painting
, the expression of ideas and emotions, with the creation of certain
aesthetic
qualities, in a two-dimensional visual
language
. The elements of this language?its shapes, lines, colours, tones, and textures?are 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
,
acrylic
,
watercolour
or other water-based paints,
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.
(Read Sister Wendy’s Britannica essay on viewing art.)
Earlier cultural traditions?of tribes, religions, guilds, royal courts, and states?largely 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 notion of the “fine artist” developed in Asia and Renaissance Europe. Prominent painters were afforded the
social status
of scholars and courtiers; they signed their work, decided its design and often its subject and imagery, and established a more personal?if not always amicable?relationship with their
patrons
.
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 in the 20th century could reach an audience only through commercial galleries and public museums, although their work may have been occasionally reproduced in art periodicals. They may also have been assisted by financial awards or commissions from industry and the state. They had, 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 combined other media, such as
sculpture
, with painting to produce three-dimensional abstract designs. Other artists attached real objects to the
canvas
in
collage
fashion or used electricity to operate coloured kinetic panels and boxes.
Conceptual
artists frequently expressed their ideas in the form of a proposal for an unrealizable project, while performance artists were an
integral
part of their own
compositions
. The restless endeavour to extend the boundaries of expression in art produced continuous international stylistic changes. The often bewildering succession of new movements in painting was further stimulated by the swift interchange of ideas by means of international art journals, traveling exhibitions, and art centres. Such exchanges accelerated in the 21st century with the explosion of international art fairs and the advent of
social media
, the latter of which offered not only new means of expression but direct
communication
between artists and their followers. Although stylistic movements were hard to identify, some artists addressed common societal issues, including the broad themes of racism, LGBTQ rights, and
climate change
.
Britannica Quiz
Cubism: Art and Artists
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
ancient Egypt
,
see
Egyptian art and architecture
. The development of painting in different regions is treated in a number of articles:
Western painting
;
African art
;
Central Asian arts
;
Chinese painting
;
Islamic arts
;
Japanese art
;
Korean art
;
Native American art
;
Oceanic art and architecture
;
South Asian arts
;
Southeast Asian arts
. For the conservation and restoration of paintings,
see
art conservation and restoration
. For a discussion of the forgery of works of art,
see
forgery
. 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 information on other arts related to painting,
see
articles such as
drawing
;
folk art
;
printmaking
.