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pictorialism

American  
[pik-tawr-ee-uh-liz-uhm, -tohr-] / pɪkˈtɔr i əˌlɪz əm, -ˈtoʊr- /

noun

  1. Fine Arts. the creation or use of pictures or visual images, especially of recognizable or realistic representations.

  2. emphasis on purely photographic or scenic qualities for its own sake, sometimes with a static or lifeless effect.

    The movie's self-conscious pictorialism makes it little more than a travelogue.


Other Word Forms

  • pictorialist noun

Etymology

Origin of pictorialism

First recorded in 1865–70; pictorial + -ism

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Her way is short on pomp in her exquisite calligraphic musical pictorialism.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 23, 2021

The tensions were clear: pictorialism versus “straight” photography.

From Washington Post • Jan. 22, 2015

The concentrated, constrained style, though, seems an odd medium for Ross's psychedelic medievalism and, even without a projection of the painting,, for the detailed pictorialism through which the music traced its annoyingly unforgettable way.

From The Guardian • Aug. 20, 2012

Raised in the anarchist-utopian community of Home on Puget Sound, Haffer explored forms from pictorialism to surrealism in her work.

From Seattle Times • Dec. 20, 2011

High reliefs largely preclude this kind of pictorialism.

From "History of Art, Volume 1" by H.W. Janson