Metaphysical painting is a style of art that emerged in the early 20th century.

It was characterized by abstract and non-representational forms, as well as themes of spirituality and mysticism.

The movement was influenced by artists like Wassily Kandinsky, Paul Klee, Joan Miro and Piet Mondrian who were inspired by Eastern philosophy and religion to create paintings with spiritual meaning rather than literal representation.

Metaphysical artists believed that their work could help people gain insight into their own souls through meditation on the images they created on canvas or paper.

The Development of Metaphysical Painting

The metaphysical painting art movement was developed by Giorgio de Chirico, Carlo Carra and Giorgio Morandi.

De Chirico created his paintings in a style that depicted dreams and fantasies with surrealist elements. He used classical Greek architecture as a background for his paintings to give them an eerie feeling of being out of place in time.

His work influenced many other artists including Salvador Dali who was inspired by de Chirico’s paintings when creating his own surrealist works of art.

The Themes of Metaphysical Painting

The Uncanny: This is a feeling of fear, anxiety and revulsion that occurs when something appears to be “not quite right”.

It’s often associated with objects or situations that are similar to, but not exactly the same as what would be expected.

Dreams: A dream is a succession of images, ideas and emotions occurring during sleep.

Dreams can have any meaning or significance depending on the person who is dreaming them and their culture or society at large.

Nostalgia: Nostalgia is a sentimentality for the past; an appreciation for things from your own childhood or youth that you may have forgotten about until now (or never knew).

The Aesthetics of Metaphysical Painting

The aesthetics of metaphysical painting are characterized by a focus on light and shadow, geometric shapes and color.

The paintings are often abstract in nature, but still contain elements of realism.

The use of light and shadow is an important part of the aesthetic experience that these artists tried to create through their work.

This can be seen in the way they painted their subjects against dark backgrounds or with minimal lighting effects (such as those found in some cubist paintings).

In other cases, however, they may have used bright colors that contrast sharply with each other for dramatic effect – such as when contrasting warm tones with cool ones!

The Impact of Metaphysical Painting

The metaphysical painting movement had a huge impact on the art world.

It influenced artists such as the Surrealists, Abstract Expressionists and Pop Artists.

The Surrealists were interested in the unconscious mind and believed that it could be accessed through dreams or other forms of inspiration.

Many of their paintings depicted bizarre scenes that were often nightmarish or sexual in nature. They were also inspired by Freudian psychology and its focus on symbolism (for example: snakes representing sexuality).

Their work influenced many later artists including Salvador Dali who painted melting clocks, ants crawling over eyeballs and other strange scenes.

Joan Miro who used bright colors to depict abstract shapes.

Rene Magritte whose paintings often depicted ordinary objects like pipes but with something unusual about them (such as being cut in half).

Yves Tanguy who created dreamlike landscapes filled with floating figures.

Max Ernst whose paintings show surrealistic images such as fish floating above waterfalls;

And Andre Masson who painted landscapes littered with human figures.

The Legacy of Metaphysical Painting

The legacy of metaphysical painting is present in the contemporary art world.

The movement has influenced many artists and movements, including:

The digital art movement, which began in the late 20th century with artists like Douglas Davis and Robert Rauschenberg using computers to create new forms of imagery.

The street art movement, which began in the 1980s when graffiti artists started incorporating traditional artistic techniques into their work.

Notable Works of Metaphysical Painting

The Disquieting Muses

This painting was created by Giorgio de Chirico in 1913, and it depicts three women sitting around a table.

The woman on the left is holding an hourglass, which symbolizes that time is running out for humanity.

She also has a headband covering her eyes, which represents blindness or lack of vision.

The woman in the middle has her hands folded together as if praying or meditating, while she looks up towards heaven; this could be interpreted as being hopeful about something happening soon (or perhaps even hopeful about death).

The third woman has her back turned towards us so we cannot see what she’s doing; however, it’s possible that she may be writing down some important information related to our future fate!

The Criticism of Metaphysical Painting

The critics of Metaphysical Painting have long argued that the movement lacks emotional expression and meaning.

They argue that these artists are only interested in creating beautiful works of art, but they don’t care about what the painting means or how it makes people feel.

The critics also argue that these paintings are too abstract, which means they don’t make sense to most people because they can’t understand them.

   

Metaphysical Painting – Wrap Up

In conclusion, the Metaphysical Painting movement has had a significant impact on art history.

This movement is often considered one of the most influential art movements of all time and has had an immeasurable effect on artists who came after them.