Mid-Century Figurative
1930–1980Painters who maintained the figure while modernism went abstract — Hopper's loneliness, Freud's flesh, Kahlo's pain, Bacon's screams.
Oil on canvas with varied techniques — Hopper's clean geometry, Freud's thick impasto flesh, Kahlo's symbolic realism, Bacon's cage-like spaces.
Edward Hopper
1882–1967American
Painter of American solitude. Nighthawks, gas stations, empty hotel rooms — the loneliness of modern life.
Clean, architectural technique. Strong light/shadow creating geometric compositions. Limited palette — institutional greens, warm yellows, cool shadows.
Further reading: Hopper — Ivo KranzfelderPigments: Viridian · Chrome green · Lead white · Naples yellow · Cadmium yellow · Ultramarine · Prussian blue · Lamp black · Ochre · Sienna · Cobalt blue
Frida Kahlo
1907–1954Mexican
Painter of pain, identity, and Mexican iconography. Self-portraits as autobiography — each wound documented.
Influenced by Mexican folk art and ex-voto tradition. Bright, flat colors with symbolic, not naturalistic intent.
Further reading: Frida: A Biography of Frida Kahlo — Hayden HerreraPigments: Ultramarine · Cobalt blue · Vermilion · Cadmium red · Alizarin crimson · Lead white · Viridian · Chrome green · Chrome yellow · Cadmium yellow · Ochre · Umber · Sienna
Lucian Freud
1922–2011British (German-born)
Painter of flesh as landscape. His nudes are the most unsparing in art history — every fold, vein, and sag.
Cremnitz (lead) white mixed into every tone — creating thick, chalky, sculptural flesh. Hog bristle brushes. Standing at the easel.
Further reading: Lucian Freud — Sebastian SmeePigments: Cadmium red · Ochre · Lead white · Cobalt blue · Umber · Sienna · Green earth · Viridian
Francis Bacon
1909–1992Irish-British
Painter of the scream — caged figures dissolving in anguish. The most violent painter of the 20th century.
Paint thrown, smeared, wiped with rags and hands. Figures trapped in cage-like structures against flat color fields.
Further reading: Bacon (Taschen Basic Art) — Luigi FicacciPigments: Cadmium red · Cadmium yellow · Alizarin crimson · Sienna · Lead white · Lamp black · Ultramarine · Prussian blue · Ochre
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