Oil Painitings
Claude Monet created some of the most indelible oil paintings of all
time. His 1889 depiction of a “Water Lily Pond”, for instance, how
wowed observers for generations with its concise yet enigmatic use of
color. Monet went on to make oil paintings of bridges, gardens,
flowers, and other pastoral scenes. Of course, Monet and his
Impressionist brethren were not the only painters to make liberal use
of the oil medium.
The Spanish painter, Salvador Dali, brought a lyrical quality to his
oil paintings. He crafted numerous noteworthy Surrealist works in the
1920s, including his famous self repudiation, “The Disintegration of
the Persistence of Memory.” Dali himself was fascinated by the themes
of decay, ants, and the unconscious. His works, like those of his
compatriots (later turned rivals) in the surrealist school, tested the
limits and the strengths of oil paint representatiionalism.
In the 1940s, a new romantic movement, entitled Abstract Expressionism,
began to flourish in the United States. One of the leaders of this
movement, Jackson Pollock, created oil painting pastiches by literally
flinging tubes of paint at canvases. These seemingly chaotic slings of
oil color congealed into electrifying, spider webbing creations
–infused with all the vitality and passion of Pollock’s childlike
precocity.
In recent years, consumer protection advocates have voiced strong
concerns about the concentrations of lead and other harsh chemicals in
oil-based paints. As a result of these international advocacy
movements, many art teachers have abandoned certain kinds of oil
paints. While traditionalists still use high lead concentrate oil
paints for certain projects, most professional grade oils on the market
today relatively nontoxic.
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