Oil Paintings

In the early 15th century, Jan van Eyck and his Flemish peers popularized the use of linseed oil to carry pigments. By the 16th century, oil painting had replaced tempera almost completely and artists were using it to create life-like renderings of their world. Oil has kept its place as the medium of choice in painting through contemporary times.

Oil paint has a jewel-like translucence in comparison to the flat, bright colors and velvety opacity of the egg tempera that it replaced. Artists can apply oil paint in thin, glowing layers to achieve an extremely life-like sense of depth. They can also build it into heavy, textured impasto that projects out from the surface. Oil dries slowly, so the artist can manipulate it after the paint is applied.

Quick Facts

• Beginning in the mid-20th century, oil painter artists began using household gloss paint instead of linseed oil paint
• Damien Hirst’s workshop uses gloss paint for his dot paintings. These paints dry fast, but their colors are less stable over time and are a worry for conservators
• Leonardo used his fingers to blend oil paint he had applied. Visitors can see the Renaissance master’s fingerprints in "Ginevra di’ Benci," c. 1474/78, at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.