F., Fec., Fecit
Latin notations for 'he made', follows the artist's name on a painting or sculpture, or on  an original print to distinguish the artist from the engraver, printmaker and/or publisher.

Facsimile
An exact COPY.

Fake
A copy of an existing work of art or a work done in careful imitation of a well-known artist's style. Distinguished from a COPY or studio version because the intention is to deceive. (See also ATTRIBUTION, FORGERY and PROVENANCE)

Fall River School
Robert Spear Dunning and John Grouard founded the Fall River Evening Drawing School in 1870 in Fall River, Maine, a milling town. The focus was on highly realistic, "trompe l'oeil" still life painting. It is said that no other community in the 19th century was so much known for still life painting.

Fat over lean
A rule of thumb for painters in oil. As an oil painting is built up in layers, it is essential that each layer has more oil then the one below it so that as the paint dries, the top layers are flexible enough to accommodate shrinkage and settling without cracking.

Fauves, les 
(Fr., the �wild beast�). Originally a contemptuous appellation for a group of French Post-Impressionist painters who exhibited their work at the Salon d'Automne in 1905. They were so called because of their use of strident color, violent distortions, and
broad, bold brushwork. Their leader was Henri Matisse (1869-1954); others were Rouault, Vlaminck, Derain, and Duffy.

Fauvism
(See FAUVES)

Federal Art Project
A U.S. Government agency formed during the Depression to provide employment for artists.

Fete Champetre
(Fr., rural festival). A painting of a country festival, for example, Bruegel's "Dance of the Peasants."

Fete galante
A scene of an elegant, festive occasion in an open-air setting, depicting dancing, musicales, comedy, etc. Watteau introduced the fete galante and it became a specialty of French rococo art.

Figure-Ground* 
In two-dimensional art, the relationship between the principal forms and the background. Figure-ground ambiguity suggests equal importance for the two.

Fin De Siecle
Refers primarily to Art Nouveau and aestheticism of the 1890�s, sometimes termed �decadent art.� Used to refer to a �style� or �movement� associated with the end of the 19th century. An artist best known for this period was Englishman Aubrey Beardsley (1872-1898). 

Fine Art
That art which is assessable only in terms of its aesthetic significance. It includes architecture, painting, drawing, poetry, music, printmaking, sculpture, and other forms of art that do not fulfill a practical function. This may be contrasted with applied art, in which function is as important as aesthetic considerations. Essentially a distinction between �art�, �craft� and �APPLIED ART�. The modern notion of �fine art� can be traced back to the Renaissance when there was a strong movement, led by Leonardo da Vinci, to demonstrate that the painter in particular was practicing an intellectual and not a manual skill.

Firing*
Heating pottery or sculpture in a kiln or open fire to bring the clay to maturity. The temperature needed to mature the clay varies with the type of body used. Also, heating glazed ware to the necessary point to cause the glaze to mature.

Fixative
A transparent liquid that is sprayed on work executed in a medium that can be damaged by contact (such as charcoal or pastel) to protect it.

Folk art 
The products of untrained artists, including peasant art, urban primitives, and naturals. Paintings, sculpture, ceramics, metalwork, costume, needlework, implements, and tools all may be folk art.

Fore-edge painting
A painting on the edge of a book opposite the spine, occasionally on the top edge, visible when the book is fanned slightly. Landscape is the most common subject.

Foreshortening
The application of perspective to forms in order to create the illusion of three-dimensionality and depth.

Forging*
Shaping metal with hammers while it is hot; the method for making wrought iron.

Form
A word often confused with SHAPE. Properly, the form of an object is the combination of all the characteristics that establish its identity. Form not only includes shape, but also aspects such as size, texture, color, tone, and movement. An artist may select certain aspects of the form for depiction, though often he attempts to express all aspects of form, which cannot be specifically delineated such as the movement, or the emotions
of the subject.

Found object 
(Fr., objet trouve). Something found, not looked for, which is regarded by an artist as aesthetically significant. Shown as, or incorporated into, works of art by the Dadaists and Surrealists.

Fourteenth Street School
Refers to the works of American Kenneth Hayes Miller and students Reginald Marsh and Isabel at the Art Student League, New York City. All were realists in the Italian Renaissance tradition.

Foxing
A discoloration of paper in books, prints, etc., due to dampness. Characterized by brown spots.

French Impressionism
A painting technique in which the artist concentrates on the changing effects of light and color. Often this style can be characterized by its use of discontinuous brush strokes and heavy impasto. It was the first great modern art movement, beginning in France with an exhibition held in Paris in 1874. The leader of the movement was Claude Monet (1840-1926). The term continues to be used in the 20th century to characterize discontinuous brushwork that allows the play of light with color. Two schoolsof Impressionism have evolved---American and French with French Impressionists less concerned with form than the Americans.

Fresco
Wall painting in which pigments are mixed with water and applied to lime plaster that is still wet. The plaster serves both as the GROUND and the BINDER for the medium. In addition, it provides the lights and highlights for the finished work, being the only source of white. True, or buon fresco, involves preparing the wall with several layers of plaster, beginning with a rough arriccio on to which the design is first traced (see CARTOON) and ending with smooth intonaco which is only applied in small sections so that the artist can be certain that his paints will be going on wet plaster. This sort of fresco painting is very skilled, as the artist must work very quickly and is virtually unable to make corrections. A less difficult, and less permanent, form of wall painting in which a water-based paint is applied to dry plaster is known as fresco secco.

Frottage
A process of making a rubbing in which paper is laid over a textured material and rubbed with black lead. Max Ernst used the technique in his Surrealist collages.

Fugitive pigment
Pigment that either fades with prolonged exposure to light, is susceptible to atmospheric pollution, or tends to darken when mixed with other substances
.
Funk Art
Artwork referring to subject matter that is offensive, intended to offend. Often refers to a movement born in the San Francisco area during the 1960s.

Futurism*
Art movement founded in Italy, in 1909, by artist Filippo Marinetti, and lasting until the end of World War I. Futurism concentrated on the dynamic quality of modern technological life, emphasizing speed and movement. The cubists, the constructivists, and Marcel Duchamp would apply ideas from this era.