Painterliness is a concept based on ''german: malerisch'' ('painterly'), a word popularized by Swiss art historian Heinrich Wölfflin (1864–1945) to help focus, enrich and standardize the terms being used by art historians of his time to characterize Work of art, works of art. A painting is said to be ''painterly'' when there are visible Brush#Paintbrushes, brushstrokes in the final work – the result of applying paint in a manner that is not entirely controlled, generally without closely following carefully drawn lines. Any painting media – oils, acrylics, watercolors, gouache, etc. – can produce either linear or painterly work. Some artists whose work could be characterized as painterly are Pierre Bonnard, Francis Bacon (artist), Francis Bacon, Vincent van Gogh, Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn, Rembrandt, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Renoir, John Singer Sargent, and Andrew Wyeth (his early watercolors). The Impressionism, Impressionists, Fauvism, Fauvists and the Abstract Expressionism, Abstract Expressionists tended strongly to be painterly. Painterly art often makes use of the many visual effects produced by paint on canvas, such as chromatic progression, warm and cool tones, Color wheel, complementary and contrasting colors, broken tones, broad brushstrokes, Sketch (drawing), sketchiness, and impasto.

Linear art

The opposite of painterly is ''linear'', ''plastic'' or ''formal linear'' design. ''Linear'' could describe the painting of artists such as Sandro Botticelli, Botticelli, Michelangelo, and Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres, Ingres, whose works depend on creating the illusion of a degree of three-dimensionality by means of "modeling the form" through skillful drawing, shading, and an academic (rather than impulsive) use of color. Contour and pattern are more the province of linear artists, while dynamism is the most common painterly trait.

Other usage

Although ''painterly'' generally refers to a certain use of paint in art, it happens that some forms of sculpture make use of apparently random surface effects which, if not exactly resembling brushstrokes, contain the traits of painterliness. The application of the term outside the realm of painting may help the viewer, or listener, experience more deeply the significance of Auguste Rodin's surfaces or Richard Strauss's flow of chromatic harmonies. More recently, "painterly" is used to describe computer software, especially mobile apps, designed to create special effects on photographs, mimicking recognizable artistic media such as oils, watercolors, Japanese woodcuts, etc., or based on individual styles like van Gogh, Monet, and so on. The resulting photographs, once transformed, are also called "painterly".

Notes and references

{{reflist Painting Concepts in aesthetics

Linear art

Other usage

See also

Notes and references