Easel painting as a cultural heritage of the planet

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

The name "easel painting" comes from the main element, or tool, which takes part in the creation of paintings. Of course, we are talking about an easel, which is less often called a machine tool. A canvas or a sheet of paper is attached to its surface, on which paints are then applied. Easel painting is all the paintings that are currently in museums and private collections around the world. Therefore, it is sometimes difficult to imagine the number of all genres and varieties that are the basis of this type of art.

Modern art historians have decided to divide painting into various subspecies, which are named depending on the technique of painting, as well as on the type of paints that are used. As a result, a certain chronology was formed, because over time, more and more new types of paints appeared. The easel painting of the ancient world, the Middle Ages and the Renaissance is divided into two subgroups - tempera and oil. The artist either used dry, that is, tempera paints, which he dilutedwater, or else used oil, as well as a number of chemical solvents for them.

Tempera easel painting is a complex science that requires a lot of skills, as well as great patience of the master who paints the picture. In ancient times, tempera paints were mixed with various natural products, including egg yolks and whites, honey, wine, and so on. By all means, water was added to this composition, as a result of which the paint soaked and became suitable for application to the canvas. Tempera paints could form a beautiful and unique pattern only if they were applied in separate layers or in small strokes. Therefore, the tempera art form is characterized by clear lines and transitions, brightly defined boundaries and the absence of smoothly transitioning shades. Due to the fact that tempera paints are dry, they may begin to crumble. Also, many works of art based on tempera have faded, having lost their former colors and shades.

Oil easel painting originates in the fourteenth century, when the Dutch artist Van Jan Eyck first used oil to create his masterpieces. Oil paints are still used by all the world's artists, as they can be used to convey not only color transitions in a picture, but also make it voluminous and lively. Paints based on natural oils can be applied in layers of various thicknesses, mixed and smooth color transitions can be made with them. This allows the artist to put his emotions and feelings on the canvas in full spectrum, to make the picture saturated.and unique.

But, despite all its merits, oil, like tempera, loses its color qualities over time. The main disadvantage of such paints is also considered to be craquelures that appear on the surface of the paintings. Cracks can form at the transitions from one color to another, turning the picture into a fragmented "stained glass". Therefore, an easel painting painted in oil is varnished, so the picture can be preserved in its original form for a longer period.

Modern painting, whose genres have become much more diverse and innovative, is very different from the art of past years. However, despite the more progressive materials and colors, the paintings of our day do not look as alive and full of emotions and experiences as the works of art of past centuries.