Paintings

=Paintings= toc

To paint a painting is to apply a colour medium to a surface medium with “aesthetic consideration” with the purpose of creating an “expressive and conceptual” piece of work intended by the practitioner” (Wikipedia, 2006). Paintings serve many purposes like to represent, to document and to express the intent and the subject of the artists.

First Painting
The oldest painting known to man, located in Grotte Chuvey in France, is 32,000 years old (Wikipedia, 2006). The paintings were created using natural pigments such as red ochre, charcoal, and powdered minerals mixed with egg whites, plant juice, animal blood, and fat (History World, 2006). The paintings were applied on the walls with twigs and reeds - sometimes the medium was blown on (Ecarta, 2006). The cave paintings were murals consisting of mainly animals - horses, deers, cattle lions, panthers, rhinoceroses, bears, reindeer, mammoths and bisons. It is said that the paintings originated depending on the “natural formations” and “contours” of the cave (Janson, 2006). It is believed that the artists would imaginatively see the animals depending on the bumps and veins of the cave (Janson, 2006). From there, they would outline the animals.

Although the cave paintings are over 30, 000 years old, they remain intact. This is due to the location – the cave paintings were never painted near the opening of the cave for easy access and easy destruction. The paintings would be hidden deep inside the caves. Some paintings were hidden in places only accessible by crawling on hands and on knees through complex paths (Janson, 2006). Many of the cave paintings were only found by chance – the cave at Lascaux in France were discovered by boys who’s dog fell into a hole that led to the underground chamber (Janson, 2006).

The intention of the cave paintings are not known precisely. There are many theories as to why the paintings exist which mainly centralize around religion and magic. They must have been important to those that painted them if they were hidden away. One theory is that they are a part of “hunting magic” rituals (Janson, 2006). This theory explains that by “killing” the animal on the wall (throwing spears or rocks at the wall) would kill the animal’s spirit (Janson, 2006). Killing the spirit would allow an easier time when it came to hunting. Other theories claim that cave paintings were early expression of religion – the animals were thought to have "spiritual meaning" (Janson, 2006). Furthermore, paintings were also thought of a way to pay homage to nature. In addition, claims that the cave paintings served as a “basic need of expression" that is innately human” are made (Wikipedia, 2006). Lastly, some theorists believed that paintings helped the shaman into a state of trance (History World, 2006).

Types of Paintings
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 * Oil Paint - oil + pigment
 * Watercolours - water + pigment
 * Frescos - water + pigment on wet/dry plastered wall
 * Encaustic - beeswax + pigment
 * Tempera - egg yolk + pigment
 * Acrylic - polymer
 * Casein - opaque watercolour + casein (Artlex, 2006)
 * Pastel - gum + water + pigment
 * Gouache - opaque watercolour paint

Styles of Paintings
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 * Expressionism
 * Fauvism
 * Romanticism
 * Realism
 * Abstraction
 * Action
 * Colour Field
 * Pop Art
 * Photorealism
 * Neo-Expressionism
 * Neo-Abstration
 * Baroque
 * Cubism
 * Pointillism
 * Neo-Classicism
 * Mannerism
 * Rococo
 * Renaissance
 * Surrealism
 * [|Modernism]
 * Symbolism
 * Classicism
 * Orientalism
 * Impressionism
 * Floral
 * Baroque
 * Fauves
 * German Expressionism
 * Suprematism
 * Fantasy

Prominent Painters

 * Michelangelo Buonarroti
 * William Turner
 * Leonardo Da Vinci
 * Paul Cezanne
 * Pablo Picasso
 * Gustav Klimt
 * Sandro Botticelli
 * Francisco de Goya
 * Frida Kahlo
 * Diego Velazquez
 * Michelangelo Caravaggio
 * Rembrant
 * Francisco de Goya
 * Claude Money
 * Franz Marc
 * Henri Matisse
 * Frans Hals
 * Andy Warhol
 * Giovanni Bellini
 * Salavador Dali
 * Piet Mondrian
 * Edvard Munch
 * Eugene Delacroix
 * Pieter the Elder Brueghal
 * Jan Vermeer
 * Rembrant van Rign
 * Edouard Manet
 * Peter Paul Rubens
 * Pierre-Auguste Renoir
 * Wassily Kandinsky

Hierarchy of Genres
A hierarchy of genres- the ranking of different genres in terms of their value, existed for paintings in the seventeenth century (Wikipedia, 2006). The Academie Francaise, a group of academics who held an important role in Academic art at the time, claimed that there were five types of genres in the field of paintings. The types of paintings are classified as histories, genres, portraits, landscapes, and still-lifes. These categories helped classify the different paintings that emerge and their value amongst each other. History paintings were viewed as the most important genre whereas still-lifes were considered to be least important.

History Paintings
History paintings have themes that centralize around religion, myth, history, literature or allegory subjects (Wikipedia, 2006). Historical paintings each contained an underlying message of moral or intellect depicted as an interpretation of life. A history painting must always have "something either in action, or in the object, in which men are universally concerned, and which powerfully strikes upon the public sympathy" (Emory University, 2006). In the seventeeth century, the Academie Francaise saw history paintings as the “grande genre” because it was the most important (Wikipedia, 2006).To be a history painting, a lecturer named Sir Joshua Reynolds states, an artist must "paint man in general" (Emory University, 2006).

//Last Day of Pompeii - Karl Bruillov//

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Genre Paintings
Genre paintings fell under many names such as genre scenes, genre views, or petite genres because, at the time, they were regarded as an inferior type of genre painting (Wikipedia, 2006). Genre paintings depicted “scenes from everyday life” of ordinary people at work or play (Britannia Concise Encyclopedia, 2006). Depending on the preference of the artist, genre paintings could be realistic, imagined or romanticized. Genre paintings were associated with the bourgeoisie (middle class) and were thought to be “merely reportorial pictures without moral force or artistic imagination” (Wikipedia, 2006). The Academic Francaise wanted to ensure that society would never regard genre paintings as high art. Academic Francaise wanted genre painting artists to only be commended for their “skill, ingenuity or humour” because genre paintings are “neither ideal in style nor elevated in subject” (Wikipedia, 2006).

//The Peasant Dance - Pieter Brueghal//

Portrait Paintings
Paintings of portraits were regarded to be below history and genre paintings in terms of value. Portrait paintings artistically capture the subject matter on canvas. Portraits are generally not overly done - the main emphasis is to depict the appearance of a person. Sometimes, artists would use different objects or poses to give some insight into the subject's personality. Typically, portraits were commissioned by the subject. However, there are cases where portrait paintings were created as artists felt inspired or admired the given subject. Also, some artists chose to depict themselves as the main subject in portrait paintings – these are called self-portraits. More specifically, portraits can be further classified into how much of the subject is seen whether it be fully body, half length or head and shoulders (Wikipedia, 2006).

//Portrait of a Girl - Elisabeth Louise Vigee Le Brun//

Landscape Paintings
Landscape paintings consist of a composition of scenes from nature. The paintings have a “visible feature of an area of land” (Wikipedia, 2006). Some of the sceneries that can be included in a landscape painting include mountains, beaches, valleys, fields, flowers, trees, lakes, rivers and forests. Landscapes may also can contain people.

//The Harvesters - Pieter the Elder//

Still Life Paintings
Works of art that comprise of “inanimate” subject matter are categorized as still lifes (Wikipedia, 2006). Objects are typically grouped and arranged together to be painted. Objects can include fruit, utensils, glassware, flowers, beverages, foods, etc. Because the objects are non-moving, artists have more freedom to move the objects around into the right compositions.

//Still Life with Apples - Paul Cezanne//

When the seventeenth century came to an end, artists and critics rebelled against the rules set forth by the Academie Francaise. The mentality that historical paintings were the highest level of art was challenged. Historical paintings were no longer regarded as the highest level of art. Still lifes were no longer regarded as the lowest level of art. Different movements occurred that changed the preferences amongst the artists – all the genres were then considered high art.

Image Source
Kelly, Kj. "Elisabeth Louise Vigee Le Brun." __Bat Guano__. 2006. 19 Nov. 2006 <[|http://www.batguano.com/VLBflor1.jpg>.] "Last Day of Pompeii." __Auburn__. 1999. 19 Nov. 2006 <[|http://www.auburn.edu/academic/liberal_arts/foreign/russian/art/briullov-pompeii.html>.] "Lesson Idea 4: Renaissance Society - an Exploration of Renaissance Society, It's Classes, Its Politics." __Renaissance School__. 2006. 19 Nov. 2006 <[|http://www.schools.net.au/edu/lesson_ideas/renaissance/images/dance.jpg>.] Pioch, Nicolas. "Bruegel, Pieter the Elder." __WebMuseum__. 16 Aug. 2002. 19 Nov. 2006 <[|http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/bruegel/harvesters.jpg>.] Pioch, Nicolas. "Cezanne, Paul: Still Life Galleria." __WebMuseum__. 19 Sept. 2002. 19 Nov. 2006 <[|http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/cezanne/sl/>.]