From The Archives

The way artists depict scenes in art has evolved over time. Diving deeper into understanding different painting styles gives us an insight into the myriad expressions of artistry from all over the world, since bygone times.

Impasto

First noticed in the paintings of Venetian Renaissance artists, Titian and Tintoretto, the impasto technique is also seen in Baroque paintings, as well as in the works of Rubens, Rembrandt, Frans Hals, and Diego Velazquez.

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It became increasingly notable in the 19th century, featuring in landscape, naturalist and romantic paintings. As a method which creates three-dimensionality and high texture on the painting’s surface, it is achieved by the layering of thick paint, which can be mixed directly on the canvas, to create unique textures and effects.

Trompe l’oeil

Trompe L’oeil is the art of creating highly realistic pictures, such that it feels as if the depiction exists in three dimensions. This art form is known to create an optical illusion for the viewers. The idea was approached by the ancient Greeks who weren’t familiar with the conventional stylisations of earlier art. For example, Zeuxis painted such realistic grapes that birds tried to feed on them.

In America, during the 19th century, an artist named as William Harnett became renowned for his still card deck paintings. The artwork was so realistic that the viewers were convinced that the cards could be picked up.

Chiaroscuro

Painters of the Renaissance and Baroque periods wanted to engage their viewers. Like the cinematographers of classic Hollywood, they used the play of light and shadow to instill life and drama into their images. The word chiaroscuro is Italian for light and shadow. It’s one of the classic techniques used in the works of artists such as Rembrandt and Caravaggio, but was first used by Leonardo da Vinci in the 15th century. It refers to the use of light and shadow to create the illusion of light shining on the figures and objects in the painting. Along with linear perspective, chiaroscuro was one of the newer techniques used by painters of the Renaissance to make their paintings look truly three-dimensional.

Encaustic painting

In fine art, the word ‘encaustic’ describes both the paint and painting technique that uses hot beeswax to bind colour pigments and facilitate their application to a surface. An invention of Greek art, the name is derived from a Greek word meaning ‘burnt in’. The paint is applied to the painting surface (usually a wooden panel, or a wall), after which it is reheated to fuse the paint into a uniform enamel-like finish, devoid of all brushmarks.

This type of painting is quite unique and requires a lot of effort. The technique was first used in the Fayum Mummy Portraits from Egypt, around 100-300 AD; in the Blachernitissa and other early icons, as well as in many works of 20th century.

Scroll painting

This type of art form has been primarily practiced in East Asia. The two main types of scroll painting are–Chinese landscape scrolls, which have contributed majorly to the history of painting. The second ones are Japanese narrative scrolls, which promoted the art of storytelling through paintings.

The scroll is viewed on a table, and is opened from right to left. The Makimono, which is also known as landscape handscroll, consists of a more narrative form instead of any pictures. It became popular in the 10th and 11th centuries, with masters such as Xu Daoning and Fan Kuan.

In ancient times, writing as well as painting was done on silk. However, after the invention of paper in the 1st century AD, silk was gradually replaced by the new and cheaper material. Original writings by famous calligraphers have been greatly valued throughout China’s history and are hung on walls in the same way that paintings are. The person who sees the scroll feels like a traveler, as they get an experience of moving through space and time.

Anamorphosis

An innovative perspective technique which gives a distorted picture of the subject when portrayed in a picture. If it’s seen from a particular angle or in a curved mirror, the distortion disappears and the artwork in the picture appears normal.

It originated from the Greek word meaning ‘to transform’. The term anamorphis was first used in the 17th century, although the technique originated as a curious by-product of the discovery of perspective, in the 14th and 15th centuries.

Grisaille

Dating back to the 15th and 16th century of Northern Europe, the term grisaille meaning ‘grey’ in French was one of the famous techniques of artists back in the day. It first came into prominence during the production of illuminated manuscripts, where illustrations were often executed in ink and wash with a limited colour range.

Grisaille painting is done when an artist uses a limited palette related to one colour such as grey to create a painting’s first layer, called the underpainting. The artist thereafter, develops the artwork by building up shadows, highlights and details to produce a desired contrast. Grisaille results in a detailed image that looks like a carefully rendered marble statue lacking any colour. It was also adapted by glass painters back in the day to depict scenes in churches, murals and museums on stained glass; one of the most famous examples of the same is the—Five Sisters stained glass window in St. Peter’s Cathedral in York, England.

Di sotto in sù

The true magicians of the Renaissance were the illusionistic painters. By using linear and atmospheric perspective, naturalistic figures borrowed from antiquity, and other trompe l’oeil techniques, Renaissance painters created the special effects of their time.

Rather than pure entertainment, however, artists such as—Mantegna, Corregio, Romano and Michelangelo, always painted with a purpose. Often, religious subjects necessitated socially and politically acceptable treatments of subject matter. At other times, the patron of a particular chapel or secular building would specify a general theme for the painting, such as a series of images representing vices. Within this framework, the artist would work his magic and create space where there was none and beauty where little had existed before.

From the January 2020 issue of L’Officiel India.