The Fine Arts

The Fine Arts include painting, drawing, sculpture and architecture. The art of
painting covers a variety of activities usually distinguished by their techniques. The
main ones are fresco (mural or monumental) painting, easel painting and illumination.
Easel painting includes such genres (or varieties) as:
portrait painting or portraiture (a ceremonial, intimate, group or family portrait,
a self-portrait, a shoulder-, half-, knee-, full-length portrait, etc.);
landscape painting (seascape painting or marine, town (city)-scape or urban
(street) scene, rural, rustic or country landscape, sylvan or woodland scene, riverside
scene, etc.);
still life painting (a flower piece, etc.);
genre painting (a conversational piece, an everyday folk scene);
historical painting, the painting of battle scenes, animal painting, poster
painting, cartoon painting, miniature, icon painting.
A painter can paint in water-colours, in oils, etc., or draw in pencil, in pen, in
ink, in crayon or in chalk as well as in charcoal, in pastel, in sanguine; he can paint
from nature (life), i.e. in the open air or in the studio (atelier).
A still life is a painting that is without people.
Still life appeared in religious art of the 15th century, as in the "the
Annunciation" by Roger van der Weyden, painted in 1435. The still life originated in
Flanders and Holland. Major painters like Rubens or Rembrandt painted still lifes,
each treating them according to his taste and temperament.Knowing how to paint a
still life meant, of course, knowing how to reproduce objects as faithfully as possible.
Landscape painting was not always a separate genre, but landscapes have
always been part of the painter's panoply. From the Middle Ages landscapes were
used as backdrops in a great many paintings. It wasn't until the 17th century that
painters began to make nature the sole subject of their paintings. The Dutch were the
first to acquire a taste for small landscape paintings, preferring familiar locations to
distant, unknown countries. The demand was so great that many artists specialized in
the genre, painting country scenes, sandy dunes, canals, seascapes (Hobbema, Van
Goyen, Van Reuysdael), views of the cities (Vermeer, Berkcheyde, Van der Heyden)
or winter scenes (Avercamp).
In Medieval times, artists painted very few portraits, because religion was the
main interest. Portraiture began to flourish at the end of the Middle Ages, when the
individual began to gain importance. The first portraits, dating from the 14th century,
were still part of religious painting.
What is a "genre painting"? Is is a painting that depicts scenes from everyday
life. The French word "genre" means "kind", as in "mankind". Street scenes, peasants
working in the fields, women at their washing, any subject would do as long as it was
taken from life. The term "genre" did not come into use until the end of the 18th
century, though this style of painting dates from the 17th.