Although ‘acrylic’ has become a generic term for any synthetic paint medium, acrylics are a specific type of manmade polymer that has become standard in the commercial paint industry as well as widely used by artists from the mid-20th century; most synthetic paint media in contemporary artistic use are based on acrylic emulsions. Acrylics are thermoplastic, have great optical clarity and excellent light stability, good adhesion and elasticity and resist ultraviolet and chemical degradation. Their unique surface properties, transparency and brilliance of colour, together with the possibilities they offer for indeterminacy, immediacy, randomness and the ability to rework immediately and to achieve extremely thin or thick surfaces, are qualities that have been exploited fully by such painting movements as Abstract Expressionism in the 1950s, and, subsequently, colour field painting, hard-edge painting and Pop art.

• painting... (cont.)
  • historical and regional traditions... (cont.)
    • Greece, ancient... (cont.)
      • Archaic... (cont.)
        • Greece, ancient, §VI, 2: Wall and panel painting: Historical survey
        • Classical
          • Greece, ancient, §VI, 2(ii)(a): Wall and panel painting: Classical, 5th century BC
          • Greece, ancient, §VI, 2(ii): Wall and panel painting: Classical
          • Greece, ancient, §VI, 2(ii)(b): Wall and panel painting: Classical, 4th century BC
        • Hellenistic
          • Greece, ancient, §VI, 1(i)(b): Wall and panel painting: Techniques
          • Greece, ancient, §VI, 2(iii): Wall and panel painting: Hellenistic
        • Orientalizing style
          • Greece, ancient, §VI, 2(i): Wall and panel painting: Geometric to Archaic
      • Guatemala
        • Guatemala, §II: Indigenous culture
        • Guatemala, §IV, 1: Painting, graphic arts and sculpture, 1524–1821
        • Guatemala, §IV: Painting, graphic arts and sculpture
        • Guatemala, §IV, 2: Painting, graphic arts and sculpture, after 1821
      • Guyana
        • Guyana, §IV: Painting, graphic arts and sculpture
      • Haiti
        • Haiti, §IV: Painting, sculpture and other arts
      • Hinduism
        • Hinduism, §I, 2: India: Scriptures
        • Hinduism, §I, 4: India: Religious practices
        • Iconoclasm, §2(i): Eastern
        • Indian subcontinent, §II, 1(iv): Hindu iconography and subject-matter: Ganesha
        • Indian subcontinent, §VI, 4(iii)(a): Mewar painting styles, 16th century–1947
        • Indian subcontinent, §VI, 4(iv)(c): Pahari painting styles, 16th century–1947: Mankot
        • Indian subcontinent, §VI, 4(iv)(g): Pahari painting styles, 16th century–1947: Garhwal
        • Indian subcontinent, §VI, 4(iv)(l): Pahari painting styles, 16th century–1947: Mandi
        • Indian subcontinent, §VII, 3(iv)(a): Textiles: Kalamkari
        • Indian subcontinent, §VII, 3(iv)(b): Pigment paintings on cloth
      • Hivaoa
        • Gauguin, Paul, §1(ix): 1901–3: The Marquesas
      • Honduras
        • Honduras, §III, 1: Painting, graphic arts and sculpture, 1502–1838
        • Honduras, §III, 2: Painting, graphic arts and sculpture, after 1838
        • Honduras, §III: Painting, graphic arts and sculpture
      • Hong Kong
        • Hong Kong, §2: Art life
      • Hungary
        • Hungary, §IV, 1: Painting and graphic arts, before c 1500
        • Hungary, §IV: Painting and graphic arts
        • Hungary, §IV, 2: Painting and graphic arts, c 1500–c 1800
        • Hungary, §IV, 3: Painting and graphic arts, after c 1800
        • Expressionism
          • Dési Huber, István
        • Great Plains painting
          • Great Plains painting
        • 20th cent.
          • Csontváry, Tivadar
          • Hungary, §IV, 3(ii): Painting and graphic arts, 20th century
      • Iceland
        • Iceland, §I, 1: Painting and sculpture, before 1800
        • Iceland, §I: Painting and sculpture
        • Iceland, §I, 2: Painting and sculpture, 1800 and after
      • Inca
        • Inca, §1(ii): Political and social organization
      • India, Republic of
        • India, §III: Painting
        • India, §VIII: Urban popular arts
      • Indian subcontinent
        • Colonialism, §3: Art and architecture
        • Indian subcontinent, §I, 8: Concept of art
        • Indian subcontinent, §II, 5: Iconography and subject-matter: Other stories and cycles
        • Indian subcontinent, §II, 7: Iconography and subject-matter: Historical themes
        • Indian subcontinent, §VI, 1(i): Painting: Overview
        • Indian subcontinent, §VI, 1: Painting: Introduction
        • Indian subcontinent, §VI: Painting
        • Indian subcontinent, §VI, 1(ii): Painting: Materials and techniques
        • Indian subcontinent, §VI, 1(iii): Painting: Subject-matter
        • Indian subcontinent, §VI, 1(v): Painting: Literary references
        • Indian subcontinent, §VI, 3: Painting, 1st century BC–16th century AD
        • Indian subcontinent, §VI, 4: Painting, 16th century–1947
        • Indian subcontinent, §VI, 4(v): Eastern Indian painting styles, 16th century–1947
        • Indian subcontinent, §VI, 4(x): Early modern painting styles
        • Indian subcontinent, §VII, 3(iv): Textiles: Painting
        • Andhra Pradesh
          • Indian sub., §VI, 4(vii)(d): South Indian ptg styles, 14th–18th centuries: Andhra Pradesh
          • Indian sub., §VI, 4(vii)(d): South Indian ptg styles, 14th–18th centuries: Andhra Pradesh
        • Bengal
          • Indian subcontinent, §VI, 4(v)(a): Eastern Indian painting styles, 16th century–1947: Bengal
        • Bilaspur
          • Indian subcontinent, §VI, 4(iv)(e): Pahari painting styles, 16th century–1947: Bilaspur
        • Bundi (Rajasthan)
          • Indian sub., §VI, 4(iii)(c): Painting styles of Bundi, Kota and related schools, 16th–19th centuries
          • Indian sub., §VI, 4(iii)(c): Painting styles of Bundi, Kota and related schools, 16th–19th centuries
        • Chamba (i) (India)
          • Indian subcontinent, §VI, 4(iv)(f): Pahari painting styles, 16th century–1947: Chamba
        • Company painting
          • Archer: (2) Mildred Archer
          • Calcutta, §3(i): Art life and organization, 1690–1900
          • Delhi, §II: Art life and organization
          • Indian subcontinent, §VI, 4(ix): Company painting styles, 18th–19th centuries
          • Indian subcontinent, §VI, 4(ix)(a): Company painting styles, 18th–19th centuries: South India
          • Indian subcontinent, §VI, 4(ix)(b): Company painting styles, 18th–19th centuries: Murshidabad
          • Indian subcontinent, §VI, 4(ix)(c): Company painting styles, 18th–19th centuries: Patna
          • Indian subcontinent, §VI, 4(ix)(d): Company painting styles, 18th–19th centuries: Calcutta
          • Indian subcontinent, §VI, 4(ix)(e): Company painting styles, 18th–19th centuries: Varanasi
          • Indian subcontinent, §VI, 4(ix)(f): Company painting styles, 18th–19th centuries: Lucknow
          • Indian subcontinent, §VI, 4(ix)(g): Company painting styles, 18th–19th centuries: Delhi
          • Indian subcontinent, §IX: Colonial-period decorative arts
        • Deccan
          • Indian subcontinent, §VI, 4(vi)(a): Deccani painting styles, 16th century–1947: Ahmadnagar
          • Indian subcontinent, §VI, 4(vi): Deccani painting styles, 16th century–1947
          • Indian subcontinent, §VI, 4(vi)(b): Deccani painting styles, 16th century–1947: Bijapur
          • Indian subcontinent, §VI, 4(vi)(c): Deccani painting styles, 16th century–1947: Golconda
          • Indian subcontinent, §VI, 4(vi)(d): Deccani painting styles, 16th century–1947: Aurangabad
        • Deogarh
          • Indian subcontinent, §VI, 4(iii)(a): Mewar painting styles, 16th century–1947
          • Indian subcontinent, §VI, 4(iii): Painting, 16th century–1947: Styles of Rajasthan and contiguous regions
          • Indian subcontinent, §VI, 4(iii)(a): Mewar painting styles, 16th century–1947
          • Indian subcontinent, §VI, 4(iii)(b): Malwa painting stylles, 16th century–1947
          • Indian subcontinent, §VI, 4(iii)(a): Mewar painting styles, 16th century–1947
        • Gujarat
          • Indian sub., §VI, 3(ii)(a): Miniature –16th cent. A: Western Indian style
        • Guler
          • Indian subcontinent, §VI, 4(iv)(h): Pahari painting styles, 16th century–1947: Guler
        • Islamic
          • Garden, §IV, 2: Indian subcontinent: Islamic, c 1200–c 1800
        • Jainism
          • Indian subcontinent, §II, 3: Jaina iconography and subject-matter
          • Indian sub., §VI, 3(ii)(a): Miniature –16th cent. A: Western Indian style
        • Jammu
          • Indian subcontinent, §VI, 4(iv)(i): Pahari painting styles, 16th century–1947: Jammu
        • Jasrota
          • Indian subcontinent, §VI, 4(iv)(j): Pahari painting styles, 16th century–1947: Jasrota
        • Kachchh
          • Indian subcontinent, §VI, 4(iii)(i): Kachchh painting styles, 18th–19th centuries
        • Kangra
          • Indian subcontinent, §VI, 4(iv)(k): Painting: 16th century–1947: Pahari styles: Kangra
        • Kashmir
          • Indian subcontinent, §VI, 4(viii): Kashmiri painting styles, 16th century–1947
        • Kishangarh
          • Indian sub., §VI, 4(iii)(f): Kishangarh painting styles, 17th–19th centuries
          • Indian sub., §VI, 4(iii)(f): Kishangarh painting styles, 17th–19th centuries
        • Kota
          • Indian sub., §VI, 4(iii)(c): Painting styles of Bundi, Kota and related schools, 16th–19th centuries
        • Kulu
          • Indian subcontinent, §VI, 4(iv)(b): Pahari painting styles, 16th century–1947: Kulu
        • Maratha period
          • Indian sub., §VI, 4(vii)(c): South Indian ptg styles, 14th–18th centuries: Thanjavur or Maratha
        • Marwar
          • Indian subcontinent, §VI, 4(iii)(g): Marwar painting styles, 17th century
          • Indian subcontinent, §VI, 4(iii)(g): Marwar painting styles, 17th century
        • Mughal
          • Indian sub., §VI, 3(ii)(e): Miniature & other ptg, 1st cent. BC–16th cent. AD: Caurapañcasika group
          • Indian sub., §VI, 4(i): Mughal ptg styles, 16th–19th centuries
          • Indian sub., §VI, 4(i)(c): Mughal ptg styles, 16th–19th centuries: Jahangir period
          • Indian sub., §VI, 4(i)(d): Mughal ptg styles, 16th–19th centuries: Shah Jahan period
          • Indian sub., §VI, 4(i)(f): Mughal ptg styles, after 1707
          • Indian sub., §VI, 4(i)(e): Mughal ptg styles, 16th–19th centuries: Aurangzeb period
        • Mughal: 16th cent.
          • `Abd al-Samad, §2: India, 1555 and after
          • Farrukh Beg
          • Farrukh Chela
          • Indian sub., §VI, 4(i)(a): Mughal ptg styles, 16th–19th centuries: Babur and Humayun periods
          • Indian subcontinent, §VIII, 17: Tents
          • Kesu Das
        • Mughal: 17th cent.
          • Govardhan
          • Hashim
          • Lal
        • Mughal: 18th cent.
          • Nainsukh
        • Mughal: Sub-imperial
          • Indian subcontinent, §VI, 4(ii)(a): Sub-imperial painting styles, 16th–17th centuries
          • Indian subcontinent, §VI, 4(ii): Sub-imperial painting styles, 16th century–1947
          • Indian subcontinent, §VI, 4(ii)(b): Sub-imperial painting styles, 16th–17th centuries
          • Indian subcontinent, §VI, 4(ii)(c): Sub-imperial painting styles, 16th–17th centuries
        • Mysore
          • Indian sub., §VI, 4(vii)(d): South Indian ptg styles, 14th–18th centuries: Andhra Pradesh
        • Nurpur
          • Indian subcontinent, §VI, 4(iv)(d): Pahari painting styles, 16th century–1947: Nurpur
        • Orissa
          • Indian subcontinent, §VI, 4(v)(b): Eastern Indian painting styles, 16th century–1947: Orissa
        • Pahari
          • Indian subcontinent, §VI, 4(iv)(a): Pahari painting styles, 16th century–1947: Basohli
          • Indian subcontinent, §VI, 4(iv): Pahari painting styles, 16th century–1947
        • Punjab
          • Erotic art, §I, 3(i): India
        • Rajasthan
          • Indian subcontinent, §VI, 4(iii)(d): Bikaner painting styles, 16th century–1947
          • Indian sub., §VI, 4(iii)(e): Amer, Jaipur & Shekhavati painting styles, 17th–19th centuries
          • Indian sub., §VI, 4(iii)(e): Amer, Jaipur 19th centuries
          • Indian subcontinent, §XII, 2: Patronage: Painting
        • Rajput
          • Indian subcontinent, §I, 11: Historiography
        • Shekhavati
          • Indian sub., §VI, 4(iii)(e): Amer, Jaipur 19th centuries
        • 15th cent.
          • Indian sub., §VI, 3(ii)(b): Miniature –16th cent. A: Mandu
        • 18th cent.
          • Indian sub., §VI, 4(vii)(d): South Indian ptg styles, 14th–18th centuries: Andhra Pradesh
      • Indonesia
        • Indonesia, §VII, 1(i): Traditional painting and drawing: Java
        • Indonesia, §VII, 1: Traditional painting and drawing
        • Indonesia, §VII, 1(iii): Traditional painting and drawing: Sumatra and other islands
        • Indonesia, §VII, 2(i): Colonial and modern painting and drawing: Java
      • Iran
        • Iran, §2: Painting, sculpture and calligraphy
        • Islamic art, §III, 4(vi)(a): Painted book illustration: Iran, c 1500–c 1750
        • Islamic art, §III, 4(vi)(a): Painted book illustration: Iran, c 1500–c 1750
        • Mihr `Ali
        • 17th cent.
          • Islamic art, §VI, 3(v)(c): Dress, c 1500 and after: Iran
      • Iran, ancient
        • Iran, ancient, §VII: Painting
      • Iraq
        • Iraq
        • Islamic art, §VI, 2(i)(b): Fabrics, before c 1250: Iraq and the eastern Islamic lands
      • Ireland
        • Ireland, §III: Painting and graphic arts
        • Ireland, §III, 4: Painting and graphic arts, after 1900
      • Islamic
        • Islamic art, §II, 9(iii): Architectural decoration: Painting
        • Islamic art, §VII, 1: Woodwork, before c 1250
        • Islamic art, §VIII, 11(ii): Oil painting: Turkey
        • Italy
          • Islamic art, §VIII, 7(iii): Ivory: Tunisia, Sicily and South Italy
        • Ottoman
          • Islamic art, §II, 7(i)(a): Ottoman architecture, c 1500–c 1900: Introduction
        • Turkey
          • Islamic art, §VII, 2(iii): Woodwork, c 1250–c 1500: Anatolia
      • Israel
        • Israel, §III: Painting, graphic arts and sculpture
        • Jewish art, §VII, 2(v): Easel painting, sculpture and graphic arts, early 20th century: Israel
      • Italy
        • Cassone, §1(i): Painted: Florence
        • Cassone, §1: Painted
        • Cassone, §1(ii): Painted: Siena
        • Cassone, §1(iii): Painted: The Veneto
        • Colour, §I, 1: Western world: Medieval and Renaissance
        • Italy, §III: Painting
        • Italy, §III, 2: Painting: Early Christian and medieval
        • Italy, §III, 6: Neo-classical to early modernist painting, c 1750–c 1900
        • Baroque
          • Italy, §III, 5: Baroque and Rococo painting, c 1600–c 1750
        • Futurism
          • Balla, Giacomo, §2: Futurism, 1909–16
          • Boccioni, Umberto, §2: Birth of Futurism, 1910–11
          • Futurism, §I, 2: Painting, graphic arts and sculpture: First works, 1910–11
          • Futurism, §II: Architecture
          • Russolo, Luigi
          • Severini, Gino, §1: Early work and Futurism, to 1915
        • Mannerism
          • Giorgione, §I, 1(iii)(a): Early sources: Michiel
        • Renaissance
          • Italy, §III, 3: Early Renaissance painting, c 1400–c 1500
          • Itay, §III, 4: High Renaissance and Mannerist painting, c 1500–c 1600
        • social realism
          • Michetti, Francesco Paolo, §2: 1880 and after
        • Spazialismo
          • Fontana, Lucio
        • 13th cent.
          • Dress, §IV, 3: 13th century
        • 18th cent.
          • Creti, Donato, §3: Late years: Success beyond Bologna, 1721–49
        • 20th cent.
          • Italy, §III, 7: Painting. after c 1900
          • Italy, §III, 7(i): Painting, c 1900–1945
          • Italy, §III, 7(ii): Painting, from 1946
      • Jamaica
        • Jamaica, §IV: Painting, graphic arts and sculpture
      • Japan
        • Japan, §V, 1(ii)(a): Sculptural materials and techniques: Clay
        • Japan, §VI, 1: Painting materials and techniques
        • Japan, §VI: Painting
        • Japan, §VI, 3: Early painting
        • Japan, §VI, 4(i): Late painting: Historical overview
        • Japan, §VI, 4: Late painting
        • Japan, §VI, 4(vi): Late foreign-influenced painting
        • Japan, §VI, 4(vi)(c): Late foreign-influenced painting: Nagasaki school
        • Japan, §VI, 5(i): Modern painting: Introduction
        • Japan, §VI, 5: Modern painting