| Mural - The Concept | | | | places still housing some of the world famous works. |
| Murals are the paintings done on the ceilings or the | | | | Kerala (India) has a collection of ornate murals (9th |
| walls of a building. In effect, these surfaces are used | | | | century) decorating the walls and the arches of old |
| as canvas for the artworks in this style. | | | | temples. Diego Rivera (1886-1957), José |
| The History | | | | Orozco (1883-1949), and David Siqueiros (1896-1974) |
| Murals date back to the Stone Age, in the form of | | | | were few of the key Mexican mural artists. In 1976, |
| cave paintings of around 30,000 BC. Since then this | | | | when the Berlin wall was erected the artists painted on |
| style has adorned the walls of many palaces, tombs, | | | | the western side of the wall until the wall fell. The |
| shrines, and sanctuaries all over the world. | | | | recent works in murals include wallscape, illusionary |
| The Details | | | | wall paintings, ceramic tile paintings, and graffiti to name |
| Murals display ideas and the emotions of artists, | | | | some. |
| communities, and social & political vision of leaders | | | | The Contemporary Styles |
| & groups. In 1930, the Mexican Mural Movement | | | | Wallscapes are huge advertisements made using |
| identified the style as an important tool to convey | | | | digital printers. They either are painted directly on the |
| socio-political messages. A few of the main techniques | | | | wall, or are attached to them. Illusionary wall paintings |
| of were:o Fresco - the commonest mural technique, | | | | are used to transform a simple looking wall into natural |
| where the painting is done on the plastered walls using | | | | scenery or a fantasyland as per the choice of the |
| water based paints with lime washo Buon Fresco - | | | | client. Modern day graffiti can be understood as murals |
| involves using water-soluble pigments on a wet | | | | with a basic difference that graffiti are unauthorized |
| plastero Secco - paint is applied over dry plaster. Here, | | | | and illegal art display, while murals are authorized |
| the pigment is attached to the wall using glueo Mezzo | | | | works, generally government, or community funded. |
| Fresco - done on semi dry plastered wallso Tempera | | | | Painted tiles are the latest in the style. They cover the |
| - pigments diluted in water and bonded with egg yolk | | | | entire surface and give an impression of painted wall. |
| or white | | | | Digital photography and printing have created better |
| The Artists and the Artworks | | | | and cheaper alternatives to the old method of hand |
| The oldest evidence of this art is the San Bartolo | | | | painted murals. The new methods used are time |
| murals of the Maya Civilization in Guatemala. India, | | | | saving as well as cost effective. |
| Mexico, Cuba, and the US (New York) are a few | | | | |
