2. Genres in painting

2.1. Landscape painting

e. g. Landscape painting became very popular in the 17th century. Gods and goddesses rarely appear in a Dutch landscape painting.

landscape

e. g. The Hermitage has a fine collection of Dutch landscapes.

landscape painter

e. g. Constable is perhaps the greatest English landscape painter.

scenery (cf. countryside)

e. g. From about 1807 Turner began to exhibit more landscapes of English scenery.

2.2. seascape (painting)

e. g. This is one of Turner’s early seascapes.

marine painter

e. g. Turner is considered by many people to be the greatest marine painter.

2.3. portrait painting (U)

portrait painter (portraitist)

paint a portrait of smb/smb’s portrait

portrait: self-portrait, full-length portrait, half/knee/shoulder-length portrait, equestrian portrait, ceremonial, intimate portrait, a family group

2.4. still-life (painting)

e. g. The still-life was very popular with the Cubists. There were three still-lifes by Picasso.

still-life painter

still-life composition/arrangement

flower piece

2.5. genre painting

genre painter

conversation piece

scene: street scene, city scene, country scene, hunting scene, historical scene, battle scene

e. g. He painted scenes from everyday/village/ court life.

life in Tahiti.

2.6. mural, fresco

3. DISCUSSING PICTURES

3.1. SUBJECT, THEME

Subject (what is depicted): historical subjects, Biblical subjects, mythological subjects, classical subjects

e. g. Degas looked round for new subjects and found them in the opera-house.

Theme is more general , abstract, than subject. A theme is a general idea which dominates a work.

e. g. The theme of the painting is the futility of war.

3.2. FORM, SHAPE

form (U)

e. g. His still-lifes show a strong sense of form, but the colouring lacks subtlety. The Impressionists tended to attribute greater importance to colour than to form.

a delicate sense of artistic form; to have a sense of form in painting

form (C)

e. g. The form of the vase is very unusual. The picture is an arrangement of geometrical forms: circles, squares, rectangles.

In this sense however shape is more common.

3.3. Composition

Composition means how the various elements of the picture are arranged.

arrangement расположение, композиция

e. g. an exquisite sense of colour and arrangement

design n 1. композиция в живописи или скульптуре (cf. composition); 2. рисунок, эскиз; v рисовать, изображать, делать эскизы

e. g. There is harmony of design in this statue never before attained in Greek Art. His admirably designed and impressively painted pictures.

in the foreground/middle ground/background

in the centre foreground/background

in the left (right) foreground/background

in the centre/middle of the picture

off centre

e. g. The tree is deliberately off centre.

on/to the right/left (of the picture)

at the top/bottom

in the top/bottom left/right-hand corner

to arrange symmetrically / asymmetrically / in a pyramid / in a vertical format

to divide the picture space diagonally

to define the nearer figures more sharply

to emphasize contours purposely

to be scarcely discernible

to convey a sense of space

against a background íà ôîíå

to place the figures against the landscape background

to merge into a single entity

to blend with the landscape

to be represented standing.../ sitting.../ talking..., to be posed / silhouetted against an open sky / a classic pillar / the snow

to accentuate smth.