A fun fact to start: the Mona Lisa is not painted on canvas. Leonardo painted it in oil on a wooden panel of poplar. And David Hockney's famous swimming pool, A Bigger Splash, is in acrylic. Two techniques, two masterpieces. But in front of a painting, how do you tell them apart?
One difference explains almost everything
Oil paint has been used for centuries; acrylic only became widely available to artists in the mid-20th century. Oil takes days to dry. Acrylic dries in minutes. Keep that in mind, and the five clues below become obvious.
Clue 1: the canvas
Over time, oil damages raw canvas fibres, so oil painters always work on a prepared surface, usually primed with gesso. Acrylic can go straight onto raw canvas. On an unprimed canvas, an oily halo around the paint points to oil.
Clue 2: the edges
Because acrylic dries so fast, its shapes often have crisp, sharp edges. Oil stays wet for days, so colours melt into one another with soft transitions.
Clue 3: the texture
Tilt the painting under a lamp. Thick, sculpted impasto that keeps the mark of the brush or knife is typical of oil. Acrylic usually dries smoother, with a slightly plastic feel, unless the artist added a texture medium.
Clue 4: the sheen
Oil often has a natural glow; acrylic tends to dry matt or satin. But watch out: varnish can make either one glossy.
Clue 5: the cracks
Over the decades, oil can yellow slightly and form a fine web of cracks, called craquelure. Acrylic stays flexible and cracks far less. Heavy craquelure on a painting sold as recent? Ask questions.
So, which one is better?
Neither. What makes a work valuable is the artist, the quality of execution and its story, not the medium. At Moroccan Paintings, the technique is always listed on the artwork page: acrylic for Ahmed Lahmer, for example, or oil on skin for Abderrahim Trifis.
Want to feel the difference yourself?
Nothing beats trying. Find oil and acrylic paints, canvases and gesso at MP Art Shop, or paint with both in our painting workshops in Casablanca.