Artist Paintings
Various Types Of Artist Paintings
What makes some things art and other things non-art? Art comes in a variety of styles shapes and forms. Modern art can be nonsensical and surreal and traditional art can feature watercolor scenes and portrait paintings. Here is some information about the different types of artist paintings. Some of these may be familiar and others may be new.
Portrait painting is a very popular and appealing style and it can be fascinating to look back to the past and see how people used to dress and live. It is always interesting to imagine the lives and thoughts they had in these lifelike representations.
Before the use of photography, those that wanted to preserve their memory through a visual representation, such as kings and queens and the nobility, would commission an artist to paint their portrait. Leonardo Da Vinci's Mona Lisa is now a priceless example of a woman whose portrait is world famous.
Then there are still life paintings which preserve and capture an object such as fruit bowls, flowers and food. In early paintings these often had symbolic meaning such as the vanitas vanitatum theme which had a skull and candle and was used to highlight the passage of time and cause people to think about their own mortality. The skills involved here are in the artist's use of light and shade to bring the inanimate objects to life in the picture.
Landscape paintings feature an outdoor scene which could be a country or ocean scene. Pictures of the natural world involve the artists using color and light to breathe life into the scene. Many of Monet's paintings experiment in this way and he began the movement impressionism with his unique use of atmospheric light. Paintings that feature an outdoor landscape are very popular and help to bring the outdoors inside and have a calming, soothing effect on the beholder.
Religious paintings were very popular in medieval times and in earlier art and usually have a moral message. In Italy many of the Italian artists paintings including Michaelangelo's Sistine Chapel frescos have religious imagery and are often used to convey the artist's values or portray a sacred story. They often feature a lamb which is a symbol for Christ and can portray a famous scene from the Bible, such as the Last Supper or the Crucifixion.
These are the main types of artist paintings and those appreciating art can usually see all these types of paintings in local art galleries. Often galleries will have the paintings categorized according to genre and time period and they can be studied from the twentieth century through to early art of the 1300s.
European art is well known and Asian art can come in a variety of forms. The Louvre in Paris is famous for housing some of the world's best known art including the 'Mona Lisa'.
Most major cities and towns have some form of gallery where work can be displayed. More modern art can be found in its own section as well as photography which is a popular medium for art in today's society.
