Origins of Figurative Painting:
The Origins of Figurative Painting
Figurative art, or figurativism, according to a scientist, was reported to have been discovered in November 2018. The oldest known figurative art painting was found to be approximately 40,000 years old, depicting an unknown animal in the cave of Lubang Jeriji Saléh on the Indonesian Island of Borneo. The figurative painting focuses on representing real-world subjects, especially the human form, and has a rich and extensive history that spans from prehistoric times to the present day.
Moreover, it is not to confuse figurative art with figure painting because they share humans and animal figures as their common medium of subject. Both the terms are entirely different from one another as they attribute different meanings.
Ancient civilisations such as Egypt, Greece, and Rome further developed figurative art. Egyptian art frequently featured stylised human figures in profile, serving both religious and ceremonial purposes. Greek and Roman artists pursued realism and idealised forms, as evident in sculptures and frescoes that emphasised anatomical accuracy and proportion.
The Renaissance marked a significant evolution in figurative painting. This period witnessed the revival of interest in human anatomy. Artists like Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Raphael emphasised humanism, anatomical precision, and perspective. Their works displayed a deep understanding of the human body and sought to capture both physical and emotional nuances. Some of the most famous figurative painters also include Pablo Picasso, Alberto Giacometti, Francis Bacon, and Lucian Freud. And over the centuries, figurative art has both witnessed and undergone a dramatic yet remarkable transformation with the emergence of artistic movements like cubism, surrealism, and Abstract expressionism that pushed the boundaries of figurative art to the extent that succeeded in challenging traditional representations and explored new ways to depict the human form and evoke emotions.
Moreover, the School of London was a loose movement of 20th-century painters, based principally in London, who were interested in figurative painting, in contrast to the abstraction, minimalism and conceptualism which were dominant at the time.
One of the landmarks that helped figurative art evolve is the first known reclining nude in a Western painting in Sleeping Venus (1510) by Giorgione. It introduced the female nude as a subject and started a long line of famous paintings. Moreover, some famous figurative paintings include Leonardo da Vinci's "Mona Lisa," Pablo Picasso's "Weeping Woman," and Francis Bacon's "Triptych August 1972".
Today, figurative painting continues to thrive, with contemporary artists exploring diverse themes and techniques that reflect the enduring appeal and adaptability of representing the human figure and real-world subjects.
