GENRES OF PAINTING(French genre - genus, species) - a historical division of works of art in accordance with the themes and objects of the image. IN modern painting there are the following genres: portrait, historical, mythological, battle, everyday life, landscape, still life, animalistic genre.

Although the concept of “genre” appeared in painting relatively recently, certain genre differences have existed since ancient times: images of animals in caves of the Paleolithic era, portraits of Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia from 3000 BC, landscapes and still lifes in Hellenistic and Roman mosaics and frescoes. The formation of the genre as a system in easel painting began in Europe in the 15th and 16th centuries. and ended mainly in the 17th century, when, in addition to the division of fine art into genres, the concept of the so-called. "high" and "low" genres, depending on the subject of the image, theme, plot. The “high” genre included historical and mythological genres, while the “low” genre included portrait, landscape, and still life. This gradation of genres lasted until the 19th century. albeit with exceptions.

So, in the 17th century. in Holland, it was precisely the “low” genres that became the leading ones in painting (landscape, household genre, still life), and the ceremonial portrait, which formally belonged to the "low" genre of the portrait, did not belong to such. Having become a form of reflection of life, the genres of painting, with all the stability of common features, are not invariable, they develop along with life, changing as art develops. Some genres are dying out or gaining new meaning(for example, the mythological genre), new ones arise, usually within the previously existing ones (for example, within the landscape genre, architectural landscape And marina). Works appear that combine various genres (for example, a combination of the everyday genre with a landscape, a group portrait with a historical genre).

A genre of fine art that reflects the external and internal appearance of a person or group of people is called portrait. This genre is widespread not only in painting, but also in sculpture, graphics, etc. The main requirements for a portrait are the transfer of external similarity and the disclosure of the inner world, the essence of a person's character. By the nature of the image, two main groups are distinguished: ceremonial and chamber portraits. Ceremonial portrait shows a person full height(on a horse, standing or sitting), on an architectural or landscape background. In a chamber portrait, a half-length or chest image is used on a neutral background. There are double and group portraits. Paired are called portraits painted on different canvases, but coordinated among themselves in composition, format and color. Portraits can form ensembles - portrait galleries, united according to professional, family, and other characteristics (galleries of portraits of members of a corporation, guild, regimental officers, etc.). A self-portrait stands out in a special group - an image by the artist of himself.

The portrait is one of the oldest genres of fine art, originally it had a cult purpose, it was identified with the soul of the deceased. IN ancient world the portrait developed more in sculpture, as well as in pictorial portraits - Faiyum portraits of the 1st-3rd centuries. In the Middle Ages, the concept of a portrait was replaced by generalized images, although frescoes, mosaics, icons, and miniatures contain some personality traits in the picture historical persons. Late Gothic and the Renaissance is a turbulent period in the development of the portrait, when the portrait genre is emerging, reaching the heights of humanistic faith in man and understanding of his spiritual life. In the 16th century the following types of portrait appear: traditional (half-length or full-length), allegorical (with attributes of the divine), symbolic (based on a literary work), self-portrait and group portrait: Giotto Enrico Scrovegni(c. 1305, Padua), Jan van Eyck Portrait of the Arnolfini couple(1434, London, National Gallery), Leonardo da Vinci Mona Lisa(c. 1508, Paris, Louvre), Raphael lady with a veil(c. 1516, Florence, Pitti Gallery), Titian Portrait of a young man with a glove(1515–1520, Paris, Louvre), A. Durer Portrait of a young human(1500, Munich, Alte Pinakothek), H. Holbein Messengers(London, National Gallery), Rembrandt The night Watch(1642, Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum), Self-portrait with Saskia on his knees(c. 1636, Dresden, Art Gallery). Thanks to Van Dyck, Rubens and Velazquez, a type of royal, court portrait appears: the model is shown full-length against the background of drapery, landscape, architectural motif (Van Dyck Portrait of Charles I, OK. 1653, Paris, Louvre).

In parallel, there is a line of psychological portrait, portrait-character, group portrait: F. Hals Group portrait of the St. Adriana(1633, Haarlem, Frans Hals Museum), Rembrandt Syndics(1662, Amsterdam, State Museum), El Greco Portrait of Niño de Guevara(1601, New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art), D. Velasquez Portrait of Philip IV(1628, Madrid, Prado), F. Goya Milkmaid from Bordeaux(1827, Madrid, Prado), T. Gainsborough Portrait of actress Sarah Siddons(1784–1785, London, National Gallery), F.S. Rokotov Maikov's portrait(c. 1765, Moscow, Tretyakov Gallery), D. G. Levitsky Portrait of M.A. Dyakova(1778, Moscow, Tretyakov Gallery). An interesting and varied portrait of the 19th–20th centuries: D. Ingres Portrait of Madame Recamier(1800, Paris, Louvre), E. Manet Flutist(1866, Paris, Louvre), O. Renoir Portrait of Jeanne Samary(1877, Moscow, Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts), V. Van Gogh Self portrait with bandaged ear(1889, Chicago, Block collection), O.A. Kiprensky Portrait of a poet Pushkin(1827, Moscow, Tretyakov Gallery), I.N. Kramskoy Portrait of the writer Leo Tolstoy(1873, Moscow, Tretyakov Gallery), I.E. Repin Mussorgsky(1881, Moscow, Tretyakov Gallery).

The genre of fine art dedicated to historical events and characters is called historical genre. The historical genre, which is characterized by monumentality, has long developed in wall painting. From the Renaissance to the 19th century. artists used scenes ancient mythology, Christian legends. Often the real historical events depicted in the picture were saturated with mythological or biblical allegorical characters. The historical genre is intertwined with others - the everyday genre (historical and everyday scenes), portrait (image of historical figures of the past, portrait-historical compositions), landscape ("historical landscape"), merges with the battle genre.

The historical genre is embodied in easel and monumental forms, in miniatures and illustrations. Originating in antiquity, the historical genre combined real historical events with myths. In countries ancient east there were even types of symbolic compositions (the apotheosis of the military victories of the monarch, the transfer of power to him by the deity) and narrative cycles of murals and reliefs.

IN Ancient Greece there were sculptures historical heroes (Tyrannicide, 477 BC), reliefs were created in Ancient Rome with scenes of military campaigns and triumphs ( Trajan's column in Rome, ca. 111-114). In the Middle Ages in Europe, historical events were reflected in the miniatures of the chronicles, in icons. The historical genre in easel painting began to take shape in Europe during the Renaissance, in the 17th and 18th centuries. it was considered as a "high" genre, bringing to the fore (religious, mythological, allegorical, actually historical plots). One of the first realistic easel paintings was Surrender of Breda Velazquez (1629-1631, Madrid, Prado). Pictures of the historical genre filled with dramatic content, high aesthetic ideals, depth of human relations: Tintoretto Battle of Zara(c. 1585, Venice, Doge's Palace), N. Poussin The Generosity of Scipio(1643, Moscow, Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts), J. L. David Oath of the Horatii(1784, Paris, Louvre), E. Manet Execution Emperor Maximilian(1871, Budapest, Museum of Fine Arts). Early 19th century - new stage in the development of the historical genre, which began with the emergence of romanticism, the rise of utopian expectations: E. Delacroix Capture of Constantinople by the Crusaders(1840, Paris, Louvre), K. Bryullov The last day of Pompeii(1830–1833, St. Petersburg, Russian Museum), A.A. Ivanov Appearance of Christ to the People(1837–1857, Moscow, Tretyakov Gallery). Realism of the 2nd half of the 19th century. refers to the understanding of the historical tragedies of peoples and individuals: I.E. Repin Ivan Grozny and his son Ivan(1885, Moscow, Tretyakov Gallery), V.I. Surikov Menshikov in Berezov(1883, Moscow, Tretyakov Gallery). In the art of the 20th century there is an interest in antiquity as a source of beauty and poetry: V.A. Serov Peter I(1907, Moscow, Tretyakov Gallery), artists of the "World of Art" association. Historical-revolutionary composition occupied a leading place in Soviet art: B.M. Kustodiev Bolshevik(1920, Moscow, Tretyakov Gallery).

The genre of fine art dedicated to the heroes and events that the myths of ancient peoples tell about is called mythological genre(from the Greek. mythos - tradition). The mythological genre comes into contact with the historical and took shape in the Renaissance, when ancient legends provided the richest opportunities for the embodiment of stories and characters with complex ethical, often allegorical overtones: S. Botticelli Birth of Venus(c. 1484, Florence, Uffizi), A. Mantegna Parnassus(1497, Paris, Louvre), Giorgione sleeping Venus(c. 1508–1510, Dresden, Art Gallery), Raphael Athenian school(1509–1510, Rome, Vatican). In the 17th century - early 19th century in the works of the mythological genre, the range of moral, aesthetic problems expands, which are embodied in high artistic ideals and either get closer to life, or create a festive spectacle: N. Poussin Sleeping Venus(1620s, Dresden, Art Gallery), P.P. Rubens Bacchanalia(1619–1620, Moscow, Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts), D. Velasquez Bacchus (Drunkards) (1628–1629, Madrid, Prado), Rembrandt Danae(1636, St. Petersburg, Hermitage), G. B. Tiepolo Triumph of Amphitrite(c. 1740, Dresden, Art Gallery). From the 19th–20th centuries the themes of Germanic, Celtic, Indian, Slavic myths became popular.

battle genre(from French bataille - battle) is a genre of painting that is part of the historical, mythological genre and specializes in depicting battles, military exploits, military operations, glorifying military prowess, the fury of battle, the triumph of victory. Battle painting may include elements of other genres - domestic, portrait, landscape, animalistic, still life. Artists regularly turned to the battle genre: Leonardo da Vinci Battle of Anghiari(not preserved), Michelangelo Battle of Kashin(not preserved), Tintoretto Battle of Zara(c. 1585, Venice, Doge's Palace), N. Poussin, A. Watteau The hardships of war(c. 1716, St. Petersburg, Hermitage), F. Goya Disasters of war(1810–1820), T. Gericault Wounded cuirassier(1814, Paris, Louvre), E. Delacroix Massacre in Chios(1824, Paris, Louvre), V.M. Vasnetsov After the battle of Igor Svyatoslavovich with Cumans(1880, Moscow, Tretyakov Gallery).

A genre of fine art that shows scenes of everyday, personal life of a person, everyday life from peasant and urban life, is called everyday genre. An appeal to the life and customs of people is already found in the murals and reliefs of the Ancient East, in ancient vase painting and sculpture, in medieval icons and hour books. But stood out and acquired characteristic forms everyday genre only as a phenomenon of the secular easel art. Its main features began to take shape in the 14th-15th centuries. in altar paintings, reliefs, tapestries, miniatures in the Netherlands, Germany, France. In the 16th century in the Netherlands, the household genre began to develop rapidly and became isolated. One of its founders was I. Bosch ( Seven deadly sins, Madrid, Prado). The development of the everyday genre in Europe was greatly influenced by the work of P. Brueghel: he moves to a pure everyday genre, shows that everyday life can be an object of study and a source of beauty ( peasant dance, peasant wedding- OK. 1568, Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum). 17th century can be called the age of "genre" in all painting schools Europe: Michelangelo da Caravaggio fortune teller(Paris, Louvre), P.P. Rubens Peasant dance(1636–1640, Madrid, Prado), J. Jordanes Bean King Festival(c. 1638, St. Petersburg, Hermitage), A. van Ostade Flutist(c. 1660, Moscow, Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts), Jan Steen Patient and doctor(c. 1660, Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum), F. Hals Gypsy(c. 1630, Paris, Louvre), Jan Vermeer of Delft Girl with a letter(late 1650s, Dresden, Art Gallery). In the 18th century in France, genre painting is associated with the image of gallant scenes, "pastorals", becomes refined and graceful, ironic: A. Watteau Bivouac(c. 1710, Moscow, Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts), J.B. Chardin Prayer before dinner(c. 1737, St. Petersburg, Hermitage). The works of the domestic genre are diverse: they showed the warmth of home life and exotic distant countries, sentimental experiences and romantic passions. Household genre in the 19th century. in painting, he asserted democratic ideals, often with critical overtones: O. Daumier Laundress(1863, Paris, Louvre), G. Courbet Artist's workshop(1855, Paris, Musee d'Orsay). The everyday genre, focused on showing peasant life and the life of a city dweller, developed vividly in Russian painting of the 19th century: A.G. Venetsianov On the arable land. Spring(1820s, Moscow, Tretyakov Gallery), P.A. Fedotov Major's matchmaking(1848, Moscow, Tretyakov Gallery), V.G. Perov The last tavern at the outpost(1868, Moscow, Tretyakov Gallery), I.E. Repin Didn't wait(1884, Moscow, Tretyakov Gallery).

Genre of fine arts, where the main thing is the image of nature, environment, views of the countryside, cities, historical monuments, is called a landscape (fr. paysage). There are rural, urban landscape (including veduta), architectural, industrial, images of the water element - sea (marina) and river landscape

In antiquity and in the Middle Ages, the landscape appears in the paintings of temples, palaces, icons and miniatures. IN European art the first to turn to the image of nature were the Venetian painters of the Renaissance (A. Canaletto). From the 16th century the landscape becomes an independent genre, its varieties and directions are formed: lyrical, heroic, documentary landscape: P. Brueghel It's a nasty day (spring eve) (1565, Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum), P.P. Rubens lion hunting(c. 1615, Munich, Alte Pinakothek), Rembrandt Landscape with a pond and an arched bridge(1638, Berlin-Dahlem), J. van Ruisdael forest swamp(1660s, Dresden, Art Gallery), N. Poussin Landscape with Polyphemus(1649, Moscow, Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts), C. Lorrain Noon(1651, St. Petersburg, Hermitage), F. Guardi Piazza San Marco, view of the Basilica(c. 1760–1765, London, National Gallery). In the 19th century creative discoveries of landscape masters, saturating it social issues, the development of the plein air (image of the natural environment) culminated in the achievements of impressionism, which gave new opportunities in the pictorial transmission of spatial depth, the variability of the light and air environment, the complexity of colors: Barbizons, C. Corot Morning in Venice(c. 1834, Moscow, Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts), A.K. Savrasov The Rooks Have Arrived(1871, Moscow, Tretyakov Gallery), I.I. Shishkin Rye V.D. Polenov Moscow courtyard(1878, Moscow, Tretyakov Gallery), I.I. Levitan Golden autumn(1895, Moscow, Tretyakov Gallery), E. Manet Breakfast on the grass(1863, Paris, Louvre), C. Monet Boulevard Capuchin in Paris(1873, Moscow, Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts), O. Renoir Paddling pool(1869, Stockholm, National Museum).

Marina(it. marina, from lat. marinus - sea) - one of the types of landscape, the object of which is the sea. An independent genre the marina was drawn up in Holland at the beginning of the 17th century: J. Porsellis, S. de Vlieger, V. van de Velle, J. Vernet, W. Turner Funeral at sea(1842, London, Tate Gallery), C. Monet impression, sunrise sun(1873, Paris, Marmottan Museum), S.F. Shchedrin Small harbor in Sorrento(1826, Moscow, Tretyakov Gallery).

architectural landscape- a kind of landscape, one of the types perspective painting, depiction of real or imaginary architecture in a natural environment. A large role in the architectural landscape is played by a linear and aerial perspective, linking nature and architecture. In the architectural landscape, urban perspective views are distinguished, which were called in the 18th century. vedutami (A. Canaletto, B. Bellotto, F. Guardi in Venice), views of estates, park ensembles with buildings, landscapes with ancient or medieval ruins (J. Robert; K. D. Friedrich Abbey in Oak grove, 1809–1810, Berlin, State Museum; S.F. Shchedrin), landscapes with imaginary buildings and ruins (D.B. Piranesi, D. Pannini).

Veduta(it. veduta, lit. - seen) - a landscape that accurately depicts a documented view of the area, city, one of the origins of panorama art. The term appeared in the 18th century, when a camera obscura was used to reproduce views. The leading artist who worked in this genre was A. Canaletto: Piazza San Marco(1727-1728, Washington, National Gallery).

A genre of fine art that shows household items, labor, creativity, flowers, fruits, slaughtered game, caught fish, placed in a real household environment, is called still life (fr. nature morte - dead nature). Still life can be endowed with a complex symbolic meaning, play the role of a decorative panel, be the so-called. "deceit", which gives an illusory reproduction of real objects or figures, causing the effect of the presence of genuine nature.

The image of objects is known in the art of antiquity and the Middle Ages. But the first still life in easel painting is considered to be a painting by the artist from Venice Jacopo de Barbari Partridge with arrow and gloves(1504, Munich, Alte Pinakothek). Already in the 16th century. still life is divided into many types: the interior of a kitchen with or without people, a laid table in a rural setting, "vanitas" with symbolic objects (a vase of flowers, an extinguished candle, musical instruments). In the 17th century the genre of still life is flourishing: the monumentality of the paintings by F. Snyders ( Still life with a swan, Moscow, Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts), F. Zurbaran, who made simple compositions from a few items ( Still life with four vessels, 1632-1634, Madrid, Prado). He was especially rich dutch still life, modest in color and in the things depicted, but exquisite in the expressive texture of objects, in the play of color and light (P. Klas, V. Heda, V. Kalf, A. Beyeren). In the 18th century J. B. Chardin's laconic still lifes affirm the value and dignity hidden in everyday life: Art attributes(1766, St. Petersburg, Hermitage). Still lifes of the 19th century are varied: social overtones in the canvases of O. Daumier; transparency, airiness in the paintings of E. Manet; monumentality, constructiveness, accurate molding of the form with color by P. Cezanne. In the 20th century new possibilities of still life open up: P. Picasso, J. Braque made the subject the main object of an artistic experiment, studying and dissecting its geometric structure.

A genre of fine art depicting animals is called animal genre(from lat. animal - animal). The animal artist pays attention to the artistic and figurative characteristics of the animal, its habits, decorative expressiveness of the figure, silhouette. Often animals are endowed with traits inherent in people, actions and experiences. Images of animals are often found in ancient sculpture, vase painting.

Nina Bayor

Literature:

Suzdalev P. On the genres of painting.- magazine "Creativity", 1964, No. 2, 3
History of foreign art. M., Visual arts, 1984
Vipper B.R. Introduction to the historical study of art. M., Visual arts, 1985
History of world art. BMM AO, M., 1998

From time immemorial, man has been striving for perfection, seeking harmony in the world that surrounds him. Finding beauty, he tries to find a way to preserve this beauty and bring it to his descendants. Fine art is one of the few methods invented by man back in primitive times. Then the ancient people painted on the rocks and walls of caves, depicting scenes of the life of their people. This is how the art of painting began to emerge in primitive society. Over time, artists have learned to use a variety of means and methods of drawing. New genres and types of painting appeared. Passing on the accumulated knowledge and experience from generation to generation, people managed to preserve the picture of the world in its original form. And today we have the opportunity to admire all parts of the world, looking at the works of artists from different eras.

Difference from other types of fine art

Painting, unlike other ways of transmitting visual images, is done by applying paint to canvas, paper or other surface. This type of fine art has an unusual art style expressions. The artist, playing with imagination and shades of colors, is able to give the viewer not just a display visible world, but by adding fresh images from yourself, convey your vision and emphasize something new and unusual.

Types of painting and their brief description

This type of art is characterized depending on what paints and materials are used. There are various techniques and types of painting. There are 5 main varieties: miniature, easel, monumental, theatrical and decorative and decorative.

miniature painting

It began to develop even before the invention of printing, in the Middle Ages. At that time, there were handwritten books, which the masters of art decorated with finely drawn intros and endings, as well as decorated texts with colorful miniature illustrations. In the first half of the 19th century, miniature painting was used to create small portraits. For this, artists preferred watercolors, because thanks to pure and deep colors and their combinations, portraits acquired a special grace and nobility.

easel painting

This art of painting got its name due to the fact that the paintings are made using an easel, that is, a machine tool. Canvases are painted most often on canvas, which is stretched on a stretcher. Also, paper, cardboard, and wood can be used as a material basis. A picture painted on an easel is a completely independent work. It can depict both the fictional by the artist and the actual in all its manifestations. It could be like inanimate objects, and people, both modernity and historical events.

monumental painting

This type of fine art is a pictorial creation of a large scale. Monumental painting is used to decorate the ceilings and walls of buildings, as well as various building structures. With its help, artists identify significant social and historical events that affect the development of society and contribute to the formation of people in the spirit of progress, patriotism and humanity.

Theatrical and decorative painting

This type is used for make-up, props, decoration of costumes and scenery, helping to reveal the plot of the performance. Costumes, make-up and scenery are made according to the sketches of the artist, who seeks to convey the style of the era, social status and personal character of the characters.

decorative painting

It refers to the decoration of the interior and buildings, using colorful panels, which create a visual increase or decrease in the size of the room, the illusion of breaking through the wall, etc.

Painting in Russia

We have listed the main types of painting, which differ in the way the painter uses material for creativity. Now let's talk about the features of this type of art inherent in our country. Russia has always been famous for its vast expanses with rich flora and fauna. And each artist sought to capture on canvas all the beauty of nature and convey to the viewer the splendor of the images.

Various types of landscapes in painting can be observed on the canvases of famous creators. Each of them, using his own technique, tried to convey to the viewer his own emotions and his own vision. Russian painting is glorified by such masters as Levitan, Shishkin, Savrasov, Aivazovsky and many others. To write their famous paintings, they used different techniques. And just as the inner worlds of the masters of painting are diverse, so are their creations and the emotions evoked in the audience in the end. The most sincere and deep feelings give rise to the famous works of our painters.

So, for example, “Morning in a Pine Forest” by Shishkin fills us with subtle light and gives us peace of mind. We seem to feel the morning fresh air, plunging into the coniferous atmosphere and watching the cubs play. While Aivazovsky's "Seashore" takes us into the abyss of worries and anxiety. Rural autumn landscapes of Levitan present a portion of nostalgia and memories. And Savrasov's creation "The Rooks Have Arrived" envelops with a slight sadness and gives hope.

Confirmation of the colossal potential and talent of the Russian people, as well as love for their homeland and nature, is Russian painting. Everyone can verify this by looking at the pictures of our compatriots. And the main task is to preserve the living Russian painting tradition and the creative abilities of the people.

There are works of art that seem to hit the viewer on the head, dumbfounded and amazing. Others drag you into reflection and in search of semantic layers, secret symbolism. Some paintings are covered with secrets and mystical mysteries, while others surprise with an exorbitant price.

We carefully reviewed all the major achievements in world painting and chose two dozen of the most strange pictures. Salvador Dali, whose works completely fall under the format of this material and are the first to come to mind, were not included in this collection intentionally.

It is clear that “strangeness” is a rather subjective concept and everyone has their own amazing pictures out of line with other works of art. We will be glad if you share them in the comments and tell us a little about them.

"Scream"

Edvard Munch. 1893, cardboard, oil, tempera, pastel.
National Gallery, Oslo.

The Scream is considered a landmark expressionist event and one of the most famous paintings in the world.

There are two interpretations of what is depicted: it is the hero himself who is seized with horror and silently screams, pressing his hands to his ears; or the hero closes his ears from the cry of the world and nature sounding around him. Munch wrote four versions of The Scream, and there is a version that this picture is the fruit of a manic-depressive psychosis from which the artist suffered. After a course of treatment at the clinic, Munch did not return to work on the canvas.

“I was walking along the path with two friends. The sun was setting - suddenly the sky turned blood red, I paused, feeling exhausted, and leaned against the fence - I looked at the blood and flames over the bluish-black fjord and the city. My friends went on, and I stood, trembling with excitement, feeling the endless cry that pierces nature,” Edvard Munch said about the history of the painting.

“Where did we come from? Who are we? Where are we going?"

Paul Gauguin. 1897-1898, oil on canvas.
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

At the direction of Gauguin himself, the picture should be read from right to left - the three main groups of figures illustrate the questions posed in the title.

Three women with a child represent the beginning of life; the middle group symbolizes the daily existence of maturity; in the final group, according to the artist, "an old woman approaching death seems reconciled and given over to her thoughts", at her feet "a strange white bird ... represents the futility of words."

Deep philosophical picture post-impressionist Paul Gauguin was written by him in Tahiti, where he fled from Paris. At the end of the work, he even wanted to commit suicide: "I believe that this canvas is superior to all my previous ones and that I will never create something better or even similar." He lived another five years, and so it happened.

"Guernica"

Pablo Picasso. 1937, oil on canvas.
Reina Sofia Museum, Madrid.

Guernica presents scenes of death, violence, atrocities, suffering and helplessness, without specifying their immediate causes, but they are obvious. It is said that in 1940 Pablo Picasso was summoned to the Gestapo in Paris. The conversation immediately turned to the painting. "Did you do that?" - "No, you did it."

The huge fresco "Guernica", painted by Picasso in 1937, tells about the raid of the Luftwaffe volunteer unit on the city of Guernica, as a result of which the six thousandth city was completely destroyed. The picture was painted in just a month - the first days of work on the picture, Picasso worked for 10-12 hours, and already in the first sketches one could see the main idea. This is one of the best illustrations of the nightmare of fascism, as well as human cruelty and grief.

"Portrait of the Arnolfinis"

Jan van Eyck. 1434, oil on wood.
London National Gallery, London.

The famous painting is completely filled with symbols, allegories and various references - up to the caption "Jan van Eyck was here", which turned the painting not just into a work of art, but into historical document, confirming the reality of the event, which was attended by the artist.

The portrait supposedly of Giovanni di Nicolao Arnolfini and his wife is one of the most complex works Western school of painting of the Northern Renaissance.

In Russia, in the past few years, the painting has gained great popularity due to Arnolfini's portrait resemblance to Vladimir Putin.

"Demon Seated"

Mikhail Vrubel. 1890, oil on canvas.
State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow.

"Hands Resist Him"

Bill Stoneham. 1972.

This work, of course, cannot be ranked among the masterpieces of world art, but the fact that it is strange is a fact.

Around the picture with a boy, a doll and palms pressed against the glass, there are legends. From "because of this picture they die" to "the children in it are alive." The picture looks really creepy, which gives rise to a lot of fears and conjectures in people with a weak psyche.

The artist assured that the picture depicts himself at the age of five, that the door is a representation of the dividing line between the real world and the world of dreams, and the doll is a guide that can lead the boy through this world. hands represent alternative lives or opportunities.

The painting gained notoriety in February 2000 when it was listed for sale on eBay with a backstory that said the painting was "haunted". "Hands Resist Him" ​​was bought for $1,025 by Kim Smith, who was then inundated with letters with creepy stories and demands to burn the painting.

Introduction…………………………………………………………………….3

1. Painting as an art form……………………………………………….4

2. Kind of fine art - graphics………………………………4

3. An ancient form of art - sculpture…………………………………...6

4.Architecture - the art of designing and building……………………7

5.Main trends and techniques of contemporary art…………..9

6.Kinetic art………………………………………………..14

Conclusion……………………………………………………………….16

List of used literature……………………………………...17

Introduction

The concept of "art" is artistic creativity in general: literature, architecture, sculpture, painting, graphics, arts and crafts, music, dance, theater, cinema and other varieties of human activity, combined as artistic and figurative forms of reflection of reality.

In the history of aesthetics, the essence of art was interpreted as imitation (mimesis), sensual expression of the supersensible, and the like.

Aesthetics considers art as a form of social consciousness, a specific kind of spiritual and practical assimilation of the world, as an organic unity of creation, cognition, evaluation and human communication, in the narrow sense - fine art, a high degree of skill, mastery in any field of human activity.

Main types of art: painting, graphics, sculpture, architecture, literature, cinema, theater.

Consider the basic concepts of some types, trends and techniques of contemporary fine art.

1. Painting as an art form

Painting is a very ancient art that has evolved over many centuries from rock paintings to the latest trends in painting of the 11th century. Painting has a wide range of possibilities for embodying an idea from realism to abstractionism. Enormous spiritual treasures have been accumulated in the course of its development.

At the end of the XIX-XX centuries. the development of painting becomes especially complex and contradictory. Various realistic and modernist movements are gaining their right to exist.

Abstract painting appears (avant-garde, abstractionism, underground), which marked the rejection of figurativeness and the active expression of the artist’s personal attitude to the world, the emotionality and conventionality of color, the exaggeration and geometrization of forms, the decorativeness and associativity of compositional solutions.

In the XX century. the search for new colors and technical means of creating paintings continued, which undoubtedly led to the emergence of new styles in painting, but oil painting still remains one of the most beloved techniques of artists.

2. Kind of fine art - graphics

Graphics (from gr. grapho - I write, I draw) - a type of fine art that is associated with an image on a plane. Graphics combines drawing, as an independent area, and various types of printed graphics: woodcut (xylography), metal engraving (etching), lithography, linocut, engraving on cardboard, etc.

The drawing belongs to the unique graphics because each drawing is one of a kind. Works of printed graphics can be reproduced (replicated) in many equivalent copies - prints. Each print is an original, not a copy of the work.

Drawing is the basis of all types of graphics and other types of fine arts. As a rule, a graphic image is performed on a sheet of paper. An artist sometimes needs very simple means - a graphite pencil or a ballpoint pen - to make a graphic drawing. In other cases, to create his works, he uses complex fixtures for a printing press, lithographic stones, cutters (engravers) for linoleum or wood, and much more.

The term "graphics" was originally used only for writing and calligraphy. The art of type has long been associated with graphics. It received a new meaning and understanding at the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th centuries, when graphics was defined as an independent art form.

The language of graphics and its main expressive means are line, stroke, contour, spot and tone. Actively participates in creating the overall impression of the graphic work of a white sheet of paper. You can achieve an expressive pattern even when using only black. That is why graphics are often called the art of black and white. However, this does not exclude the use of color in graphics.

The boundaries between graphics and painting are very flexible, for example, the technique of watercolor, pastel, and sometimes gouache is attributed to one or another type of art, depending on the extent to which color is used, what prevails in the work - a line or a spot, what is its purpose.

One of hallmarks graphics is a special relation of the depicted object to space. The pure white background of the sheet, not occupied by images, and even the background of the paper that shows through under the colorful layer, are conventionally perceived as space. This can be seen especially clearly in book graphics when an image placed on a blank page is perceived as located in the space of the interior, street, landscape in accordance with the text, and not on a snowy field.

The artistically expressive virtues of graphics lie in its conciseness, capacity of images, concentration and strict selection of graphic means. Some understatement, a conventional designation of an object, as if a hint at it, constitute a special value of a graphic image, they are designed for the active work of the viewer's imagination.

In this regard, not only carefully traced graphic sheets, but also cursory sketches, sketches from nature, sketches of the composition have an independent artistic value.

A variety of genres are available in graphics (portrait, landscape, still life, historical genre, etc.) and almost unlimited possibilities for depicting and figuratively interpreting the world.

.3. An ancient art form - sculpture

Sculpture is one of the most ancient forms of art. Sculpture (lat. sculptura, from sculpo - cut, carve, sculpture, plastic) - a type of fine art, the works of which have a material three-dimensional volume. These works themselves (statues, busts, reliefs, and the like) are also called sculpture.

Sculpture is divided into two types: round, freely placed in real space, and relief (bas-relief and high relief), in which three-dimensional images are located on a plane. Sculpture can be easel, monumental, monumental and decorative according to its purpose. Sculpture of small forms stands out separately. By genre, sculpture is divided into portrait, everyday (genre), animalistic, historical and other. Landscape and still life can be recreated by sculptural means. But the main object for the sculptor is a person who can be embodied in various forms (head, bust, statue, sculptural group).

The technology for making sculptures is usually complex and multi-stage, involving great physical labor. The sculptor cuts or carves his work out of solid material (stone, wood, etc.) by removing excess mass. Another process of creating volume by adding plastic mass (plasticine, clay, wax, etc.) is called modeling (plasticity). Sculptures also create their work by casting from substances that can change from liquid to solid (various materials, gypsum, concrete, plastic, etc.). Unmelted metal for sculpture is processed by forging, embossing, welding and cutting.

In the XX century. there are new opportunities for the development of sculpture. So, in abstract sculpture, unconventional methods and materials (wire, inflatable figures, mirrors, etc.). Artists of many modernist movements proclaim ordinary objects as works of sculpture.

Color, which has long been used in sculpture (antiquity, the Middle Ages, the Renaissance), is actively used to enhance the artistic expressiveness of easel sculpture today. The appeal to polychromy in sculpture or the rejection of it, the return to the natural color of the material (stone, wood, bronze, etc.) are associated with the general direction of the development of art in a given country and in a given era.

Painting is a type of fine art, the works of which are created using paints applied to a hard surface. IN works of art created by painting, color and drawing, chiaroscuro, expressiveness of strokes, textures and composition are used, which allows you to reproduce on the plane the colorful richness of the world, the volume of objects, their qualitative, material originality, spatial depth and light-air environment, can convey a state of static and a sense of temporary development , peace and emotional and spiritual richness, the transient instantaneousness of the situation, the effect of movement, etc .; in painting, a detailed narrative and a complex plot are possible. This allows painting not only to visually embody the visible phenomena of the real world, to show a broad picture of people's lives, but also to strive to reveal the essence of historical processes, the inner world of a person, to express abstract ideas. Due to its vast ideological and artistic possibilities, painting is an important means of artistic reflection and interpretation of reality, has significant social content and various ideological functions.

The breadth and completeness of the coverage of reality are reflected in the abundance of genres inherent in painting (Historical genre, everyday genre, battle genre, portrait, landscape, still life). There are paintings: monumental-decorative (wall paintings, plafonds, panels), designed to decorate architecture and play an important role in the ideological and figurative interpretation of an architectural building; easel (paintings), usually not associated with any particular place in the artistic ensemble; scenery (sketches of theatrical and film scenery and costumes); iconography; miniature. Diorama and panorama also belong to the varieties of painting. According to the nature of the substances that bind the pigment (dye), according to the technological methods of fixing the pigment on the surface, oil painting differs. paints on water on plaster - wet (fresco) and dry (a secco), tempera, glue painting, wax painting, enamels, painting with ceramic and silicate paints, etc. Mosaics and stained-glass windows merge directly with painting, solving the same artistic tasks as monumental painting. For execution paintings watercolor, gouache, pastel, ink are also used.

Color is the most specific means of expression for painting. Its expression, the ability to evoke various sensual associations, enhances the emotionality of the image, determines the pictorial, expressive and decorative possibilities of painting. In works of painting, color forms an integral system (colour). Usually a series of interrelated colors and their shades is used (gamut colorful), although there is also painting with shades of the same color (monochrome). The color composition provides a certain coloristic unity of the work, affects the course of its perception by the viewer, being an essential part of it. artistic structure. Another expressive means of painting is drawing (line and chiaroscuro), together with color, rhythmically and compositionally organizes the image; the line delimits volumes from each other, is often the constructive basis of the pictorial form, allows generalized or detailed reproduction of the outlines of objects and their smallest elements. Chiaroscuro allows not only to create the illusion of three-dimensional images, to convey the degree of illumination or darkness of objects, but also creates the impression of the movement of air, light and shadow. An important role in painting is also played by a colorful spot or stroke of the artist, which is his main technique and allows him to convey many aspects. The brushstroke contributes to the plastic, voluminous molding of the form, the transfer of its material character and texture, in combination with color, recreates the coloristic richness of the real world. The nature of the stroke (smooth, continuous or pasty, separate, nervous, etc.) also contributes to the creation of the emotional atmosphere of the work, the transfer of the artist's immediate feelings and mood, his attitude to the depicted.

Conventionally, two types of pictorial representation are distinguished: linear-planar and volumetric-spatial, but there are no clear boundaries between them. Linear-planar painting is characterized by flat spots of local color, outlined by expressive contours, clear and rhythmic lines; in ancient and partly in modern painting, there are conditional methods of spatial construction and reproduction of objects that reveal to the viewer semantic logic images, the placement of objects in space, but almost do not violate the two-dimensionality of the picturesque plane. The desire to reproduce the real world as a person sees it, which arose in ancient art, caused the appearance of volumetric-spatial images in painting. In painting of this type, spatial relationships can be reproduced by color, the illusion of deep three-dimensional space can be created, the pictorial plane can be visually destroyed with the help of tonal gradations, airy and linear perspective, by distributing warm and cold colors; volumetric forms are modeled by color and chiaroscuro. In volume-spatial and linear-planar images, the expressiveness of line and color is used, and the effect of volume, even sculpture, is achieved by a gradation of light and dark tones distributed in a clearly limited color spot; at the same time, the coloring is often colorful, figures and objects do not merge with the surrounding space into a single whole. Tonal painting, with the help of a complex and dynamic development of color, shows the subtlest changes in both color and its tone depending on the lighting, as well as on the interaction of adjacent colors; the general tone unites objects with the surrounding light and air environment and space. In the painting of China, Japan, Korea, a special type has developed spatial image, in which there is a feeling of an infinite space seen from above, with parallel lines going into the distance and not converging in depth; figures and objects are almost devoid of volume; their position in space is shown mainly by the ratio of tones.

A painting consists of a base (canvas, wood, paper, cardboard, stone, glass, metal, etc.), usually covered with a primer, and a paint layer, sometimes protected by a protective film of varnish. The pictorial and expressive possibilities of painting, the peculiarities of the technique of writing, largely depend on the properties of paints, which are determined by the degree of grinding of pigments and the nature of the binders, from the tool the artist works with, from the thinners he uses; the smooth or rough surface of the base and ground affects the methods of applying paints, the texture of paintings, and the translucent color of the base or ground affects color; sometimes paint-free parts of the base or ground can play a role in the color construction. The surface of the paint layer of a painting, that is, its texture, is glossy and matte, continuous or intermittent, smooth or uneven. The required color, shade is achieved both by mixing colors on the palette, and by glazing. The process of creating a picture or wall painting can be divided into several stages, especially clear and consistent in medieval tempera and classical oil painting(drawing on the ground, underpainting, glazing). There is painting of a more impulsive nature, which allows the artist to directly and dynamically embody his life impressions through the simultaneous work on drawing, composition, modeling of forms and color.

Painting originated in the era Late Paleolithic(40-8 thousand years ago). Rock paintings have been preserved (in southern France, northern Spain, etc.), painted with earthen paints (ocher), black soot, and charcoal using split sticks, pieces of fur, and fingers (images of individual animals, and then hunting scenes). In Paleolithic painting, there are both linear-silhouette images and simple modeling of volumes, but the compositional principle in it is still poorly expressed. More developed, abstractly generalized ideas about the world were reflected in Neolithic painting, in which images are linked into narrative cycles, the image of a person appears.

The painting of the slave-owning society had an already developed figurative system, rich technical means. In ancient Egypt, as well as in ancient America, there was monumental painting, which acted in synthesis with architecture. Associated mainly with the funeral cult, it had a detailed narrative character; the main place in it was occupied by a generalized and often schematic representation of a person. The strict canonization of images, which manifested itself in the features of the composition, the ratio of figures and reflected the rigid hierarchy that prevailed in society, was combined with bold and accurate life observations and an abundance of details drawn from the surrounding world (landscape, household utensils, images of animals and birds). ancient painting the main artistic and expressive means of which were the contour line and the color spot, had decorative qualities, its flatness emphasized the surface of the wall Art Encyclopedia. M., 1997.

In ancient times, painting, acting in artistic unity with architecture and sculpture and decorating temples, dwellings, tombs, and other structures, served not only religious, but also secular purposes. New, specific possibilities of painting were revealed, giving a reflection of reality that is broad in terms of subject matter. In antiquity, the principles of chiaroscuro, peculiar variants of linear and aerial perspective were born. Along with the mythological, everyday and historical scenes, landscapes, portraits, still lifes were created. An antique fresco (on multi-layer plaster with an admixture of marble dust in the upper layers) had a shiny, glossy surface. In ancient Greece, there arose almost no preserved easel painting (on boards, less often on canvas), mainly in the encaustic technique; Faiyum portraits give some idea of ​​ancient easel painting.

In the Middle Ages in Western Europe, Byzantium, in Russia, the Caucasus and the Balkans, painting developed, religious in content: fresco (both on dry and wet plaster, applied to stone or brickwork), icon painting (on primed boards, mainly in egg tempera). ), as well as book miniatures (on primed parchment or paper; executed in tempera, watercolor, gouache, glue and other paints), which sometimes included historical plots. Icons, wall paintings (subject to architectural divisions and the plane of the wall), as well as mosaics, stained-glass windows, together with architecture, formed a single ensemble in church interiors. Medieval painting is characterized by the expression of a sonorous, predominantly local color and rhythmic line, the expressiveness of contours; the forms are usually planar, stylized, the background is abstract, often golden; there are also conditional methods of modeling volumes, as if protruding on a pictorial plane devoid of depth. The symbolism of composition and color played a significant role. In the 1st millennium A.D. e. monumental painting experienced a high rise (with adhesive paints on white gypsum or lime primer on clay-straw soil) in the countries of Western and Central Asia, in India, China, and Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). In the feudal era in Mesopotamia, Iran, India, Central Asia, Azerbaijan, Turkey, the art of miniature developed, which is characterized by subtle brilliance, elegance of ornamental rhythm, and brightness of life observations. Far Eastern painting with ink, watercolor and gouache on scrolls of silk and paper - in China, Korea, Japan - was distinguished by poetry, amazing vigilance of the vision of people and nature, conciseness of the pictorial manner, the finest tonal transmission of aerial perspective.

In Western Europe, during the Renaissance, the principles of a new art based on a humanistic worldview, discovering and knowing the real world, were affirmed. The role of painting has increased, developing a system of means realistic image reality. Individual achievements of Renaissance painting were anticipated in the 14th century. Italian painter Giotto. scientific study perspectives, optics and anatomy, the use of the oil painting technique improved by J. van Eyck (Netherlands) contributed to the disclosure of the possibilities inherent in the nature of painting: the convincing reproduction of three-dimensional forms in unity with the transfer of spatial depth and light environment, the disclosure of the color richness of the world. The fresco experienced a new heyday; easel painting also gained importance, preserving its decorative unity with the surroundings. subject environment. The feeling of the harmony of the universe, the anthropocentrism of painting and the spiritual activity of its images are characteristic of compositions on religious and mythological themes, portraits, everyday and historical scenes, images of nudes. Tempera was gradually supplanted by a combined technique (glazing and elaboration of details with oil on tempera underpainting), and then technically perfect multi-layer oil-lacquer painting without tempera. Along with smooth, detailed painting on boards with white ground (characteristic of the artists of the Netherlandish school and a number of schools of the Italian Early Renaissance), the Venetian school of painting developed in the 16th century. techniques of free, impasto painting on canvases with colored grounds. Simultaneously with local painting, often bright color, with a clear pattern, tonal painting also developed Major painters Renaissance - Masaccio, Piero della Francesca, A. Mantegna, Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael, Giorgione, Titian, Veronese, Tintoretto in Italy, J. van Eyck, P. Brueghel the Elder in the Netherlands, A. Durer, H. Holbein the Younger, M. Nithardt (Grunewald) in Germany and others.

In the XVII-XVIII centuries. the process of development of European painting became more complicated. National schools were formed in France (J. de Latour, F. Champagne, N. Poussin, A. Watteau, J. B. S. Chardin, J. O. Fragonard, J. L. David), Italy (M. Caravaggio, D. Fetti, J. B. Tiepolo, J. M. Crespi, F. Guardi), Spain (El Greco, D. Velazquez, F. Zurbaran, B. E. Murillo, F. Goya), Flanders (P. P. . Rubens, J. Jordaens, A. van Dyck, F. Snyders), Holland (F. Hals, Rembrandt, J. Vermeer, J. van Ruisdael, G. Terborch, K. Fabricius), Great Britain (J. Reynolds, T Gainsborough, W. Hogarth), Russia (F. S. Rokotov, D. G. Levitsky, V. L. Borovikovsky). proclaimed new social and civic ideals, turned to a more detailed and accurate depiction of real life in its movement and diversity, especially in the everyday environment of a person (landscape, interior, household items); deepened psychological problems, embodied the feeling of a conflicting relationship between the individual and the surrounding world. In the 17th century the system of genres expanded and clearly took shape. In the XVII-XVIII centuries. Along with monumental and decorative painting (especially in the Baroque style), which was flourishing, existed in close unity with sculpture and architecture and created an emotional environment that actively affected people, easel painting played an important role. Various painting systems were formed, as having a commonality of stylistic features (dynamic baroque painting with its characteristic open, spiral composition; classicism painting with a clear, strict and clear pattern; rococo painting with a play of exquisite nuances of color, light and faded tones), and not within a certain style framework. In an effort to reproduce the brilliance of the world, the light and air environment, many artists improved the system of tonal painting. This caused the individualization of the techniques of multilayer oil painting. The growth of easel art, the growing need for works designed for intimate contemplation, led to the development of chamber, thin and light, painting techniques - pastels, watercolors, ink, various kinds portrait miniature.

In the 19th century new national schools of the realistic were emerging. painting in Europe and America. The connections of painting in Europe and other parts of the world were expanding, where the experience of European realistic painting received an original interpretation, often on the basis of local ancient traditions (in India, China, Japan, and other countries); European painting was influenced by the art of the Far Eastern countries (mainly Japan and China), which affected the renewal of the methods of decorative and rhythmic organization of the pictorial plane. In the 19th century painting solved complex and urgent worldview problems, played an active role in public life; important in painting sharp criticism social reality. Throughout the 19th century the canons of academism, the abstract idealization of images, were also cultivated in painting; naturalistic tendencies emerged. In the fight against the abstractness of late classicism and salon academism, romanticism painting developed with its active interest in the dramatic events of history and modernity, the energy of the pictorial language, the contrast of light and shadow, and the saturation of color (T. Géricault, E. Delacroix in France; F. O. Runge and K. D. Friedrich in Germany, in many ways O. A. Kiprensky, Sylvester Shchedrin, K. P. Bryullov, A. A. Ivanov in Russia). Realistic painting, based on direct observation of the characteristic phenomena of reality, comes to a more complete, concretely reliable, visually convincing depiction of life (J. Constable in Great Britain; C. Corot, master of the Barbizon school, O. Daumier in France; A. G. Venetsianov, P. A. Fedotov in Russia). During the period of the rise of the revolutionary and national liberation movement in Europe, the painting of democratic realism (G. Courbet, J. F. Millet in France; M. Munkachi in Hungary, N. Grigorescu and I. Andreescu in Romania, A. Menzel, V. Leibl in Germany, etc.) showed the life and work of the people, their struggle for their rights, turned to major events national history, created vivid images ordinary people and advanced public figures; Schools of national realistic landscape emerged in many countries. Closely connected with the aesthetics of Russians, the socio-critical severity was distinguished by revolutionary democrats painting of the Wanderers and artists close to them - V. G. Perov, I. N. Kramskoy, I. E. Repin, V. I. Surikov, V. V. Vereshchagin, I. I. Levitan.

TO artistic expression the surrounding world in its naturalness and constant variability comes in the early 1870s. impressionist painting (E. Manet, C. Monet, O. Renoir, C. Pissarro, A. Sisley, E. Degas in France), which updated the technique and methods of organizing the pictorial surface, revealing the beauty of pure color and texture effects. In the 19th century in Europe, oil painting dominated, its technique in many cases acquired an individual, free character, gradually losing its inherent strict systematicity (which was facilitated by the spread of new factory-made paints); the palette expanded (new pigments and binders were created); instead of dark colored primers at the beginning of the 19th century. white soils were again introduced. Monumental and decorative painting, which used in the XIX century. almost exclusively adhesive or oil paints, fell into disrepair. At the end of XIX - beginning of XX centuries. attempts are being made to revive monumental painting and to merge different types of painting with works of arts and crafts and architecture into a single ensemble (mainly in "modern" art); the technical means of monumental and decorative painting are being updated, the technique of silicate painting is being developed.

At the end of XIX - XX centuries. the development of painting becomes especially complex and contradictory; various realist and modernist currents coexist and fight. Inspired by the ideals of the October Revolution of 1917, armed with the method of socialist realism, painting is intensively developing in the USSR and other socialist countries. New schools of painting are emerging in Asia, Africa, Australia, and Latin America.

realistic painting late XIX- XX centuries. is distinguished by the desire to know and show the world in all its contradictions, to reveal the essence of the deep processes taking place in social reality, which sometimes do not have a sufficiently visual appearance; the reflection and interpretation of many phenomena of reality often acquired a subjective, symbolic character. 20th century along with the visual-visible volumetric-spatial method of depiction, he widely uses new (as well as dating back to antiquity), conditional principles for interpreting the visible world. Already in the painting of post-impressionism (P. Cezanne, V. van Gogh, P. Gauguin, A. Toulouse-Lautrec) and partly in the painting of "modern" features were emerging that determined the features of some trends of the 20th century. (an active expression of the artist's personal relationship to the world, the emotionality and associativity of color, which has little to do with natural color relationships, exaggerated forms, decorativeness). The world was comprehended in a new way in the art of Russian painters of the late XIX - early XX centuries - in the paintings of V. A. Serov, M. A. Vrubel, K. A. Korovin.

In the XX century. reality is contradictory, and often deeply subjective, is realized and translated into painting major artists capitalist countries: P. Picasso, A. Matisse, F. Leger, A. Marquet, A. Derain in France; D. Rivera, J. C. Orozco, D. Siqueiros in Mexico; R. Guttuso in Italy; J. Bellows, R. Kent in the USA. In paintings, wall paintings, picturesque panels, a truthful understanding of the tragic contradictions of reality found expression, often turning into a denunciation of the deformities of the capitalist system. With the aesthetic understanding of the new, "technical" era, the reflection of the pathos of the industrialization of life is connected, the penetration into painting of geometric, "machine" forms, to which organic forms are often reduced, the search for those that meet the worldview modern man new forms that can be used in decorative arts, architecture and industry. Widespread in painting, mainly capitalist countries, since the beginning of the 20th century. received various modernist trends, reflecting the general crisis of the culture of bourgeois society; however, the "sick" problems of our time are also indirectly reflected in modernist painting. In the painting of many modernist movements (fauvism, cubism, futurism, dadaism, and later surrealism), individual more or less easily recognizable elements of the visible world are fragmented or geometrized, appear in unexpected, sometimes illogical combinations that give rise to many associations, merge with purely abstract forms. The further evolution of many of these trends led to a complete rejection of figurativeness, to the emergence of abstract painting(see Abstract Art), which marked the collapse of painting as a means of reflecting and cognizing reality. Since the mid 60s. in Western Europe and America, painting sometimes becomes one of the elements of pop art.

In the XX century. the role of monumental-decorative painting, both pictorial (for example, revolutionary-democratic monumental painting in Mexico) and non-pictorial, usually planar, in harmony with the geometrized forms of modern architecture, is growing.

In the XX century. there is a growing interest in research in the field of painting techniques (including wax and tempera; new paints are invented for monumental painting - silicone, on organosilicon resins, etc.), but oil painting still prevails.

Multinational Soviet painting is closely connected with communist ideology, with the principles of party spirit and folk art, it represents a qualitatively new stage in the development of painting, which is determined by the triumph of the method of socialist realism. In the USSR, painting is developing in all the Union and Autonomous Republics, and new national schools of painting are emerging. Soviet painting is characterized by a keen sense of reality, the materiality of the world, and the spiritual richness of images. Eagerness to embrace socialist reality in all its complexity and completeness led to the use of many genre forms, which are filled with new content. Already since the 20s. the historical and revolutionary theme acquires special significance (the canvases of M. B. Grekov, A. A. Deineka, K. S. Petrov-Vodkin, B. V. Ioganson, I. I. Brodsky, A. M. Gerasimov). Then patriotic canvases appear, telling about the heroic past of Russia, showing the historical drama of the Great Patriotic War 1941-45, the spiritual fortitude of the Soviet man.

The portrait plays an important role in the development of Soviet painting: collective images people from the people, participants in the revolutionary reorganization of life (A. E. Arkhipov, G. G. Rizhsky and others); psychological portraits showing inner world, the spiritual warehouse of the Soviet person (M. V. Nesterov, S. V. Malyutin, P. D. Korin, etc.).

Typical way of life Soviet people is reflected in genre painting, which gives a poetically vivid image of new people and a new way of life. Soviet painting is characterized by large canvases imbued with the pathos of socialist construction (S. V. Gerasimov, A. A. Plastov, Yu. I. Pimenov, T. N. Yablonskaya, and others). The aesthetic affirmation of the peculiar forms of life of the Union and Autonomous Republics underlies the patterns that have developed in Soviet painting. national schools(M. S. Saryan, L. Gudiashvili, S. A. Chuikov, U. Tansykbaev, T. Salakhov, E. Iltner, M. A. Savitsky, A. Gudaitis, A. A. Shovkunenko, G. Aitiev and others .), representing the constituent parts of a single artistic culture of the Soviet socialist society.

In landscape painting, as in other genres, national artistic traditions are combined with the search for something new, with a modern sense of nature. The lyrical line of Russian landscape painting (V. N. Baksheev, N. P. Krymov, N. M. Romadin and others) is complemented by the development of the industrial landscape with its rapid rhythms, with the motives of transformed nature (B. N. Yakovlev, G. G. . Nissky). Still life painting reached a high level (I. I. Mashkov, P. P. Konchalovsky, M. S. Saryan).

Evolution social functions painting is accompanied common development picturesque culture. Within the boundaries of a single realistic method, Soviet painting achieves a variety of artistic forms, techniques, and individual styles. The wide scope of construction, the creation of large public buildings and memorial ensembles contributed to the development of monumental and decorative painting (works by V. A. Favorsky, E. E. Lansere, P. D. Korin), the revival of the technique of tempera painting, frescoes and mosaics. In the 60s - early 80s. the mutual influence of monumental and easel painting intensified, the desire to maximize the use and enrich means of expression painting (see also the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and articles about the Soviet union republics) Vipper BR Articles about art. M., 1970.

Thus, painting is a type of fine art associated with the transmission of visual images by applying paints on a solid or flexible base, as well as creating an image using digital technology.