Distemper (paint)
Distemper is a decorative
Soft distemper
Distemper is an early form of whitewash, also used as a medium for artistic painting, usually made from powdered chalk or lime and size (a gelatinous substance). Alternatives to chalk include the toxic substance white lead.
Distempered surfaces can be easily marked and discoloured, and cannot be washed down, so distemper is best suited to temporary and interior decoration. The technique of painting on distempered surfaces blends watercolours with whiting and glue. "The colours are mixed with whitening, or finely-ground chalk, and tempered with size. The whitening makes them opaque and gives them 'body,' but is also the cause of their drying light ... a source of considerable embarrassment to the inexperienced eye is that the colours when wet present such a different appearance from what they do when dry."[2]
Many Medieval and Renaissance painters used distemper painting rather than oil paint for some of their works.
The
In modern practice, distemper painting is often employed for scenery painting in theatrical productions and other short-term applications, where it may be preferred to oil paint for reasons of economy. Contemporary artist John Connell was known for using distemper in paintings sometimes as large as ten feet.[5]
In architecture, distemper paints usually consist of a glue binder with calcium carbonate as the base pigment.[6]
Military use
Distemper was used extensively by German and Soviet forces for winter camouflage during World War II. Because ordinary camouflage patterns were ineffective in the heavy snow conditions on the Eastern front, aircraft, tanks, and other military vehicles were hastily brush-painted with plain white distemper during the winter of 1941–1942. Because distemper is water-soluble, photographs showing winter camouflage often show it badly eroded.
During the
Examples of paintings in distemper
- Fayum mummy portraits, from Late Antique Egypt (some in encaustic)
- Dirk Bouts Entombment, 1450s. National Gallery, London
- Many paintings by Mantegna[7][8]
- The Raphael Cartoons, London
- Scottish Renaissance painted ceilings
- Édouard Vuillard Lunch at Vasouy, 1901, Tate Modern.[9]
- Mark Tobey's White Journey, modern
- Le Grand Teddy by Édouard Vuillard
References
- .
- ^ Vasari, Giorgio. Vasari on Technique. G. Baldwin Brown, ed., translated by Louisa S. Maclehose; London, J. M. Dent & Co., 1907; p. 242 n. 4.
- ^ Merrifield, Mary P. The Art of Fresco Painting in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. 1846; reprinted Mineola, NY, Courier Dover, 2003.
- ^ Field, George. Chromatography, or A treatise on Colours and Pigments, and of Their Powers in Painting. London, Tilt and Bogue, 1841; pp. 337–8.
- ^ ARTlines, April 1983
- ^ Mary, Culver (2001). "Performance Evaluation of Traditional and Modified Distemper Paints".
- ^ "Conservation Information". Kimbell Art Museum. Archived from the original on 2006-10-01. Retrieved 2007-03-17.
Mantegna often used distemper, a glue-tempera medium, for small devotional pictures such as the Kimbell's painting.
- ^ "Andrea Mantegna | The Introduction of the Cult of Cybele at Rome". National Gallery, London.
- ^ "Edouard Vuillard | La Terrasse at Vasouy, The Garden". National Gallery, London.