Encaustic - a 2000+ year old painting medium

Encaustic is a 2000+ year old medium comprised of beeswax and damar resin, and is one of the world’s oldest art forms.  “Enkaustikos” is a Greek word meaning “to burn in.”  Greek shipbuilders began by using melted beeswax and pigment to caulk and adorn their sailing ships. One thousand years later, Egyptian painters began using encaustics to paint incredibly beautiful and durable mummy portraits during the Fayum period.  Despite being over 2000 years old, encaustic works are still on display in museums today, and still look as fresh today as when they were first painted. 

Fayum mummy portrait of a young man in encaustic on lime wood About AD 140-60

Fayum Mummy Portrait of a Young Woman in encaustic on cedar wood with added gilding. About AD 130

Portrait of a thin-faced bearded man in encaustic on lime wood About AD 160-80

Click on the image to take you to a u-Tube post featuring this book. I have a copy of this book and it is fascinating.

Fayum mummy with an inserted panel portrait of a youth, 80-100 AD: Roman Period Egypt,

Fayum mummy.

​The most well known of all encaustic works are the Fayum funeral portraits painted during the 1st through to 3rd centuries A.D. by Greek painters in Egypt.  A portrait of the deceased, generally one that was painted during their prime of life, but sometimes after death, was placed over the person’s mummy as a memorial.   Many of these ancient encaustic works still survive today, and the colour has remained fresh due to the protection of the wax.  
     
Because the ancient techniques of using encaustic was very laborious and time consuming, during the Middle Ages, artists began to turn to using tempera, fresco and oil painting techniques that did not require the use of charcoal fires which was required to liquefy the wax paints.   

Encaustics faded into obscurity for centuries until the early 20th century.  Mexican muralist Diego Rivera used encaustics in the 1920’s.  Jasper Johns began using encaustics in the 1950’s.  Today, many contemporary artists are continually discovering new ways to use this versatile medium in both 2D and 3D works.

Diego Rivera, Woman Grinding Maize, 1924, encaustic on canvas, Museo Nacional de Arte, Mexico City

Fresco by Diego Rivera 1922-23. Encaustic and gold leaf, (approx 23'2 2/4" x 40') (7.08 x 12.19 m). Anfiteatro Bolivar, Escuela Nacional Preparatoria, Mexico City.

Jasper Johns. Flag, Encaustic, oil and collage on fabric mounted on plywood, 1954-55.

Jasper Johns - detail

Jasper Johns - Target with Four Faces 1955. Encaustic on newspaper and cloth over canvas surmounted by four tinted-plaster faces in wood box with hinged front.

​Encaustic medium usually consists of beeswax combined with damar resin (crystallized tree sap) and/or other additives that are highly individual to each artist’s methods.  Encaustic medium can be used as is or combined with pigment such as oil paint, powdered pigments, inks, charcoal to produce colour.  Many artists use collage in their encaustic artwork.  (Please note, it will not adhere to acrylic).
 
Heat is used throughout the entire process beginning with the melting of beeswax and damar resin to fusing in layers of wax. As each layer of encaustic medium is brushed or poured on it is fused with the previous layer using a heat source such as heat gun or torch.  Many artists use clear encaustic medium alone incorporating collage elements, but colour can also be obtained by adding pigments to the medium.    Mark making tools can be used to create beautiful texture and markings.  
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Beeswax is durable, impervious to moisture and archival.  Care for your encaustic art just as you would any piece of fine art and it will last for centuries.

Care of Encaustic Art:
Encaustic artworks are extremely archival, but as with any fine art, care must be taken.   There is no fear of the work melting in normal conditions, as the wax and resin will not melt unless exposed to temperatures over 65 degrees Celsius (or 150 deg Fahrenheit).   It would not be advisable to leave a painting in a car on a hot day, nor hanging it in front of a window with direct hot sunlight.   They are also sensitive to freezing cold temperatures.    

Sometimes, over time, the colours can “bloom” or become cloudy.  If your painting appears indistinct, simply rub the surface with soft material like an old tee shirt, or a nylon stocking.  The work will then regain its gloss.  

If you Google Encaustic, there is a mountain of information available on the web about Encaustic painting, how to apply it, how to make the medium.  There are also many excellent books available - my two favourites are "The Art of Encaustic Painting" by Joanne Mattera, and "Encaustic Art" by Lissa Rankin.  But there are many more.  Also there are many Encaustic Art Groups on Facebook, and I have learnt so much from the wonderful artists that share their work and information on Facebook.   

Gayle Reichelt exhibition 'THE LAST FLEET' - inspired by weathered shipwrecks
Many of the images in my forthcoming exhibition 'The Last Fleet' will showcase encaustic paintings.  'The Last Fleet' will be exhibited at the Arts Centre, Gold Coast City Gallery, 135 Bundall Road, Surfers Paradise Qld from 6th February until 26th March 2016.    All are invited to meet me at the opening of the exhibition at 3pm on that date.   If you miss the opening, the exhibition will continue until 20th March 2016.
​http://www.weekendnotes.com/last-fleet-exhibition-by-gayle-reichelt/

​Hope to see you there

Link to an interesting slide share of Fayum Mummy Portraits.    Below also a description.
​http://www.slideshare.net/sotos1/fayum-mummy-portraits   

1. 1. Fayum mummy portraits• Mummy portraits or Fayum mummy portraits (also Faiyum mummy portraits) is the modern term given to a type of realistic painted portraits on wooden boards attached to mummies from Roman Egypt. They belong to the tradition of panel painting, one of the most highly regarded forms of art in the Classical world. In fact, the Fayum portraits are the only large body of art from that tradition to have survived.• Mummy portraits have been found across Egypt, but are most common in the Faiyum Basin, particularly from Hawara and Antinoopolis, hence the common name. "Faiyum Portraits" is generally thought of as a stylistic, rather than a geographic, description. While painted Cartonnage mummy cases date back to pharaonic times, the Faiyum mummy portraits were an innovation dating to the time of the Roman occupation of Egypt.• They date to the Roman period, from the late 1st century BC or the early 1st century AD onwards. It is not clear when their production ended, but recent research suggests the middle of the 3rd century. They are among the largest groups among the very few survivors of the highly prestigious panel painting tradition of the classical world, which was continued into Byzantine and Western traditions in the post- classical world, including the local tradition of Coptic iconography in Egypt.
2. 2. • The portraits covered the faces of bodies that were mummified for burial. Extant examples indicate that they were mounted into the bands of cloth that were used to wrap the bodies. Almost all have now been detached from the mummies.They usually depict a single person, showing the head, or head and upper chest, viewed frontally. In terms of artistic tradition, the images clearly derive more from Graeco-Roman traditions than Egyptian ones. The population of the Faiyum area was greatly enhanced by a wave of Greek immigrants during the Ptolemaic period, initially by veteran soldiers who settled in the area.• Two groups of portraits can be distinguished by technique: one of encaustic (wax) paintings, the other in tempera. The former are usually of higher quality.• About 900 mummy portraits are known at present.The majority were found in the necropoleis of Faiyum. Due to the hot dry Egyptian climate, the paintings are frequently very well preserved, often retaining their brilliant colours seemingly unfaded by time.
3. 3. Fayum mummy portraits (1st century BC - middle of the 3rd century AD) sources• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faiyum_mummy_portraits• http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fayum_mummy_portraits• http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Fayum_mummy_portraits• http://visipix.dynalias.com/search/search.php?userid=986539414&q=fayum&s=1&l=en&u=2&ub=1&k=0 presentation by sotos