I noticed that the vast majority of “famous” paintings (at least in the Western world) were painted on canvas. How did canvas become the most popular medium for painters? Seems like it’s essentially just cloth, which doesn’t seem ideal for painting. Wouldn’t metal be more durable, wood more accessible at the time, and parchment more transportable?
In: 12
Wood was very, very popular, but when displayed in your palace for a long time there was a tendency for cracks to form which make the painting look less great.
Metal is a horrible surface to paint, it expends and contracts a lot. This causes the painting to have tiny cracks in it, and that’s not desirable.
Canvas was flexible, so it didn’t crack the paint, and durable enough. It didn’t develop failure cracks like wood, and isn’t too expensive.
Another popular medium was fresco, fresh plaster. This allowed your painting to become part of the palace. In the long term, this wasn’t awesome from a curation of art perspective.
Paint adheres well, it’s lightweight, doesn’t wrinkle like paper, can be rolled up to store or transport & stretched on frame for painting and display, relatively affordable, can be cut easily to different sizes…
Canvas was cheap, versatile and readily available. Used primarily for boat sails, it was easily adopted for painting.
Metal is more durable, but a horrible surface to paint on. It does not absorb any paint and even when textured the paint will eventually fall off.
Wood is more accessible but has many drawbacks. It takes time to properly dry wood. Do it wrong and your artwork cracks over time. And wood is subject to deterioration over time. It is also heavy; a large canvas is much lighter than the same sized wood panel.
Parchment is more transportable but does not hold paint well and will crack over time.
Latest Answers