subject: History Of Oil Paintings [print this page] Paintings are capable of filling colors in our lives and oil paintings are foremost in the same. Modern art painting incorporates pigments that are added with oil. They help in faster drying and imparting a beautiful finish to the painting. It was Europe that started using linseed oil in paintings which was initially boiled with frankincense or pine resin like resins. This varnish used to offer gloss and depth to artwork oil paintings. Various oils that used to be part of oil paints were walnut oil, poppy seed oil and sunflower oil as they have the advantage of not getting yellow over a period of time. However,every oil has a different time to dry. Even the shine that these oils offer is different. Thus, as per the requirement of the subject of the painting, painters used to decide oil.
Other than Europe, Asian subcontinent also used oil paints. However, the oil painting artists would often use these paints in Buddhist paintings. This was in the fifth century to ninth century. Unfortunately, these paintings didnt get noticed until fifteenth century. During middle ages, the oil painting practice shifted towards westwards and it became the prime medium to express the views and perception of an oil painting artist. It could be clearly seen in Netherland during the Renaissance period with tempera being replaced by oils.
Use of tempera in Europe clearly indicates that it was Europe where oil paintings started to surface independently. The shields for tournaments and decorative pieces more often had paintings in oil based mediums. The main reason for painting over shields in the earlier times was its durability was added volumes when oil was applied.
Oil paintings really became popular in the 15th century with renaissance. The painters from northern Europe are the ones who get the credit for exploring the medium to maximum and taking it to such heights that it is today considered one of the main painting mediums.Oil painting artists like Jan Van Eyck invented painting with oils on wooden panels and Theophilus is the one who encouraged paintings over treatise. In fact, this was the time when oil paints were used for painting wood fittings, carvings, sculptures or any other outdoor thing owing to their durable nature. It was only in the early 15th century that that oil was first introduced in paintings for creating glaze and layers and reached Italy where it was incorporated in canvases owing to their ease of transportation, cost effective nature and property to paint over large media. Thus, oil became popular here in fresco paintings and then there was no looking back for oil paintings.
