The third line in our image caption example reads "Oil on canvas." This tells us that Edward Hopper stood before an easel and used his brushes to apply oil paint to canvas in the creation of this particular work.
In other words, this line is all about the medium. Personally, I am always glad to see something simple here like "Marble" or the wondrously comprehensible "Oil on canvas" in our example. Just know that this line can s-t-r-e-t-c-h nearly to infinity, particularly if one is dealing with an artist fond of compilations of found objects.
Examples:
- "Hairdresser's wigmaking dummy, crocodile wallet, ruler, pocket watch mechanism and case, bronze segment of old camera, typewriter cylinder, segment of measuring tape, collapsible cup, the number "22," nails and bolt." -- from Raoul Hausmann's Mechanical Head (Spirit of Our Age).
- (Robert Rauschenberg's) "Odalisk combines oil paint, watercolor, crayon, pastel, paper, fabric, photographs, printed reproductions, miniature blueprint, newspaper, metal, glass, dried grass, steel wool, a pillow, a wooden post and lamps on a wooden structure mounted on four casters and topped by a stuffed rooster."
Wordy little buggers, aren't these? There's certainly no hope of saying either three times fast as you could with the shorter "three sea shells" or even "a proper copper coffee pot." In the interest of art historic accuracy, though, it's important to be thorough about mixed media. So there you have it.
