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oil paint
oil paint. Paint in which drying oils (usually linseed oil) are used as the medium. It was long believed—on the authority of Vasari—that oil painting was invented by Jan van Eyck in the early 15th century, but it is now known that its origins are older and obscurer (the treatise of Theophilus, for example, written probably in the 12th century, describes ‘grinding colours with oil’). There is no doubt, however, that van Eyck revolutionized the technique and brought it to a sudden peak of perfection. He showed the medium's flexibility, its rich and dense colour, its wide range from light to dark, and its ability to achieve both minute detail and subtle blending of tones. Other painters soon took up his innovations—first in northern Europe, then in Italy—and over the next century oil progressively superseded tempera as the standard medium for serious painting (other than for murals, in which fresco continued to be the norm).
During the period of transition, oil was often combined with tempera. Giovanni Bellini, for example, began his long career using tempera exclusively and ended it using oil exclusively, but in most of his work he seems to have combined the two methods, typically beginning a picture in the older technique and completing it in the newer. His portrait of Doge Leonardo Loredan (c.1501–4, NG, London) is one of the earliest examples of the use of deliberately rough oil paint to convey texture; in the doge's ornate costume he suggests light catching the gold thread in a way that would be impossible in tempera. This kind of handling was taken much further by Bellini's pupil Titian, who was the first artist to fully exploit the rich textural qualities of oil paint, giving the surface of his pictures an expressive life of their own. The revolution he wrought in technique was bound up with his increasing preference for canvas in place of wooden panels; in his later work he often used fairly coarse types, in which the rough grain shows through the brushwork and is part of the surface texture of the picture. This ability to show an artist's personal ‘handwriting’ has been a major factor in the long dominance of oil paint; it can attain any variety of surface from porcelain smoothness to violent impasto. Its versatility was increased still further in the 19th century with the invention of the collapsible metal tube (devised in 1841), which made it convenient to work out of doors. In the 20th century, however, acrylic became a serious rival to oil paint. |
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Cite this article
IAN CHILVERS. "oil paint." The Oxford Dictionary of Art. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. 13 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. IAN CHILVERS. "oil paint." The Oxford Dictionary of Art. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. (February 13, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O2-oilpaint.html IAN CHILVERS. "oil paint." The Oxford Dictionary of Art. 2004. Retrieved February 13, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O2-oilpaint.html |
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oil paint
oil paint Paint in which drying oils are used as the medium; linseed oil is the best known, but others that have been used in painting include poppy oil and walnut oil. It was long believed that oil painting was invented by Jan van Eyck in the early 15th century, but it is now known that its origins are older and obscurer (the treatise of Theophilus, written probably in the 12th century, describes ‘grinding colours with oil’). There is no doubt, however, that van Eyck revolutionized the technique and brought it to a sudden peak of perfection. He showed the medium's flexibility, its rich and dense colour, its wide range from light to dark, and its ability to achieve both minute detail and subtle blending of tones. Other painters soon took up his innovations—first in northern Europe, then in Italy—and from the 16th century oil colour has been the dominant medium in Europe for serious painting (other than for murals, in which fresco continued to be the norm). Its success has been largely on account of its versatility and ability to show an artist's personal ‘handwriting’, for it can attain any variety of surface from porcelain smoothness to violent impasto. Its versatility was increased still further in the 19th century with the invention of the collapsible metal tube (devised in 1841), which made it convenient to work out of doors. In the 20th century, however, acrylic became a serious rival to oil paint.
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Cite this article
IAN CHILVERS. "oil paint." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. 13 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. IAN CHILVERS. "oil paint." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. (February 13, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O3-oilpaint.html IAN CHILVERS. "oil paint." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists. 2003. Retrieved February 13, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O3-oilpaint.html |
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oil painting
oil painting Method of painting that uses pigments saturated in a drying oil medium. Widely used in Europe since the 16th century, oil is still the most versatile paint medium because of its range of textures and colours.
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Cite this article
"oil painting." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. 13 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "oil painting." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. (February 13, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O142-oilpainting.html "oil painting." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Retrieved February 13, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O142-oilpainting.html |
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oil painting
oil paint·ing • n. the art of painting with oil paints. ∎ a picture painted with oil paints. |
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Cite this article
"oil painting." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. 13 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "oil painting." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. (February 13, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-oilpainting.html "oil painting." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Retrieved February 13, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-oilpainting.html |
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oil paint
oil paint • n. a paste made with ground pigment and a drying oil such as linseed oil, used chiefly by artists. |
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Cite this article
"oil paint." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. 13 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "oil paint." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. (February 13, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-oilpaint.html "oil paint." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Retrieved February 13, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-oilpaint.html |
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