luminism

noun

lu·​mi·​nism ˈlü-mə-ˌni-zəm 

often capitalized

: a theory or practice of realist landscape and seascape painting developed in the U.S. in the mid-19th century and concerned with the study and depiction of effects of light and atmosphere

luminist

ˈlü-mə-nist 

noun or adjective often capitalized

Examples of luminism in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Illuminated from behind by an electric light, the painting predicted both the sofa-sized luminism of Thomas Kinkade and the big-screen visual effects that still dazzle audiences today. —Washington Post, 13 Apr. 2022

Word History

Etymology

probably from lumin(ous) + -ism

Note: The term has been credited to the American art curator John I.H. Baur (1909-87), who used it in the article "American Luminism: A Neglected Aspect of the Realist Movement in Nineteenth-Century America," Perspectives USA, no. 9 (Autumn, 1954), pp. 91-98.

First Known Use

1954, in the meaning defined above