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Figurative art, sometimes written as figurativism, describes artwork (particularly paintings and sculptures) that is clearly derived from real object sources and so is, by definition, representational. The term is often in contrast to
abstract art Abstract art uses visual language of shape, form, color and line to create a composition which may exist with a degree of independence from visual references in the world. Western art had been, from the Renaissance up to the middle of the 1 ...
:
Since the arrival of abstract art the term figurative has been used to refer to any form of modern art that retains strong references to the real world.
Painting and sculpture can therefore be divided into the categories of figurative, representational and abstract, although, strictly speaking,
abstract art Abstract art uses visual language of shape, form, color and line to create a composition which may exist with a degree of independence from visual references in the world. Western art had been, from the Renaissance up to the middle of the 1 ...
is derived (or abstracted) from a figurative or other natural source. However, "abstract" is sometimes used as a synonym for non-representational art and non-objective art, i.e. art which has no derivation from figures or objects. Figurative art is not synonymous with figure painting (art that represents the human figure), although human and animal figures are frequent subjects.


Formal elements

The formal elements, those aesthetic effects created by design, upon which figurative art is dependent, include line,
shape A shape or figure is a graphical representation of an object or its external boundary, outline, or external surface, as opposed to other properties such as color, texture, or material type. A plane shape or plane figure is constrained to lie ...
,
color Color (American English) or colour (British English) is the visual perceptual property deriving from the spectrum of light interacting with the photoreceptor cells of the eyes. Color categories and physical specifications of color are associ ...
,
light Light or visible light is electromagnetic radiation that can be perceived by the human eye. Visible light is usually defined as having wavelengths in the range of 400–700 nanometres (nm), corresponding to frequencies of 750–420 t ...
and dark,
mass Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different ele ...
,
volume Volume is a measure of occupied three-dimensional space. It is often quantified numerically using SI derived units (such as the cubic metre and litre) or by various imperial or US customary units (such as the gallon, quart, cubic inch). ...
, texture, and perspective, although these elements of design could also play a role in creating other types of imagery—for instance abstract, or non-representational or non-objective two-dimensional artwork. The difference is that in figurative art these elements are deployed to create an impression or illusion of form and space, and, usually, to create emphasis in the narrative portrayed.


Evolution

Figurative art is itself based upon a tacit understanding of abstracted shapes: the figure sculpture of Greek
antiquity Antiquity or Antiquities may refer to: Historical objects or periods Artifacts *Antiquities, objects or artifacts surviving from ancient cultures Eras Any period before the European Middle Ages (5th to 15th centuries) but still within the histo ...
was not naturalistic, for its forms were idealized and geometric. Clark, Kenneth, ''The Nude: A Study in Ideal Form'', pages 31-2. Princeton University Press, 1990.
Ernst Gombrich Sir Ernst Hans Josef Gombrich (; ; 30 March 1909 – 3 November 2001) was an Austrian-born art historian who, after settling in England in 1936, became a naturalised British citizen in 1947 and spent most of his working life in the United Ki ...
referred to the strictures of this schematic imagery, the adherence to that which was already known, rather than that which is seen, as the "Egyptian method", an allusion to the memory-based clarity of imagery in Egyptian art.The Gombrich Archive: Press statement on The Story of Art
Eventually idealization gave way to observation, and a figurative art which balanced ideal geometry with greater realism was seen in Classical sculpture by 480 B.C. The Greeks referred to the reliance on visual observation as mimesis. Until the time of the Impressionists, figurative art was characterized by attempts to reconcile these opposing principles. From the early Renaissance, Mannerism and the Baroque through 18th-, 19th- and 20th-century painting Figurative art has steadily broadened its parameters. An important landmark in the evolution of figurative art is the first known reclining nude in Western painting in Sleeping Venus (1510) by Giorgione. It introduced the female nude as subject and started a long line of famous paintings. Nicolas Poussin (1594–1665), a French painter in the classical style whose work predominantly features clarity, logic, and order, and favors line over color, served as an alternative to the more narrative
Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including ...
style of the 17th century. He was a major inspiration for such classically oriented artists as Jacques-Louis David, Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres and
Paul Cézanne Paul Cézanne ( , , ; ; 19 January 1839 – 22 October 1906) was a French artist and Post-Impressionist painter whose work laid the foundations of the transition from the 19th-century conception of artistic endeavour to a new and radically d ...
. The rise of the Neoclassical art of Jacques-Louis David ultimately engendered the realistic reactions of
Gustave Courbet Jean Désiré Gustave Courbet ( , , ; 10 June 1819 – 31 December 1877) was a French painter who led the Realism movement in 19th-century French painting. Committed to painting only what he could see, he rejected academic convention and ...
and
Édouard Manet Édouard Manet (, ; ; 23 January 1832 – 30 April 1883) was a French modernist painter. He was one of the first 19th-century artists to paint modern life, as well as a pivotal figure in the transition from Realism to Impressionism. Bor ...
leading to the multi-faceted figurative art of the 20th century. In November, 2018, scientists reported the discovery of the oldest known figurative art painting, over 40,000 (perhaps as old as 52,000) years old, of an unknown animal, in the cave of Lubang Jeriji Saléh on the
Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Gui ...
n island of
Borneo Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and e ...
.


Architecture, townscape

File:Durer-Castle-Innsbruck.jpg, Albrecht Dürer (1494) ''Courtyard of Innsbruck Castle'' File:Jan van der Heyden - The Church at Veere.jpg, Jan van der Heyden (1652) ''The Church at Veere'' File:Alte Pinakothek Venedig.JPG, Canaletto (c. 1737) ''View of the Piazzetta and The Bassin of San Marco in Venice'' File:Burgos Cathedral painting Bossue.jpg, alt=, ''Burgos Cathedral'' (1851) by François Bossuet 


History painting

File:San Romano Battle (Paolo Uccello, London) 01.jpg, Paolo Uccello (1438–1440) ''
The Battle of San Romano ''The Battle of San Romano'' is a set of three paintings by the Florentine painter Paolo Uccello depicting events that took place at the Battle of San Romano between Florentine and Sienese forces in 1432. They are significant as revealing the ...
'' File:Jacques-Louis David - Oath of the Horatii - Google Art Project.jpg, Jacques-Louis David (1786) '' Oath of the Horatii'' File:John Everett Millais - Christ in the House of His Parents (`The Carpenter's Shop') - Google Art Project.jpg,
John Everett Millais Sir John Everett Millais, 1st Baronet, ( , ; 8 June 1829 – 13 August 1896) was an English painter and illustrator who was one of the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. He was a child prodigy who, aged eleven, became the youngest ...
(1854–1860) ''
Christ In The House Of His Parents ''Christ in the House of His Parents'' (1849–50) is a painting by John Everett Millais depicting the Holy Family in Saint Joseph's carpentry workshop. The painting was extremely controversial when first exhibited, prompting many negative revi ...
'' File:Lourens Alma Tadema - De Egyptische weduwe..jpg, Lawrence Alma-Tadema (1872) ''The Egyptian Widow''


Human forms

File:Roman fresco with a Woman on a Balcony - Getty Villa Collection.jpg, Ancient Roman woman on a balcony (9–14 CE), Getty Villa File:Kenyon Cox nude study2.jpg, Kenyon Cox (1896) Nude study File:Joseph Csaky, 1911-1912, Groupe de femmes, Groupe de trois femmes, Groupe de trois personnages..jpg, Joseph Csaky (1911–1912) '' Groupe de femmes (Group of Women)'', plaster File:Raymond Duchamp-Villon, 1914, Femme assise, plaster, 65.5 cm (25.75 in), photograph by Duchamp-Villon.jpg,
Raymond Duchamp-Villon Raymond Duchamp-Villon (5 November 1876 – 9 October 1918) was a French sculptor. Life and art Duchamp-Villon was born Pierre-Maurice-Raymond Duchamp in Damville, Eure, in the Normandy region of France, the second son of Eugène and Lucie Duch ...
(1914) ''Femme assise'', plaster File:Ian-Hornak-Acrylic-Canvas-Marcia-Sewing-Variation-III-1978.jpeg,
Ian Hornak Ian Hornak (January 9, 1944 – December 9, 2002) was an American draughtsman, painter and printmaker. He was one of the founding artists of the Hyperrealist and Photorealist fine art movements; credited with having been the first Photorea ...
(1978) ''Marcia Sewing, Variation III'' File:Ain Ghazal statue at the Louvre Abu Dhabi.png, ʿAin Ghazal statues, from approximately 9000 years ago File:'David' by Michelangelo Fir JBU004.jpg, ''David'' (1504), by
Michelangelo Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (; 6 March 1475 – 18 February 1564), known as Michelangelo (), was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the High Renaissance. Born in the Republic of Florence, his work was ins ...
File:"Seated Dress Impression with Drapery" by Karen LaMonte.jpg, alt=, ''Seated Dress Impression with Drapery'' (2005), by Karen LaMonte File:Mother and her child.jpg, alt=, ''Mother and her child'' by Leah Michlson.


Landscape, seascape

File:Pieter Bruegel the Elder- The Harvesters - Google Art Project.jpg, Pieter Bruegel the Elder (1565) '' The Harvesters'' File:The Fighting Temeraire, JMW Turner, National Gallery.jpg,
J. M. W. Turner Joseph Mallord William Turner (23 April 177519 December 1851), known in his time as William Turner, was an English Romantic painter, printmaker and watercolourist. He is known for his expressive colouring, imaginative landscapes and turbul ...
(1839) '' The Fighting Temeraire'' File:Monet - Regen bei Eretat.jpg,
Claude Monet Oscar-Claude Monet (, , ; 14 November 1840 – 5 December 1926) was a French painter and founder of impressionist painting who is seen as a key precursor to modernism, especially in his attempts to paint nature as he perceived it. During ...
(1886) ''Rain at Eretat'' File:Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890) - Wheat Field with Crows (1890).jpg, alt=, ''Wheat Field with Crows'' (1890) by
Vincent van Gogh Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who posthumously became one of the most famous and influential figures in Western art history. In a decade, he created about 2,100 artworks, inc ...
File:Georgia O'Keeffe, Palo Duro Canyon, 1916-1917.tif, alt=, ''Palo Duro Canyon'' (1916) by Georgia O'Keeffe


Still life

File:Alexander Coosemans - Still Life with Lobster and Oysters.jpg,
Alexander Coosemans Alexander Coosemans (1627, Antwerp –1689, Antwerp) was a Flemish Baroque painter specialized in still lifes of flower pieces, fruit, and inanimate subjects. He painted vanitas still lifes, pronkstillevens and game pieces. Life Very litt ...
(c. 1660) ''Still Life with Lobster and Oysters'' File:Cezanne, Nature morte au compotier.jpg,
Paul Cézanne Paul Cézanne ( , , ; ; 19 January 1839 – 22 October 1906) was a French artist and Post-Impressionist painter whose work laid the foundations of the transition from the 19th-century conception of artistic endeavour to a new and radically d ...
(1879) ''Nature morte au compotier'' File:Henri Matisse, 1899, Still Life with Compote, Apples and Oranges, oil on canvas, 46.4 x 55.6 cm, The Cone Collection, Baltimore Museum of Art.jpg,
Henri Matisse Henri Émile Benoît Matisse (; 31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954) was a French visual artist, known for both his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a draughtsman, printmaker, and sculptor, but is known prim ...
(1899) ''Still Life with Compote, Apples and Oranges'' File:Mostra di Frida Kahlo al Mudec di Milano 3 maggio 2018 (20).jpg, alt=, ''Still Life with Parrot and Flag'' (1951) by Frida Kahlo


Cave painting

File:Lascaux painting.jpg, Upper Paleolithic art, c. 17,300 years old, showing
aurochs The aurochs (''Bos primigenius'') ( or ) is an extinct cattle species, considered to be the wild ancestor of modern domestic cattle. With a shoulder height of up to in bulls and in cows, it was one of the largest herbivores in the Holocene ...
, horses, and deer.
Lascaux Lascaux ( , ; french: Grotte de Lascaux , "Lascaux Cave") is a network of caves near the village of Montignac, in the department of Dordogne in southwestern France. Over 600 parietal wall paintings cover the interior walls and ceilings of t ...
, France File:Bestias11.JPG,
Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several pa ...
rock art In archaeology, rock art is human-made markings placed on natural surfaces, typically vertical stone surfaces. A high proportion of surviving historic and prehistoric rock art is found in caves or partly enclosed rock shelters; this type also m ...
, over 7,000 years old. Cave of Beasts, Egypt


See also

*
Abstract art Abstract art uses visual language of shape, form, color and line to create a composition which may exist with a degree of independence from visual references in the world. Western art had been, from the Renaissance up to the middle of the 1 ...
*
Illustration An illustration is a decoration, interpretation or visual explanation of a text, concept or process, designed for integration in print and digital published media, such as posters, flyers, magazines, books, teaching materials, animations, video ...
* Narrative art * Neofigurative Art * Realism (arts) * Stuckism


Notes and references

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