For decades, artists have experimented with digital tools, often incorporating or referencing technology in their paintings. Cutting-edge collectors have come to seek, if not expect these innovations from artists. At the same time, art is now part of the direct-to-consumer economy through online platforms and auctions. As the time we spend online accelerates, we are ever more seduced by the virtual experience of art, which continues to improve as technology evolves. Increasingly, paint and code are interchangeable.
Spoiler alert: this Snack is NOT about NFTs!
How did we get here? Prior to the global pandemic, I resisted looking at art online. But with increased screen time, I’ve come to appreciate the giant role technology plays in painting. While the artists who focus on this phenomenon have come to define an era, what lies ahead in terms of Web 3.0 and the Metaverse will make this moment seem quaint! But in true Snack style, we gotta take things back before we fast forward to the future.
A Brief History of Paint
Let’s start at the very beginning.
REWIND ⏪ 20,000 years ago, the first artists mixed charcoal with animal fat to make cave paintings
In Pharaonic times, Egyptian artists mixed pigments into thinned egg yolks, known as Tempera, which remains on tomb walls to this day
In the Renaissance, artists discovered how to bind pigments to oil, a revolution that changed how images circulated
Tempera was limited to walls and wood panels, whereas oil adhered to canvas, a game-changer that made art more transportable (and share-able… kinda like the internet)
Oil dominated for centuries—that is, until acrylic paint entered the picture when it was invented in the 1960s
The future is in plastics.
Acrylic paint was water-soluble and could be thinned to a watercolor-like consistency while the color stayed bright, think neon, synonymous with the 60s
Unlike oil, which dried slooooowly, acrylic dried fast, speeding up production
Andy Warhol used acrylic paint in his silkscreens, a commercial production mode where the image could be endlessly reproduced
From Silkscreen to Computer Screen
The invention of painting software in the 1980s transformed paint from a physical object into code
Warhol—prescient in almost everything it seems—famously said: “Paintings are too hard. The things I want to show are mechanical. Machines have less problems.” Not no!
So naturally, he embraced this new form of painting and made it official when he created a digital portrait of pop star Debbie Harry, using Deluxe Paint software on a personal computer, the Commodore Amiga 1000
Warhol was the preeminent influencer, which is why he gets his own Snack, duh!
Tardy to the party? Click here to get up to speed.
Case Study: David Hockney
David Hockney (b. 1937), a classically trained painter, was quick to adopt digital art tools in the 1980s
*not as a media stunt, like Warhol the influencer (#sponcon much?), but to augment his painting practiceHe first used a fax machine, then a color Xerox machine, to make digital prints
A series of 33 “Home-Made Prints” sold for nearly $1 million at Sotheby’s in May 2021, demonstrating the level of demand for these works of art
With the invention of the iPhone (2007) and the iPad (2010), Hockney used painting software to sketch outdoors, creating a suite of “iPad drawings” that were digitally printed onto paper in limited editions
Hockney stated: “This is the closest I’ve ever come in printing to what it’s like to paint: I can put something down, evaluate it, alter it, revise it, all in a matter of seconds.”
Added bonus? “I realized that with the iPad I could draw without moving from my bed.” We feel that too.
🔝 seller: The Arrival of Spring in Woldgate, East Yorkshire in 2011 (twenty eleven) - 4 May, 2011, edition of 10 achieved $671,000 at Phillips in March 2022
Plot twist: instead of diluting his market by producing so many editioned prints, the opposite occurred
In 2018 Hockney’s acrylic on canvas painting, Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures), 1972 fetched $90 million at Christie’s, crowning Hockney the most expensive living painter 👑
Takeaway: Hockney’s reputation has benefited from his innovations in the digital space, keeping him in the game spanning a seven-decade (and counting) career—icon status
Is there anything this guy can’t do?
Show You the 💰
While digital innovations in art still underperform the analog painting market, painters who incorporate technology are highly collectible, as indicated by the market intel below.
Avery Singer (b. 1987) - Happening, 2014 achieved $5,253,000 at Sotheby’s in May 2022 Singer drafted the composition using SketchUp, a 3D rendering software, then projected the underdrawing on canvas, and painted over it with acrylic and airbrush
Wade Guyton (b. 1976) - Untitled, 2006 sold for $5,989,000 at Sotheby’s in May 2014
Made using Epson UltraChrome inkjet on canvas
Julie Mehretu (b. 1970) - Emergent Algorithm (Manara Circle, Palestine), 2012 sold for $4,890,000 at Sotheby’s in May 2022
Mehretu incorporates digital architectural blueprints, rendered in acrylic and ink on canvas on board
Laura Owens (b. 1970) - Untitled, 2016 sold for $1,593,000 at Sotheby’s in May 2022
Owens’ composition was made by mapping cubic pixels (via screen printing) onto dyed linen
Painting: Present / Future
Digital → Analog
Laura Owens (b. 1970) | Camille Henrot (b. 1978)
Two artists who compose their paintings using software (digital), but hand-paint the results on canvas (analog).
Sign Language
Julia Wachtel (b. 1956) | Jamian Juliano-Villani (b. 1987)
Two artists who use pop culture internet imagery as source material for analog, hand-painted paintings (often embedded with hot takes).
Abstraction, but Make It Branded
Michel Majerus (1967 - 2002) | Albert Oehlen (b. 1954)
Two artists who focus on the allure of computer graphics in advertising to make seductive abstract paintings.
Silkscreen 3.0
Christopher Wool (b. 1955) | Kate Mosher Hall (b. 1986)
Two artists who implement digital silkscreen—not the analog form used by Pop artists—both use Photoshop to manipulate the photographic image used for the screen.
Ultraviolet Vibes
Seth Price (b. 1973) | Anicka Yi (b. 1986)
Two artists who experiment with digital tools, including UV printing, to create alchemical paintings that also incorporate 3D elements.
Painted Patterning
Tauba Auerbach (b. 1981) | Jacqueline Humphries (b. 1960)
Two artists who create all-over, abstract compositions that evoke the language of computers by *paint-stakingly* applying oil or acrylic to canvas, instead of mechanized modes of making.
A Snack-Sized Primer for Further Exploring 🧑💻
The internet is your oyster! Some inspo for your next painting-inspired internet rabbit hole… we’re just getting started.