Painting is perhaps the most ancient form of art. Even in the primitive era, our ancestors made images of people and animals on the walls of caves. These are the first examples of painting. Since then, this type of art has always remained a companion of human life. Examples of painting today are numerous and varied. We will try to cover this type of art as much as possible, talk about the main genres, styles, directions and techniques in it.
Painting techniques
Let's start with the basic painting techniques. One of the most common is oil . This is a technique that uses oil based paints. These paints are applied in strokes. With the help of them you can create a variety of different shades, as well as convey the necessary images with maximum realism.
Tempera is another popular technique. We are talking about it when emulsion paints are used. The binder in these paints is animal glue, egg or water.
Gouache is a technique widely used in graphics. Gouache paint is made on a glue basis. It can be used to work on cardboard, paper, bone or silk. The image is durable, and the lines are clear. Pastel is a technique of drawing with dry pencils, while the surface should be rough. And, of course, it is worth saying about watercolors. This paint is usually diluted with water. A soft and thin paint layer is obtained using this technique. Watercolor landscapes are especially popular . Of course, we have listed only the basic techniques that are used in painting most often. There are others.
What are paintings usually painted on? The most popular painting on canvas. It is pulled onto a frame or glued to cardboard. Note that in the past, wooden boards were often used. Today, not only painting on canvas is popular, it can be used to create images and any other flat materials.
Types of painting
There are 2 main types of it: easel and monumental painting. The latter is related to architecture. This type includes painting ceilings and walls of buildings, decorating them with images made of mosaics or other materials, stained glass, and so on. Easel painting is not associated with a specific building. It can be moved from place to place. In easel painting, many varieties are distinguished (otherwise they are called genres). Let us dwell on them in more detail.
Painting genres
The word "genre" is French in origin. It translates as "genus", "species". That is, under the name of the genre appears content of a certain kind, and, pronouncing its name, we understand what the picture is about, what we will find in it: man, nature, animal, objects, etc.
Portrait
The most ancient painting genre is portrait. This is an image of a person who is only like himself and no one else. In other words, a portrait is an image in the painting of an individual appearance, since each of us has an individual face. This genre of painting has its own varieties. A portrait can be full-length, chest, or only one face can be painted. Note that not every image of a person is a portrait, since an artist can create, for example, "a person in general" without copying it from anyone. However, when he portrays a specific representative of the human race, he works precisely on the portrait. Needless to say, the examples of painting in this genre are numerous. But the portrait presented below is known to almost every resident of our country. We are talking about the image of A. S. Pushkin, created in 1827 by Kiprensky.
You can also add a self portrait to this genre. In this case, the artist depicts himself. There is a pair portrait, when the picture shows people in pairs; and a group portrait when portraying a group of faces. One can also note the ceremonial portrait, a variety of which is equestrian, one of the most solemn. He was very popular in the past, but now such works are rarely found. However, the next genre, which we will talk about, is relevant at any time. What is it about? You can guess this by going through genres that we have not yet named, characterizing the painting. Still life is one of them. It is about him that we will talk now, while continuing to consider painting.
Still life
This word also has a French origin, it means "dead nature", although the meaning would be more accurate, "inanimate nature." Still life - an image of inanimate objects. They are very diverse. Note that still lifes can also depict a "living nature": butterflies, beautiful flowers, birds, and sometimes among the gifts of nature, you can notice a person who has calmed down on the petals. However, this will still be a still life, since the image of the living is not the most important thing for the artist in this case.
Landscape
Landscape is another French word meaning "view of the country". It is similar to the German concept of "landscape". Landscape is an image of nature in its diversity. The following varieties join this genre: the architectural landscape and the very popular seascape, which is often called the one word "marina", and the artists working in it are called marinists. Numerous examples of painting in the genre of seascapes can be found in the works of I.K. Aivazovsky. One of them is the Rainbow of 1873.
This picture is painted in oil and is difficult to execute. But it’s not difficult to create watercolor landscapes, so each of us was given this task at school in drawing lessons.
Animal genre
The next genre is animalistic. Everything is simple here - it is an image of birds and animals in nature, in a natural environment.
Household genre
The everyday genre is an image of scenes from life, everyday life, funny "incidents", home life and the stories of ordinary people in an ordinary environment. And you can do without stories - just capture everyday activities and activities. Such paintings are sometimes referred to as genre painting. As an example, let us cite Van Gogh's work “Potato Eaters” (1885) presented above.
Historical genre
The themes of painting are diverse, but the historical genre stands out separately. This is an image of historical heroes and events. The battle genre adjoins it; it presents episodes of war and battle.
Religious and mythological genre
In the mythological genre, paintings are written on the themes of ancient and ancient legends about gods and heroes. It should be noted that the image is secular in nature, and in this it differs from the images of deities represented on the icon. By the way, religious painting is not only icons. It combines various works written on religious subjects.
Clash of genres
The richer the content of the genre, the more its “companions” appear. Genres can merge, so there is a painting that generally cannot be placed in the framework of any of them. In art, there is both a general (techniques, genres, styles), and individual (taken separately concrete work). A separate picture carries in itself something in common. Therefore, many artists may have one genre, but the paintings written in it are never similar. Such features are the culture of painting.
Style
Style in the visual arts is an aspect of the visual perception of paintings. It can combine the work of one artist or the work of artists of a certain period, direction, school, area.
Academic Painting and Realism
Academic painting is a special direction, the formation of which is associated with the activities of European art academies. It appeared in the 16th century at the Bologna Academy, natives of which sought to imitate the masters of the Renaissance. Since the 16th century, teaching methods of painting began to be based on strict adherence to rules and norms, following formal patterns. The Royal Academy of Arts in Paris was considered one of the most influential in Europe. She promoted the aesthetics of classicism, which reigned in France in the 17th century. Paris Academy contributing to the systematization of education, gradually turned the rules of the classical direction into dogma. So academic painting has become a special area. In the 19th century, one of the most prominent manifestations of academism was the work of J. L. Jerome, Alexander Cabannel, J. Ingres. Classic canons only at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries were replaced by realistic ones. It was realism that at the beginning of the 20th century became the basic method of teaching in academies, turned into a dogmatic system.
Baroque
Baroque - the style and era of art, which are characterized by aristocracy, contrast, dynamism of images, simple details in the image of abundance, tension, drama, luxury, a fusion of reality and illusion. This style appeared in Italy in 1600 and spread throughout Europe. Caravaggio and Rubens are his most prominent representatives. Baroque is often compared to expressionism, however, unlike the latter, it does not have too repulsive effects. The paintings of this style today are characterized by the complexity of lines and an abundance of ornaments.
Cubism
Cubism is the avant-garde art movement that originated in the 20th century. Its creator is Pablo Picasso. Cubism made a real revolution in sculpture and painting in Europe, inspiring the creation of similar trends in architecture, literature, and music. Art painting in this style is characterized by recombined, broken objects that have an abstract shape. When portraying them, many points of view are used.
Expressionism
Expressionism is another important area of ​​contemporary art that appeared in Germany in the first half of the 20th century. At first it covered only poetry and painting, and then spread to other areas of art.
Expressionists portray the world subjectively, distorting reality to create a greater emotional effect. Their goal is to make the viewer think. Expression in expressionism prevails over the image. It can be noted that many works are characterized by motives of torment, pain, suffering, screaming (the work of Edward Munch, presented above, is called “Scream”). Expressionist artists are not at all interested in material reality; their paintings are filled with deep meaning and emotional experiences.
Impressionism
Impressionism - the direction of painting, aimed mainly at work in the open air (open air), and not in the studio. It owes its name to the picture "Impression, Sunrise" by Claude Monet, which is presented in the photo below.
The word impression in English is impression. Impressionist paintings convey primarily the artist’s light sensation. The main features of painting in this style are as follows: barely visible, thin strokes; a change in lighting accurately transmitted (attention is often focused on the effect of the passage of time); open composition; simple common goal; movement as a key element of human experience and perception. The most prominent representatives of such a direction as impressionism are Edgar Degas, Claude Monet, Pierre Renoir.
Modernism
The next direction is modernism, which emerged as a set of trends in various fields of art in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The Parisian Salon of the Outcast was opened in 1863. It exhibited artists whose paintings were not allowed in the official salon. This date can be considered the date of the emergence of modernism as a separate direction in art. Otherwise, modernism is sometimes called "another art." His goal is to create unique paintings, not like the others. The main feature of the work is a special vision of the world by the author.
Artists in their work rebelled against the values ​​of realism. Self-awareness is a vivid characteristic of this direction. This often leads to experiments with form, as well as a tendency to abstraction. Representatives of modernism pay particular attention to the materials used and the work process. Henry Matisse (his work "The Red Room" of 1908 is presented above) and Pablo Picasso are considered one of the most striking of his representatives.
Neoclassicism
Neoclassicism is the main direction of painting in Northern Europe from the mid-18th century to the end of the 19th. It is characterized by a return to the features of ancient art, Renaissance art, and even the times of classicism. In architectural, artistic and cultural senses, neoclassicism appeared as a Rococo response, perceived as a shallow and artsy style of art. Neoclassical artists, thanks to a good knowledge of church laws, tried to introduce canons into their works. However, they avoided simply reproducing classical motifs and themes. Neoclassical artists tried to put their picture in the framework of tradition and thus demonstrate the mastery of the genre. Neoclassicism in this respect is directly opposed to modernism, where improvisation and self-expression are considered virtues. His most famous representatives include Nicolas Poussin, Raphael.
Pop Art
The last direction we will consider is pop art. He appeared in Britain in the mid-50s of the last century, and in the late 50s - in America. Pop art is believed to have originated as a reaction to the ideas of abstract expressionism that dominated at that time. Speaking about this direction, it is impossible not to mention Andy Warhol. In 2009, Eight Elvis, one of his paintings, was sold for $ 100 million.