An Italian term meaning “at first,” used to describe a method of oil painting in which the final effect is achieved in a single, direct application of paint. In contrast to layering the paint with underpainting and glazing, this technique challenges the painter to create effects with the greatest economy of means, often emphasizing brushwork. Not necessarily an independent technique, it is often used adjacent to areas with a complex layering of paint. While this type of painting was initiated in the sixteenth century, it was not practices widely until the middle of the nineteenth century, when painters sought to create the impression of immediacy in their works. The synonymous French term au premier coup is more precisely applied to paintings of this period, while the term direct painting describes the spontaneous techniques of the twentieth-century painters.

Source: Looking at Paintings: A Guide to Technical Terms / eds. Tiarna Doherty and Anne T Woollett (Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum, 2009), p. 2.