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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. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. IAN CHILVERS. "oil paint." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O3-oilpaint.html IAN CHILVERS. "oil paint." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists. 2003. Retrieved May 28, 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. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "oil painting." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O142-oilpainting.html "oil painting." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Retrieved May 28, 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. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "oil painting." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-oilpainting.html "oil painting." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Retrieved May 28, 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. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "oil paint." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-oilpaint.html "oil paint." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-oilpaint.html |
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