Amural is any piece ofgraphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques includefresco,mosaic,graffiti andmarouflage.
The wordmural is a Spanish adjective that is used to refer to what is attached to a wall. The termmural later became a noun. In art, the word began to be used at the beginning of the 20th century.
In 1906,Dr. Atl issued a manifesto calling for the development of a monumental public art movement in Mexico; he named it in Spanishpintura mural (English:wall painting).[1]
In ancient Roman times, amural crown was given to the fighter who was first to scale the wall of a besieged town.[2] "Mural" comes from the Latinmuralis, meaning "wall painting". This word is related tomurus, meaning "wall".
There are many differentstyles and techniques. The best-known is probablyfresco, which uses pigments dispersed in water with a damplime wash, rapid use of the resulting mixture over a large surface, and often in parts (but with a sense of the whole). The colors lighten as they dry. Themarouflage method has also been used for millennia.
Murals today are painted in a variety of ways, using oil or water-based media. The styles can vary from abstract totrompe-l'œil (a French term for "fool" or "trick the eye"). Initiated by the works of mural artists likeGraham Rust orRainer Maria Latzke in the 1980s,trompe-l'œil painting has experienced a renaissance in private and public buildings in Europe.Today, the beauty of a wall mural has become much more widely available with a technique whereby a painting or photographic image is transferred to poster paper orcanvas which is then pasted to a wall surface(seewallpaper,Frescography) to give the effect of either a hand-painted mural or realistic scene.
A special type of mural painting isLüftlmalerei, still practised today in the villages of the Alpine valleys. Well-known examples of such façade designs from the 18th and 19th centuries can be found inMittenwald,Garmisch,Unter- andOberammergau.
In the history of murals, several methods have been used:
A fresco painting, from theItalian wordaffresco which derives from the adjectivefresco ("fresh"), describes a method in which the paint is applied onplaster on walls or ceilings.
Thebuon fresco technique consists of painting inpigment mixed withwater on a thin layer of wet, fresh,lime mortar orplaster. The pigment is then absorbed by the wet plaster; after a number of hours, the plaster dries and reacts with the air: it is this chemical reaction which fixes the pigment particles in the plaster. After this, the painting stays for a long time up to centuries in fresh and brilliant colors.
Fresco-secco painting is done on dry plaster (secco is "dry" in Italian). The pigments thus require a binding medium, such asegg (tempera), glue oroil to attach the pigment to the wall.
Mezzo-fresco is painted on nearly-dry plaster, and was defined by the sixteenth-century author Ignazio Pozzo as "firm enough not to take a thumb-print" so that the pigment only penetrates slightly into the plaster. By the end of the sixteenth century, this had largely displaced thebuon fresco method, and was used by painters such asGianbattista Tiepolo orMichelangelo. This technique had, in reduced form, the advantages ofa secco work.
Tempera painting is one of the oldest known methods in mural painting. In tempera, the pigments are bound in an albuminous medium such asegg yolk oregg white diluted in water.
In 16th-century Europe,oil painting on canvas arose as an easier method for mural painting. The advantage was that the artwork could be completed in the artist's studio and later transported to its destination and there attached to the wall or ceiling. Oil paint may be a less satisfactory medium for murals because of its lack of brilliance in colour. Also, the pigments are yellowed by the binder or are more easily affected by atmospheric conditions.
Different muralists tend to become experts in their preferred medium and application, whether that be oil paints, emulsion or acrylic paints[9] applied by brush, roller or airbrush/aerosols. Clients will often ask for a particular style and the artist may adjust to the appropriate technique.[10]
A consultation usually leads to detailed design and layout of the proposed mural with a price quote that the client approves before the muralist starts on the work. The area to be painted can be gridded to match the design allowing the image to be scaled accurately step by step. In some cases, the design is projected straight onto the wall and traced with pencil before painting begins. Some muralists will paint directly without any prior sketching, preferring the spontaneous technique.
Once completed the mural can be given coats of varnish or protective acrylic glaze to protect the work from UV rays and surface damage.
In modern, quick form of muralling, young enthusiasts also use POP clay mixed with glue or bond to give desired models on canvas board. The canvas is later set aside to let the clay dry. Once dried, the canvas and the shape can be painted with your choice of colors and later coated with varnish.
CAM designedFrescography by Rainer Maria Latzke, digitally printed on canvas
As an alternative to a hand-painted or airbrushed mural, digitally printed murals can also be applied to surfaces. Already existing murals can be photographed and then be reproduced in near-to-original quality.
The disadvantages of pre-fabricated murals and decals are that they are often mass-produced and lack the allure and exclusivity of original artwork. They are often not fitted to the individual wall sizes of the client and their personal ideas or wishes cannot be added to the mural as it progresses. TheFrescography technique, a digital manufacturing method (CAM) invented byRainer Maria Latzke addresses some of the personalisation and size restrictions.
A mural in the stone fence inTurku, Finland in 2008A 90 meter long mural on a wall at a parking lot inYstadSweden in 2024.
Digital techniques are commonly used in advertisements. A "wallscape" is a large advertisement on or attached to the outside wall of a building. Wallscapes can be painted directly on the wall as a mural, or printed on vinyl and securely attached to the wall in the manner of abillboard. Although not strictly classed as murals, large scale printed media are often referred to as such. Advertising murals were traditionally painted onto buildings and shops by sign-writers, later as large scale posterbillboards.
Murals are important as they bring art into the public sphere. Due to the size, cost, and work involved in creating a mural, muralists must often be commissioned by a sponsor. Often it is the local government or a business, but many murals have been paid for with grants ofpatronage. For artists, their work gets a wide audience who otherwise might not set foot in an art gallery. A city benefits by the beauty of a work of art.
Murals can be a relatively effective tool of social emancipation or achieving a political goal.[11] Murals have sometimes been created against the law, or have been commissioned by local bars and coffee shops. Often, the visual effects are an enticement to attract public attention to social issues. State-sponsored public art expressions, particularly murals, are often used bytotalitarian regimes as a tool of propaganda. However, despite the propagandist character of that works, some of them still have an artistic value.[citation needed]
Murals can have a dramatic impact whether consciously or subconsciously on the attitudes of passers-by, when they are added to areas where people live and work. It can also be argued that the presence of large, public murals can add aesthetic improvement to the daily lives of residents or that of employees at a corporate venue. Large-format hand-painted murals were the norm for advertisements in cities across America, before the introduction of vinyl and digital posters. It was an expensive form of advertising with strict signage laws but gained attention and improved local aesthetics.[12]
Other world-famous murals can be found inMexico,New York City,Philadelphia,Belfast,Derry,Los Angeles,Nicaragua,Cuba, thePhilippines, and inIndia.[13] They have functioned as an important means of communication for members of socially, ethnically and racially divided communities in times of conflict. They also proved to be an effective tool in establishing a dialogue and hence solving the cleavage in the long run.TheIndian stateKerala has exclusivemurals. TheseKerala mural painting are on walls ofHindutemples. They can be dated from 9th century AD.
Many rural towns have begun using murals to create tourist attractions in order to boost economic income.Colquitt, Georgia was chosen to host the 2010 Global Mural Conference. The town had more than twelve murals completed, and hosted the Conference along withDothan, Alabama, andBlakely, Georgia.
TheBardia Mural, photographed in the 1960s, prior to its damage by defacement and the ravages of time.
Murals displaying the Marxist view of the press on thisEast Berlin cafe in 1977 were covered over by commercial advertising after Germany was reunited.
TheMexican mural movement in the 1930s brought new prominence to murals as a social and political tool.Diego Rivera,José Orozco andDavid Siqueiros were the most famous artists of the movement. Between 1932 and 1940, Rivera also painted murals inSan Francisco,Detroit, andNew York City. In 1933, he completed a famous series of twenty-seven fresco panels entitledDetroit Industry on the walls of an inner court at theDetroit Institute of Arts.[14] During theMcCarthyism of the 1950s, alarge sign was placed in the courtyard defending the artistic merit of the murals while attacking his politics as "detestable".
In 1948, the Colombian government hosted the IX Pan-American Conference to establish theMarshall plan for the Americas. The director of the OEA and the Colombian government commissioned masterSantiago Martinez Delgado, to paint a mural in the Colombian congress building to commemorate the event. Martinez decided to make it about theCúcuta Congress, and paintedBolívar in front ofSantander, making liberals upset; so, due to the murder of Jorge Elieser Gaitan the mobs of elbogotazo tried to burn the capitol, but the Colombian Army stopped them. Years later, in the 1980s, with liberals in charge of the Congress, they passed a resolution to turn the whole chamber in the Elliptic Room 90 degrees to put the main mural on the side and commissionedAlejandro Obregon to paint a non-partisan mural in thesurrealist style.
In Chile, theRomana Parra Brigade painted political murals in support of workers rights and Communism.[15]
Northern Ireland contains some of the most famous political murals in the world.[16] Almost 2,000 murals have been documented in Northern Ireland since the 1970s.[17] In recent times, many murals are non-sectarian, concerning political and social issues such as racism and environmentalism, and many are completely apolitical, depicting children at play and scenes from everyday life. (SeeNorthern Irish murals.)
A not political, but social related mural covers a wall in an old building, once a prison, at the top of a cliff in Bardiyah, in Libya. It was painted and signed by the artist in April 1942, weeks before his death on the first day of theFirst Battle of El Alamein. Known as theBardia Mural, it was created by English artist, privateJohn Frederick Brill.[18]
In 1961East Germany began to erect a wall between East andWest Berlin, which became famous as theBerlin Wall. While on the East Berlin side painting was not allowed, artists painted on the Western side of the Wall from the 80s until the fall of the Wall in 1989.
Many unknown and known artists such asThierry Noir andKeith Haring painted on the Wall, the "World's longestcanvas". The sometimes detailed artwork were often painted over within hours or days. On the Western side the Wall was not protected, so everybody could paint on the Wall. After the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, the Eastern side of the Wall became also a popular "canvas" for many mural andgraffiti artists.Orgosolo, inSardinia, is a most important center ofmuralspolitics.
It is also common for mural graffiti to be used as a memoir. In the 2001 bookSomebody Told Me,Rick Bragg writes about a series of communities, mainly located in New York, that have walls dedicated to the people who died.[19] These memorials, both written word and mural style, provide the deceased to be present in the communities in which they lived. Bragg states that the "murals have woven themselves in the fabric of the neighborhoods, and the city". These memorials remind people of the deaths caused by inner city violence.
Many people like to express their individuality by commissioning an artist to paint a mural in their home. This is not an activity exclusively for owners of large houses. A mural artist is only limited by the fee and therefore the time spent on the painting; dictating the level of detail; a simple mural can be added to the smallest of walls.
Private commissions can be for dining rooms, bathrooms, living rooms or, as is often the case- children's bedrooms. A child's room can be transformed into the 'fantasy world' of aforest orracing track, encouraging imaginative play and an awareness of art.
The current trend for feature walls has increased commissions for muralists in the UK. A large hand-painted mural can be designed on a specific theme, incorporate personal images and elements and may be altered during the course of painting it. The personal interaction between client and muralist is often a unique experience for an individual not usually involved in the arts.
Jingwei Filling the Sea inTianjin railway station, the largest dome mural in China, is a fusion of Chinese mythology and Western oil painting techniques.
In the 1980s, illusionary wall painting experienced a renaissance in private homes. The reason for this revival in interior design could, in some cases be attributed to the reduction in living space for the individual. Faux architectural features, as well as natural scenery and views, can have the effect of 'opening out' the walls. Densely built-up areas of housing may also contribute to people's feelings of being cut off from nature in its free form. A mural commission of this sort may be an attempt by some people to re-establish a balance with nature.
Commissions of murals in schools, hospitals, and retirement homes can achieve a pleasing and welcoming atmosphere in these caring institutions. Murals in other public buildings, such aspublic houses are also common.
Recently,graffiti and street art have played a key role in contemporary wall painting. Such graffiti/street artists asKeith Haring,Shepard Fairey,Above, Mint&Serf,Futura 2000,Os Gemeos, andFaile among others have successfully transcended their street art aesthetic beyond the walls of urban landscape and onto walls of private and corporate clients. As graffiti/street art became more mainstream in the late 1990s, youth-oriented brands such as Nike and Red Bull, with Wieden Kennedy, have turned to graffiti/street artists to decorate walls of their respective offices. This trend continued through 2000's with graffiti/street art gaining more recognition from art institutions worldwide.
Rajasthani motif mural by Kakshyaachitra, Mumbai 2014
Many homeowners choose to display the traditional art and culture of their society or events from their history in their homes. Ethnic murals have become an important form of interior decoration.Warli painting murals are becoming a preferred mode of wall decor in India. Warli painting is an ancient Indian art form in which the tribal people used to depict different phases of their life on the walls of their mud houses.
Panel of glazed tiles by Jorge Colaço (1922) depicting an episode from the battle ofAljubarrota (1385) between the Portuguese andCastilian armies. A piece of public art inLisbon, Portugal.
Tile murals are murals made out of stone, ceramic, porcelain, glass and or metal tiles that are installed within, or added onto the surface of an existing wall. They are also inlaid into floors. Mural tiles are painted, glazed, sublimation printed (as described below) or more traditionally cut out of stone, ceramic, mosaic glass(opaque) and stained glass. Some artists use pottery and plates broken into pieces. Unlike the traditional painted murals described above, tile murals are always made by fitting pieces of the selected materials together to create the design or image.
Mosaic murals are made by combining small 1/4" to 2" size pieces of colorful stone, ceramic, or glass tiles which are then laid out to create a picture. Modern day technology has allowed commercial mosaic mural makers to use computer programs to separate photographs into colors that are automatically cut and glued onto sheets of mesh creating precise murals fast and in large quantities.
They were not only used as anornamental art form, but also had a specific functional capacity liketemperature control in homes. Manyazulejos chronicle major historical and cultural aspects ofPortuguese history.
19th century mural ofGuru Angad from Baoli Sahib,Goindwal. TheGurmukhi numeral "੨" is written on the right-side, showing the significance of Angad as the second of theSikh gurus.
Custom-printed tile murals can be produced using digital images for kitchen splashbacks, wall displays, and flooring. Digital photos and artwork can be resized and printed to accommodate the desired size for the area to be decorated. Custom tile printing uses a variety of techniques including dye sublimation and ceramic-type laser toners. The latter technique can yield fade-resistant custom tiles which are suitable for long term exterior exposure.
^Only after 664 BC are dates secure. SeeEgyptian chronology for details."Chronology". Digital Egypt for Universities, University College London. Retrieved2008-03-25.
^Menachery, George (ed.):The St. Thomas Christian Encyclopaedia of India, Vol. II, 1973; Menachery, George (ed.):Indian Church History Classics, Vol. I, The Nazranies, Saras, 1998
^Selim Augusti. La tecnica dell'antica pittura parietale pompeiana. Pompeiana, Studi per il 2° Centenario degli Scavi di Pompei. Napoli 1950, 313–354
^Jorge Cuní; Pedro Cuní; Brielle Eisen; Rubén Savizki; John Bové (2012). "Characterization of the binding medium used in Roman encaustic paintings on wall and wood".Analytical Methods.4 (3): 659.doi:10.1039/C2AY05635F.
^Maximilian Rapp and Markus Rhomberg: Seeking a Neutral Identity in Northern Ireland's Political Wall Paintings. In: Peace review 24(4).
^Maximilian Rapp and Markus Rhomberg: The importance of Murals during the Troubles: Analyzing the republican use of wall paintings in Northern Ireland. In: Machin, D. (Ed.) Visual Communication Reader. De Gruyter.
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