History of Encaustic Art
Encaustic, meaning “to burn in or fuse”, is an ancient
painting medium practiced by Greek artists as far back as the 5th century B.C. The oldest known pigment binder, encaustic combines molten beeswax with dry pigment and resin. Encaustic is impervious to moisture. In ancient Greece, this main preservation property of encaustic was instrumental for weatherproofing Greek warships. Pigmenting the wax also gave rise to the decorating of warships with iconography. Greeks that settled in Egypt adapted the funerary customs of honoring the dead by
painting a portrait of the deceased in the prime of life or after death to be placed over the person’s mummy. Most notably known as the “Fayum Portraits”, these are the only surviving encaustic paintings from ancient times, some of which are part of the Egyptian collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and others.
After the fall of the Roman empire, encaustic fell into obscurity for a time. Egg tempura, due to its ease of use and low cost to produce, became encaustic’s successor.
Leonardo and others attempted unsuccessfully to revive the technique. Later, the 20th century saw a major resurgence of encaustic with the work of Diego Rivera and American Pop artist Jasper Johns many others.
Today encaustic is a very versatile medium that offers a variety of handling methods. Once molten, the wax is applied to the surface with a brush and fused with a heat gun, heated iron or propane torch.
In earlier times, the same fusing process was achieved by putting a flame under metal that heated the entire surface of the painting. Because of the adherent nature of wax, it works well with collage material. Encaustic can be applied to wood, masonite, metal and a variety of other surfaces. The wax can be thick or thin, translucent, clear or opaque, molded, scraped, carved or etched into.
Damar resin is added to the wax as a hardening agent; this is what gives encaustic paintings their rich and glasslike sheen if buffed. Virtually any color pigment can be added to wax though consistency and pigment particle size varies. Today the same all-natural formula is often used as in ancient times.
Today oil paint is frequently used for colouring the wax as they both bond well. In the 19th century, Vincent van Gogh also used this method to give body to his oil pigment. Other famous artists who had tried their hand in encaustic are Pablo Picasso, James Ensor, Klee, Arshile Gorky, and David Hockney.
painting medium practiced by Greek artists as far back as the 5th century B.C. The oldest known pigment binder, encaustic combines molten beeswax with dry pigment and resin. Encaustic is impervious to moisture. In ancient Greece, this main preservation property of encaustic was instrumental for weatherproofing Greek warships. Pigmenting the wax also gave rise to the decorating of warships with iconography. Greeks that settled in Egypt adapted the funerary customs of honoring the dead by
painting a portrait of the deceased in the prime of life or after death to be placed over the person’s mummy. Most notably known as the “Fayum Portraits”, these are the only surviving encaustic paintings from ancient times, some of which are part of the Egyptian collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and others.
After the fall of the Roman empire, encaustic fell into obscurity for a time. Egg tempura, due to its ease of use and low cost to produce, became encaustic’s successor.
Leonardo and others attempted unsuccessfully to revive the technique. Later, the 20th century saw a major resurgence of encaustic with the work of Diego Rivera and American Pop artist Jasper Johns many others.
Today encaustic is a very versatile medium that offers a variety of handling methods. Once molten, the wax is applied to the surface with a brush and fused with a heat gun, heated iron or propane torch.
In earlier times, the same fusing process was achieved by putting a flame under metal that heated the entire surface of the painting. Because of the adherent nature of wax, it works well with collage material. Encaustic can be applied to wood, masonite, metal and a variety of other surfaces. The wax can be thick or thin, translucent, clear or opaque, molded, scraped, carved or etched into.
Damar resin is added to the wax as a hardening agent; this is what gives encaustic paintings their rich and glasslike sheen if buffed. Virtually any color pigment can be added to wax though consistency and pigment particle size varies. Today the same all-natural formula is often used as in ancient times.
Today oil paint is frequently used for colouring the wax as they both bond well. In the 19th century, Vincent van Gogh also used this method to give body to his oil pigment. Other famous artists who had tried their hand in encaustic are Pablo Picasso, James Ensor, Klee, Arshile Gorky, and David Hockney.
