- this is one of the main types visual arts; represents artistic image object world with colored paints on the surface. Painting is divided into: easel, monumental and decorative.

- mainly represented by works performed oil paints on canvas (cardboard, wooden boards or bare). Represents the most mass appearance painting. It is this type that is usually applied to the term " painting".

is a technique of painting on walls when decorating buildings and architectural elements in buildings. Particularly common in Europe fresco - monumental painting on wet plaster with water-soluble paints. This drawing technique has been well known since antiquity. Later, this technique was used in the design of many Christian religious churches and their vaults.

Decorative painting - (from the Latin word from decoro - to decorate) is a way of drawing and applying images to objects and interior details, walls, furniture and other decorative objects. Refers to decorative and applied arts.

Possibilities pictorial art reveals especially brightly easel painting since the 15th century, since the mass use of oil paints. It is in it that a special variety of content and deeply developed form is available. At the heart of the picturesque artistic means colors (the possibilities of paints) lie in inextricable unity with chiaroscuro and line; color and chiaroscuro are developed and developed by painting techniques with a completeness and brightness inaccessible to other types of art. This determines the perfection of volumetric and spatial modeling inherent in realistic painting, the vivid and accurate rendering of reality, the possibility of realizing the plots conceived by the artist (and methods of constructing compositions) and other visual advantages.

Another difference in the differences between types of painting is the technique of execution according to the types of paints. General signs are not always enough to make a determination. The border between painting and graphics in each individual case: for example, works made in watercolors or pastels can belong to both areas, depending on the artist’s approach and the tasks he sets. Although drawings on paper are related to graphics, the use various techniques Painting sometimes blurs the differences between painting and graphics.

It must be taken into account that the semantic term “painting” itself is a word in the Russian language. It was taken for use as a term during the formation of fine art in Russia during the Baroque era. The use of the word "painting" at that time applied only to a certain type realistic paintings. But originally it comes from the church technique of painting icons, which uses the word “write” (related to writing) because this word is a translation of the meaning in Greek texts (those are “lost in translation”). The development of Russia's own art school and the inheritance of European academic knowledge in the field of art, developed the scope of application of the Russian word "painting", incorporating it into educational terminology and literary language. But in the Russian language a peculiarity of the meaning of the verb “to write” was formed in relation to writing and drawing pictures.

Genres of painting

In the course of the development of fine art, several classical genres of paintings were formed, which acquired their own characteristics and rules.

Portrait is a realistic depiction of a person in which the artist tries to achieve a resemblance to the original. One of the most popular genres of painting. Most customers used the talent of artists to perpetuate their own image or, wanting to get an image loved one, relative, etc. Customers sought to obtain a portrait likeness (or even embellish it) leaving a visual embodiment in history. Portraits of various styles are the most popular part of the exhibition of most art museums and private collections. This genre also includes such a type of portrait as self-portrait - an image of the artist himself, painted by himself.

Scenery- one of the popular painting genres in which the artist seeks to depict nature, its beauty or peculiarity. Different kinds nature (the mood of the season and weather) have a bright emotional impact for any viewer - this psychological trait person. The desire to get an emotional impression from landscapes has made this genre one of the most popular in artistic creativity.

- this genre is in many ways similar to landscape, but has a key feature: the paintings depict landscapes with the participation of architectural objects, buildings or cities. A special focus is street views of cities that convey the atmosphere of a place. Another direction of this genre is the depiction of the beauty of the architecture of a particular building - its appearance or images of its interiors.

- a genre in which the main subject of the paintings is a historical event or its interpretation by the artist. What’s interesting is that it belongs to this genre great amount paintings on biblical theme. Since in the Middle Ages, biblical scenes were considered “historical” events and the main customers of these paintings were the church. “Historical” biblical subjects are present in the works of most artists. Second birth historical painting occurs during the times of neoclassicism, when artists turn to well-known historical subjects, events from antiquity or national legends.

- reflects scenes of wars and battles. The peculiarity is not only the desire to reflect a historical event, but also to convey to the viewer the emotional elevation of feat and heroism. Subsequently, this genre also becomes political, allowing the artist to convey to the viewer his view (his attitude) on what is happening. We can see a similar effect of political emphasis and the strength of the artist’s talent in the work of V. Vereshchagin.

is a genre of painting with compositions from inanimate objects, using flowers, products, and dishes. This genre is one of the latest and was formed in the Dutch school of painting. Perhaps its appearance is caused by the peculiarity of the Dutch school. The economic boom of the 17th century in Holland led to a desire for affordable luxury (paintings) among a significant number of the population. This situation attracted a large number of artists, causing intense competition among them. Models and workshops (people in appropriate clothes) were not available to poor artists. When painting paintings for sale, they used improvised means (objects) to compose the paintings. This situation in the history of the Dutch school is the reason for the development of genre painting.

Genre painting - the subject of the paintings are everyday scenes Everyday life or holidays, usually with the participation of ordinary people. Just like still life, it became widespread among Dutch artists in the 17th century. During the period of romanticism and neoclassicism, this genre takes on a new birth; paintings strive not so much to reflect everyday life, but to romanticize it, to bring it into the plot certain meaning or morality.

Marina- a type of landscape that depicts sea views, coastal landscapes overlooking the sea, sunrises and sunsets at sea, ships or even naval battles. Although there is a separate battle genre, naval battles still belong to the “marina” genre. The development and popularization of this genre can also be attributed to the Dutch school of the 17th century. He was popular in Russia thanks to the work of Aivazovsky.

— a feature of this genre is the creation of realistic paintings depicting the beauty of animals and birds. One of interesting features This genre is the presence of paintings depicting non-existent or mythical animals. Artists who specialize in images of animals are called animalists.

History of painting

Need in realistic image existed since ancient times, but had a number of disadvantages due to the lack of technology, systematized school and education. In ancient times, one can more often find examples of applied and monumental painting with the technique of drawing on plaster. During antiquity, higher value given to the talent of the performer, artists were limited in the technology of making paints and the opportunity to receive a systematic education. But already in antiquity, specialized knowledge and works were formed (Vitruvius), which will be the basis for a new flowering of European art in the Renaissance. Decorative painting received significant development during Greek and Roman antiquity (the school was lost in the Middle Ages), the level of which was reached only after the 15th century.

Painting of a Roman fresco (Pompeii, 1st century BC), an example of the level of technology of ancient painting:

The "Dark Ages" of the Middle Ages, militant Christianity and the Inquisition lead to prohibitions on studying artistic heritage antiquity. The vast experience of ancient masters, knowledge in the field of proportions, composition, architecture and sculpture are prohibited, and many artistic values destroyed because of their dedication to ancient deities. A return to the values ​​of art and science in Europe occurs only during the Renaissance (rebirth).

For artists early renaissance(revival) we have to make up for and revive the achievements and level of ancient artists. What we admire in the works of artists early Renaissance, was the level of the masters of Rome. A clear example of the loss of several centuries of development of European art (and civilization) during the “dark ages” of the Middle Ages, militant Christianity and the Inquisition - the difference between these 14th century paintings!

The emergence and spread of the technology for making oil paints and the technique of painting with them in the 15th century gave rise to the development of easel painting and special kind artists' products - colored oil paintings on primed canvas or wood.

Painting received a huge leap in qualitative development during the Renaissance, largely thanks to the work of Leon Battista Alberti (1404-1472). He was the first to set out the foundations of perspective in painting (the treatise “On Painting” of 1436). To him (his works on systematization scientific knowledge) the European art school is obliged to the emergence (revival) of realistic perspective and natural proportions in the paintings of artists. Famous and familiar drawing by Leonardo da Vinci "Vitruvian Man"(human proportions) of 1493, dedicated to the systematization of Vitruvius’ ancient knowledge of proportions and composition, was created by Leonardo half a century later than Alberti’s treatise “On Painting”. And Leonardo’s work is a continuation of the development of the European (Italian) art school of the Renaissance.

But painting received a bright and massive development starting from the 16th-17th centuries, when the technique became widespread oil painting, various paint manufacturing technologies appeared and painting schools were formed. It is the system of knowledge and art education(drawing technique), combined with the demand for works of art among the aristocracy and monarchs, leads to a rapid flowering of fine art in Europe (Baroque period).

The unlimited financial capabilities of European monarchies, aristocracies and entrepreneurs became an excellent basis for further development painting in the 17th-19th centuries. And the weakening influence of the church and secular image lives (multiplied by the development of Protestantism) allowed the birth of many subjects, styles and movements in painting (Baroque and Rococo).

In the course of the development of fine arts, artists have formed many styles and techniques that lead to to the highest level realism in works. By the end of the 19th century (with the advent of modernist movements), interesting transformations began in painting. The availability of art education, mass competition and high demands on artists' skills by the public (and buyers) are giving rise to new directions in methods of expression. Fine art is no longer limited only by the level of technique; artists strive to bring special meanings, ways of “looking” and philosophy. What often comes at the expense of the level of performance, becomes speculation or a method of shocking. The variety of emerging styles, lively discussions and even scandals give rise to the development of interest in new forms of painting.

Modern computer (digital) drawing technologies belong to graphics and cannot be called painting, although many computer programs and equipment allow you to completely repeat any painting technique with paints.

Image on the plane of objects of material and spiritual world. One of the main types of fine art. Painting is divided into numerous types and genres. Oil painting is a work painted with oil paints. Wall painting is a work of painting executed directly on a specially prepared masonry surface of a wall, ceiling or vault of a building. Another name is monumental painting. Tempera painting is the main technique of icon painting in Russia. The basis of tempera paint is the yolk of a chicken egg, diluted with kvass. During the work process, paints are applied gradually, in multi-layers and in a certain order. Since the 17th century To this day, the final layer is sometimes done with oil paints. The icon is written on a specially treated board.

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Painting

Pictores and Pictura.

The art of life among the Greeks was in close connection with sculpture, sharing with it an ideal worldview and was in this infant state for a very long time. Before Persian Wars The painters seemed to use one-color paint with which they drew outlines, while shadows were indicated by shading. The most ancient place of this art in Greece was, in all likelihood, the Dorian Peloponnese, mainly Corinth and Sikyon; the Corinthian Cleanthes, they say, was the first to draw silhouettes, Ardik and Telephanes improved linear drawings, Cleophant invented one-color painting (monochromy), Kiomnus of Cleon was the first to give movement and inclination to his figures and was the first to pay attention to the drapery of the figures. Until the 94th century, when the Athenian Apollodorus introduced the brush, all of Jeanne's art consisted of drawing images using a stylus on a board previously coated with paint; The paints themselves were applied in bulk and not seamlessly using a sponge. In general, in the paintings of the most ancient painters there are only 4 colors ( Plin. 35, 7, 32): white and black, yellow and red. Even Zeuxis himself used these flowers, but if anyone used larger number colors, was in danger of, by enhancing its attractiveness, detracting from the height of art. Works of this type of art included partly wall paintings (mainly alfresco), and partly paintings painted on boards; the former were written on fresh plaster, and the latter on wood and embedded in the walls, for example, of temples. Pictures were painted on boards with glue paints; later encaustic paintings were painted with wax paints, which were ground with dry leads and then melted using a brazier. Age of Pericles, therefore the middle and 2nd half of the 5th century. BC, is considered the time of greatest prosperity of this art, along with the prosperity of all fine arts, which served as a help to J. Large-sized paintings also belong to this time; not only painted halls appeared, but also art galleries(pinakothek). Mention should be made of Pinenus, the brother of Phidias, and the Thasian Polygiotas (who received the right of citizenship in Athens in 463), known from the picture they painted together "Marathon Battle" V??????? in Athens. The latter was famous for his art of painting women in see-through clothes; he eliminated the immobility in facial expression borrowed from the Egyptians by drawing his mouth somewhat open; his paintings were truly portraits (in one, for example, you can easily recognize Elpinika, Kimon’s sister), painted from life, but carried away into an ideal world. Pausanias (10, 25) has preserved an excellent description of one of the largest paintings located in Lesha ( cm.?????, Lesha) at Delphi, which depicted the conquered and smoking Troy and the Greeks at the Hellespont, laden with booty and surrounded by prisoners, at the moment when they are preparing to sail: “The artist was quite able to depict here the contrast between the groups of Greeks in the foreground and the destruction of Troy, the devastated streets of which are visible through the walls broken in places. The ship of Menelaus stood near the shore, ready to sail; near it one can see Helen, the culprit of the war, surrounded by wounded Trojans; in another group of Greek leaders, Cassandra is visible; Almost everyone remains deeply silent, with the exception of Neoptolemus, who still pursues and kills the Trojans. On the other side of the Lesha the entrance to the underworld was depicted, to the kingdom of darkness with Odysseus on the shore of the Acheron, Tartarus with his terrible torments and Elisius with the shadows of the blessed. In the first of these paintings more than 100 figures were drawn, in the other more than 80: for each figure, ancient custom, the name was also attributed". In addition, Polygnotus's father Aglaophon and his grandson were known as painters the last one same name. The latter was mainly credited with two paintings, one of which depicted Alcibiades as a winner at the games. Wed Cic. Brut. 18. Cic. de or. 3,7. Quint. 12, 10. In general, housing complemented architecture; her works served to decorate both private buildings and galleries and temples. While plastic arts quickly advanced in their development, painting developed slowly and reached the height of perfection soon after the Peloponnesian War, that is, only when plastic art, after its highest prosperity, began to decline somewhat. Contemporaries and followers of Polygnotus were: Mykon from Aegina, his remarkable paintings were: "Antinoe", "Argonauts", "Asterope", "Pelius", "Theseus", "Acast" and etc.; he painted partly and ??????? in Athens, where he depicted the Battle of the Amazons and the Battle of Marathon, and he was especially successful in depicting horses; his son; further Onatus of Aegina and Dionysius of Colophon; independently then acted as a decorative painter Agafarch ( cm. Agatharchus, Agatharchus), who also satisfied the requirements of luxury, which had already begun to penetrate the private life of the Greeks; but even more outstanding in this regard is the above-mentioned Apollodorus, called the skiagraph, because in addition to the invention of the brush, art in the distribution of light and shadow was also attributed to him. His primus species exprimere instituit, Pliny says about him (35, 9, 36), primusque gloriam penicillo iure contulit; neque ante eum tabula ullius ostenditur, quae teneat oculos. Following in his footsteps was his disciple Zeuxis from Heraclea in Magna Graecia, who lived c. 397, although, however, he belonged to a different school, namely the Ionian, prone to tenderness and pomp, as opposed to the Attic school; he was especially good at depicting the female body. Proof of this is what he wrote at the request of the Crotonians. "Elena"(was placed in famous temple Hera Lacinia), representing perfect beauty in the form of an earthly woman; in the same way he embodied the highest idea of ​​chaste modesty in the image of Penelope. Zeuxis does not have various epic compositions, like Polygnotus, just as the expressions of various states of mind; his main attention was paid to the picturesqueness, the external side of the object, to the illusion; Compared to later times, he lacked an artistic and varied juxtaposition of colors. About his competition with Parrhasius ( cm. Parrhasius). The latter and Timanthos of Sicyon were his contemporaries; about the paintings of the latter, between which "Sacrifice of Iphigenia", where he depicted Agamemnon with his face covered to express great sadness, already in antiquity the opinion was expressed that they make the viewer guess more than how much is actually expressed in them; the viewer's imagination complements the unsaid, not only because these paintings depicted something ideal, but also because they contain a wealth of motives. The main merit of the Sikyon school, on the contrary, consisted in the strictly scientific execution of the drawing and in its most thorough clarity. The founder of this school was Eupompus of Sicyon, and its main representative was Pamphilus, who was the first to methodically study art and apply his theoretical and geometric knowledge to drawings; His student Melanphius was most outstanding in his skillful arrangement and composition of paintings and contributed greatly to the improvement of color. He is ranked, by the way, among those 4 painters (Apelles, Echion, Nicomachus) who used only 4 colors. During the time of Alexander the Great, Jeanne reached the highest degree of attractiveness and charm, thanks mainly to Apelles, a native of the island of Kos, a student of Pamphilus (356-308). He combined the advantages of both schools, while trying to penetrate even deeper into true meaning J. and breathe into his works the richness and diversity of life; he combined loyalty to nature with creative power, which earned him a special favor from Alexander; the latter especially praised his paintings for their grace, ?????; in the foreground he had the perfection of form, and not the ideality of content. In technique, both in relation to the drawing itself and in relation to the choice of colors for spectacular scenes, he was a master of his craft. In the temple of Artemis of Ephesus he painted an image of Alexander throwing the feathers of Zeus, and the raised hand and lightning that appeared on the surface aroused the greatest surprise. He also painted Alexander’s generals in various positions, sometimes separately, sometimes in groups. To his exemplary works with ideal content belonged to "Artemis", surrounded by a choir of young women making sacrifices, and Aphrodite Anadyomene emerging from the sea; this last picture, according to the verdict of all the ancients, was considered a model of grace; however, the lower part of this picture remained unfinished, death kidnapped Apelles at work, and none of the subsequent artists dared to take on the task of finishing it. Initially, it was in the temple of Aphrodite on the island of Cos, from where Augustus transferred it to Rome and ordered it to be placed in the temple of Caesar, who was numbered among the gods. More to the Sicyon school belonged: Euphranor, whose glory lay in the subtlety of his depiction of gods and heroes; Echion, from whose works the painting of the newlywed is remarkable (a free imitation of which is, perhaps, the Aldobrandian wedding in the Vatican Museum in Rome) and Pausius of Sikyon, who was the first, they say, to decorate the ceilings in the rooms, mostly with figures of boys, flowers and arabesques, and he was mainly famous for his flower paintings ( Plin. 35, 40 mentions the beautiful Glyceria, skilled in weaving wreaths, whose image he presented to the competition); he was famous for bringing the encaustic method to a high degree of development. At this time, i.e. approx. 370-330, the Theban Aristides also flourished, remarkable mainly for his art of depicting battles and conquests of cities and his masterful ability to give life and expressiveness to his paintings, although his distribution of colors was not particularly successful. His painting depicting the battle of the Macedonians with the Persians contained up to 100 figures; The sad scene during the destruction of the city was considered his masterful work, and the main group depicting a dying mother and a baby catching her breast attracted special attention; but she pushes him away for fear that he might suck blood instead of milk. Around this time, Protogenes from the city of Kavna in Caria achieved even greater fame, who until the age of 50 supported his existence with the most ordinary works; but the famous Apelles recognized this and, appreciating his art, bought some paintings from him for a significant sum of money, showing these fellow citizens their inability to appreciate the works of Protogenes and at the same time trying to arouse in them the suspicion that he wanted to pass them off as his own. This helped the poor man make a name for himself among his fellow citizens. Above his best painting, where he depicted Ialisa ( cm. Ialis) a hunter with a dog panting on the side, he worked for 7 or even 11 years. When Demetrius Poliorcetes was besieging Rhodes, he could not decide to attack from the side where he knew this painting was located, and because of this he did not win. He sent guards to guard the artist, whose workshop was in the most dangerous place outside the city walls, and even personally visited him. During the time of Pliny, this painting was in Rome, in the temple of the world, but already during the time of Plutarch it was destroyed by fire. His picture "The Resting Satyr", which he placed on one column, was written by him during the siege, when weapons thundered all around, and was also considered an exemplary work. The main merit of Protogen, as well as Apelles, was not so much in the richness of thought or poetic content, but in the charming artistic execution, and the illusion was brought to the highest degree; but with Apelles this was a consequence of his natural talent, and with Protogenes this was achieved by his greatest patience and remarkable diligence. While everyone was surprised at his diligence and perseverance in his works, in the works of his contemporary, Nicomachus, a native of the city of Thebes, who lived at the end of the 4th century. BC, the son and student of Aristodemus, were most amazed at the speed of execution combined with remarkable artistry. They were written - "The Rape of Proserpina", in the Capitol, in the Temple of Minerva; "Goddess of Victory", riding a four-wheeler, and "Skilla" in the temple of the goddess of peace. Further remarkable are: Theon from the island of Samos, who aroused surprise with the liveliness of his imagination and lived during the time of the Macedonian kings Philip and Alexander; he owns: "Mad Orestes" and kifared "Thamiris", Nicias, originally from Athens (painted animals and battles encaustic; many of his paintings were in Rome; one of the best was "The Kingdom of Shadows according to Homer"; they praised the color, position and roundness of figures in his paintings, especially female ones), Antiphilus ( "The Boy Stoking the Fire", "Workshop for woolen work") and Ctesilochus (caricatured the birth of Dionysus from the thigh of Zeus). In all likelihood, Aetion (??????) with his famous painting belongs to the Alexandrian time - "The Marriage of Alexander and Roxana" (Cic. Brut. 18, where some, however, read Echion; Lucian de Merc. cond. 42.imagg. 7). From then on, art begins to decline and is no longer distinguished by grace and ingenuity, but only by care in decoration. Thus, Peyraijk conveyed scenes from everyday life with a brush, depicted with remarkable skill the workshops of shoemakers, barbers, kitchens, markets, etc., which was especially appreciated by the Romans, who respected not so much the intricacy of the composition as the correctness and clarity of the drawing; Thus, he became the best master of real genre painting, the so-called riparography. As for the Romans, we should mainly point out their lack of understanding of works of art; Even the capture of Corinth could not produce a beneficial revolution in art for a long time. Very often there were examples when soldiers and generals not only did not respect, but even destroyed the precious works of J. Mummius did not understand, for example, how Attalus of Pergamon could value so dearly the painting of Aristides depicting Bacchus; Believing that some secret power was hidden in her, he took her with him and placed her in the temple of Ceres. But soon afterwards the Romans, and in this case, quite clearly demonstrated their greedy system of colossal accumulation of other people's treasures; they began to decorate their homes, dining rooms, dachas, etc. with precious paintings. Therefore, in general, we can only point to individual names artists, such as Timomachus from Byzantium, famous for his ability to touchingly depict curbed passions, as he proved in his painting "Furious Ajax", which Caesar ordered to be installed in Rome; Timomakh lived in last century BC. During the time of Augustus, Ludius was famous. Meanwhile, during the reign of the emperors, many Greek painters moved to Rome, whose talent and taste can be understood by the elegant decorations in the famous baths of Titus. Mosaics also developed in a similar way for purposes of luxury; point primarily to Coca of Pergamon, who painted an image of a pool with pigeons on the floor of one room, but the best work of mosaic was considered to be the image of a whole "Iliad" on the floors of the magnificent ship of King Hieron II of Syracuse. Our information about the sources and objects of ancient history is extremely scarce. Rediscovered remains of paintings near Athens in Greek tombstones are not particularly valuable, but numerous drawings on Greek clay vessels already indicate some craftsmanship, and mural paintings found in Herculaneum and Pompeii do not belong to the time when this art flourished and can be considered as more or less light indoor decorations. In general, even in painting, the ancients were distinguished by the choice of beautiful figures, the simplicity of scenes and compositions, and the correctness of drawing, but in the application of the laws of perspective in paintings of large sizes, in the shadows resulting from a certain combination and fusion of colors, and mainly in poetic depth, they were far inferior the latest art. Wed art history Schnaase, Kugler´a, L?bke and others; especially Brunn, Geschichte der. griech. K?nstler, II, p. 3-316 and W?rmann, die Malerei des Alterhums (in Woltmann´a Gesch. der Malerei, vol.?, 1879, p. 32-140).

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A person strives for perfection, seeking harmony in the world that surrounds him. Finding beauty, he tries to find a way to preserve this beauty and convey it to his descendants. Fine art is one of the few methods invented by man back in primitive times. Then the ancient people painted on rocks and cave walls, depicting scenes of the life of their people. This is how the art of painting began to emerge in primitive society. Over time, artists learned to use a variety of media and painting methods. New genres and types of painting appeared. By passing on accumulated knowledge and experience from generation to generation, people managed to preserve the picture of the world in its original form. And today we have the opportunity to admire all parts of the world, looking at the works of artists from different eras.

Difference from other types of fine art

Painting, unlike other methods of transmitting visual images, is performed by applying paint to canvas, paper or other surface. This type of fine art has an unusual art style expressions. The artist, playing with imagination and shades of paint, is able to present the viewer with more than just a reflection visible world, but by adding fresh images from yourself, convey your vision and emphasize something new and unusual.

Types of painting and their brief characteristics

This type of art is characterized depending on what paints and materials are used. There are different types different techniques and types of painting. There are 5 main varieties: miniature, easel, monumental, theatrical and decorative and decorative.

Miniature painting

It began to develop even before the invention of printing, in the Middle Ages. At that time, there were handwritten books, which masters of art decorated with finely drawn headpieces and endings, and also decorated the texts with colorful miniature illustrations. In the first half of the 19th century, miniature painting was used to create small portraits. For this, artists preferred watercolors, because thanks to pure and deep colors and their combinations, portraits acquired special grace and nobility.

Easel painting

This art of painting got its name due to the fact that paintings are made using an easel, i.e. a machine. Canvases are most often painted on canvas, which is stretched on a stretcher. Also, paper, cardboard, and wood can be used as a material basis. A painting painted on an easel is completely an independent work. It can depict both what is imagined by the artist and what is factual in all its manifestations. These can be both inanimate objects and people, both modernity and historical events.

Monumental painting

This type of fine art represents paintings on a large scale. Monumental painting is used to decorate the ceilings and walls of buildings, as well as various construction structures. With its help, artists identify significant social and historical events that influence the development of society and contribute to the formation of people in the spirit of progress, patriotism and humanity.

Theatrical and decorative painting

This type is used for makeup, props, costume decoration and scenery that helps reveal the plot of the play. Costumes, makeup and scenery are made according to sketches by the artist, who strives to convey the style of the era, social status and personal character of the characters.

Decorative painting

It means decorating the interior and buildings using colorful panels, which create a visual increase or decrease in the size of the room, the illusion of a wall breaking through, etc.

Painting in Russia

We have listed the main types of painting, which differ in the way the painter uses material for creativity. Now let's talk about the features of this type of art inherent in our country. Russia has always been famous for its vast expanses with rich flora and fauna. And every artist sought to capture on canvas all the beauty of nature and convey the splendor of the images to the viewer.

Various types of landscapes in painting can be observed on the canvases of famous creators. Each of them, using their own technique, tried to convey to the viewer their own emotions and their own vision. Russian painting is glorified by such masters as Levitan, Shishkin, Savrasov, Aivazovsky and many others. To write your famous paintings they used different techniques. And just as the inner worlds of masters of painting are diverse, so are their creations and the emotions evoked in viewers ultimately multifaceted. The most sincere and deepest feelings give rise to famous works our painters.

So, for example, “Morning in pine forest"Shishkina fills us with refined light and gives us peace. It's like we feel the morning Fresh air, immersing yourself in the coniferous atmosphere and watching the games of the bear cubs. While Aivazovsky’s “Seashore” takes us into the abyss of emotions and anxiety. Village autumn landscapes Levitan is presented with a portion of nostalgia and memories. And Savrasov’s creation “The Rooks Have Arrived” envelops us in slight sadness and gives hope.

Russian painting confirms the colossal potential and talent of the Russian people, as well as the love for their homeland and nature. Everyone can verify this by looking at the paintings of our compatriots. AND the main task- preserve the living Russian painting tradition and the creative abilities of the people.

What is painting?

Painting is a type of fine art, works of which are created using paints applied to any surface.
“Painting is not just some kind of fantasy. It is work, work that must be done conscientiously, as every conscientious worker does,” Renoir argued.

Painting is amazing miracle making everyone accessible art materials into the most diverse visible images of reality. Mastering the art of painting means being able to depict real objects of any shape, different color and material in any space.
Painting, like all other forms of art, has a special artistic language, through which the artist reflects the world. But, expressing his understanding of the world, the artist simultaneously embodies his thoughts and feelings, aspirations, aesthetic ideals in his works, evaluates the phenomena of life, explaining their essence and meaning in his own way.
IN works of art different genres of fine art created by painters use drawing, color, light and shade, expressiveness of strokes, texture and composition. This makes it possible to reproduce on a plane the colorful richness of the world, the volume of objects, their qualitative material originality, spatial depth and light-air environment.
The world of painting is rich and complex, its treasures have been accumulated by humanity over many millennia. The most ancient works of painting were discovered by scientists on the walls of caves in which they lived primitive people. The first artists depicted hunting scenes and animal habits with amazing accuracy and sharpness. This is how the art of painting on the wall arose, which had features characteristic of monumental painting.
There are two main types of monumental painting - fresco and mosaic.
Fresco is a technique of painting with paints diluted with clean or lime water on fresh, damp plaster.
Mosaic is an image made of particles of stone, smalt, ceramic tiles of homogeneous or different materials, which are fixed in a layer of soil - lime or cement.
Fresco and mosaic are the main types of monumental art, which, due to their durability and color fastness, are used to decorate architectural volumes and planes (wall paintings, lampshades, panels).
Easel painting (picture) has an independent character and meaning. The breadth and completeness of the coverage of real life is reflected in the variety of types and genres inherent in easel painting: portrait, landscape, still life, everyday, historical, battle genres.
Unlike monumental painting, easel painting is not connected to the plane of the wall and can be freely exhibited.
The ideological and artistic meaning of works of easel art does not change depending on the place where they are located, although their artistic sound depends on the conditions of exposure.
In addition to the above types of painting, there are decorative paintings - sketches theatrical scenery, scenery and costumes for cinema, as well as miniatures and iconography.
To create a miniature work of art or a monumental one (for example, a painting on a wall), the artist must know not only the constructive essence of objects, their volume, materiality, but also the rules and laws of the pictorial representation of nature, the harmony of color, and color.

In a pictorial image from nature, it is necessary to take into account not only the variety of colors, but also their unity, determined by the strength and color of the light source. No spot of color should be introduced into the image without matching it with the overall color state. The color of each object, both in light and in shadow, must be related to the color whole. If the colors of the image do not convey the influence of the color of the lighting, they will not be subject to a single color scheme. In such an image, each color will stand out as something extraneous and alien to a given state of illumination; it will appear random and ruin the color integrity of the image.
Thus, the natural color unification of paints by the general color of lighting is the basis for creating a harmonious color structure of the picture.
Color is one of the most expressive means used in painting. The artist conveys on the plane the colorful richness of what he sees, with the help of color form he cognizes and reflects the world around him. In the process of depicting nature, a sense of color and its many shades develops, which allows the use of paints as the main means of expression painting.
The perception of color, and the artist's eye is able to distinguish more than 200 of its shades, is perhaps one of the happiest qualities that nature has endowed man with.
Knowing the laws of contrast, the artist navigates those changes in the color of the depicted nature, which in some cases are difficult to catch by the eye. The perception of color depends on the environment in which the object is located. Therefore, the artist, when conveying the color of nature, compares the colors with each other, ensuring that they are perceived in interconnection or mutual relations.
“Taking light-and-shadow relationships” means preserving the difference between colors in lightness, saturation and hue, according to how it occurs in nature.
Contrast (both in light and color) is especially noticeable on the edges of adjacent color spots. The blurring of the boundaries between contrasting colors enhances the effect of color contrast, and the clarity of the boundaries of the spots reduces it. Knowledge of these laws expands technical capabilities in painting, allows the artist, with the help of contrast, to increase the intensity of the color of paints, increase their saturation, increase or decrease their lightness, which enriches the painter’s palette. Thus, without using mixtures, but only contrasting combinations of warm and cold colors, you can achieve a special coloristic sonority of the painting.

There are works of art that seem to hit the viewer over the head, stunning and amazing. Others draw you into thought and a search for layers of meaning and secret symbolism. Some paintings are shrouded in secrets and mystical mysteries, while others surprise with exorbitant prices.

We carefully reviewed all the main achievements in world painting and selected two dozen of the strangest paintings from them. Salvador Dali, whose works completely fall within the format of this material and are the first to come to mind, were not included in this collection on purpose.

It is clear that “weirdness” is a rather subjective concept and everyone has their own amazing paintings, standing out from other works of art. We will be glad if you share them in the comments and tell us a little about them.

"Scream"

Edvard Munch. 1893, cardboard, oil, tempera, pastel.
National Gallery, Oslo.

The Scream is considered a landmark expressionist event and one of the most famous paintings in the world.

There are two interpretations of what is depicted: it is the hero himself who is gripped by horror and silently screams, pressing his hands to his ears; or the hero closes his ears from the cry of the world and nature sounding around him. Munch wrote four versions of “The Scream,” and there is a version that this painting is the fruit of manic-depressive psychosis from which the artist suffered. After a course of treatment at the clinic, Munch did not return to work on the canvas.

“I was walking along the path with two friends. The sun was setting - suddenly the sky turned blood red, I paused, feeling exhausted, and leaned against the fence - I looked at the blood and flames over the bluish-black fjord and city. My friends moved on, and I stood, trembling with excitement, feeling an endless scream piercing nature,” Edvard Munch said about the history of the creation of the painting.

“Where did we come from? Who are we? Where are we going?"

Paul Gauguin. 1897-1898, oil on canvas.
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

According to Gauguin himself, the painting should be read from right to left - three main groups of figures illustrate the questions posed in the title.

Three women with a child represent the beginning of life; middle group symbolizes the daily existence of maturity; in the final group, according to the artist’s plan, “the old woman, approaching death, seems reconciled and indulged in her thoughts,” at her feet “a strange White bird...represents the futility of words.”

The deeply philosophical painting of the post-impressionist Paul Gauguin was painted by him in Tahiti, where he fled from Paris. Upon completion of the work, he even wanted to commit suicide: “I believe that this painting is superior to all my previous ones and that I will never create something better or even similar.” He lived another five years, and so it happened.

"Guernica"

Pablo Picasso. 1937, oil on canvas.
Reina Sofia Museum, Madrid.

Guernica presents scenes of death, violence, brutality, suffering and helplessness, without specifying their immediate causes, but they are obvious. It is said that in 1940, Pablo Picasso was summoned to the Gestapo in Paris. The conversation immediately turned to the painting. “Did you do this?” - “No, you did it.”

The huge fresco painting “Guernica,” painted by Picasso in 1937, tells the story of a raid by a Luftwaffe volunteer unit on the city of Guernica, as a result of which the city of six thousand was completely destroyed. The painting was painted literally in a month - the first days of work on the painting, Picasso worked for 10-12 hours, and already in the first sketches one could see main idea. This is one of the best illustrations of the nightmare of fascism, as well as human cruelty and grief.

"Portrait of the Arnolfini couple"

Jan van Eyck. 1434, wood, oil.
London National Gallery, London.

The famous painting is completely filled with symbols, allegories and various references - right down to the signature “Jan van Eyck was here”, which turned the painting not just into a work of art, but into a historical document confirming the reality of the event at which the artist was present.

The portrait supposedly of Giovanni di Nicolao Arnolfini and his wife is one of the most complex works of the Western school of Northern Renaissance painting.

In Russia, in the last few years, the painting has gained great popularity due to Arnolfini’s portrait resemblance to Vladimir Putin.

"Demon Seated"

Mikhail Vrubel. 1890, oil on canvas.
State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow.

"The hands resist him"

Bill Stoneham. 1972.

This work, of course, cannot be ranked among the masterpieces of world painting, but the fact that it is strange is a fact.

There are legends surrounding the painting with a boy, a doll and his hands pressed against the glass. From “people are dying because of this picture” to “the children in it are alive.” The picture looks really creepy, which gives rise to a lot of fears and speculation among people with weak psyches.

The artist insisted that the painting depicted himself at the age of five, that the door represented the dividing line between the real world and the world of dreams, and the doll was a guide who could guide the boy through this world. Hands represent alternative lives or possibilities.

The painting gained notoriety in February 2000 when it was put up for sale on eBay with a backstory saying that the painting was “haunted.” “Hands Resist Him” was bought for $1,025 by Kim Smith, who was then simply inundated with letters with creepy stories and demands to burn the painting.