last one- in Greece It was the Acropolis Museum and I went there at the age of 16, during a school programme for the

restitution of the Parthenon Marbles which are located in the British Museum It is a magnificent building and it reflects the Greek civilisation with the inclusion of statues, monuments and even

Greece about its exhibits I strongly believe that it was the best educational experience of my life and I would induce people to pay it a visit when possible

Q What type of museum is popular in your country?

A. I come from Greece so I'm going to talk about the type of museums famous there It is widely known that Greece has a really important culture and history, so there are numerous museums throughout the country Archaeological and folklore museums are the most common kinds and those are visited by the majority of people Apart from these, biographical, ethnographic and

historic museums are also really rife in our country Furthermore, there are art museums and

galleries and some other that are about industry, science and technology To conclude, there are plenty of categories that satisfy everyone's preference and desire but Archaeological and folklore museums are most popular in our country

Q What do you think of the importance of museums in history?

A. My personal belief is that museums are of paramount importance and constitute an integral part of a country's history As it is known, these constructions provide information about culture and heritage; in other words, museums keep history alive To be more precise, museums include artifacts and different objects from the past and by placing them there, people are reassured that the items they see provide clear and accurate information about the history, rather than reading books and magazines in which most of the details are subjective and theoretical In addition, if I'm allowed to speak in economic terms, I would say that museums are history's brands and

trademarks

Q How do you think of the heritage of a country?

A. It seems to me that a heritage of a nation isn't determined by only one thing To begin,

monuments, sculptures and temples are essential and they are representative examples as far as heritage is concerned For example, the Parthenon in Greece, Statue of Liberty in the USA,

Hatshepsut's Mortuary Temple and Pyramids in Egypt, Tower of London in the UK are only

some the most significant structures that reflect each country's legacy History composes an

important part as well, by informing people about the achievements and failures of a territory and the reason why something is known and studied by many Lastly, museums which we were

talking about earlier couldn't be missing from this list, not only for all the important aspects they have but also because they are connected with the beauty and grandeur of a country

Q Compare the museums nowadays and in the past.

A. Anyone who pays a visit to museums could say that nowadays museums are more beautiful, modern, have a rich collection, and convenient to visit than in the past To elucidate, in the past, only a few people had access to them but these days they are open spaces for public knowledge Furthermore, much attention is given to the maintenance of the museums now than the past and

interest In addition, technological advances have played a fundamental role; with videos and audios helping visitors understand what they see and that makes their experience more pleasant, informative and interactive than the past when these technological usages were absent

Q Have you ever been to a foreign museum?

A. The truth is I have never been to a museum outside my country, but I would really like to go someday The first museum that comes to my mind is the British Museum in the UK and despite the fact that I have been living in England for the last three years, I never managed to visit this renowned institution Some other museums that I definitely want to visit are the Metropolitan Museum of Art and National Portrait Gallery in the USA and the National Museum of Ireland