Painting, PAL-THE
Need help distinguishing your Picassos from your Monets? Learn about historyâs celebrated painters and the different styles, techniques, mediums, and forms that have been used to create such unique visual images as Salvador DalĂâs melting clock and the ever-shifting eyes of Leonardo da Vinciâs enigmatic Mona Lisa.
Painting Encyclopedia Articles By Title
Palacio de Bellas Artes
Palacio de Bellas Artes, cultural centre in Mexico City that was built between 1904 and 1934. The palace includes......
Panel painting
Panel painting, painting executed on a rigid supportâordinarily wood or metalâas distinct from painting done on......
panorama
panorama, in the visual arts, continuous narrative scene or landscape painted to conform to a flat or curved background,......
Paris Street; Rainy Day
Paris Street; Rainy Day, oil-on-canvas painting (1877) by French artist Gustave Caillebotte depicting contemporary......
Pentimento
Pentimento, (from Italian pentirsi: âto repentâ), in art, the reappearance in an oil painting of original elements......
Peredvizhniki
Peredvizhniki, group of Russian painters who in the second half of the 19th century rejected the restrictive and......
Persistence of Memory, The
The Persistence of Memory, painting by Salvador Dali completed in 1931. Also known as Soft Watches or Melting Clocks,......
Picasso Museum
Picasso Museum, museum in Paris dedicated to showcasing the paintings, drawings, engravings, and sculptures of......
Pilgrimage to Cythera
Pilgrimage to Cythera, oil painting created by French Rococo artist Antoine Watteau and presented in 1717 to the......
Plein-air painting
Plein-air painting, in its strictest sense, the practice of painting landscape pictures out-of-doors; more loosely,......
Poem Scroll with Deer
Poem Scroll with Deer, a work of ink and gold on paper that was a collaboration created in the early 17th century......
Pointillism
Pointillism, in painting, the practice of applying small strokes or dots of color to a surface so that from a distance......
Pomo
Pomo, either of two different phrases (two different Chinese characters are pronounced po) that describe two kinds......
Pont-Aven school
Pont-Aven school, group of young painters who espoused the style known as Synthetism and united under Paul Gauguinâs......
Portrait of a Man (Self Portrait?)
Portrait of a Man (Self Portrait?), small oil painting on wood that was created in 1433 by Netherlandish artist......
Portrait of Fritza Riedler
Portrait of Fritza Riedler, oil painting by Austrian artist Gustav Klimt that was created in 1906 and is regarded......
Portrait of Giovanni Arnolfini and His Wife
Portrait of Giovanni Arnolfini and His Wife, oil painting on oak panel created by the Netherlandish artist Jan......
Portrait of Henry VIII
Portrait of Henry VIII, oil painting created about 1536 by outstanding German artist Hans Holbein the Younger.......
Portrait of Madame RĂ©camier
Portrait of Madame RĂ©camier, unfinished portrait that was painted in 1800 and is widely regarded as among the best......
Portrait of Mademoiselle Chanel
portrait created in 1923 by French avant-garde artist Marie Laurencin of fashion designer Coco Chanel. The painting,......
Portrait of Mademoiselle Charlotte du Val dâOgnes
Portrait of Mademoiselle Charlotte du Val dâOgnes, unsigned oil painting believed to have been created about 1801......
Portrait of Pope Innocent X
Portrait of Pope Innocent X, oil portrait created by Spanish artist Diego VelĂĄzquez, the leading painter in the......
Post-Impressionism
Post-Impressionism, in Western painting, movement in France that represented both an extension of Impressionism......
Poussinist
Poussinist, any of the supporters of the supremacy of disegno (âdrawingâ) over colour in the âquarrelâ of colour......
Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood
Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, group of young British painters who banded together in 1848 in reaction against what......
Precisionism
Precisionism, smooth, sharply defined painting style used by several American artists in representational canvases......
Prismes Ălectriques
Prismes Ălectriques, Orphist oil painting created in 1914 by Russian-born artist Sonia Delaunay. This painting......
Procession of the Magi
Procession of the Magi, frescoes that cover the east, south, and west walls of the main room of the chapel in the......
Proto-Corinthian style
Proto-Corinthian style, Greek pottery style that flourished at Corinth during the Oriental period (c. 725âc. 600......
Proto-Geometric style
Proto-Geometric style, visual art style of ancient Greece that signaled the reawakening of technical proficiency......
Pskov school
Pskov school, school of late medieval Russian icon and mural painting that grew up in the Russian city of Pskov......
Purism
Purism, in painting, a variant of Cubism developed in France about 1918 by the painter Amédée Ozenfant and the......
Quattrocento
Quattrocento, the totality of cultural and artistic events and movements that occurred in Italy during the 15th......
Raft of the Medusa, The
The Raft of the Medusa, painting (1818â19) by French Romantic artist ThĂ©odore GĂ©ricault depicting the survivors......
Rajasthani painting
Rajasthani painting, the style of miniature painting that developed mainly in the independent Hindu states of RÄjasthÄn......
Rajput painting
Rajput painting, the art of the independent Hindu feudal states in India, as distinguished from the court art of......
Rayonism
Rayonism, Russian art movement founded by Mikhail F. Larionov, representing one of the first steps toward the development......
Rembrandt House Museum
Rembrandt House Museum, museum in Amsterdam dedicated to the life and work of Dutch painter Rembrandt van Rijn.......
Rococo
Rococo, style in interior design, the decorative arts, painting, architecture, and sculpture that originated in......
Rodin Museum
Rodin Museum, museum in Paris, France, showcasing the sculptures, drawings, and other works of the French artist......
Rubenist
Rubenist, any of the artists and critics who championed the sovereignty of colour over design and drawing in the......
Salvador DalĂ Turns 111
Spanish Surrealist painter and printmaker Salvador DalĂ was born on May 11, 1904. DalĂâs art took inspiration from......
Salvator Mundi
Salvator Mundi, painting attributed to Leonardo da Vinci that was completed about 1500. It became the most expensive......
Sand painting
Sand painting, type of art that exists in highly developed forms among the Navajo and Pueblo Indians of the American......
Saturn
Saturn, painting by Francisco Goya completed in 1821â23. In 1819 Goya bought a house south of Madrid called the......
School of Athens
School of Athens, fresco (1508â11) painted by artist Raphael, in the Stanza della Segnatura, a room in Pope Julius......
School of Fontainebleau
school of Fontainebleau, the vast number of artists, both foreign and French, whose works are associated with the......
Scream, The
The Scream, painting by Edvard Munch that became his most famous work. He completed two versions in 1893, another......
Scroll painting
Scroll painting, art form practiced primarily in East Asia. The two dominant types may be illustrated by the Chinese......
Section dâOr
Section dâOr, Paris-based association of Cubist painters; the group was active from 1912 to about 1914. The groupâs......
Self-portrait
Self-portrait, painting by Swedish Arts and Crafts artist Carl Larsson, created in 1906. This painting, also known......
Self-Portrait
Self-Portrait, masterful painting created by Neoclassical Swiss-born artist Angelica Kauffmann in 1787. In this......
Self-Portrait
Self-Portrait, early painting by British genre artist Sir David Wilkie, created in about 1804. Painted when he......
Seven, Group of
Group of Seven, Toronto-centred group of Canadian painters devoted to landscape painting (especially of northern......
Sezession
Sezession, name for several groups of progressive artists that broke away from established and conservative artistsâ......
Sfumato
Sfumato, is a technique in painting or drawing that uses fine shading to produce soft, imperceptible transitions......
ShijĆ school
ShijĆ school, Japanese school of naturalistic painting that was founded in the late 18th century by Maruyama Masataka......
ShÄ«rÄz school
ShÄ«rÄz school, in Persian miniature painting, styles of a group of artists centered at ShÄ«rÄz, in southwestern......
Singerie
Singerie, type of humorous picture of monkeys fashionably attired and aping human behaviour, painted by a number......
Sistine Chapel
Sistine Chapel, private papal chapel in the Vatican Palace that also serves as the meeting place of the College......
Sistine Madonna
Sistine Madonna, oil painting created in 1513â14 by Raphael, master painter of the Italian High Rensaissance. The......
Six Masters of the early Qing period
Six Masters of the early Qing period, Group of major Chinese artists who worked in the 17th and early 18th centuries......
Snap the Whip
Snap the Whip, oil painting created in 1872 by American artist Winslow Homer. When Snap the Whip appeared, Homer......
Snow StormâSteam-Boat off a Harbourâs Mouth
Snow StormâSteam-Boat off a Harbourâs Mouth, oil painting created about 1842 by English seascape artist J.M.W.......
Social Realism
Social Realism, trend in American art originating in about 1930 and referring in its narrow sense to paintings......
Sothebyâs
Sothebyâs, one of the worldâs leading auction firms, founded in London in 1744. It originally handled sales of......
St. Joseph the Carpenter
St. Joseph the Carpenter, oil painting created about 1642â44 by French artist Georges de la Tour. One of the candle-lit......
Stacks of Wheat (Sunset, Snow Effect)
Stacks of Wheat (Sunset, Snow Effect), one of a series of paintings that French artist Claude Monet created between......
Standard Station, Amarillo, Texas
Standard Station, Amarillo, Texas, oil painting created in 1963 by American artist Ed Ruscha. The image is an icon......
Starry Night, The
The Starry Night, a moderately abstract landscape painting (1889) of an expressive night sky over a small hillside......
StaĆczyk
StaĆczyk, oil painting created in 1862 by Polish artist Jan Matejko. It is one of Matejkoâs best known works and......
Stijl, De
De Stijl, group of Dutch artists in Amsterdam in 1917, including the painters Piet Mondrian, Theo van Doesburg,......
Still-life painting
Still-life painting, depiction of inanimate objects for the sake of their qualities of form, colour, texture, and......
Stroganov school
Stroganov school, school of icon painting that flourished in Russia in the late 16th and 17th centuries. The original......
Stuart style
Stuart style, visual arts produced during the reign of the British house of Stuart; that is, from 1603 to 1714......
Suiboku-ga
Suiboku-ga, Japanese monochrome ink painting, a technique first developed in China during the Sung dynasty (960â1274)......
Summer Night
Summer Night, oil painting created in 1886 by Norwegian artist Kitty Lange Kielland. In the collection of Norwayâs......
Sunday on La Grande Jatteâ1884, A
A Sunday on La Grande Jatteâ1884, painting by Georges Seurat completed in 1884â86. In the 1880s the lower-middle......
Suprematism
Suprematism, first movement of pure geometrical abstraction in painting, originated by Kazimir Malevich in Russia......
Surrealism
Surrealism, movement in visual art and literature, flourishing in Europe between World Wars I and II. Surrealism......
Symbolism
Symbolism, a loosely organized literary and artistic movement that originated with a group of French poets in the......
Synchromism
Synchromism, art movement begun by American painters Morgan Russell and Stanton Macdonald-Wright in 1913â14 that......
Synthetism
Synthetism, in art, method of painting evolved by Paul Gauguin, Ămile Bernard, Louis Anquetin, and others in the......
Tabrīz school
Tabrīz school, in painting, school of miniaturists founded by the Mongol Il-Khans early in the 14th century and......
Tachism
Tachism, (from tache, âspotâ), style of painting practiced in Paris after World War II and through the 1950s that,......
Takuma school
Takuma school, Japanese school of Buddhist painting that flourished from the 12th to the 14th century during the......
Tempera painting
Tempera painting, painting executed with pigment ground in a water-miscible medium. The word tempera originally......
Ten, The
The Ten, were a group of 10 American painters who first exhibited together in 1898, in New York City, and continued......
Tenebrism
Tenebrism, in the history of Western painting, the use of extreme contrasts of light and dark in figurative compositions......
thang-ka
thang-ka, (Tibetan: âsomething rolled upâ), Tibetan religious painting or drawing on woven material, usually cotton;......
The 10 most expensive artworks by women
In November 2025, when Frida Kahloâs El sueño (La cama) (1940; The Dream [The Bed]) went to auction the same week......
The Ambassadors
The Ambassadors, oil painting on oak panel created in 1533 by German artist Hans Holbein the Younger. One of the......
The Annunciation
The Annunciation, tempera painting on panel that was created as an altarpiece in 1432â34 by Italian artist Fra......
The Arcadian Shepherds
The Arcadian Shepherds, oil painting created by French artist Nicolas Poussin in 1627, possibly inspired by a 1623......
The Ballet Class
The Ballet Class, oil painting created between 1873 and 1876 by French artist Edgar Degas. This painting, one of......
The Battle of San Romano
The Battle of San Romano, three tempera paintings on panel created between about 1435 and 1455 by Florentine artist......
The Black Madonna
The Black Madonna, painting and icon in the chapel of the Virgin Mary in the fortified Baroque Pauline monastery......
The Blue Boy
The Blue Boy, oil painting created by English artist Thomas Gainsborough about 1770. The full-length portrait is......
The Burial of the Count of Orgaz
The Burial of the Count of Orgaz, large and luminous oil painting that was created between 1586 and 1588 by the......
The Death of General Wolfe
The Death of General Wolfe, oil painting created in 1770 by American-born artist Benjamin West, depicting the death......