What is one historical oil painting (pre-1975)that was painted using
the technique known as 'fat-over-lean'? (please give name of artist).

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Clarification of Question by rhiannon-ga on 21 Oct 2002 20:57 PDT

'Fat over lean' is an oil painting technique in which the lower layers
of the painting have less oil (lean paint) than the upper layers of
the painting (fat paint).  Please find one historical artist
(pre-1975) and his or her painting that was created using this
technique.

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Hi,

I have spent quite a bit of time looking for an example painting for
you, but so far I am not 100% sure the one's I've found use this
technique.
What I have found out is..
Hi and thanks for your question,

The Old Masters developed the technique of 'fat over lean' which is
why their paintings are still in such good condition today.
'Rembrandt and Rubens are among the great painters who constructed oil
paintings with the simple technique of applying three distinct
layers...   Paintings built in this manner follow the "fat over lean"
rule.'
http://www.gamblincolors.com/howtp.html

The detail of a painting by Rubens using this underpainting technique
is shown at the following website:
http://www.oilpaintingtechniques.com/oilpaintinglessons/underpainting.html

I'm not entirely sure if all Rubens and Rembrandt's paintings employ
this technique; you can find examples of their work online at:
Rubens: http://www.excelsiordirect.com/rubens.htm 
Rembrandt: http://www.globalgallery.com/ggresult.asp?cnt=0&search=TRUE&keyword=Rembrandt&x=13&y=9&AID=513236&PID=779650

I hope this helps.
Ali

I just felt the need to say hi twice to you! ;o)

Hi rhiannon, 

I did some checking into your question, and what I found is that "fat
over lean" is the accepted standard for "correct" oil painting
technique. Therefore, it is not mentioned specifically in association
with any particular painter. (It would be on par with mentioning that
they used a paintbrush!)

Since the technique is used to prevent cracking during the drying
period, I believe it can be assumed that any oil painter whose work
has held up over the years has painted using the fat over lean
technique.

In fact, the only painter I found mentioned in association with the
technique was Norman Rockwell, who notably did NOT use the fat over
lean technique and as a result, whose paintings are now cracked and
deteriorating.

“A good, if exaggerated, example of [not using fat over lean] is to
look at Norman Rockwell's original paintings. A lot of them are
cracking horribly, due to his habit of putting on fast-drying retouch
varnish between layers. Of course, he did this because he was working
on a deadline and had to get the art out to be printed, but most of us
aren't working under those constraints.”

1ART FORUMS – OIL PAINTING
http://www.1art.com/forums/oil-painting/messages/398.html

Sorry I couldn’t be more specific –

-K~

Hello rhiannon,

We are sorry it has taken so long to answer your question. Sometimes
questions get overlooked in the system, and end up at the end of the
line. I put yours on
the forefront tonight so I could find you an answer.

According to the GamblinColors website - Titian, Rembrandt and Rubens
all used this technique. Gamblin manufactures paint for the industry,
so I didn't stop to question the validity.

Gamblin Artists Colors
You will need to read the subsection entitled 'Indirect Painting'.
http://www.gamblincolors.com/howtp.html

The paragraph mentions the three artists, then goes on to say that
this method is known as 'fat over lean'. Here is your example painting
that uses the technique in question :

http://www.christusrex.org/www2/art/images/rembrandt03.jpg

It almost seems like there is no way around using 'fat over lean'.
Most paintings I have seen are thick, rich, and very textured.

I hope this helps you in your research -
SgtCory