Painting taken literally is the practice of applying
pigment suspended in a carrier (or
medium) and a binding agent (a
glue) to a surface (support) such as
paper,
canvas or a wall. However, when used in an artistic sense it means the use of this activity in combination with
drawing,
composition, or other aesthetic considerations to manifest the expressive and conceptual intention of the practitioner. Painting is also used to express spiritual motifs and ideas; sites of this kind of painting range from artwork depicting mythological figures on pottery to
The Sistine Chapel, to the human body itself.
History Origins and early history with
Isis Like drawing, painting has its documented origins in caves and on rock faces. The earliest known cave paintings, dating to between 32,000-30,000 years ago, are found in the
Chauvet cave in southern France; the celebrated polychrome murals of
Lascaux date to around 17,000–15,500 years ago. In shades of red, brown, yellow and black, the paintings on the walls and ceilings depict bison, cattle (
aurochs), horses and deer. Paintings of human figures can be found in the tombs of ancient Egypt. In the great temple of
Ramesses II,
Nefertari, his queen, is depicted being led by
Isis. The
Greeks contributed to painting but much of their work has been lost. One of the best remaining representations are the
Hellenistic Fayum mummy portraits. Another example is mosaic of the
Battle of Issus at
Pompeii, which was probably based on a Greek painting. Greek and Roman art contributed to
Byzantine art in the 4th century BC, which initiated a tradition in icon painting.
The Renaissance Apart from the
illuminated manuscripts produced by monks during the
Middle Ages, the next contribution to European art was from
Italy's renaissance painters. New techniques were developed with oil paint, such as
glazing and the
chiaroscuro technique to create and achieve depth and luminosity. From
Giotto in the 13th century to
Leonardo da Vinci and
Raphael at the beginning of the 16th century, this was the richest period in
Italian art. At the same time, the Italian Renaissance art movement inspired artists in parts of Europe north of the Alps in a movement called the
Northern Renaissance.
Jan van Eyck from Belgium,
Pieter Bruegel the Elder from the Netherlands and
Hans Holbein the Younger from Germany are among the most successful painters of those times.
Baroque The Baroque started after the Renaissance, from the late 16th century to the late 17th century. Main artists of the Baroque included
Caravaggio, who made heavy use of
tenebrism.
Peter Paul Rubens, a
Flemish painter who studied in Italy, worked for local churches in
Antwerp and also painted a series for
Marie de' Medici.
Annibale Carracci took influences from the
Sistine Chapel and created the genre of
illusionistic ceiling painting. Much of the development that happened in the Baroque was because of the
Protestant Reformation and the resulting
Counter Reformation. Much of what defines the Baroque is dramatic lighting and overall visuals.
Impressionism (1872) Impressionism began in France in the 19th century with a loose association of artists including
Claude Monet,
Pierre-Auguste Renoir and
Paul Cézanne who brought a new freely brushed style to painting, often choosing to paint realistic scenes of modern life outside rather than in the studio. This was achieved through a new expression of aesthetic features demonstrated by brush strokes and the impression of reality. They achieved intense color vibration by using pure, unmixed colors and short brush strokes. The movement influenced art as a dynamic, moving through time and adjusting to newfound techniques and perception of art. Attention to detail became less of a priority in achieving, whilst exploring a biased view of landscapes and nature to the artist's eye.
Post-impressionism Towards the end of the 19th century, several young painters took impressionism a stage further, using geometric forms and unnatural color to depict emotions while striving for deeper symbolism. Of particular note are
Paul Gauguin, who was strongly influenced by Asian, African and Japanese art,
Vincent van Gogh, a Dutchman who moved to France where he drew on the strong sunlight of the south, and
Toulouse-Lautrec, remembered for his vivid paintings of night life in the Paris district of
Montmartre.
Symbolism, expressionism and cubism Edvard Munch, a Norwegian artist, developed his symbolistic approach at the end of the 19th century, inspired by the French impressionist
Manet.
The Scream (1893), his most prominent work, is widely interpreted as representing the universal anxiety of modern man. Partly as a result of Munch's influence, the German
expressionist movement emerged at the beginning of the 20th century with artists such as
Ernst Kirschner and
Erich Heckel. In parallel, the style known as
cubism developed in France as artists focused on the volume and space of sharp structures within a composition.
Pablo Picasso and
Georges Braque were the leading proponents of the movement. Objects are broken up, analyzed, and re-assembled in an abstracted form. By the 1920s, the style had developed into
surrealism with
Dali and
Magritte. ==Printmaking==