Figurative art

Formal elements

The formal elements, those aesthetic effects created by design, upon which figurative art is dependent, include line, shape, color, light and dark, mass, volume, texture, and perspective, although these elements of design could also play a role in creating other types of imagery—for instance abstract, or non-representational or non-objective two-dimensional artwork. The difference is that in figurative art these elements are deployed to create an impression or illusion of form and space, and, usually, to create emphasis in the narrative portrayed. (a.k.a. Dresden Venus)

Evolution

Figurative art is itself based upon a tacit understanding of abstracted shapes: the figure sculpture of Greek antiquity was not naturalistic, for its forms were idealized and geometric. Ernst Gombrich referred to the strictures of this schematic imagery, the adherence to that which was already known, rather than that which is seen, as the "Egyptian method", an allusion to the memory-based clarity of imagery in Egyptian art. Eventually idealization gave way to observation, and a figurative art which balanced ideal geometry with greater realism was seen in Classical sculpture by 480 B.C. The Greeks referred to the reliance on visual observation as mimesis. Until the time of the Impressionists, figurative art was characterized by attempts to reconcile these opposing principles.

From the early Renaissance, Mannerism and the Baroque through 18th-, 19th- and 20th-century painting Figurative art has steadily broadened its parameters. An important landmark in the evolution of figurative art is the first known reclining nude in Western painting in Sleeping Venus (1510) by Giorgione. It introduced the female nude as subject and started a long line of famous paintings.

Nicolas Poussin (1594–1665), a French painter in the classical style whose work predominantly features clarity, logic, and order, and favors line over color, served as an alternative to the more narrative Baroque style of the 17th century. He was a major inspiration for such classically oriented artists as Jacques-Louis David, Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres and Paul Cézanne. The rise of the Neoclassical art of Jacques-Louis David ultimately engendered the realistic reactions of Gustave Courbet and Édouard Manet leading to the multi-faceted figurative art of the 20th century.

In November, 2018, scientists reported the discovery of the oldest known figurative art painting, over 40,000 (perhaps as old as 52,000) years old, of an unknown animal, in the cave of Lubang Jeriji Saléh on the Indonesian island of Borneo.

Architecture, townscape

Main article: Architecture painting

File:Durer-Castle-Innsbruck.jpg|Albrecht Dürer (1494) Courtyard of Innsbruck Castle File:Jan van der Heyden - The Church at Veere.jpg|Jan van der Heyden (1652) The Church at Veere File:Piazzetta and Bacino di San Marco - Giovanni Antonio Canal commonly known as Canaletto.jpg|Canaletto (c. 1737) View of the Piazzetta and The Bassin of San Marco in Venice File:Burgos Cathedral painting Bossue.jpg|alt=|Burgos Cathedral (1851) by François Bossuet 

History painting

Main article: History painting

File:San Romano Battle (Paolo Uccello, London) 01.jpg|Paolo Uccello (1438–1440) The Battle of San Romano File:Jacques-Louis David - Oath of the Horatii - Google Art Project.jpg|Jacques-Louis David (1786) Oath of the Horatii File:John Everett Millais - Christ in the House of His Parents (`The Carpenter's Shop') - Google Art Project.jpg|John Everett Millais (1854–1860) Christ In The House Of His Parents File:Lourens Alma Tadema - De Egyptische weduwe..jpg|Lawrence Alma-Tadema (1872) The Egyptian Widow

Human forms

Main article: Figure painting, Sculpture

File:Roman fresco with a Woman on a Balcony - Getty Villa Collection.jpg|Ancient Roman woman on a balcony (9–14 CE), Getty Villa File:Kenyon Cox nude study2.jpg|Kenyon Cox (1896) Nude study File:Joseph Csaky, 1911-1912, Groupe de femmes, Groupe de trois femmes, Groupe de trois personnages..jpg|Joseph Csaky (1911–1912) Groupe de femmes (Group of Women), plaster File:Raymond Duchamp-Villon, 1914, Femme assise, plaster, 65.5 cm (25.75 in), photograph by Duchamp-Villon.jpg|Raymond Duchamp-Villon (1914) Femme assise, plaster File:Statue from Ain Ghazal in Louvre Abu Dhabi.jpg|ʿAin Ghazal statues, from approximately 9000 years ago File:'David' by Michelangelo Fir JBU004.jpg|David (1504), by Michelangelo File:"Seated Dress Impression with Drapery" by Karen LaMonte.jpg|alt=|Seated Dress Impression with Drapery (2005), by Karen LaMonte File:Mother and her child.jpg|alt=|Mother and her child by Leah Michlson.

Landscape, seascape

Main article: Landscape art

File:Albrecht Altdorfer 007.jpg|Albrecht Altdorfer (), Danube landscape near Regensburg File:Pieter Bruegel the Elder- The Harvesters - Google Art Project.jpg|Pieter Bruegel the Elder (1565) The Harvesters File:The Fighting Temeraire, JMW Turner, National Gallery.jpg|J. M. W. Turner (1839) The Fighting Temeraire File:Monet - Regen bei Eretat.jpg|Claude Monet (1886) Rain at Eretat File:Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890) - Wheat Field with Crows (1890).jpg|alt=|Wheat Field with Crows (1890) by Vincent van Gogh File:Georgia O'Keeffe, Palo Duro Canyon, 1916-1917.tif|alt=|Palo Duro Canyon (1916) by Georgia O'Keeffe

Still life

Main article: Still life

File:Alexander Coosemans - Still Life with Lobster and Oysters.jpg|Alexander Coosemans () Still Life with Lobster and Oysters File:Cezanne, Nature morte au compotier.jpg|Paul Cézanne (1879) Nature morte au compotier File:Henri Matisse, 1899, Still Life with Compote, Apples and Oranges, oil on canvas, 46.4 x 55.6 cm, The Cone Collection, Baltimore Museum of Art.jpg|Henri Matisse (1899) Still Life with Compote, Apples and Oranges

Cave painting

Main article: Cave painting

File:Lascaux painting.jpg|Upper Paleolithic art, c. 17,300 years old, showing aurochs, horses, and deer. Lascaux, France File:Bestias11.JPG|Neolithic rock art, over 7,000 years old. Cave of Beasts, Egypt

References

1. Adams, Laurie Schneider, ''The Methodologies of Art'', pages 17–19. Westview Press, 1996,
2. [[Kenneth Clark. Clark, Kenneth]], ''The Nude: A Study in Ideal Form'', pages 31–2. Princeton University Press, 1990.
3. link. (October 6, 2008)
4. (2002). "Reclining Nude". Thames & Hudson.
5. Zimmer, Carl. (7 November 2018). "In Cave in Borneo Jungle, Scientists Find Oldest Figurative Painting in the World - A cave drawing in Borneo is at least 40,000 years old, raising intriguing questions about creativity in ancient societies.". [[The New York Times]].
6. Aubert, M.. (7 November 2018). "Palaeolithic cave art in Borneo". [[Nature (journal).