Dictionary

artspeak en · NOUN

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂er- Proto-Indo-European *h₂értis Proto-Italic *artis Latin ars Latin artemder. Old French artbor. Middle English art English art English -speak English artspeak From art + -speak.

Meanings

1. (derogatory, often, uncountable) The specialist vocabulary and language associated with art and artists, especially when seen as complicated or pretentious.
   • Complication is what artspeak is all about. It seeks to confer status and worth on an artist's work by insisting on its obscurity, which it conveys through a grey porridge of abstract nouns. 2010 February 5, Jon Canter, “Artspeak? It's complicated”, in The Guardian:
   • On the other side of the wall, the affable Mr. Campbell, dressed in jeans and a camouflage baseball cap, attempted to assess the tattoo he chose for Mr. Gachot in the language of artspeak. “With skulls, there’s so much symbolism and power,” he said. 2015 November 13, Alex Williams, “Scott Campbell Turns Blind Trust Into Tattoos”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
   • Mr. Quinn[…] was uptown exploring the new $26 million, 40,000 square foot museum addition because he takes students to museums as part of a course he teaches in New York on what to say about paintings—artspeak. 1987 February 4, William E. Geist, “The Art of Artspeak: Be Sophisticated”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

Forms