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A Brief History
The decorative art form of faux finishing recessed in
popularity around 80-90 A.D. when the Church took over
the art scene, endorsing only religious venues. The
Renaissance however, brought it back to Europe in the
form of murals, frescoes, and plastering techniques,
especially in Italy and France. A second recession came
in the early 19th century, and with the invention of
printed contact paper, linoleum, and marbled plastics,
wasn’t revived until the 1960’s. Welcome to the second
renaissance of Faux Finishing!
From 2200 B.C. to the present day, faux finishing has
had many uses, phases and styles. Early-man as well as
the Pharaohs used pigments to provide an historical
account of daily life and major activities. Residents of
Rome and Pompeii commissioned artists to create
portraits in plaster, to please and impress their
guests. Today we use faux finishing techniques to create
many reproduction and “impostor” surfaces. These include
rare woods, expensive marble and ancient stone, fine
textiles, and priceless antiques. Today’s faux finisher
is skilled in recreating virtually any material,
historical or not.
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