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Figure painting

Genre of painting that represents the human form

Figure painting
Summary

Genre of painting that represents the human form

abbr=on}}, oil on canvas

A figure painting is a work of fine art in any of the painting media with the primary subject being the human figure, whether clothed or nude. Figure painting may also refer to the activity of creating such a work. The human figure has been one of the constant subjects of art since the first Stone Age cave paintings, and has been reinterpreted in various styles throughout history.

Unlike figure drawings which are usually nudes, figure paintings are often clothed depictions which may be either historically accurate or symbolic. Figure painting is not synonymous with figurative art, which may depict real objects of any kind (including humans and animals).

Clothed figures

Portraiture

A portrait painting focuses on the creation of a likeness of a particular individual or group.

Everyday life

Genre painting portray ordinary people engaged in common activities.

Narrative paintings

Historical paintings depict events in a narrative, which may be allegorical.

Nude figures

The nude has been a theme in Western art since classical antiquity and again in Renaissance art, after being largely absent during the Middle Ages. While standing nude figures of both sexes are found in antiquity, in Western art, male nudes were more prevalent through the idealisation of the male form in society. The first female reclining nudes as a popular genre appeared during the Renaissance, most notably in a work by Giorgione. Oil paint historically has been the ideal media for depicting the figure. By blending and layering paint, the surface can become more like skin. "Its slow drying time and various degrees of viscosity enable the artist to achieve rich and subtle blends of color and texture, which can suggest transformations from one human substance to another." Although working from live models is preferred, the length of time needed to complete a painting has led most modern painters to use photographs as references at least part of the time if not for the entire work.

History and styles

Gallery | height=240 | title=Antiquity |File:Ägyptischer Maler um 1400 v. Chr. 001.jpg|Thebes c. 1400 BCE |File:Meister des Mahâjanaka Jâtaka 001.jpg|5th-century mural painting from the Ajanta Caves, India |File:Winged genius Boscoreale Louvre P23.jpg|Winged genius, fragment. Second-style mural painting, Roman artwork, late 1st century BCE. Gallery | height=240 | title=Mythological/Religious |File:Lucas Cranach d. Ä. - Reclining Nymph - WGA05637.jpg|Reclining Nymph by Lucas Cranach the Elder |File:Albrecht Dürer - Adam and Eve (Prado) 2.jpg|Adam and Eve (1507) by Albrecht Dürer |File:Tizian 099.jpg|Venus and the Lute Player (1565–1570) by Titian |File:IngresOdipusAndSphinx.jpg|Oedipus and the Sphinx (1808) by Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres |File:Homère déifié, dit aussi L'apothéose d'Homère - Jean-Auguste Dominique Ingres - Musée du Louvre Peintures INV 5417 ; C 196.jpg|Apotheosis of Homer (1827) by Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres Gallery | height=240 | title=Impressionist |File:Edouard_Manet_-Olympia-_Google_Art_Project_3.jpg | Olympia (1863) by Édouard Manet |File:Whistlers Mother high res.jpg|Arrangement in Grey and Black No. 1 (The Artist's Mother) (1871) by James Abbott McNeill Whistler |File:Young Spartans Exercising National Gallery NG3860.jpg|Young Spartans Exercising, c. 1860 by Edgar Degas Gallery | height=240 | title=Academic |File:William-Adolphe Bouguereau (1825-1905) - The Wave (1896).jpg|The Wave (1896) by William-Adolphe Bouguereau |File:Winged Figure 1889 Abbot Handerson Thayer.jpg|Winged Figure (1889) by Abbot Handerson Thayer |File:Thomas Eakins - William Rush Carving His Allegorical Figure of the Schuylkill River - Google Art Project.jpg|William Rush Carving His Allegorical Figure of the Schuylkill River (1908) by Thomas Eakins

Gallery | height=240 | title=Modern |File:Duchamp - Nude Descending a Staircase.jpg| Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2 (1912) by Marcel Duchamp. Oil on canvas. Philadelphia Museum of Art. |File:Egon Schiele - Sitzender weiblicher Akt mit aufgestützen Ellbogen - 1914.jpeg |Sitzender weiblicher Akt mit aufgestützen Ellbogen (1914) by Egon Schiele |File:Modigliani - Nu couché.jpg|Red Nude (1917) by Amedeo Modigliani Modern image to be restored to the gallery above with additional text to justify fair use. |File:Woman3.jpg|Woman III (1953) by Willem de Kooning

Notes

References

Books

Web

References

  1. Brilliant, Richard. (1987). "Editors Statement: Portraits: The Limitations of Likeness". Art Journal.
  2. Sorabella, Jean. (January 2008). "The Nude in Western Art and its Beginnings in Antiquity, In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History". The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
  3. Sorabella, Jean. (January 2008). "The Nude in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History". The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
  4. Ferrara, Lidia Guibert. (2002). "Reclining Nude". Thames & Hudson.
  5. Scala, p. 1
Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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