American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth
Edition - adj. Of, relating to, or characteristic of a painter;
artistic. - adj. Having qualities unique to the art of painting.
- adj. Of, relating to, or being a style of painting marked by
openness of form, with shapes distinguished by variations of
color rather than by outline or contour. Century Dictionary and
Cyclopedia - Like a painter. Sir P. Sidney, Arcadia, i. GNU
Webster's 1913 - adj. obsolete Like a painter's work. - adj.
having qualities unique to the art of painting “But now
rehabilitation is complete and we see Sargent as an exultant
master of characterisation and empathy, of colour and light, of
shadow and the contre-jour effect (the subject seen against the
light), and of the fat substantial paint to which the word
painterly properly belongs.” “Although Allard is considered a
documentary photographer, this is an example of what photo
critics would call "painterly" - a word usually reserved for
fine art, not necessarily photojournal