May 6, 2012 23:37
12 yrs ago
English term

there will be paintings from Torres Garcia and Xul Solar

English Other General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters
Is it wrong to say "There will be paintings from Tarsilia Do Amaral, Torres Garcia and Xul Solar." instead of "paintings of or by Tarsilia Do Amaral, etc. ?
Votes to reclassify question as PRO/non-PRO:

Non-PRO (1): Tony M

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Discussion

Charles Davis May 7, 2012:
"By" will normally be used here. "From" is sometimes said; it tends to imply "contributed by" rather than "painted by", so if you said "the exhibition includes paintings from X, Y and Z", it would tend to imply that X, Y and Z have contributed paintings to the exhibition. If you mean that the paintings are the work of X, Y and Z, you will say "by X, Y and Z". "Of" is not right; it is a classic error arising from literal translation of "de" in languages like Spanish. As Veronika rightly says, a painting of X means that X is the subject of the painting.

Responses

+9
2 hrs
Selected

by

I believe it is more correct (and makes more sense) to use "by" when referring to the artist who created the painting.

"from" is used when referring to the geographical source ("paintings from Spain"), the inspirational source ("paintings from Victorian postcards"), the period ("paintings from the eighteenth century") and maybe other things which I don't remember just now!

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Note added at 2 hrs (2012-05-07 02:00:53 GMT)
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If you look up the terms "paintings from" and "paintings by" in Google, you will see that the answers tend to confirm this usage (with some exceptions, of course).
Peer comment(s):

agree JaneTranslates : "From" feels wrong to me in this context. Your analysis of the distinction makes sense to me.
2 hrs
Thanks, Jane!
agree Jack Doughty
3 hrs
Thanks, Jack!
agree Sven Petersson
4 hrs
Thanks, Sven!
agree Tony M : Yes: "the picture was painted by..."
4 hrs
Thanks, Tony!
agree Charles Davis
5 hrs
Thanks, Charles!
agree katsy
6 hrs
Thanks, Katsy!
agree Armorel Young : yes, you'd never say that "the National Gallery has paintings from Michaelanglo and Rubens"
7 hrs
Thanks, Amorel!
agree Anita Šumer
7 hrs
Thanks, Anita!
agree Phong Le
21 hrs
Thanks, Phong Le!
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thanks! This answer is clear!"
+2
5 mins

from or by

Either of the above is okay, but if you say "paintings of ..." it will mean these are portraits of the artists.

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Note added at 12 hrs (2012-05-07 11:49:25 GMT)
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True - "from" would be used with "from a collection" or the like.
Peer comment(s):

agree Jenna Porter-Jacek
1 hr
Thanks, Jenna!
agree Charles Davis : "By" is much more usual, though "from" is sometimes said.
7 hrs
Thanks, Charles!
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