Painting

Painting is the practice of applying pigment suspended in a carrier (or medium) and a binding agent (a glue) to a surface (support) such as paper, canvas or a wall. This is done by a painter; this term is used especially if this is his or her profession. Evidence indicates that humans have been painting for about 6 times as long as they have been using written language. Artistic painting is considered by many to be among the most important of the art forms.

Philosophy of painting

Much theory of art is connected with painting. In 1890, the Parisian painter Maurice Denis famously asserted: "Remember that a painting ? before being a warhorse, a naked woman or some story or other ? is essentially a flat surface covered with colours assembled in a certain order." Thus many twentieth century developments in painting, such as Cubism, were reflections on the business of painting rather than on the external world, nature, which had previously been its core subject.

Related Topics:
Cubism - Nature

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A recent contribution to thinking about painting was offered by Julian Bell, in his book What is Painting?. A painter himself, Bell discusses the development, through history, of the notion that paintings can express feelings and ideas. The text is witty and sometimes caustic in order to make his points ("Let us be brutal: expression is a joke. Your painting expresses ? for you; but it does not communicate to me. You had something in mind, something you wanted to ?bring out?; but looking at what you have done, I have no certainty that I know what it was...").

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