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EXPLORE / MAKING

Oil painting

Pigment mixed with a drying oil produces a slow-drying paint. Artists can blend colours, build layers and vary the surface from smooth passages to thick impasto.

THE TOOLKIT

Pigment · drying oil · brushes · prepared support

WHAT TO LOOK FOR

Compare thin, translucent areas with thick marks. How does the texture of a brushstroke change your experience of light?

READ FURTHERMuseum learning resource ↗

A simplified process; practices vary across places and periods.

From material to image.

01
Prepare the support
02
Mix pigment and binder
03
Lay in colour
04
Build and revise layers

Find it in the collection

Water Lilies (Agapanthus)

France, late 19th century-early 20th century · c. 1915–26

Water Lilies (Agapanthus)

Claude Monet

FranceEuropeImpressionism

Adeline Ravoux

Netherlands · 1890

Adeline Ravoux

Vincent van Gogh

NetherlandsEuropePost-Impressionism

The Pigeon Tower at Bellevue

France, 19th century · 1890

The Pigeon Tower at Bellevue

Paul Cezanne

FranceEuropePost-Impressionism

Reading

France, 19th century · 1873

Reading

Berthe Morisot

FranceEuropeImpressionism

Frieze of Dancers

France, 19th century · c. 1895

Frieze of Dancers

Edgar Degas

FranceEuropeImpressionism

In the Waves (Dans les Vagues)

France, 19th century · 1889

In the Waves (Dans les Vagues)

Paul Gauguin

FranceEuropePost-Impressionism

Early Morning After a Storm at Sea

United States · 1900–1903

Early Morning After a Storm at Sea

Winslow Homer

United StatesNorth America

Portrait of Lisa Colt Curtis

United States · 1898

Portrait of Lisa Colt Curtis

John Singer Sargent

United StatesNorth America

A Bearded Man Wearing a Hat

Netherlands · c. 1655–60

A Bearded Man Wearing a Hat

Studio of Rembrandt van Rijn

NetherlandsEurope

Portrait of Isabella Brant

Flanders · c. 1620–25

Portrait of Isabella Brant

Peter Paul Rubens

Study for "The Bear Hunt" (for the Alcázar, Madrid)

Flanders · c. 1639

Study for "The Bear Hunt" (for the Alcázar, Madrid)

Peter Paul Rubens

A Genoese Lady with Her Child

Flanders · c. 1623–25

A Genoese Lady with Her Child

Anthony van Dyck

The Red Kerchief

France, 19th century · c. 1868–73

The Red Kerchief

Claude Monet

FranceEuropeImpressionism

Low Tide at Pourville, near Dieppe, 1882

France, 19th century · 1882

Low Tide at Pourville, near Dieppe, 1882

Claude Monet

FranceEuropeImpressionism

Paul Lafond and Alphonse Cherfils Examining a Painting

France, 19th century · c. 1878–80

Paul Lafond and Alphonse Cherfils Examining a Painting

Edgar Degas

FranceEuropeImpressionism

Mount Sainte-Victoire

France, late 19th-early 20th Century · c. 1904

Mount Sainte-Victoire

Paul Cezanne

FranceEuropePost-Impressionism

The Brook

France, late 19th-early 20th Century · c. 1895–1900

The Brook

Paul Cezanne

FranceEuropePost-Impressionism

Edge of the Woods Near L'Hermitage, Pontoise

France, 19th century · 1879

Edge of the Woods Near L'Hermitage, Pontoise

Camille Pissarro

FranceEuropeImpressionism

Romaine Lacaux

France, 19th century · 1864

Romaine Lacaux

Pierre-Auguste Renoir

FranceEuropeImpressionism

Portrait of Don Juan Antonio Cuervo

Portrait of Don Juan Antonio Cuervo

Francisco de Goya

Branch Hill Pond, Hampstead

England, 19th century · 1828

Branch Hill Pond, Hampstead

John Constable

Hampstead Heath, Looking Toward Harrow

England, 19th century · c. 1821

Hampstead Heath, Looking Toward Harrow

John Constable

Portrait of Agostino Barbarigo

Italy, Venice · after c. 1571

Portrait of Agostino Barbarigo

Paolo Veronese

The Burning of the Houses of Lords and Commons, 16 October 1834

England, 19th century · 1835

The Burning of the Houses of Lords and Commons, 16 October 1834

Joseph Mallord William Turner

Gardener's House at Antibes

France, 19th century · 1888

Gardener's House at Antibes

Claude Monet

FranceEuropeImpressionism

Spring Flowers

France, 19th century · 1864

Spring Flowers

Claude Monet

FranceEuropeImpressionism

Young Woman Arranging Her Earring

France, 20th century · 1905

Young Woman Arranging Her Earring

Pierre-Auguste Renoir

FranceEuropeImpressionism

The Lock at Pontoise

France, 19th century · 1872

The Lock at Pontoise

Camille Pissarro

FranceEuropeImpressionism

Knife Sheath

Korea, Goryeo dynasty (918–1392) · 1100s

Knife Sheath

Creator not recorded

Saint Peter Repentant

Saint Peter Repentant

Georges de La Tour

Portrait of a Man, Possibly Girolamo Rosati

Italy · 1533–34

Portrait of a Man, Possibly Girolamo Rosati

Lorenzo Lotto

Portrait of Tieleman Roosterman

Netherlands · 1634

Portrait of Tieleman Roosterman

Frans Hals

NetherlandsEurope

The Large Plane Trees (Road Menders at Saint-Rémy)

Netherlands · 1889

The Large Plane Trees (Road Menders at Saint-Rémy)

Vincent van Gogh

NetherlandsEurope

The Race Track (Death on a Pale Horse)

United States · c. 1896–1908

The Race Track (Death on a Pale Horse)

Albert Pinkham Ryder

United StatesNorth America

The Biglin Brothers Turning the Stake

United States · 1873

The Biglin Brothers Turning the Stake

Thomas Eakins

United StatesNorth America

Stag at Sharkey's

United States · 1909

Stag at Sharkey's

George Bellows

United StatesNorth America

Twilight in the Wilderness

United States · 1860

Twilight in the Wilderness

Frederic Edwin Church

United StatesNorth America

The Power of Music

United States · 1847

The Power of Music

William Sidney Mount

United StatesNorth America

The Holy Family with Saint John the Baptist and Saint Margaret

Italy · c. 1488–93

The Holy Family with Saint John the Baptist and Saint Margaret

Filippino Lippi

ItalyEuropeRenaissance

Virgin and Child with the Young Saint John the Baptist

Italy · c. 1490

Virgin and Child with the Young Saint John the Baptist

Sandro Botticelli

ItalyEuropeRenaissance

The Crucifixion of Saint Andrew

Italy, Naples · 1606–7

The Crucifixion of Saint Andrew

Caravaggio

ItalyEuropeBaroque

Greek Cavalry Men Resting in Forest

France, 19th century · 1858

Greek Cavalry Men Resting in Forest

Eugène Delacroix

FranceEuropeRomanticism

Mme L . . . (Laure Borreau)

France, 19th century · 1863

Mme L . . . (Laure Borreau)

Gustave Courbet

FranceEuropeRealism

Panoramic View of the Alps, Les Dents du Midi

France, 19th century · 1877

Panoramic View of the Alps, Les Dents du Midi

Gustave Courbet

FranceEuropeRealism

Portrait of a Woman

France, 19th century · c. 1891

Portrait of a Woman

Edmond François Aman-Jean

FranceEuropeSymbolism

Wrestlers in a Circus

Germany, 20th century · 1909

Wrestlers in a Circus

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner

GermanyEuropeExpressionism

Still Life

France, Paris · c. 1916

Still Life

María Blanchard

FranceEuropeCubism

Night Café

France, 20th century · c. 1923

Night Café

Louis Marcoussis

FranceEuropeCubism

Composition with Red, Yellow, and Blue

Netherlands · 1927

Composition with Red, Yellow, and Blue

Piet Mondrian

NetherlandsEuropeDe Stijl