Art History: Oils and Painting

The first oil paintings were created in Europe during the Renaissance, and by the 1500s, oil paint was the preferred medium of some of the most famous artists who ever lived. Unlike the paints that came before, they offered more choices to create texture, were more stable, and dried slowly. These qualities meant that oil paints allowed painters to develop more sophisticated techniques and painting styles. It also allowed painters to use intense, rich, deep colors that suited the style of the Renaissance and, later, of the Baroque period.

Oil paints evolved from a type of paint based on egg tempera. Although this egg-based paint was used for quite some time, it had limitations that oil paints did not. For example, it was difficult to blend and was very opaque. Oil paints were first developed by painters working in Northern Europe. It wasn't until the late 1400s that the knowledge of this type of paint made its way to Italy. Works produced during the time are interesting because they show painters attempting to deal with the shortcomings of egg tempera and experimenting with then-new oil techniques. For example, there are many paintings where the artist used egg tempera to create the base of the painting and then used diluted oil paints applied in thin layers as a glaze to complete the work.

The van Eycks were brothers from Holland who are often cited as the people who created the first oil paintings early in the 1400s. Jan van Eyck was a pioneer in the use of oil glazes, and both he and his brother Hubert were among the first to use dark colors to create the base of a painting and then finish the work with richly colored yet transparent glazes.

By the 1500s, oil paint was the most popular choice for almost all Italian artists. Tiziano Vecellio, better known as Titian, was among the most prominent painters of this time period, creating works such as Assumption of the Virgin and Venus of Urbino with oil paint. Artists like Caravaggio and Velasquez, who lived in the late 1500s and early 1600s, continued to push art forward by experimenting with using colored backgrounds to provide more midtones to their work. They then used thick, opaque layers of paint and lighter layers of glaze to create paintings rich in tones, colors, and textures.

Texture and structure continued to be of interest to artists focusing on developing new oil painting techniques. George Stubs, who painted in the 1700s, worked with blending in wax resin to create interesting textures. The next generation of painters rejected the idea that oil paint and oil painting techniques always had to be full of dark, rich colors. Painters like Monet and Renoir, who painted in the 1800s, created very complex oil paintings made up of layer after layer of pigment. The overall effect, however, is quite light and bright.

Some of the most celebrated paintings of all time are oil paintings. For example, few works of art are better known than the Mona Lisa. Leonardo da Vinci used oil paint on a wooden panel to capture the lady who would go on to be the most famous resident of France's Louvre. Prints of Vincent van Gogh's The Starry Night are available on T-shirts, tote bags, and postcards today, but van Gogh used oil paints to create the impressionistic classic. Murals were also created using oil paints: Da Vinci used oil paints when he designed and created The Last Supper. And since the Dutch invented oil paints, it makes sense that one of the most famous portraits done in oil was painted by Johannes Vermeer, a Dutch artist. Girl With a Pearl Earring makes use of the various textures that it is possible to create with oil paints to make the subject's clothing and skin come to life.

• Oil Paint
• The History of Oils
• Painting in Oil in the Low Countries and its Spread to Southern Europe
• Brief History of Oil Painting
• The History of Oil Paint Pigments
• Why Do Artists Use Oil Paint?
• Art History Reader: Oil Paint
• The Art Medium of Oil Paint
• A Real Squeeze: Paint in Tubes
• Oil Paint in Tubes
• The Chemistry of Oil Painting
• Famous Oil Paintings: The Best Artworks Within the History of Oil Painting
• Top Eight Oil Painting Techniques All Beginners and Professionals Should Know
• Oil Painting Methods Overview
• Three Oil Painting Techniques All Artists Should Know
• Creative Techniques: Oil Painting
• An Art Teacher's Guide to Using Oil Paint in the Classroom
• Glass Jars for Oil Paint
• Painting Techniques of the Renaissance
• Oil Painting: Painting Techniques of the Renaissance