Which bridge did Manet fall in love with, and how did the Langlois Bridge painted by Vincent van Gogh get its name?
history of painting
Bridges have had huge impact on man, but aren’t normally considered aesthetically attractive. Paintings from van Eyck to Jongkind show increasing interest among artists.
From fresco to varnish: a succinct summary of all the different media which have been used in painting, with links to more detailed articles.
Until 1880, varnishing oil paintings was standard practice, but three completely different types of varnish were used. A journey through names like sandarac and colophony.
Never shown to the public in traditional paintings, a vital layer which goes between paint and the support. White, colour, chalk or oil.
Popular with painters during the early 1600s, copper sheets were used by Jan Brueghel the Elder, Adam Elsheimer, David Teniers the younger, William Blake, and Joseph Stella, among others.
Good for watercolour and pastels alone? Paper and cardboard have also been used extensively for oil sketches, and more.
First popularised for use with glue tempera, ‘canvas’ quickly developed into the first choice for oils. In Venice, canvases as large as tennis courts were used by Veronese and Tintoretto.
From the funerary portraits of Fayum, through the work of Jan van Eyck, to Leonardo, Rubens and Botticelli, many of the greatest paintings are on wood panels.
Oils were king until the 1960s, when acrylic paints became readily available. How do they differ from oils, though?
The Eclectic Light Company 