Claude Monet created some of the most indelible oil paintings of all time. His 1889 depiction of a "Water Lily Pond", for instance, how wowed observers for generations with its concise yet enigmatic use of color. Monet went on to make oil paintings of bridges, gardens, flowers, and other pastoral scenes. Of course, Monet and his Impressionist brethren were not the only painters to make liberal use of the oil medium.

The Spanish painter, Salvador Dali, brought a lyrical quality to his oil paintings. He crafted numerous noteworthy Surrealist works in the 1920s, including his famous self repudiation, "The Disintegration of the Persistence of Memory." Dali himself was fascinated by the themes of decay, ants, and the unconscious. His works, like those of his compatriots (later turned rivals) in the surrealist school, tested the limits and the strengths of oil paint representatiionalism.

In the 1940s, a new romantic movement, entitled Abstract Expressionism, began to flourish in the United States. One of the leaders of this movement, Jackson Pollock, created oil painting pastiches by literally flinging tubes of paint at canvases. These seemingly chaotic slings of oil color congealed into electrifying, spider webbing creations --infused with all the vitality and passion of Pollock's childlike precocity.

In recent years, consumer protection advocates have voiced strong concerns about the concentrations of lead and other harsh chemicals in oil-based paints. As a result of these international advocacy movements, many art teachers have abandoned certain kinds of oil paints. While traditionalists still use high lead concentrate oil paints for certain projects, most professional grade oils on the market today relatively nontoxic.

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