Painters

A painter is an artist who uses paint to create their artworks. A painter can be a professional or an amateur. The term painter can also be used to describe someone whose occupation involves painting surfaces, such as walls and doors.

Painters can use a variety different techniques and types of paints to create their artworks. The most frequently used techniques include oil paint, acrylic paint, gouache and watercolor. Watercolor is widely considered the oldest technique and it continues to be used today although oil painting has, over the centuries, become the preferred technique for many artists.

A painter can choose to work on various supports. The most common support is a canvas stretched over a frame but other popular supports include wood, paper, metal and even the human body.

For the last centuries, painting has been the dominant artistic expression and the most prevalent in the history of art. The history of painting begins in prehistoric times with the first cave paintings. Over the centuries, styles have evolved, first aiming to becoming more naturalistic and then breaking away from figurativism to move towards abstract art. Some of the key artistic movements in painting include: Gothic, Renaissance, Mannerism, Caravaggism, Baroque, classicism, Rococo, Neoclassical, romantic, Orientalist, Pre-Raphaelites, Barbizon School, Realism, Impressionism, Cubism, Fauvism, Futurism, Expressionism, Surrealism, Suprematism, Abstract Expressionism, Pop Art and Minimalism.

The twentieth century saw the birth of abstract painting. With this revolution in painting, the painter no longer tried to represent the world in a recognizable way but instead focussed on the formal elements of the painting such as shape, line and color. Abstract painting and figurative painting co-existed throughout modern art and continue to do so in contemporary art. Generally, these two categories of modern and contemporary are distinguished by the date of creation of the artworks . Modern art is generally seen as encompassing late 19th century works up to the mid-twentieth century, although the end date may vary between 1945 and 1960 depending on the interpretation. Contemporary art is ranges from the end of modern art up to today.

History of art is closely linked to the history of humanity. In fact, painters are often considered important witnesses of their time. The artists who have left their mark on the history of art are very often those who succeeded in innovating and going against the artistic codes of their time.

Some of the most groundbreaking and memorable artists include: Leonardo da Vinci, Sandro Botticelli, Rembrandt, El Greco, Diego Velázquez, Rubens, Johannes Vermeer, Francisco de Goya, Eugène Delacroix, William Turner, Edouard Manet, Edgar Degas, Claude Monet, Auguste Renoir, Paul Cézanne, Victor Vasarely, Vincent Van Gogh, Paul Gauguin, Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Joan Miro, Robert Combas, Victor Vasarely, Salvador Dali, Mark Rothko, Andy Warhol, Sonia Delaunay, Niki de Saint Phalle, Keith Haring, Herve di Rosa, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Jeff Koons, Takashi Murakami and JonOne.