PAINTING

the expression of ideas and emotions, with the creation of certain aesthetic qualities, in a two-dimensional visual language. The elements of this languageits shapes, lines, colours, tones, and texturesare used in various ways to produce sensations of volume, space, movement, and light on a flat surface. These elements are combined into expressive patterns in order to represent real or supernatural phenomena, to interpret a narrative theme, or to create wholly abstract visual relationships. An artist's decision to use a particular medium, such as tempera, fresco, oil, watercolour, ink, gouache, encaustic, or casein, as well as the choice of a particular form, such as mural, easel, panel, miniature, manuscript illumination, scroll, screen or fan, panorama, or any of a variety of modern forms, is based on the sensuous qualities and the expressive possibilities and limitations of those options. The choices of the medium and the form, as well as the artist's own technique, combine to realize a unique visual image. Painting is treated in a number of articles. For a treatment of the art of painting, see below. For the history of painting in antiquity, see Anatolian arts; Arabian arts; Egyptian art; Iranian arts; Mesopotamian arts; Syro-Palestinian arts. For treatment of the history of painting, see painting, history of; African arts: Other visual arts; Central Asian arts: Visual arts; East Asian arts: Chinese visual arts; Islamic arts: Folk arts; Native American arts: Visual arts; Oceanic arts: Visual arts; South Asian arts: Visual arts of India and Sri Lanka (Ceylon); Southeast Asian arts: Visual arts. See also drawing; folk art: Visual arts of the folk tradition; printmaking. Earlier cultural traditionsof tribes, religions, guilds, royal courts, and stateslargely controlled the craft, form, imagery, and subject matter of painting and determined its function, whether ritualistic, devotional, decorative, entertaining, or educational. Painters were employed more as skilled artisans than as creative artists. Later the Far East and Renaissance Europe saw the emergence of the fine artist, with the social status of scholar and courtier, who signed his work, who decided its design and often its subject and imagery, and who established a more personalif not always amicablerelationship with his patron. During the 19th century painters in Western societies began to lose their social position and secure patronage. Some artists countered the decline in patronage support by holding their own exhibitions and charging an entrance fee. Others earned an income through touring exhibitions of their work. The need to appeal to a marketplace had replaced the similar (if less impersonal) demands of patronage, and its effect on the art itself was probably similar as well. Generally, artists can now reach an audience only through commercial galleries and public museums, although their work may be occasionally reproduced in art periodicals. They may also be assisted by financial awards or commissions from industry and the state. They have, however, gained the freedom to invent their own visual language and to experiment with new forms and unconventional materials and techniques. For example, some painters have combined other media, such as sculpture, with painting to produce three-dimensional abstract designs. Other artists have attached real objects to the canvas in collage fashion or used electricity to operate coloured kinetic panels and boxes. Conceptual artists frequently express their ideas in the form of a proposal for an unrealizable project, while performance artists are an integral part of their own compositions. The restless endeavour to extend the boundaries of expression in Western art produces continuous international stylistic changes. The often bewildering succession of new movements in painting is further stimulated by the swift interchange of ideas by means of international art journals, travelling exhibitions, and art centres. This article is concerned with the elements and principles of design in painting and with the various mediums, forms, imagery, subject matter, and symbolism employed or adopted or created by the painter. For the history of painting in antiquity, see Egyptian arts; Mesopotamian arts; and Middle East, ancient. For treatment of the development of painting in the West, see Painting, history of. For treatment of painting as practiced in non-European cultures, see African arts: Painting; Native American arts: Visual arts; Central Asian arts: Visual arts; East Asian arts: Visual arts; Islamic arts: Visual arts; Oceanic arts: Visual arts; South Asian arts: Visual arts; and Southeast Asian arts: Visual arts. For the conservation and restoration of paintings, see art conservation. For a discussion of the forgery of works of art, see forgery. For a discussion of the philosophy of art, see aesthetics: The work of art and art, philosophy of. For a discussion of the role of painting and other arts in religion, as well as of the use of religious symbols in art, see religious symbolism and iconography. For the methods employed in the display of art, see museum, operation of. For lacquerwork, and its use in design, see lacquerwork. For information on other arts related to painting, see the articles drawing and printmaking. Additional reading General reference Both Kimberley Reynolds with Richard Seddon, Illustrated Dictionary of Art Terms (1981, reissued 1984); and Ralph Mayer, A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques (1969, reissued 1981), include modern art references. Two works by Harold Osborne (ed.), The Oxford Companion to Art (1970), and The Oxford Companion to Twentieth-Century Art (1981), provide extensive bibliographies. Also see Ren Huyghe (general ed.), Larousse Encyclopedia of Prehistoric and Ancient Art, rev. ed. (1966, reissued 1981); Larousse Encyclopedia of Byzantine and Medieval Art, rev. ed. (1966, reissued 1981); Larousse Encyclopedia of Renaissance and Baroque Art (1964, reissued 1981); and Larousse Encyclopedia of Modern Art (1965, reissued 1981). Design Good surveys of the subject include Frederick Malins, Understanding Paintings: The Elements of Composition (1981); and Johannes Itten, Design and Form: The Basic Course at the Bauhaus, rev. ed. (1975; originally published in German, 1963). Works on colour include Josef Albers, The Interaction of Color (1963, reissued with rev. plate section, 1975); Johannes Itten, The Art of Color (1961, reissued 1973; originally published in German, 1961); Faber Birren, Creative Color (1961), and (ed.), A Grammar of Color: A Basic Treatise on the Color System by Albert H. Munsell (1969); Robert L. Herbert, Neo-Impressionism (1968); William Innes Homer, Seurat and the Science of Painting (1964, reprinted 1978); and Barbara Rose, The Primacy of Color, Art International, 8:2226 (1964). The influence of photography on painting is examined in Aaron Scharf, Art and Photography (1968, reissued 1974); and Karen Tsujimoto, Images of America: Precisionist Painting and Modern Photography (1982). Mediums Standard works on most painting materials, supports, surfaces, and techniques include Ralph Mayer, The Artist's Handbook of Materials and Techniques, 4th rev. ed. (1982), with extensive bibliography; Hilaire Hiler, The Painter's Pocket Book of Methods and Materials, 3rd ed. rev. by Colin Hayes (1970); Kurt Herberts, The Complete Handbook of Artist's Techniques (1958; trans. from the German); Maria Bazzi, The Artist's Methods and Materials (1960; originally published in Italian, 1956), with a bibliography of important treatises on mediums and techniques; Frederic Taubes, A Guide to Traditional and Modern Painting Methods (1963); and Max Doerner, The Materials of the Artist and Their Use in Painting, rev. ed. (1949, reprinted 1969; originally published in German, 4th ed., 1933). For discussion of tempera, see the appropriate sections in Daniel V. Thompson, The Materials of Medieval Painting (1936; reprinted as Materials and Techniques of Medieval Painting, 1956). Watercolour painting is treated in Walter Koschatzky, Watercolor: History and Technique (1970; originally published in German, 1969). For treatment of ink painting, see Fei Ch'eng Wu, Brush Drawing in the Chinese Manner (1957); and Osvald Sren, Chinese Painting: Leading Masters and Principles, 7 vol. (1973). Fred Gettings, Polymer Painting Manual (1971), is a thorough and well-illustrated guide to acrylic painting. Works on other mediums include Jean Guichard-Melli, Matisse Paper Cutouts (1984; originally published in French, 1983); and Harriet Janis and Rudi Blesh, Collage, rev. ed. (1967). Forms William G. Archer, Indian Miniatures (1960), and Indian Paintings from the Punjab Hills: A Survey and History of Pahari Miniature Painting (1973); Mark Zebrowski, Deccani Painting (1983); Janet Woodbury Adams, Decorative Folding Screens: In the West from 1600 to the Present Day (U.S. title: Decorative Folding Screens: 400 Years in the Western World, 1982); Elise Grilli, The Art of the Japanese Screen (1971); Roselee Goldberg, Performance: Live Art, 1909 to the Present (1979); and Adrian Henri, Environments and Happenings (U.S. title: Total Art: Environments, Happenings, and Performance, 1974). Imagery E.H. Gombrich, Art and Illusion, 4th ed. (1972); Gyorgy Kepes (ed.), Sign, Image, Symbol (1966); Leon M. Zolbrod, Haiku Painting (1983); Lucy R. Lippard et al., Pop Art (1960, rev. ed. 1970); and J.H. Matthews, Eight Painters: The Surrealist Context (1982). Subject matter Howard Daniel, Encyclopedia of Themes and Subjects in Painting (1971), a concise survey of Western mythological and religious subjects; David Rosand, Painting in Cinquecento Venice (1982); Svetlana Alpers, The Art of Describing: Dutch Art in the Seventeenth Century (1983); Norman Bryson, World and Image: French Painting of the Ancient Rgime (1982); Michael Levey, The Painter Depicted: Painters as a Subject in Painting (1982); John Pope-Hennessy, The Portrait in the Renaissance (1966, reissued 1979), includes interpretive discussions of the works and extracts from the artists' letters; Kenneth Clark, Landscape into Art (1949, reissued 1975); A. Richard Turner, The Vision of Landscape in Renaissance Italy (1966, reprinted 1974); Joseph S. Czestochowski, The American Landscape Tradition (1982); Roger Boulet, The Canadian Earth: Landscape Paintings by the Group of Seven (1982); Michael Jacobs, Nude Painting (1979); and Kenneth Clark, The Nude: A Study of Ideal Art (1976). Symbolism Erwin Panofsky, Studies in Iconology (1939, reissued 1972), and Meaning in the Visual Arts (1955, reprinted 1982); F.D.K. Bosch, The Golden Germ (1960); Carl G. Jung et al., Man and His Symbols (posthumous ed. 1964, reprinted 1979), with excellent illustrations; Rudolf Wittkower, Allegory and the Migration of Symbols (1977), includes Eastern imagery; Paul Frankl, The Gothic: Literary Sources and Interpretations Through Eight Centuries (1960); George Ferguson, Signs and Symbols in Christian Art (1954, reprinted 1973); Joan Evans, Monastic Iconography in France: From the Renaissance to the Revolution (1970); and Jitendra Nath Banerjea, The Development of Hindu Iconography, 2nd rev. ed. (1956, reprinted 1974). Writings Irma A. Richter (ed.), Selections from the Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci (1952, reprinted 1977), illustrated; Giorgio Vasari, Vasari on Technique, ed. by G. Baldwin Brown, trans. by Louisa A. Maclehose (1907, reprinted 1961); The Mustard Seed Garden Manual of Painting, 16791701, included in Mai-mai Sze, The Tao of Painting, 2nd ed., 2 vol. (1963); Elizabeth G. Holt (ed.), A Documentary History of Art, 2nd ed., 3 vol. (195765); John Rewald (ed.), Czanne's Letters, 5th ed. (1982); Vincent Van Gogh, The Complete Letters of Vincent van Gogh, 2nd ed., 3 vol. (1978); Fernand Lger, Functions of Painting, ed. by Edward F. Fry (1973; originally published in French, 1965); Robert Delaunay and Sonia Delaunay, The New Art of Color, ed. by Arthur A. Cohen (1978); Robert Motherwell (ed.), The Dada Painters and Poets: An Anthology, 2nd ed. (1981); Marcel Jean (ed.), The Autobiography of Surrealism (1980); Wassily Kandinsky, Kandinsky, Complete Writings on Art, 2 vol., ed. by Kenneth C. Lindsay and Peter Vergo (1982), with the original illustrations; Paul Klee, Pedagogical Sketchbook (1953, reprinted 1977; originally published in German, 1925), On Modern Art (1948, reprinted 1966; originally published in German, 1945), The Thinking Eye, ed. by Jrg Spiller (1961, reprinted 1969; originally published in German, 1956), and The Diaries of Paul Klee, 18981918, ed. by Felix Klee (1964, reissued 1968; originally published in German, 1957); Marcel Duchamp, The Essential Writings of Marcel Duchamp: Salt Seller, ed. by Michel Sanouillet and Elmer Peterson (1975; originally published in French, 1958), and Marcel Duchamp, Notes, ed. by Paul Matisse (1983); Henri Matisse, Notes of a Painter, included in Alfred H. Barr, Matisse: His Art and His Public (1951, reprinted 1966); Edward F. Fry, Cubism (1966, reprinted 1978; trans. from the French and German); Pierre Daix, Cubists and Cubism (1982; originally published in French, 1982); Pablo Picasso, Picasso on Art: A Selection of Views, comp. by Dore Ashton (1972); Katharine Kuh, The Artist's Voice: Talks with Seventeen Artists (1962); and The New York School, foreword by Maurice Tuchman (1970), with an extensive bibliography. Peter D. Owen Forms of painting Mural painting Mural painting has its roots in the primeval instincts of people to decorate their surroundings and to use wall surfaces as a form for expressing ideas, emotions, and beliefs. In their universal manifestation in graffiti and in ancient murals, such as Ice Age cave paintings and protodynastic Egyptian frescoes, symbols and representational images have been spread freely and indiscriminately across walls, ceilings, and floors. But, in more disciplined attempts to symbolize the importance and function of particular buildings through their interior decoration, murals have been designed for the restricted framework of specific surface areas. They therefore have to be painted in close relationship to the scale, style, and mood of the interior and with regard to such siting considerations as light sources, eye levels, the spectators' lines of sight and means of approach, and the emotive scale relationship between spectators and the painted images. The Annunciation, fresco by Fra Angelico, 143845; in the Museum of San Marco, Early mural decorations for tombs, temples, sanctuaries, and catacombs were generally designed in horizontal divisions and vertical axes. These grid patterns were in harmony with the austere character of the interiors, and their geometrical plan enabled the artist to depict clearly the various episodes and symbols of a narrative subject. In these early traditions of mural design, in China, India, Mexico, Egypt, Crete, and Byzantium, no illusionary devices were used to deny the true flatness of the wall surface; images were silhouetted against a flatly painted ground framed by decorative dadoes (the decoration adorning the lower part of an interior wall) of stylized motifs in repeat patterns. By the early Renaissance, however, innovators such as Giotto, Masaccio, and Fra Angelico (see photograph) were placing figures within architectural and landscape settings, painted as if extensions to the real dimensions of the interior. The peak of technical skill and artistic expression was reached in the 15th and 16th centuries with the frescoes of Piero della Francesca, Michelangelo, and Raphael. The irregular shapes of wall areas and the distortions produced by convex surfaces were inventively exploited in the design. Intruding doors and windows, for example, were skillfully circumvented by sweeping pattern rhythms or were incorporated as features in the painting, and figures were foreshortened so as to appear to float across or to rise into cupolas (rounded vaults that form ceilings), lunettes (rounded spaces over doors or windows), and apses (domed projections of a church, usually at the east end or altar), the curving surfaces of which might be painted to simulate celestial skies. Existing structural wall features provided the divisions between narrative episodes. These were often supplemented by trompe l'oeil (deceive the eye) columns, pilasters, arcading, balustrading, steps, and other architectural forms that also served to fuse the painted setting with the real interior. With the increasing dependence upon tapestry hangings and stained glass as primary forms of interior decoration, mural painting suffered a decline in the Western world. Except for those given to Rubens, Tiepolo, Delacroix, and Puvis de Chavannes, there were relatively few important mural commissions in the period following the High Renaissance. In the 20th century, however, enlightened patronage has occasionally enabled leading modern artists to execute paintings for specific sites: Monet's Water-Lilies series for the Paris Orangerie, for example, and other murals in France by Vuillard, Matisse, Lger, Chagall, and Picasso; in Mexico and the United States by Orozco, Rivera, Tamayo, and David Siqueiros, and also in the U.S. by Matisse, Shahn, and Willem de Kooning; in Britain by Sir Stanley Spencer and Bawden; in Norway by Edvard Munch; in Holland by Karel Appel; and in Italy by Afro Basaldella. Easel and panel painting The easel, or studio, picture was a form developed during the Renaissance with the establishment of the painter as an individual artist. Its scale and portability enabled European artists to extend the range of themes, previously restricted to those suitable to mural decoration. Easel and panel forms include still life, portraiture, landscape, and genre subjects and permit the representation of ephemeral effects of light and atmosphere that the more intimate forms of Oriental art had already allowed the painters of scrolls, screens, and fans to express. Although easel paintings are occasionally commissioned for a special purpose, they are generally bought as independent art objects and used as decorative focal features or illusionary window views in private homes. They are also collected as financial investment, for social prestige, for the therapeutic escapism their subject may provide, or purely for the aesthetic pleasure they afford. Panel paintings, by strict definition, are small pictures designed for specific sacred or secular purposes or as part of a functional object. Although these wooden boards are sometimes categorized as a form of decorative rather than fine art, the best examples justify their place in museums alongside great easel paintings. Among the functions they originally served were as predellas (the facings to altar-step risers); devotional and ceremonial icons; portable, folding diptych and triptych altarpieces; shop and tavern signboards; mummy cases; and panel decorations of carriages, musical instruments, and cassoni. Many of them were painted by acknowledged masters, such as Fra Angelico, Paolo Uccello, and Antoine Watteau, as well as by anonymous folk artists.