History of Street Painting

In cities across North America, Europe, and Australia, tourists and locals may find an artist creating an ephemeral street painting or chalk art using handmade soft pastels mixed with pigments. Street painters, madonnari, strassenmalerie, screevers, chalk artists, buskers, pavement artists, and other names for this unique art form have been creating their work for centuries. No one knows for sure where the art form originated from but there are many stories of how artists create ephemeral visual images on pavements throughout the seven continents. In North America, the ancient Aztecs used ground flower pedals to create images of their gods to invoke rain. To this day in Mexico City one can find a group recreating this ancient ritual for donations in the Zocalo. In Europe, this art form was a religious tradition for artist to make copies of the Madonna for coins thrown in their baskets. Artists called Madonnari, would go from town to town in Italy recreating images of the Madonnao on pavements in city centers during religious festivals and holidays. It is believed that the tradition of Madonnari started sometime in the early Renaissance. It is said that El Greco from Syria traveled across Europe to work in the courts of Spain, and he arrived in Spain by the dropped coins he received while creating street paintings in local towns and festivals. The oldest recording of a street painting is of an artist drawing the Madonna in London taken around the turn of the 20th century. During the great depression, in major cities in Europe like London, artists started to draw on the pavements in droves because of the need for work, these artists would be called Screevers. The oldest street painting or Madonnari festival is in Grazie di Cutatone, Italy. George Orwell wrote a novel about a street painter, “Down and Out in London and Paris” and Charles Dickens mentioned a street painter in his novel Oliver Twist.

Today the art form is going through a revival by younger artists. Before artists would work in one day, now artists will spend days sometimes weeks on one piece. Artists will take all measures to protect their work from the rain and elements by building tents and using sandbags and tarps. Many styles and techniques are being used. On lookers will find images of architectural master pieces to abstract expressionism laid out on the pavement. Another term being used for the artists on the streets is 3D art, 3D Street Painting and 3D Chalk Art based on the work of Andrea Mantegna and Hans Holbein. These works are based on camera lenses and one point perspective.

Today’s street painters are fascinated with the process and the battle with the elements. Street painters will spend hours and days planning the work they will create on the pavement. Once the time is right they will execute their work on site for the thousands of people that will watch the process over a long period of time. To the street painter this performance is what creates the satisfaction and not the finished product. Today with the invention of the digital age, the work of the street painter is finally being recorded and appreciated.

Throughout the world organizers are hosting street painting and chalk art festivals to show off the wonderful talents from around the world. In the United States there is a street painting festival for every weekend in the year. Street painters are brought to cities and towns to be featured artists and teach their methods to a wanting audience.

Today Murals of Baltimore and Michael Kirby are leaders in this unique art form. Recognized worldwide for innovation and originality they are constantly at work recreating this ancient art form.