painterly

adjective

paint·​er·​ly ˈpān-tər-lē 

1

: of, relating to, or typical of a painter : artistic

painterly attention to detail

2

: suggestive or characteristic of a painting or of the art of painting

painterly photography

especially : marked by an openness of form which is not linear and in which sharp outlines are lacking

painterly brushwork

painterliness noun

Examples of painterly in a Sentence

He has a painterly eye.

a painterly picture of the sea

Recent Examples on the Web

In both instances, the unconventional presentation of the films is meant to invite scrutiny of the images’ materiality while lending the work a painterly quality. —News Desk, Artforum, 18 June 2024

Looks include unstructured blazers in cotton canvas, loosely knotted neckties, suits cut from houndstooth and Prince of Wales fabrics and tops with painterly prints. —Angela Velasquez, Sourcing Journal, 14 June 2024

For years, one of the louder knocks against him (voiced by Clement Greenberg, among others) was his old-fashioned pursuit of painterly eloquence. —Jackson Arn, The New Yorker, 13 June 2024

To achieve the miniature landscapes, lapidary artists and jewelers spend hundreds of hours precisely cutting the stones and placing them in a painterly way on supple gold bracelets, each a work of art. —Paige Reddinger, Robb Report, 12 June 2024

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1586, in the meaning defined at sense 1