History
The history of painting
The history of painting is a never-ending chain
that began with the very first pictures ever made. Each style grows out of the
styles that came before it. Every great artist adds to the accomplishments of
earlier painters and influences later painters. We can enjoy a painting for its
beauty alone. Its lines, forms, colors, and composition (arrangement of parts)
may appeal to our senses and linger in our memories. But enjoyment of art
increases as we learn when and why and how it was created. A painting always
describes something. It may describe the artist's impression of a scene or
person. It also describes the artist's feelings about the art of painting
itself. Suppose, for example, the artist paints a picture of the birth of Venus,
the Roman goddess of love a subject that has been used many times. The viewer
may not learn anything new about the subject from the more recent version that
could not have been learned from the older one. Why, then, do painters bother
to depict the same scene again? The answer is that they want to tell us
something new about the way the scene can be painted. In a way, the artist is
saying, "I have painted the birth of Venus as no other artist before me
has painted it." The artist not only depicts the birth of Venus but also
makes a statement about the art of painting itself.
Prehistoric Painting
Cave dwellers were the earliest artists. Colored drawings of animals, dating from about 30,000 to 10,000 B.C., have been found on the walls of caves in southern France and in Spain. Many of these drawings are amazingly well preserved because the caves were sealed up for many centuries. Early people drew the wild animals that they saw all around them. Very crude human figures, drawn in lifelike positions, have been found in Africa and eastern Spain.
The cave artists filled the cave walls with
drawings in rich, bright colors. Some of the most beautiful paintings are in
the Cave of Altamira, in Spain. One detail shows a wounded bison, no longer
able to stand probably the victim of a hunter. It is painted in reddish brown
and outlined simply but skillfully in black. The pigments used by cave painters
were earth ocher (iron oxides varying in color from light yellow to deep
orange) and manganese (a metallic element). These were crushed into a fine
powder, mixed with grease (perhaps animal fat), and put on with some sort of
brush. Sometimes the pigments were used in sticks, like crayons. The grease
mixed with the powdered pigments made the paint fluid and the pigment particles
stick together. The cave dwellers must have made brushes out of animal hairs or
plants, and sharp tools out of flint for drawing and scratching lines.
As far back as 30,000 years ago, people had invented the basic tools and materials for painting. Techniques and materials were refined and improved in the centuries following. But the discoveries of the cave dweller remain basic to painting.
Egyptian and Mesopotamian Painting (3400-332 B.C.)
One of the first civilizations was developed in Egypt. From the written records and the art left by the Egyptians, much about their way of living is known. They believed that the body must be preserved so that the soul may live on after death. The great pyramids were elaborate tombs for rich and powerful Egyptian rulers. Much Egyptian art was created for the pyramids and tombs of kings and other important people. To make absolutely sure that the soul would continue to exist, artists made images of the dead person in stone. They also recorded scenes from the person's life in wall paintings in the burial chambers.
Egyptian techniques of painting remained the
same for centuries. In one method watercolor paint was put on mud-plaster or
limestone walls. In another process outlines were cut into stone walls, and the
designs were painted with watercolor washes. A material called gum arabic
probably was used to make the paint stick to a surface. Fortunately, the dry
climate of the region and the sealed tombs have prevented some of these watercolor
paintings from being destroyed by dampness. A number of hunting scenes from the
walls of tombs in Thebes of about 1450 B.C. are well preserved. They show
hunters stalking birds or spearing fish of many varieties. These varieties can
still be identified today because they were so accurately and carefully
painted.
The Mesopotamian civilization, which lasted from
3200 to 332 B.C., was located in the valley between the Tigris and Euphrates
rivers in the Near East. The Mesopotamians built mostly with clay. Because clay
is softened by rain, their buildings have crumbled away to dust, destroying any
wall paintings there may have been. What has been preserved are the decorated
ceramics (painted and fired pottery) and colorful mosaics. Although mosaics
should not be considered painting, they frequently influenced the forms of
painting.
The third great early culture was the Aegean civilization, on the islands off the shores of Greece and in the peninsula of Asia Minor. The Aegean’s lived around the same time as the ancient Egyptians and the Mesopotamian.
In 1900 archeologists began to excavate the palace of King Minos at Knossos on the island of Crete. The excavations turned up works of art painted around 1500 B.C. in an unusually free and graceful style for that time. Evidently the Cretans were a lighthearted, nature-loving people. Among their favorite themes in art were sea life, animals, flowers, athletic games, and processionals. At Knossos and other Aegean palaces, paintings were made on wet plaster walls with paints made of mineral substances, sand, and earth ocher. The paint soaked into the wet plaster and became a permanent part of the wall.
Greek and Roman Classical Painting (1100 B.C.-A.D. 400)
The ancient Greeks decorated their temples and palaces with mural (wall) paintings. We can tell from ancient literary sources and from Roman copies of Greek art that the Greeks painted small pictures and made mosaics. The names of the Greek master painters and something of their lives and works are also known, although very little Greek painting has survived the effects of time and wars. The Greeks did not paint much in tombs, so their works were not protected.
Painted vases are about all that remains of
Greek painting. Pottery making was a large industry in Greece, especially in
Athens. Containers were in great demand for exports, such as oil and honey, and
for household purposes. The earliest style of vase painting was known as the
geometric style (1100-700 B.C.). Vases were decorated with bands of geometric
shapes and human figures in a brown glaze on light-colored clay. By the 6th
century, vase painters were using the black-figured style, in which human
figures were painted in black on the natural red clay. The details were cut
into the clay with a sharp instrument. This allowed the red beneath to show
through.
The red-figured style eventually replaced the black. It is just the opposite; the figures are red and the background black. The advantage of this style was that the painter could use a brush to make the outlines. A brush gives a freer line than the metal tool used in black-figured vases.
Early Christian and Byzantine
Painting (A.D. 300-1300)
The Roman Empire began to decline in the 4th
century A.D. At the same time Christianity gained strength. In A.D. 313 the Roman
Emperor Constantine gave the religion official recognition and became a
Christian himself.
The rise of Christianity greatly affected the
arts. Artists were commissioned to decorate the walls of churches with frescoes
and mosaics. They made panel paintings in the church chapel and illustrated and
decorated the books of the Church. Under the authority of the Church, artists
had to communicate the teachings of Christianity as clearly as possible.
Early Christians and Byzantine artists continued
the technique of mosaic that they had learned from the Greeks. Small, flat
pieces of colored glass or stone were set into wet cement or plaster. Sometimes
other hard materials, such as bits of baked clay or shells, were used. In
Italian mosaics the colors are especially deep and full. The Italian artists
made the background with pieces of gilded glass. They set the human figures in
rich colors against the glittering gold. The general effect is flat and
decorative, not realistic.
Medieval Painting (500-1400)
The first part of the Middle Ages, from about
the 6th to the 11th centuries A.D., is commonly called the Dark Ages. In this
time of unrest, art was kept alive mainly in the monasteries. In the 5th
century A.D. barbarian tribes from northern and central Europe roamed over the
continent. For hundreds of years they dominated Western Europe. These people
produced an art that has a strong emphasis on pattern. They were especially
fond of designs of intertwining dragons and birds.
The best of Celtic and Saxon art is found in
manuscripts of the 7th and 8th centuries. Book illumination and miniature
painting, practiced since late Roman times, increased in the Middle Ages.
Illumination is decoration of the text, the capital letters, and the margins.
Gold, silver, and bright colors were used. A miniature is a small picture,
often a portrait. Originally the term was used to describe the decorative block
around the initial letters in a manuscript.
Charlemagne, who was crowned emperor of the Holy
Roman Empire in the early 9th century, tried to revive the classical art of the
late Roman and early Christian periods. During his reign painters of miniatures
imitated classical art, but they also conveyed personal feelings about their
subjects.
Very little wall painting survives from the
Middle Ages. There were several great series of frescoes painted in churches
built during the Romanesque period (11th-13th centuries), but most of them have
disappeared. Churches of the Gothic period (12th-16th centuries) did not have
enough wall space for mural paintings. Book illustration was the main job of
the Gothic painter.
Italy: Cimabue and Giotto
Italian painters at the close of the 13th century were still working in the Byzantine style. Human figures were made to appear flat and decorative. Faces rarely had any expression. Bodies were weightless and seemed to float rather than stand firmly on the ground. In Florence the painter Cimabue (1240?-1302?) tried to modernize some of the old Byzantine methods. The angels in his Madonna Enthroned are more active than is usual in paintings of that time. Their gestures and faces show a little more human feeling. Cimabue added a new sense of monumentality, or largeness, to his paintings. However, he continued to follow many Byzantine traditions, such as the gold background and patternlike arrangement of objects and figures.
It was the great Florentine painter Giotto (1267?-1337) who actually broke with the Byzantine tradition. His fresco series in the Arena Chapel in Padua leaves Byzantine art far behind. In these scenes from the lives of Mary and Christ, there is genuine emotion, tension, and naturalism. All the qualities of human warmth and sympathy are present. The people do not seem at all unreal or heavenly. Giotto shaded the contours of the figures, and he put deep shadows into the folds of their clothing to give a sense of roundness and solidity.
Italian Renaissance Painting
At the same time that van Eyck was working in the North, the Italians were moving into a golden age of art and literature. This period is called the Renaissance, which means rebirth, or revival. Italian artists were inspired by the sculpture of the ancient Greeks and Romans. The Italians wanted to revive the spirit of classical art, which glorifies human independence and nobility. Renaissance artists continued to paint religious subjects. But they emphasized the earthly life and accomplishments of human beings.
Rome
The climax of Renaissance painting came in the 16th century. At the same time, the center of art and culture shifted from Florence to Rome. Under Pope Sixths IV and his successor, Julius II, the city of Rome was gloriously decorated by Renaissance artists. Some of the most ambitious projects of the period were begun during the papacy of Julius II. Julius commissioned the great sculptor and painter Michelangelo (1475-1564) to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel and to carve sculpture for the Pope's tomb.
Julius also invited the painter Raphael (1483-1520) to help with the decoration of the Vatican. With assistants, Raphael frescoed four rooms of the Pope's apartments in the Vatican Palace.Michelangelo, a Florentine by birth, developed a monumental style of painting. The figures in his painting are so solid and three-dimensional that they look like sculpture.
The Sistine ceiling, which took Michelangelo 4 years to complete, is composed of hundreds of human figures from the Old Testament. To paint this tremendous fresco Michelangelo had to lie on his back on scaffolding. The brooding face of Jeremiah among the prophets that surround the ceiling is thought by some people to be his self-portrait.
Baroque Painting
The 17th century is generally known as the
baroque period in art. In Italy the painters Caravaggio (1571-1610) and Annabelle
Carracci (1560-1609) represented two contrasting viewpoints. Caravaggio (whose
real name was Michelangelo Merissa) always painted directly from life. One of
his main concerns was to copy nature as faithfully as possible without
glorifying it in any way.
Carracci, on the other hand, followed the Renaissance ideal of beauty. He studied ancient sculpture and the works of Michelangelo, Raphael, and Titian. Caravaggio's style was admired by many painters, especially by the Spaniards Ribera and the young Velรกzquez. Carracci's painting inspired Nicolas Poussin (1594-1665), a major French painter of the 17th century.
Carracci, on the other hand, followed the Renaissance ideal of beauty. He studied ancient sculpture and the works of Michelangelo, Raphael, and Titian. Caravaggio's style was admired by many painters, especially by the Spaniards Ribera and the young Velรกzquez. Carracci's painting inspired Nicolas Poussin (1594-1665), a major French painter of the 17th century.
18th-Century Painting
In the 18th century, Venice produced several
fine painters. The most famous was Giovanni Battista Tiepolo (1696-1770). He
decorated the interiors of palaces and other buildings with tremendous,
colorful frescoes representing scenes of wealth and pageantry Francesco Guardi
(1712-93) and Antonio Canaletto (1697-1768) painted scenic views, many of them
recalling the past glories of Venice. Guardi was very skillful with a brush.
With a few patches of color he could conjure up the idea of a tiny figure in a
boat.
France: The Rococo Style
In France a taste for pastel colors and
intricate decoration brought about the development of the rococo style in the
early 18th century. Jean Antoine Watteau (1684-1721), a court painter to King
Louis XV, and, later, Franรงois Boucher (1703-70) and Jean Honorรฉ Fragonard
(1732-1806), were associated with the rococo trend. Watteau painted visions of
a dream life in which all is gaiety. There are picnics in the park or woodland
parties where gallant gentlemen and elegant ladies amuse themselves.
Other 18th-century painters portrayed scenes of ordinary, middle-class life. Like the Dutch Vermeer, Jean Baptiste Simeon Chardin (1699-1779) valued simple domestic scenes and still-life arrangements. His colors are sober and calm compared to Watteau's.
19th-Century Painting
The 19th century is sometimes regarded as the
period during which modern art began to take shape. One important reason for
the so-called revolution in the arts at this time was the invention of the
camera, which forced artists to re-examine the purpose of painting.
A more important development resulted partly
from the widespread use of manufactured paints. Before the 19th century, most
artists or their assistants made their own paints by grinding pigment. Early
commercial paints were inferior to handmade paints. Artists late in the 19th
century found that the dark blues and browns of earlier paintings were turning
black or gray within a few years.
20th-Century Painting
A number of artists soon became dissatisfied
with impressionism. Artists such as Paul Cรฉzanne (1839-1906) felt that
impressionism did not describe the solidity of forms in nature. Cรฉzanne liked
to paint still lifes because they allowed him to concentrate on the shapes of
fruits or other objects and their arrangements. Objects in his still lifes look
solid because he reduced their forms to simple geometric shapes. His technique
of placing patches of paint and short brushstrokes of rich color side by side
shows that he learned much from the impressionists.
Vincent Van Gogh (1853-90) and Paul Gauguin
(1848-1903) reacted against the realism of the impressionists. Unlike the
impressionists, who said that they were viewing nature objectively, Van Gogh
cared little for accurate drawing. He frequently distorted objects in order to
express his ideas more imaginatively. He used the impressionist device of
putting contrasting colors next to each other. Sometimes he squeezed paint from
the tubes right onto the canvas in thick ribbons, as in Field of Yellow
Corn.
