If we have to trace the origin and history of acrylic paintings, then we will first have to trace the invention and evolution of acrylic paints. The invention and creation of commercial acrylic paint stretched over several decades. It was in the early 1900s that Otto Rohm, a German chemist, tested and experimented with an acrylic compound. He later patented the use of the acrylic compound as a paint binder.
In the 1920s and 1930s, painters started to explore and experiment with this new medium to create acrylic paintings. Mural artists from Works Progress Administration used these new found synthetic pigments. Eminent Mexican muralist, David Siqueiros conducted a workshop to teach and demonstrate other artists, including Jackson Pollock, how to use acrylic paints.
By the 1940s, mineral-based acrylic paint was being produced on large-scale. It was packed and sold under the brand name ‘Magna’. In the 1950s, though acrylic paint was becoming increasingly popular, but oil paint was still the preferred choice of the fine artists. Many artists and art-historians were unimpressed with the newly-founded paint.
As the formula improved with the passage of time, many artists started appreciating how non-toxic acrylic paints offered quick drying time and the characteristic to imitate both highly pigmented, glossy oil paints and pure watercolors when mixed with different media and varnishes. As the formula and technique refined, acrylic paint became popular choice of the new-age artists.
Acrylic Art Techniques
Acrylic paint is a versatile medium that has permitted artists to design numerous techniques of working with it. Abstract expressionist, pop artists and photorealist stylists often relied on the ability of acrylics to create precise and sharp lines, and uniform images. By adding water in different amount to the paint, artists achieved different consistencies varying from the translucent and transparent quality of watercolors to the thick, highly pigmented shades.
Some artists experimented with mixing foreign particles like sand with acrylics and achieved a different textures and thicknesses. Just like oil paintings, acrylic paintings that are made on canvas can be covered with thick coats of paint in a conventional impasto style.
Some Surrealist artists employ grattage, which is a technique in which wet acrylic paint is scraped off the canvases. The versatility offered by acrylic inspired artists to fuse it with several media, like pencil, ink, and oil paints , on a variety of surfaces ranging from paper to canvas to even linen.
There is no doubt that since its inception in the 1940s, both acrylic paint and acrylic paintings on canvas have come a long way. The flexibility and durability of acrylic paints have won over many eminent artists and art collectors, increasing the quantity of artistically-rendered acrylic paintings available in both impression/abstract and representational forms.
Some Famous Acrylic Paintings and Artists
Some famous pop artists like the likes of Roy Lichtenstein and Andy Warhol make use of acrylic paints to paint intense and bright paintings. Lichtenstein’s oil and acrylic paintings on canvases like the “Little Big Painting” that was completed in 1965 and “Hopeless” from 1963, and the series of flower paintings by Warhol are testaments of the opulence and versatility of acrylic paints.
Where to Buy Acrylic Paintings for Your Home?
If you too want to witness the richness and versatility of this medium, then consider buying acrylic paintings for your home. You can buy these paintings either from traditional art galleries or from an online art gallery like Indian Art Ideas. With a
wide range of acrylic paintings ranging from landscape paintings to portrait, we are sure that you will find some spell bounding artworks among Indian Art Ideas exclusive collection of paintings by talented emerging Indian acrylic artists.